Christmas and spanking

A young mother prepares the Christmas Tree while her child sleeps. Note the presents such as apples and gingerbread man, as well as the birch rod laid out on the chair.

The character known as Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus or Father Christmas in English-speaking countries does not only come to people's homes at St Nicholas day (or Christmas) to bring small gifts and presents for the children. In Europe, he traditionally comes to praise and reward children who have been 'good' in the past year and to reprove and/or punish children who have been 'bad'.

Sometimes St Nicholas is accompanied by a sidekick, a frightening companion for this punitive job, known as Bicho-papão in Portugal, Père Fouettard in France, Hans Trapp in the Alsace, Houseker in Luxembourg, Zwarte Piet in the Netherlands, Knecht Ruprecht in Germany, Schmutzli in Switzerland and Krampus in Austria. This companion usually has a dark, frightening appearance and carries a birch to threaten and/or punish 'bad' children. Children were also sometimes warned that if they were very bad, Knecht Ruprecht or Krampus would put them into his sack (or his pannier or bucket, in case of Krampus) and take them away. In Finland, joulupukki ("Yule goat"), was originally sometimes a similar demonic creature, but he is not a companion to St Nicholas.

In other cases, the two characters are rolled into one: St Nicholas has no companion and carries both a sack of presents and a birch, to reward and to punish as required.

In regions where St Nicholas was, in the course of the Reformation, replaced by Christkind, the same would sometimes take the same companion -- for example, Hans Trapp in the Alsace.

Today the tradition has disappeared in some places; in other places the punitive element is still there, but usually the birch will only be used for threatening. Sometimes a 'bad' child will receive a small birch as a symbolic present, and sometimes such a birch is even decorated with sweets to turn it into a positive present despite the intended 'warning message'.

Rhymes

But where I found the children naughty,
In manners crude, in temper haughty,
Thankless to parents, liars, swearers,
Boxers, or cheats, or base tale-bearers,

I left a long, black, birchen rod,
Such as the dread command of God
Directs a Parent's hand to use
When virtue's path his sons refuse.

– Verse 7 and 8 of the poem "Old Santeclaus with Much Delight" (1821)

Morgen kommt der Nikolaus,
zieht dir alle Hosen aus.

– Traditional German children's rhyme. Translation: "Tomorrow comes Nikolaus, pulls down all your pants".

"Hast denn das Säcklein auch bei dir?"
Ich sprach: "Das Säcklein, das ist hier:
Denn Äpfel, Nuss und Mandelkern
essen fromme Kinder gern."
"Hast denn die Rute auch bei dir?"
Ich sprach: "Die Rute, die ist hier;
doch für die Kinder nur, die schlechten,
die trifft sie auf den Teil, den rechten."

– Excerpt of the poem Knecht Ruprecht (1862) by Theodor Storm.

---

"Did you, then, bring your sack, my dear?"
I said: "The sack, it is right here;
because good children love to eat
apples, nuts, and almonds sweet."
"Did you, too, bring your rod, my dear?"
I said: "The rod, it is right here;
but only for the naughty ones,
to make them feel it on their buns."

A recent parody of a traditional Christmas song called The 12 Spanking Days of Christmas can be seen at a website created by Sarah Thorne. This site also contains Christmas spanking stories.

Pfeffern

Main article: Pfeffern

There is also another Christmas tradition with a connection to spanking, in which children hit adults with a rod, and receive treats (sweets, pastries or money) for it.

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