So per the question yesterday, "What is a Klausen or Krampus?" (This creature is also sometimes known as Ruprecht in parts of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.) Depending on the region, the Klausen originated long before the idea of Santa Claus. It has its history in the paganistic customs of the alpine Germanic peoples. All versions have a similar tradition, though, of being the helper of St. Nickolas.
As was the way when Europe was being transformed into a Catholic region, many of the original customs of the lands were incorporated into the religious traditions of the church to encourage the locals to embrace the new ideas. So now we need to look a little at who was St. Nickolas. St. Nicholas was an actual man. He was born around 270 AD and served as a bishop for a town called Myra, in what was at the time part of a Greek speaking Roman Province but what is today in the country of Turkey. He was known to secretly leave gifts to those in need. He was never officially recognized as a saint by the church; however, the love of the idea of his selflessness and his methods transformed him into a saint for the common people. St. Nicholas today is often associated with Santa Claus in that both figures secretly give gifts in the night, wear red and have a beard of white. Today's celebrations of St. Nicholas falls on the Feast Day of St. Nicholas (Nikolaustag here in Germany), or December 6th, and it is the time when St. Nicholas will come to leave sweets, small gifts, and fruit in children's boots if they have been good.
In some countries, the helper of St. Nick has turned from the scary tormentor of children to a goofy helper. But here in the Allgäu region of Germany, the more paganistic customs still prevail. Often times, the Klausen will carry a set of sticks (switches) tied together. This is to beat the children who have misbehaved. He will also carry a sack with either nuts or painted sticks inside. In some tales, the sack is to carry away the bad children to the deep recesses of the Black Forest. In other tales, it is to steal the golden sticks from the children who aren't deserving, and leave behind a silver stick - the sign of a bad child. In other cases, it is to carry the nuts given to children who have behaved well. Klausen come in many shapes and forms. Most in this area are dressed to represent cows with horns. They can either be all white, spotted with brown or all brown or black. To me, many of them looked like buffalo more than cows. Some of the Klausen, however, looked like wolves or more like Satan figures. These were the particularly scary ones.
Each town's Klausen are unique, and the level of fear that the Klausen induce is also dependent on the local region. Thankfully, at the parade, all the Klausen behaved. However, during this week, the Klausen will start to come out at night, particularly in the small towns. This will continue until St. Nicholas makes his appearance during the wee hours of the night of Dec. 5th/Dec. 6th. All the children are extra well behaved since they don't want to be beaten by the Klausen. Any children found outside after dark, or even young women, can be the target of the Klausen. Being the target means getting a really hard thrashing with their switches and sticks. One additional tradition is that the Klausen (who are young men in their late teens or early 20s) go from door to door. If you give him a drink of fire water, he will leave your house alone. As one can imagine, as the evening progresses, the judgment of these young men dressed in their Klausen costume can often become clouded. In some of the smaller towns where the police are not numerous enough to control the situation, some women and children have been hurt rather seriously by these beatings. We will be staying in as much as possible this week as we await the coming of St. Nicholas.
Below are some pictures that Monica Brown, the wife of one of my husband's coworkers, took while we were at the parade. To see a larger version, click directly on the picture. Unfortunately, we had to leave the parade early to witness Clemson doing a nice number on the USC Gamecocks! Go Tigers!!! A couple of these pictures are scary and on the gory side, so please be warned, this page may not be for younger children.
The word for today is Parade: (it's a tough one) die Parade pronounced pah rah deh.
The question for the day is "What is the most popular winter sport in Germany?"
Auf Wiedersehen,
Frau Spitzer
