When you were a child, who brought the Christmas presents for you, according to your parents?

When you were a child, who brought the Christmas presents for you, according to your parents?

  • Father Christmas

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Santa Claus

    Votes: 8 88.9%
  • the Christ Child (Christkindl in German)

    Votes: 1 11.1%
  • Grandfather Frost

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • some elf or fairy

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • some other mythological figure

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    9

Red Gold

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In our region it is not Father Christmas or Santa Claus who brings the presents.
That is the case in North Germany.
Here in South Germany it is the Christkindl (= the Christ Child) who brings the presents.
Nobody has ever seen this Christ Child, and there are hardly any pictures or paintings.

But if these paintings are to be believed, then the Christkindl is a very beautiful teenage girl with wings, who flies through the windows on Christmas Eve around 6 o'clock pm to deliver the Christmas presents.
 
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Ceallaigh

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Whoevers name was on the gift tag. As far as I recall I thought of Santa along the lines of other characters on TV or at Disneyland etc. Like when I went to Disneyland (I grew up in Los Angeles County, so visits were fairly frequent) Mickey Mouse was "real" but at the same time I knew he wasn't actually a giant mouse.
 
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Tuur

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The Christkindl is not identical with Jesus Christ.
The character Martin Luther introduced isn't, not exactly, but Christkindl can mean Christ Child, and we do set aside December 25 (in Protestant and Roman Catholic denominations) to observe his birth. Frankly, I looked at "Christkindl" and the question, and wondered if you were making an important pun: "Who here knows the Christ Child?"
 
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Red Gold

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and wondered if you were making an important pun: "Who here knows the Christ Child?"
I am not making a pun at all.
You may google for "Christkind".
I am sure you will find lots of information.

"Christkindl" is the South German way of saying "Christkind". :)
 
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Red Gold

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What the English-speaking Wiki knows about the Christkind or Christ Child:

The Christkind is a sprite-like child, usually depicted with blond hair and angelic wings.[5] Martin Luther intended it to be a reference to the incarnation of Jesus as an infant (see Christ Child). Sometimes the Christ Child is, instead of the infant Jesus, interpreted as a specific angel bringing the presents, as it appears in some processions together with an image of little Jesus Christ. Later, the Christkind was said to make rounds delivering gifts with St. Nicholas.[6]

Children never see the Christkind in person, and parents tell them that Christkind will not come and bring presents if they are curious and try to spot it. The family enters the living room, where the Christmas tree has been put up, for the opening of presents (the Bescherung), when the parents say that they think that the Christkind who has brought the presents has now left again. In some traditions, the departure is announced by the ringing of a small bell, which the parents pretend to have heard or which is secretly done by one of the adults in the family.

Since the 1990s, the Christkind has faced increasing competition from the Weihnachtsmann, caused by the use of the American version of Santa Claus as an advertising figure.[citation needed] Many traditionalist Catholics in recent times have advocated for the tradition of the Christkind as a "beautiful means of restoring the true meaning of Christmas".[7]

Christkindl or Christkindel are diminutive versions of Christkind. Christkind and Belsnickel are also found among communities of Volga German descent in Argentina. A well-known figure is the Christkind at the Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg, which is represented by a young woman chosen every two years for this task.
 
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DragonFox91

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Feelings aren't always good. Why would you lie to your child about the origin of the presents? When you make your child believe that "Santa Claus" or "Father Christmas" are real, and one day your child finds out that it isn't true, why do you think your child will still believe that God is real?

I think as Christian parents we are responsible to raise our children in the truth.

By the way, children don't need these kinds of stories to enjoy Christmas. I was always looking forward to it. Not only was I grateful towards my parents for the presents (which is much better than thinking that you got them from some stranger), but I also understood that Christ is the center of the holidays, not the presents (nor some mythological creature).

That's what I meant by "I never understood the logic". There doesn't seem to be any good argument for a Christian parent to tell their children such stories. Quite the opposite.
My parents did Santa Claus. You are exactly right tho. I couldn't have said it any better in regards to Christ. I understand the concept has Christian origins, but these days at least in America it is completely pagan. How often do you hear atheists compare belief in God to Santa Claus? If I ever had kids, I wouldn't want to lead them down the path of lies. I'd probably get outvoted tho. My family thinks kids' love of Santa Claus is cute.
 
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