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Merry Krampus Night!

Posted by (Des Moines, IA) on

So, lots of folks travel to Germany and Austria this time of year to visit the happy Christmas markets, but I wonder how many participate in the more bizarre Christmas traditions, such as celebrating Krampus Night? I don’t believe Rick ever mentions Krampus in his TV episodes or guidebooks, but he’s a pretty popular dude. He’s Santa’s sidekick after all. Still, how normal is it in the year 2013 for demons to snatch unsuspecting children from a crowd of revelers and carry them off for a mock beating with switches and chains in the town center before "taking them to hell"? Seems like child abuse. Check out some of these photos from last weekend. Is this okay, or is it an old, pagan tradition that should be tossed aside? Have you ever been to a Krampus event?

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/12/krampus-saint-nicholas-dark-companion/100639/

Posted by
2914 posts

Actually, it's not Santa's sidekick. Krampus punishes the "bad" children. Santa isn't big in Austria, as we were just told yesterday here in Ramsau am Dachstein. Christkindl (spelling?) or Christ child is responsible for gifts Christmas Eve. or St. Nicholas. We saw a few krampus in Schladming the other night. Going to the "krampus parade" in Axams on Thursday night.

Paul

Posted by
517 posts

In our neighborhood of Vienna, the Krampus breakout will be this Friday evening. There's a fire and spooky music and gluh wine is sold. It is usually bitterly cold. Then a parade of Krampus and his brothers goes up the street. In my experience, they are more interested in chasing pretty women in the crowd than in terrorizing kids! Lots of photos are taken with Krampus and his pals and small kids hide behind their fathers and mothers. Some braver kids will brazenly roar right back at the monsters. St Nicholas brings up the rear of the parade, distributing candy to all the kids. The evening is fun, cold, and definitely unique. My wife used to describe it as the night when Halloween and Christmas overlap. In years past, we'd invite friends back to our place after the parade for drinks and snacks.

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