Sankt Nikolaus’ Partner
Santa has his little elves and der Nikolaus has . . . well . . . he has Krampus. We are used to celebrating the Christmas season with cookies and presents and Stress, er, Freude. Our Symbole represent light, love and hope. But then we take a Deutschkurs and are introduced to this.
Krampus does not accompany Nikolaus everywhere. He is part of ancient alpine traditions. So ancient, we do not actually know the exact origins. We do know that he became connected to Sankt Nikolaus sometime im siebzehnten Jahrhundert. It just didn’t seem very appropriate to have Nikolaus bringing treats and threats to children, so they divided the job. Since then, Nikolaus brings the Schokolade and Krampus brings the Rute (a bundle of birch switches) and vague threats of kidnapping.
Seriously. He’s been making his appearance on greeting cards since the 1800er, just to make sure to bring an undertone of fear to the holiday Saison.
Who brings what? Test yourself with a Krampus word sort. Some words may appear in the correct box to begin with, but you still need to move them a little for the activity to notice.
Common Symbols surrounding Krampus
His general appearance is rather goatlike, with Hörner, a Ziegenbart and even one Ziegenfuss. Krampus generally has a chain, his Kette. He rattles it quite a bit for effect, but its purpose is symbolisch. The Church has bound all power of the demons. He also often carries large Glocken🔔, also for the noisy, dramatic effect.
Beyond his appearance, he brings with him two tools of Terror: the Rute and the Korb (basket). He uses the Rute to swat at children as he passes but may also leave a small one behind if Schuhe are not properly polished, or if the Kind has been more of a Lümmel than an Engel over the year. The Korb is so that he can drag them away in the middle of the Nacht.
How many symbols can you find in this video of a Krampus visit? What other things do you see in the Video?
The Fifth of Dezember: Krampusnacht
Krampusnacht is celebrated throughout the central Alps, but Traditionen vary by region. Several people hike up into the mountains and dress up with their Masken and Kostüme. “Several” may be a few and it may be 400, depending on where you are. They then run down the mountainside and into the Dorf, howling, shaking their Ketten and Glocken and swatting at the audience with their Ruten as they run by. They dance in the streets, steal Hüte and make a general raucous.
They may even have torches and spray their sparks and flames in the air as they pass.
It can be quite a sight. But hab keine Angst. Der Nikolaus is also there, and Krampus must obey Nikolaus. Das Gute, after all, always triumphs over das Böse. And if you would like to know more about Nikolaus, hop over to my post on Nikolaustag with its text in comprehensible German.
How many words do you know related to Krampusnacht? See how many you can find in the Krampus word search. (The puzzle sometimes registers Krampuslauf as Krampus and Krampuslauf, so if it will not let you highlight Krampus, check to see if it already credited you with finding it.)