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Hammacher Schlemmer Holiday Decorations

EUROPEAN SANTA CLAUS GAP
Christmas Custom Crisis Threatens Fragile Peace on Earth

Finland claims to be the home of Santa Claus, present year round in his Village in the North Pole town of Rovaniemi. Iceland, with its House of Christmas in Reykjavik tries to trump with its custom of 13 Santa Clauses in the form its Yule Men or Christmas Lads who start arriving 13 days before Christmas. While, ever icoclastic and isolationist Switzerland has no Santa Clauses, 0, nada. Closer to it’s Catholic roots The Swiss eschew the jolly old elf and go straight to the source, having the Christ Child himself deliver presents. Without Joseph and Mary, unsupervised, handing out gifts to children.

Finland

Thousand of people make the journey to Santa’s Village in Finland, where old St. Nick can be found in his office on the Arctic Circle preparing for his annual Christmas trip, with his Lapland reindeer grazing on the tundra. Plan a visit to Finland’s Santa Village (www.santaclauslive.com) a beautiful complex or stone and logs set in a sparkling winter wonderland, or if you just want to send a letter for your eager child and have it returned with a North Pole postmark, Santa Claus’ main post office is open all year and Santa’s mail box is available online (www.santaclaus.posti.fi). Santa’s assistant elves speak many languages, of course.

Iceland

Iceland’s 13 Santas or Christmas Kids “Jolasveinar” are the sons of two trolls, Gryla and Leppaludi, and take characters with names like Curd Glutton, Sausage Swiper and Meat Hook, for their mischievous pranks. They started out in olden days to be rather scary boys, but over time have grown into more familiar jolly elfs who arrive one at a time over the twelve days of Christmas and leave little presents for the children who have behaved all year. The kids leave their shoes on their window sills into which the Jolasveinar place gifts to be found by the family. Any children who have been naughty get a potato or some other reminder that good behavior is essential around Christmas. For year round Christmas spirit the House of Christmas in the center of Reykjavik offers quality Icelandic Christmas handicrafts including unique figures of Iceland’s special santas.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, Dec. 6th is the big Christmas celebration Chlausjagen Festival or the Feast of Saint Nicholas. In the small village of Kussnacht on Lake Lucerne a ferry ride from the city of Lucerne (Luzern), nearly two hundred celebrants called "lifeltrager" (all men) dance in white robe costumes with enormous transparent bishop's miters, some 6 feet high balanced on their heads lit by candles, escort St. Nicholas on his way through the village. Heavy bells worn around the neck accompany the Swiss horn blowing to announce the coming of Christmas. Star Singers or Sternsingers dressed as the Three Kings parade through the streets of towns singing Christmas carols throughout the holiday season. The children wait for the Christ child called Christkindl, to arrive with present in his reindeer-drawn sleigh. A wide variety of Christmas customs are practiced customs in neighboring Swiss villages were centuries of isolation during the winter months when the heavy snow restricted travel between the mountain valleys. And yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus in Zurich, who visits in a fairy tale tram to give children rides through the city, handing out sweets. Most Swiss Christmas Markets happen on the 6th and 7th of December, but in Winterthur the Christmas Market Festival (www.weihnachtinwinterthur.ch) located in and around the main train station lasts until December 22. © Bargain Travel Europe

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