Nikolaustag Featuring The Old Bishop Nikolaus And His Companion Krampus/Knecht Ruprecht

Today is Nikolaustag (Saint Nicholas Day). This is the day when the Bishop (Nikolaus was never truly canonized as a Saint) delivers presents to the good kids in Germany, Austria, other countries in Europe and some parts of Pennsylvania. What happens to the bad kids? The answer is below ...

Nick's helper deals with the bad ones. He has many names: Krampus, Knecht Ruprecht, Klaubauf, Hans Muff, Hans Trapp, Ruhklas, Schmutzli, Aschenmann, Bartl, Nickel, Boozenickel, Belsnickle, Pelznickel and Pelzmärtel among others. He either looks like a horrible old man or a devil. Krampus beats the bad kids with switches (branches) and throws them into a sack or bucket and takes them away. My Mother went to a Bavarian all-girl school in Augsburg in the mid-to-late 1940s and she remembers when Knecht Ruprecht came into the classroom and took a naughty girl away, kicking and screaming the entire time. In December of 2004, in the mountain town of Tannheimer Tal in Austria, I myself was face-to-face with Krampus. As for today, I have not seen either one stop by my house yet, but given my track record this year, I think Krampus is going to be paying a visit!

The parade featuring the Coming Of Krampus takes place on December 5, but I am combining both events in this entry.

Below are links so you can see what this fellow looks like ...

http://s4.hubimg.com/u/2151567_f520.jpg

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu43jDhxLYcoAaapXNyoA?p=Krampus&fr2=sb-top&fr=ytff-yff35&sao=0

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oGkk4qEBxLyNAAVF5XNyoA?fr2=sg-gac&sado=1&p=Knecht+Ruprecht&fr=ytff-yff35&pqstr=knec&gprid=bI1dslkSSk6ogXf7M_0z6A&sac=1&sao=1

This link here, which has an arrow at the bottom right, will give you a lot of historic information: http://www.weihnachtsmuseum.com/e/gaben.asp?spr=e&a=10

Krampus, in his different forms, is discussed here: http://www.weihnachtsmuseum.com/e/gaben06.asp?spr=e&a=10

Here are two pieces of paper, depicting Nikolaus and Krampus, that were once on top of Lebkuchen I purchased in Salzburg in 2003 or 2004 (you will note the children and the bucket):





By the way, just from searching on the internet, I discovered that people have organized a Krampus Parade (Krampuslauf) in Philadelphia!!! The date is set for December 10, 2011 from 4:00 to 5:00 at Liberty Lands Park! The information can be found at these links ...

http://www.nlna.org/liberty-lands-calendar.html
http://krampuslaufphiladelphia.com

I am very excited. As far as I know, this will be the first ever parade for Krampus in this area.