Saint Nicholas' Feast Day became a traditional day for gift giving in most of Western mainland Europe. It remains a popular tradition and for children, receiving presents on Saint Nicholas Day is still a bigger event than Christmas.
Depending on the country, the presents may been given on the evening of Saint Nicholas Eve, 5 December or on 6 December, Saint Nicholas Day.
One view is that getting the presents out of the way early in the Christmas period, helps focus Christmas day itself on the nativity of Christ. Though in Germany and Switzerland, presents are also brought at Christmas by the Christ Child, the infant Jesus.
In the Netherlands and Belgium, Saint Nicholas is called 'Sinterklass'. He comes each year from Spain in November and gives his presents while riding on a white horse, accompanied by his sidekick, Black Peter.
In Germany, the sidekick is a more sinister figure. Called Krampus, he looks more like the devil and may visit on Saint Nicholas Eve to punish children who have been naughty.
How Saint Nicholas became Santa Claus
Clearly, the gift giving of Saint Nicholas forms part of the basis of the American Santa Claus, whose name comes from the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas, Sinterklass. The tradition of Sinterklass came to the Americas from Dutch settlers and merged with the British tradition of Father Christmas
A German-born, American political cartoonist, Thomas Nast, is credited with the first modern depiction of Santa Claus in the late nineteenth century.
https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/belgium/feast-of-st-nicholas
Information provided by the HNLO.
