Day 11

Knecht Ruprecht - Illustration from 1894

History of Knecht Ruprecht

One of St. Nicholas’s assistants, Knecht Ruprecht, or farmhand Rupert, hails from Germany. Traditionally Knecht Ruprecht wears a brown or black robe and carries a bundle of switches or twigs. Around the world and throughout history, St. Nicholas has had helpers – they may help deliver gifts, or determine who has been naughty or nice and is deserving of a gift or a punishment. Knecht Ruprecht is one of the helpers intended to intimidate children and to ensure their good behaviour.

Ruprecht first appeared as a character in a German play in 1668. Other threatening and sometimes scary helpers at Christmastime in Germany include Pelznickel, Krampus and Hans Trapp. But not all of St. Nicholas’ helpers are scary and some of them stand in for St. Nicholas by delivering gifts, such as La Befana in Italy and the Christkindl in Germany.

Want to know more about Knecht Ruprecht and other characters who help St. Nicholas? Ask your local library to borrow:

Santa Claus: A Biography, written by Gerry Bowler, published by McClelland & Stewart in 2005.

Word of the Day

Wunschzettel

Wish list

Meet The Golden Keys

Today's Concert features their performance at Christkindl Market in 2019

The Golden Keys are a dance band hailing from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada that has been going strong for twenty-three years. It started as a family-band orchestrated by Josef with sons Eric, Mike, and daughter, Heidi. Today they have expanded the band to six musicians spanning almost every genre possible, performing pieces from Johann Strauss all the way to ACDC.

The Golden Keys have European roots favouring the Oberkrainer style polka of the Slovenian culture and astonishingly sing in English, Slovenian, Croatian, Italian, Spanish, and Mexican.

The Golden Keys have won numerous awards at K-W's Oktoberfest and are known to have a large fan base. Golden Keys' main focus is creating "stimmung" for any event asked for. Cheers to many more years and beers of Golden Keys music.

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Baking with Mrs. Claus!

Free virtual event tomorrow!

Saturday, December 12, 2020, 10 am - 11 am

Join our very special guest, Mrs. Claus for a special edition of Kids in the Kitchen with Chef Nicole! Watch live on the City of Kitchener Facebook page as Mrs. Claus and Chef Nicole show you how to make the perfect sugar cookies, ready for decorating. Mrs. Claus will also be sharing some of her favourite holiday stories. Keep those tasty holiday traditions alive with the Christkindl and Kitchener Markets! And don’t forget to show us how they turn out! Post to social media using the hashtag #ChristkindlCA and #KitchenerMarket.

For more information about this free online event, visit the Kitchener Market's website.