St. Nicholas returns to the Rynek
The President of Kraków, Poland's cultural and spiritual capital nestled in the south of the country, has overturned a somewhat anti-festive bylaw that banned people from dressing up as Santa in the run up to St. Nicholas' day on 6th December. After over a century, the rotund saint is welcome back on the streets of the city, along with his entourage of winged angels and little devils.
John Beauchamp reports
On the 22nd November 1894 the President of Kraków, a certain Józef Friedlein, banned Santas from roaming the streets and taverns of the city. 'How miserable', Cracovians may have claimed, yet the bylaw was passed as a worrying number of Saint Nicholas lookalikes back in those days would often abuse their festive powers by rolling around drunk with red noses that even Rudolf would have been jealous of. It got so bad that even local police reports showed a significant number of Santas being drunk and disorderly. The story goes that back at the end of the 19th century, many a bricklayer would have been out of work for the winter season, and would have decided to dress up as Santa to earn some extra cash. The good matrons of Kraków hired these rogue Santas to come to their homes for the benefit of their children, but rather than pay them with actual money, they sometimes paid in kind, meaning that the Santas often left rather sloshed on vodka.
Ever since that moment, Santas by law were not allowed to solicit children (or their parents) to give them their presents in public places for over 110 years, until now. In anticipation of St. Nicholas' Day on 6th December, traditionally the date in Poland when presents are handed out by St. Nicholas, President Jacek Majchrowski overturned the age-old bylaw earlier this week, thus meaning the happy return of a (hopefully) sober Saint Nicholas to Kraków's Main Market Square, followed by his posse of an angel and a devil, as well as any other members he may chose to have in his entourage. So if you see a red nose this year in Kraków, hopefully it'll belong to the reindeer and not a sozzled Santa.