Published: 05 Dec 2013 08:13 GMT+01:00
Updated: 05 Dec 2013 08:13 GMT+01:00
- Your guide to German Christmas markets (26 Nov 13)
- Nutcracker makers get ready for Christmas rush (21 Nov 13)
Santa Claus may already be preparing to carry presents to good children everywhere, but in southern Germany another legendary character has different ideas.
The legendary Krampus, usually described as a beast-like, demonic figure with long goats’ horns and straggly hair, comes to capture naughty children and carries them off in a sack to his mountain lair, according to Alpine tradition.
CLICK HERE to see a gallery of Germany’s scariest Christmas character
Stories of the Krampus talk of him coming out to punish bad children around the eve of St. Nicholas’ day.
Traditionally young men across south Bavaria, as well as south Tyrol and Austria don big hairy costumes and horned masks during the first week of December to act the part of the fearsome creature in an especially scary pre-Christmas celebration of Germanic folklore.
Dressing up as the Krampus, or his fellow monster the noisy, gnarly-faced Perchten, has been part of southern German tradition for centuries but in recent years the practice has caused a stir, with the troll-like Perchten banned from a Christmas market in Wolfratshausen, Bavaria in 2008 for scaring children into “crying fits,” according to Munich’s Tageszeitung newspaper.
However, friends of the gruesome beasts said a little scare was no bad thing.
“Children are also scared of Santa Claus,” said Captain Ewald Brückl of the mountain preservation organization of Wolfratshausen, a group working to keep old Alpine traditions like the Krampus alive.
Parents shouldn’t really blame fairytale characters for kids’ tantrums when “they let their children see other horrifying things on television and the internet,” Brückl added.
READ MORE: The Local’s guide to Germany’s Christmas markets
For more stories about Germany, join us on
Facebook
and Twitter
Alex Evans (news@thelocal.de)
Deaths on Germany’s roads are expected to be lower than ever in 2013, initial figures on Thursday suggested. A total of 3,300 people died in traffic accidents – 10 percent fewer than in 2012.
READ () »
Germany’s Green Party has called on politicians to ditch their expensive cars for bicycles and smaller vehicles, after the government’s transport contractor reportedly hit financial problems.
READ () »
Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, who turned 50 on Thursday, is planning to jump again on New Year’s Day in Germany – 25 years after finishing last at the 1988 Olympics and becoming a global symbol of the plucky underdog.
READ () »
People living in Germany are most at risk of having their houses broken into on a weekday evening during the winter, figures released on Thursday revealed. Built-up areas in western states are particular hotspots.
READ () »
A €7-billion expedition wants to put humans on Mars within the decade. Thousands have applied to go to the red planet and the would-be-spacemen who want to swap Germany for life on Mars are The Local’s Germans of the Week.
READ () »
UPDATE: Hurricane Xaver hit northern German late Thursday morning and its strength surpassed expectations. Water levels are expected to rise far high than initially thought, putting cities like Hamburg in danger of flooding.
READ () »
Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) is investigating a string of threatening phone calls to members warning them of negative consequences if they voted against the “grand coalition” deal with Angela Merkel’s Union.
READ () »
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has attacked the “simply unacceptable” economic and political pressure put on the Ukraine, in a thinly veiled jab at Kyiv’s Soviet-era master Russia.
READ () »