St. Nikolaus (Saint Nicholas) - Vienna, Austria
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 48° 12.551 E 016° 22.196
33U E 601775 N 5340457
St. Nikolaus (also known as St. Nicholas) had a reputation for gift-giving and thereby became the model for Santa Claus.
Waymark Code: WMJQRN
Location: Wien, Austria
Date Posted: 12/19/2013
Views: 8
This sculpture of St. Nikolaus is located in Peterskirche. It depicts him standing and wearing clerical garb, wearing a Bishop's miter and holding a staff. Unfortunately there is no sign at the site indicating the artist, title or date.
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"Saint Nicholas ...(15 March 270 – 6 December 343),[3][4] also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Greek[5] Bishop of Myra (Demre, part of modern-day Turkey) in Lycia. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker.... He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of "Saint Nikolaos". His reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints. In 1087, part of the relics (about half of the bones) were furtively translated to Bari, in Apulia, Italy; for this reason, he is also known as Nikolaos of Bari. The remaining bones were taken to Venice in 1100. His feast day is the 6th of December.
The historical Saint Nicholas is commemorated and revered among Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, and Orthodox Christians. In addition, some Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches have been named in honor of Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, thieves, children, pawnbrokers and students in various cities and countries around Europe. He was also a patron of the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine emperors, who protected his relics in Bari."