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Saint Nicholas comes at the night of December 5th

In Germany, Nikolaus is usually celebrated on a small scale. Many children put a boot, called Nikolaus-Stiefel, outside their front doors on the night of December 5 to December 6. St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good. If they were not, they will have charcoal in their boots instead. Sometimes a disguised Nikolaus also visits the children at school or in their homes and asks them if they "have been good" (sometimes ostensibly checking a book for their record), handing out presents on a per-behavior basis. This has become more lenient in recent decades.

But for many children, Nikolaus also elicited fear, as he was often accompanied by the sinister figure of Knecht Ruprecht, who would threaten to beat or sometimes actually beat the children for perceived misbehavior. In Switzerland, he would threaten to put bad children in a sack and take them back to the Black Forest. These traditions were implemented more rigidly in Catholic countries such as Austria. In highly Catholic regions, the local priest was informed by the parents about their children's behavior and would then personally visit the homes in the traditional Christian garment and even threaten them with rod-beatings. In parts of Austria, Krampusse, whom local tradition says are Nikolaus's helpers (in reality, typically children of poor families), roamed the streets during the festival. They wore masks and dragged chains behind them, even occasionally hurling them towards children in their way. These Krampusläufe (Krampus runs) still exist, although perhaps less violent than in the past.

http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Saint_Nicholas/