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Show Kriss Kringle Isn't Really Santa Claus Popular notion seems to imply that Kris Kringle is a German term of endearment for Santa Claus. Just what motivates this idea is not really all clear, since Kris Kringle is really a modification modifica-tion of Christkind who, although endowed by German legend as a gift-giver, resembles Santa Claus not in the least. Santa Claus, as we know him in America, never really caught on in Germany. St. Nicholas comes around on his liturgical feast day December 6 with his pockets bulging with candy and nuts and trinkets. Well and good, but German Ger-man parents maintain, as did their predecessors of the Reformation era, that the central idea of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, should dominate the observances. Nor is Christkind depicted as the Infant Jesus himself, but rather rath-er as his messenger and gift-bearer who comes to earth at Christmastime Christ-mastime to bring happiness to good children. The Christkind is usually represented as a child dressed in white robes, wearing a golden crown and having big, golden wings. |