A unique exhibition in a canal house in Amsterdam shows how the Dutch celebrated the Feast of Saint Nicholas during the German occupation of World War II.

Listen to an interview with Hans Gramberg from Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder

The Feast of Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) has been voted the number-one Dutch tradition by the Dutch Centre for Popular Culture. During the celebrations - which begin, for children mainly, in November and end on 5 December - people exchange gifts, write poems, share sweets and sing songs.

But the Sinterklaas celebration has different meanings for different people, and that is why each year the Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder Museum in Amsterdam presents an exhibition about the festivities. This year's is entitled Sinterklaas! Traditions in good times and bad.

Hidden church
Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder means Our Lord in the Attic. It's an unusual name for an unusual museum. Located on Oudezijds Voorburgwal, Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder was originally a concealed Roman Catholic church, built in the attic of a 17th century merchant's house. At the time, Catholics were prohibited from celebrating mass in Amsterdam, but did so in secret. The church, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, later became a museum.

This year, Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder is presenting an exhibition on the Sinterklaas celebration during the the German occupation in World War II (1940-1945). The exhibition includes poems, letters and photographs of people who lived during the war.

Hans Gramberg, who works at Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder, says the Sinterklaas celebration was an important means of outing frustrations for Dutch people living under German rule:

"When the war had just begun, [people] write that they had nothing to celebrate with sweets or presents. They just had one pencil or one speculaas [a spicey cookie baked for the Sinterklaas celebration]."  

Zwarte Piet
The exhibit also chronicles Sinterklaas celebrations throughout the last century, including one of the most striking features of the Dutch Feast of Saint Nicholas, Sinterklaas' helpers the Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes). Zwarte Pieten are dark-skinned people with curly hair who follow the saint around. As part of the tradition some Dutch people become Zwarte Pieten by painting their faces black and donning colourful costumes. The sight of white people in blackface can provoke strong feelings of distaste for some people, and Mr Gramberg says this aspect of the Sinterklaas tradition is also represented in the exhibition:

"For other people and especially some Surinam people in the Netherlands, it can be quite offensive that Zwarte Piet is a helper of Saint Nicholas... So we asked a black theatremaker to do a small project. She collected poems and images of other black people about their own experiences about Saint Nicholas."

Those poems and images are on display at the exhibition. There are blank pages where visitors can leave their own comments.

The exhibition, Sinterklaas! Traditions in good times and bad, lasts until until 10 January 2010. The museum is located near Amsterdam's Central Station, at Oudezijds Voorburgwal number 40.

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