Weihnachten customs held upon returning from church leading to the gift giving vary across the German-speaking countries. One of the most common situations sees the returning children wait to enter into their (locked) living room until a little bell rings. This bell marks the departure of the one delivering gifts. In the more Catholic regions - primarily South Germany and Switzerland - this is considered the Christ Child ("Christkind"), while those in North Germany commonly consider it to be the "Weihnachtsmann" (Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus) who is exiting. The children then enter to see the decorated Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas tree), with
Samuel A. Tannenbaum Samuel A. Tannenbaum Samuel Aaron Tannenbaum (1874–1948) was a literary scholar, bibliographer, and palaeographer, best known for his work on William Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Tannenbaum was born in Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; he emigrated to the United States in 1886, the year he turned fourteen, and became a citizen in 1895. Graduating from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1898, he pursued a career in psychotherapy, with a strong interest in the work of Sigmund Freud. He was part of the circle of early Freud supporters that included Ernest Jones and Sándor Ferenczi,