Who Brings Gifts to Europe? - Neatorama

Redditor rappzula created a map that shows all the different names used for Santa Claus and related holiday gift-bringers in Europe. The midwinter custom of anonymous gifts from a magical figure was in place in Europe long before Christianity. the figure of St. Nicholas was added later. Meanwhile, the magical figure can be an old man, the Christ child, a woman, a goat, or even a log. Some bring gifts at Christmas, others at St. Nicholas Day, the New Year, or some other day. In some countries, one figure comes at St. Nicholas Day and another at Christmas! But they all know if you've been naughty or nice. Click to enlarge the full-size map here. -via Buzzfeed

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Newest 4 Comments

Sorry for the typo in the previous comment. "Celebrate", not "celebrated". Slip of the key...

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Badly researched in several places. The Dutch and Belgian inaccuracies concerning Sinterklass and Christmas have already been noted. I'll speak on behalf of central European inaccuracies : Austrians, Czechs, Slovaks and Hungarians celebrated both Saint Nicholas (on the 6th of December) and Christmas on the 24th-26th. Gifts are given during both holidays, though the bigger and main ones are at Christmas Eve, on the 24th. Saint Nicholas (St. Nick, Nikolaus, Mikuláš, Mikulás) brings gifts on the 6th December, while the Baby Jesus (Christ Child) brings gifts on Christmas Eve. This counts for all four of these countries, so the erroneous entry for Slovakia just comes across as bizarre and lazily researched. I urge the author of the image to update it and fix the issues. If he/she wants the image to be really informative, then the information contained within should be accurate. Thanks for hearing me out and a Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you might be celebrating) to all ! :-)

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Same for part of Switzerland. Your mistake with our country is trying to simply separate it in two entities following Germany and France: it does not work like that! Between the enclaves, the three different zones of influence from the neighbor countries, the exceptions, ...

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The Dutch and Belgians mostly get their holiday presents from Sinterklaas or Sint Nicolaas, on 5 and 6 December respectively. The Kerstman (Santa Claus/Father Christmas) is less popular than — what we believe is the proper way to celebrate St. Nicholas — although allegedly Mr. Coca-Cola is gaining in popularity.

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What does it count as if we went to the same school (but never met on our own), got introduced by a mutual friend (but didn't see each other in person again for over a year), and got to know each other online in the intervening year?

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I suspect this survey is fundamentally flawed due to it using an online survey to study if people met online. this limits it's source to those who are obviously online already. though that is a large amount, it is not a true representative of the general population. Still a significant number, but not what they are trying to make it out to be. I take this as a marketing survey more than a scientific survey.

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I've met two of my significant others online (through Myspace, sadly enough), and though one was a creep, the other and I have been happily dating for two years.

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Pay sites like Match.com and eHarmony may be stacked against the users, according to an article on the OKCupid (a free dating site) blog. http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/2010/04/07/why-you-should-never-pay-for-online-dating/

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I met my partner at an interview to become a Student Ambassador in high school. We ended up going to Europe together, and 3 years later we ended up in a relationship. I think that's a way cooler story than the internet.

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I had to go look because I wondered what they defined as a "committed relationship". Is that something MORE than marriage, like married people who don't plan to get a divorce? Or is it people who say they are committed, but not quite enough to get married?

But it doesn't really define the term, except to say a "new committed relationship", which probably means they are dating exclusively.

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My husband and I met eleven years ago using a free trial of Match.com. We started hanging out together, then dated, and four and a half years later got married. It's just another way to meet people, and I've made some good friends through the internet since then.

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"[1-in-6] That’s more than twice the number of people who met at bars, clubs, and other social events combined!"

followed by

"3) Via Online Dating Site 17%
4) Through Bars/Clubs/Other Social Events 11%"

17 > (11*2)? Am I missing something?

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Those numbers are highly suspect considering both the method and sponsor of the study.

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Unfortunate that it doesn't count people who met through non-dating online sources. Closing in on my 1 year anniversary after meeting my husband while nerding it up on MMOs 10 years ago. :)

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Great post! You know, I personally have experienced something like this even without Match.com researches. I met my husband online and I helped few friends of mine to find their destinies online. Everyone is happy!

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