Vintage Christmas cards show Santa Claus with the baby Jesus. It’s rare to see them working together! Usually in this context Jesus is shown riding a donkey, being led by Santa, or else Santa pulls Jesus in a sleigh or carries him on his shoulders. Whatever the mode of transport,
Jesus bears the position of honor and is made the focal point of the image by virtue of his bright, shining halo. Sometimes he even wears a crown of candles on his head.
These vintage illustrations suggest the peaceful coexistence of both traditions: the sixteenth-century Christkindl, and the relatively newer phenomenon of Santa. In modern-day Germany some parents have given up teaching their kids about the Christkindl, having surrendered to the global influence of Santa. Others have found a way to fuse the two mythologies. Still some remain faithful to Luther’s model, despite the ubiquity of Santa-centric holiday marketing.
The Christkindl tradition never spread much beyond central Europe, but the name “Christkindl” did find its way into American Christmas vocabulary in the form of “Kris Kringle,” an anglicized corruption. (In America, Kris Kringle is another name for Santa.)
To add further to the iconographic variation of the Christkindl: Every two years the famous
Nuremberg Christmas Market in Germany crowns a new Christkindl from among a pool of female applicants between the ages of sixteen and nineteen. The face of Christmas to locals, the Nuremberg Christkindl ceremoniously opens the Christkindlesmarkt just before Advent, dressed in regalia that looks more fairy queen than kid angel, and certainly nothing like baby Jesus.
St. Nicholas underwent extensive modification over time to become the Santa Claus we know today, so did the Christ child. But unlike today’s American Santa, the iconography of the German Christkindl is much less standardized. Which is why, for example, online image searches are difficult: many images in which he/she appears are labeled “angel” instead—or, in the absence of wings, simply “child.” The Christkind, however, is no generic angel or child; his/her attributes include an assortment of goodies and toys, a Christmas tree, and a bell.