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Germany has been "assimilated" during the last two or three decades. The traditional "Sankt Nikolaus", a man with a bishop's hat, a coat without white fur and often clean-shaven has gradually vanished and was replaced with the now well-known American version of Santa Claus ("Weihnachtsmann") with his frankly ridiculous appearance. By now, the old Nikolaus is completely gone. I haven't seen a depiction of him for years except for religious brochures, while Santa Claus is omnipresent.
I can remember when I was a child the Nikolaus (day: December, 6th) was still a symbol of Christianity (especially in my Christian kindergarten), and this is probably the reason why he was abandoned. Christmas was supposed to be a bargain, and religion doesn't sell. Either this, or the cultural influence of America has proven superior once again. Anyway, each time I see Santa Claus (which will be unavoidable in the next two months), I have to shudder about this absurd character.
------------------ "When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative - violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's the Starfleet way." A somewhat different Janeway in VOY: "Living Witness" Ex Astris Scientia
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Blame the Coca Cola company. They invented the red-and-white-clad figure you're ranting about. America is not to blame, but the emphasis on sell-sell-sell that the commercial world engages in at Christmastime. Don't blame us, pity us. We succumbed first!
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I'm sorry and I wonder if, in a joined effort, we could try to boycott/expel/lock up/undress Santa Claus. Perhaps it would help if Coca-Cola made Santa Claus a registered trademark so anyone else would be freed of him. We should collect for Coca-Cola's trademark application
------------------ "When diplomacy fails, there's only one alternative - violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's the Starfleet way." A somewhat different Janeway in VOY: "Living Witness" Ex Astris Scientia
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*suffers from caffeine poisoning after drinking tons of Coke*
Well, people sometimes think everything German sounds militaristic. I should start a little quiz where you have to guess whether the given compound words are really used in the military or in the kindergarten.
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Sint Nicolaas => Sint Niklaas => Sinter Klaas => Sinterklaas
It's just a bad case of corrupted language :] But yes, he's still here, surprisingly, there was some santa claus assimilates us! debate a few years ago but it all turned out fine. Well, if letting children believe in someone who doesn't exist, has black slaves (though it must be said their roles are now close to equal, thankfully) and actually was said to hit you if you didn't behave is a good thing, which is clearly debatable. I believe a recent paper on parents telling their children that Sinterklaas doesn't exist discusses how these children react on it. Turns out some christian children actually lose their faith in god as well, so it can be quite traumatic. I was eight when my parents told me, and after a few days, I didn't care! (as long as those presents kept coming :])
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