The Christ Child has been invented by the German reformer Dr. Martin Luther.
He wanted to do away with the "Catholic" Saint Nicholas.
As a Protestant he did not like Catholic saints.

But what happened?
The Catholics fell in love with Luther's Christ Child and adoppted it.
They adopted it so much that later the Protestants thought (wrongly) that the Christ Child was a Catholic invention.
So the North German Protestants today favour Father Christmas (the Weihnachtsmann) - who is a kind of Saint Nicholas in disguise, whereas the South German Catholics favour Dr. Martin Luther's Christ Child (the Christkindl).

Funny, but true!

Long live Martin Luther!