central to the idea, boston tim is to strip away all of the accretion. so chip christianity got over one half 1000 years into go back to the christianity as it was in the bible. and one of the things they agree on is that the cult of saints has become dangerous, that the saints are in, in peril of replacing god as the object of one's prayers. so they abolish the cult of saints and wisdom go saint nicholas. saint nicholas disappears as a christmas gift bringer in many parts of europe. by, by saint nicholas, at least they didn't burn you, but you will be back because as the l say hiding a things doesn't make him disappear. yes. so at that point, traditions that were taking place on december the see horseback that will push back to christmas. the date one baby jesus was born in germany in particular,

the figure of the baby jesus christ, kendall is the germans say, was invented in strasburg. the rules of the reform were applied in $1570.00 a pastor spoke out against the practice of giving gifts to children on saint nicholas de the saint nicholas market, which is held on december 6 was renamed. the order was to call it the market of the child, jesus or christ kindled, marked in our station the figure of the baby. jesus is a wonderfully theologically correct, but it's a difficult social act to perform, to imitate the acts of saint nicholas saint nicholas was good, but he was also frightening. and it, nobody is going to be frightened by the baby jesus. and saint nicholas can carry huge sacks or baskets of goodies,

a baby count. mm. and so we see in the 15 hundred's the development change in the shape of the christ child. and the appearance of frightening helpers. european folk lore is full of beasts that appear at christmas and you don't know whether they're going to kill you or give you a gift. ah, just a fee. there were fairies, lots of characters. so for instance, you have before now in italy, she was an old windshield. a love, a finer dead up is really gotta kill me. now that could be fina is portrayed as an old woman who's a bit of a witch of school power. she flew in the sky on

a broom ban, you know, he had a hood on her back container in the presence with which she filled the size that children left near their windows. it might cost of a chain or looking at if kids weren't good, be fun. i knew it to me and she would give them ashes co community. it kind of borne if we could all for it. if they were good. she would then bring licorice in an interior, which looked like a soft coal is born, but was made of black sugar. gabby lining tassel in kind of bony dory cheer you do kittles needle each country has its creature meant to frighten children. compost connect to hooper bought the peat, gaila smooth c ah, the protestant reformation and its religious precepts now prevail in

a large part of europe. in england, the winter figure referred to as father christmas, was even the object of a trial for some protestants, the new doctrines were not respectful enough of the strict teachings of the bible. these puritans decided to leave europe and settle in a new land where they would be allowed to live in accordance with their faith. these pilgrims 1st set foot on the american continent in $1620.00, and started new colonies. according to their faith, christmas was not worthy of celebration and was therefore abolished. it became a regular workday. any one celebrating christmas in the colony could be punished with a heavy fine any reference to the saints, including saint nicholas was forbidden. busy but other migrants coming here from

other countries brought with them their own religious faith and traditions. the situation in the cities at christmas and new years had become a social problem. it became dangerous to be out on the streets in boston, and philadelphia and new york gangs would take to the streets. they would bang on pots and pans and blow horns, they would jostle decent middle class folk. they would interrupt church services at a time when police forces were um, just in their beginning and could not deal with this. in 1800, the situation in new york city became dire. the city was flooded with new migrants . the puritans considering them barbarians, abandoned part of the city. in manhattan barricades were erected to protect law

abiding citizens from unruly gang organisations, such as the new york historical society were founded with the goal of creating a more respectable city. since america had no shared history and no shared culture, this new historical society was looking for a common identity. and surprisingly, it's members decided to turn to saint nicholas. john penn tarred was the founder of the new york historical society. he was a member of a masonic lodge, made up by descendants of dutch families. it was pen tart who rekindled the flame of the center cloth the dutch saint nicholas. he presented him as a grumpy bishop with a whip, standing behind a high masonic symbol. santa was now a freemason, john pin. todd tried to make santa claus. saint nicholas the patron saint of new

york. and so one thing spin, todd was trying to do was to get a tradition that wasn't english. there was another member of the new york historical society and his name was washington irving, and he was a comical right to. he was a satirist and he found pins hard to say nicholas very, very funny. and so he wrote a spoof history of new york and in his parody history, saint nicholas santa claus keeps appearing and helping the settlers to build the houses serv appearing after the sky, smoking a pipe. washington irvings booth, history of new york was a massive best seller. it was a huge, the hugely popular book in early america. and people love the story. then they started telling them to the children as truth. and for the 1st time, a new name appeared in a drawing. ah santa claus, a name and

a story destined for a bright future. the that was a 3rd member of the new york historical society called climate clark moore, who wrote a children's poem called it, twas the night before christmas and it was a very, very popular poem. the santa claus is on a sleigh, which is drawn by reindeer, and he comes down the chimney himself and comes out into the fireplace with the presence and wishes everybody a merry christmas it was the night before christmas when what to my wondering eyes should appear. but a miniature sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer. as i drew in my head and was turning around down the chimney, saint nicholas came with a bound. the stump of the pipe held tight in his teeth, and the smoke encircled his head like a reached. he had a broad face and

a little round belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jetty. he was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf. ah farewell bishop saint nicholas. here comes an elf. later in the 1900 century, that is a guy called thomas nast, who as an illustrator. and he's the guy who really sets down the santa claus that we know and that we still see on christmas cards and that santa claus, the children. imagine of a jolly fat man with the bed and the pipe. me ah,

ah, and during the american civil war in the 800 sixty's, he drew a series of patriotic drawings for a magazine that featured santa claus on the side of the the union. ah, and the face he gave them was that of the kindly grandfather that had been suggested by twas the night before christmas. and whatever else santa claus wears around the world. now in whatever country he's in, he will look like the face that thomas nast gave him an order aspect of santa claus . it's very much that he's a house breaker. he's an old man who sneaks into your house and he actually breaks that family bubble to some extent. ah,

it's very strange when you think about it. we tell our children that there's an old man who's broken into their bedroom and that they should be happy about. ah acoya, i mean, when christmas would come sand to would always show up that only he would come in the evening around 6 o'clock off to saunter and dinner because he always made a lot of noise knocking on the wall, knocking on the door. good. this amy, i your godlike diet. cynthia said only he had a cane and he would shake like an old man. golly, gather lucas? b as it had santa claus would ask, are there any good children here that i gave up and we were very scared. oh that thou bod koya? hiding behind now mother the lawyer. mm

hm. 8, let me. santa claus would come and sit with us and ask if she had been good because i live down. gosh, got yellow guilty. and i would answer. yes, i have been good. the yeah, i wasn't crying glove and the new yeah. ah with the industrial revolution christmas and santa claus soon became associated with a profound change in that social order. the boers was opposed to lower class values . the communal traditions associated with christmas,

like we're sailing bang on people's doors demanding alcohol. wearing masks is replaced by this inward looking family, as opposed to community your table as opposed to the streets your foss site, as opposed to the whole city. this new om inward looking. i'm celebration. yes, i'm why should you my me said you pulled heap will, will really being sent to the distance it. and the bourgeois family became a very important part of society, having grown rich in the sense of the working class that mark was described to martha addiction for the bush were family. christmas became one of the great annual gathering, conjuring which people honored their own members if it showcased this social success and boosted the children's ambitions for charlotte. oh, it will now be showplace awful. ah,

and away is to shift from a religious celebration to a family celebration whether it was in england and france or in the us. there wasn't a family reunion at christmas before that. ah, the protestants band, catholic religious songs and replaced them with new testament psalms. so when english writer charles dickens wrote a christmas carol, he describes a society that is divided between rich greedy misers and poor, but generous people. the christmas tale tells the story of how one of these misers becomes a better man. thanks to ghosts that visit him. they make him realize that charity and generosity can save him from doom. he says he did it,

tell them how he was giving readings of his tale in boston, harris and in london, of course of christ. and people would rush to see him in paris. people described a huge line in front of the british embassy in the middle of winter. though 8 people were in t is yet in boston. a wealthy businessman called fairbanks showed up and reading. after listening to the christmas story, but he also himself, he decided to offer a turkey to each of his workers for christmas and gave them the day off to celebrate christmas. and if you are here, don't happen. it wasn't a holiday at the time that it says, hey daniel, how he as former english kimberly this present the diesel club concept in england is a very interesting one. not a lot of when you because the bosses force their workers to save money during the years. so they could celebrate christmas with dignity. and by the famous goose, which was the english dish, or this notion

of a christmas that is reconnected to morality, reconnected to religion and the american gift of a santa claus figure is going to combine in the 19th century. authentic, in fact, gifts were a part of this to begin with, i see more if i need to be someone to bring again. if i had 1st to carry to bring in a gift, dependent on with the gradually became the same one. that was, it was sad to close, he brought the kids once it became known if he laid working. ah, the american style sounds close also became a major commercial figure who invaded the advertising sphere. santa became universally famous thanks to guess what the department stores. they were becoming

very popular at the time, and they enrolled santa as their number one sales clerk. ah, alternator gay between the 2 old wars eldric or santa claus became the ideal partner to promote the products to add up. so you should have both. then he also became bit naughty on the edges proposal, bit of a scum back. do you know who was used to push big cigars? liquor and easy women eloquent pho exempted from leisure. ah, we'll do so. yes. santa claus was indeed exploited by advertisers and brandon body among which the best known as coca cola would use. but coca cola certainly didn't

invent santa claus to go away. santa claus are so powerful, christmas are so powerful that they call forth enemies. and one of these enemies is totalitarianism. in the soviet union, after the revolution, celebrating christmas was considered bourgeois, thus discouraged. so the communist party decided to revive a non religious figure, dead. moreover, the slavic wizard of winter, under the soviets dead morose, was made to look like a blue santa who came to offer gifts to the children. not at christmas, but for the new year's holiday. of course, dead morose as imagery was soon used to praise the revolution and glorify the working class of the new regime. another totalitarian party that also decided to exploit santa's image for its own benefit was the nazi party.

when the nazis take power in 1933, their 1st thought that the nazis had is just to co op to christmas. so they will try and associate naziism with all of the good things of christmas. and so the ss tries to pagan eyes christmas, they want to move the celebration from december 25th to december 21st, the winter solstice. this is met with a good deal of resistance by the german population. in the aftermath of world war 2, department stores hired santa's by the thousands. but 1st the santa's had to take classes at newly created santa claus schools. a house in time one up in france. santa claus only really becomes important after

world war to go now should get with the adoption of a more american light stop after the war. people want to see only kids, so by me. the 1st high school christmas eve, tina rossi sings the son the premises. little children, gifts by the thousands, in toy factories open up every way for young you industrialized production methods produce more affordable toys to spoil the children wiffle. ah, but where does santa live? it is rumored that he lives near the north pole. but where exactly is it in canada, in greenland, or in lapland? what is certain is that the official santa claus village was opened in 1985 near the finished town of ravone, emmy. right on the arctic circle. it's become the largest santa theme park in the world. more than $500000.00 visitors come here every year from all countries and

religion. hello, please come here. good morning. how are you today? it's have had a few sentences good. don't, don't, don't be afraid. don't be afraid shortly here, just take it easy as they can. so let's start with the photo. so we'll get in 1951 and an under privileged parish of dijon, france, a group of parishioners rejected santa for his consumerist attitude and for up staging jesus. so they dressed up a mannequin as santa and set it on fire. in the next 48 hours worked at these images were seen all over france. so it caused a big scandal really big scandal. every one saw that the church had burned sun totally poked, reveal the draught as it turns out. the mayor of leon felix care, who is also a religious man, vivid on to prove with the burning. so the next day he staged and opposing spectacled effect, in which santa was lowered from one of the tallest buildings in dijon in the city

hall, rooftop repair. but then it here sent out a press release, denying the center was dead and stating the burning had been fast. ah, eliza prompted a corner between intellectuals that several years we'll give a drip. you'll said b. the carter for newspaper provided a forum for defenders and opponents. the defendant, santa claus may rise dollar go in the pro santa come. there were french intellectuals like john cato. she'll birth s brawl o crow levy straus housekeeper quarter, dedicated a special essay to santa said bob with you. the debates became very he for his career prey. previewed all. ready ah. ready

despite the controversies of the past, the day, the enthusiasm for santa is undiminished. every year millions of children send letters to santa all over the world. santa's official post office and romani. emmy received 17000000 letters from 100 countries in 1985 postal systems everywhere have had to adapt to this incredible situation. mister bellow, did you know santa, i'll tell you the secret of being. he isn't easy either. every one, once the children to be good and to work hard at school demise, your health look to forget the battery because it's always annoying to receive a gift and money to try it out right away because the batteries are missing. like a thing to follow in france, the person who was decisive in making it official to respond to letters to santa is a minister named jack marell. please check by when he was put in charge of

supervising the postal says to do it, he felt it wasn't acceptable. that hundreds of thousands of letters were mailed to santa. the father never reach their destination or even look it up. so he created santa team of personal secretary his mobiles, and he asked his sister francoise merritt to be santa's 1st secretary. if we could go to be a good. francois merritt is better known as the writer francois stole to 2 aah! full from swans dole to understood how important it is for children to develop their imagination pool. awful. by the way. yeah, that's also the reason why sean cocktail have been so virulent and angry against francois maria and the opponents of santa claus. he told them, you break the dreams of children. you don't have the right to do that. we sell it, doing the boxes pacifies, of which children send us from all over the world. because growing up is about taking a step on the way the kids said sat there pacifiers in milk bottles and cuddled

tolling. well another aspect of santa claus and father christmas is it's a right of passage for children to learn that he doesn't exist and that he is impact your father. probably just bringing the presence on all that 6 wins at primary school at. well, it's compulsory now. and that's where the oldest students would mock up and say, ha, they still believe in se nicholas glass and he could then after a year or 2, we found out the big secret. glinetta gothic was all parents, the flags in it, sometimes on tv, their commercials with toys on sale. so i wondered if santa makes toys, or why are they the same for profound? poor my so legible your calories i to brings them said there's really no use in buying them, don't you think? and i think that's when i started having dance and i thought i'll just if they're on sale, if that means the parents probably have to pay for the kidneys or ah,

and now santos, facing a new barrage of criticism. will he survive it? the fight is on. he's targeted. it's jesus versus santa, who represents the true spirit of christmas. the original one santa is the symbol of capitalism, the destroyer of the planet with a terrible carbon footprint. santa is all about junk food. his health is catastrophic. ca, lester, all diabetes, hypertension, possibly lung cancer because of his smoking habits. people want to hang him to crucify him. they criticize him of having waited years before introducing himself as a black santa. what do you expect? he's only the image of those who created him. a reflection of our society. it took him a long time to be accepted as a black man, especially in some parts of the us. in the netherlands controversies around the

racial implications of santas, companion, black, pete, but one of the, an absolute constance of the history of christmas is people always complaining that it's been losing its true meaning that people have been boring, but we've lost gossum the true sense of christmas and so christmas is necessarily a nostalgic time when we look back and we warry that we have lost something i taught. don't think the interesting thing is that christmas has become commercial. i think the interesting thing is how worried we all the christmas has become commercial, because that is our worry about the way that society as a whole is heading from time immemorial, people have either tried to appropriate his image or get rid of him. he's been banned, forbidden sacrificed, hanged, burned, but santa still returns every winter. this

a lot of the chose to centric sees none. if it's a 100 percent, for sure, we feel for us, i don't know was believe in santa, but i do see side. ah, [000:00:00;00] ah, the plight of the refugees and kelly. despite the freezing cold, thousands of migrants are waiting,

hear their destination. britain. many pay for the journey across the english channel with their lives. finally, france and england want to focus on europe. in 30 minutes on d. w 2, o 3 or not to own. what about a sharing economy instead? a change in thinking is changing the economy to create something new the economics magazine, maybe in germany, even 90 minutes on d w. ah.

how long does it ah, born and eternity? time it can be measured precisely ended everyone experiences it differently as if there are different forms of time. time. ah, the phenomenon a dimension. if we know we won't live forever, an illusion. about time presenting future's past starts december 31st on d. w with ah, this is dw news and these are our top stories. a jury in the u. s. city of minneapolis has convicted a white, former police officer of manslaughter, and the death of a black motorist, kim potter said she miss took her hand gun for