On December 6, Switzerland celebrates Saint Nicholas Day. The traditions vary depending on if you live in the German, French or Italian speaking parts of the country, but they usually include a visit to your home or apartment by Samichlaus and his helper Schmutzli. We arranged for this with a little help from the "Samichlaus-Zürich" website and the handy google translate tool. Our evening began with a traditional fondue meal at Matt and Krista's apartment in Dübendorf. Matt demonstrated the proper way of preparing the fondue pot, stirring in the cheese and wine, then adding the cornstarch and kirsch, and a dash of nutmeg, pepper and paprika.

Once the fondue was the proper consistency it went straight to the warming plates on the table and we dug in.  The traditional accompaniments to fondue are bread, Fendant, a white wine from the Vaud and Valais regions of CH, black tea (to aid digestion of all the cheese), and pickles and pickled onions.  No fresh vegetables or salad, just lots of cheese and bread.  Krista skirted this detail by placing fresh cut vegetables and dip at a side table for an appetizer.

Matt explained to us that fondue was used as a peace-making meal after wars fought between Switzerland and the bordering countries.... until Switzerland established its neutrality at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.  Perhaps fondue is the secret to their success at remaining neutral!

Around 8:30 we heard the doorbell ring and the Leif and Hanna jumped up in anticipation of Samichlaus, while Elisabet dove under the table.  It was a false alarm (probably actually WAS them picking up the info we had left by the apartment's main door), so we went back to eating our dessert of chocolate torte when we heard the jingling of bells near the door.  Elisabet dove back under the table and Hanna and Leif took their places on the couch as Matt opened the door for Samichlaus and Schmutzli.

You can see that Samichlaus has a big red book in his hand which is how he knew all about Leif, Hanna and Elisabet.  Schmutzli's bird friends peak in the windows during the year and let him know whether the children have been good or bad.  They knew the children understood high German best and that we had also come from America, so Samichlaus told us the story of how they came to deliver treats together on St. Nicholas day.  I only got bits and pieces of the tale, but Leif recounted it to us later in great detail so clearly his German comprehension is very high.  We really appreciated the time they took with us- it was a little difficult for Samichlaus not to slip into Swiss German and at the end he wished us Christmas greetings in English.

The story he told goes as follows:

One day when Samichlaus was in the forest he was carrying his sack full of presents for the children.  Schmutzli lived in the forest with his animal friends in a wood hut and saw a trail of presents on the ground.  He wondered if Samichlaus was bringing the presents for him, so he took a sack and followed the trail, gathering up the nuts, mandarins, lebkuchen (gingerbread) and chocolates until he met up with him.  There had been a hole in Samichlaus's sack and he had noticed.  So they went together to the first house to deliver presents, but the mother would not allow Schmutzli to enter because he was too dirty (Schmutzig = dirty auf Deutsch).  Samichlaus explained that if it were not for Schmutzli he would have not had any gifts for her children.  Then the mother said that be could had a brown cloak that had belonged to the grandfather and she let them come in and visit the children.

Samichlaus started with Leif, the oldest in the family.  For each child, he praised them for what they had done well during the year.  He told Leif he had been good in school and was a great reader and asked him if he read in German or English.  Then he wondered if Leif played the violin and suggested that maybe he needed to practice a little more.  Before Leif could receive his gift, he recited a poem for Samichlaus called "Die Tasche Uhr".

Hanna went next and Samichlaus started with that she needed to work on not having temper tantrums (right to the point!).  Then he said she was also a good reader and had done a very good job going to school in Switzerland and learning German.  He commented on her favorite food, pizza, and that it was both an American and an Italian specialty.  Then Hanna sang "Leise rieselt der Schnee" for him.

This is as close as Elisabet wanted to get to Samichlaus.  She started under the table and worked her way from Travis's lap with her ears covered, to my lap with her face buried, to eventually sitting safely between Krista and me.  Samichlaus told her she had been very brave going to Kindergarten every day and wanted to know if her nickname was "Liza" in English.  (On a side note she has mentioned to us that for a nickname we can call her ElisaBETH).  She had planned on singing "Grüezi, grüezi mitenand" for him but said she didn't realize he was going to be so close!

And then finally they received their treats from Schmutzli.......

We said our goodbyes and warm holiday wishes- tschuss and ciao to the children, handshakes all around, Fröhliche Weihnachten and they were off.  No trips to the woods in Schmutzli's sack for these three!  This is what the children are told by parents that if you are not good, Schmutzli takes you back to the forest to help gather the nuts and oranges and treats for the next year.  Elisabet was pretty sure this wouldn't happen, even if you were bad, if you were 4 or under!  Or if it did you could probably bring someone with you, like your mom.

A special treat for readers who have gotten this far.  A video of the children eating their fondue with the church bells ringing their daily concert.



And finally, a few more photos.

Samichlaus visit