Thursday, December 5, 2013

Krampusnacht


The Feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated in South Tyrol on 6 December. Saint Nicholas has a devilish companion named Krampus. On the preceding evening (today), Krampus Night or Krampusnacht, the hairy devil appears on the streets. Sometimes accompanying St. Nicholas and sometimes on his own, Krampus visits homes and businesses. The Saint usually appears in the Eastern Rite vestments of a bishop, and he carries a ceremonial staff. Unlike North American versions of Santa Claus, in these celebrations Saint Nicholas concerns himself only with the good children, while Krampus is responsible for the bad. Nicholas dispenses gifts, while Krampus supplies coal and the ruten bundles. (Font: Wikipedia).

12 comments:

orvokki said...

Autsch … what a scary face :) Nice

Kate said...

As I child I always was visited by Saint Nicholas who was far more benevolent than this, without Krampus!

Sharon said...

Wow, a pending visit from this guy would scare me into being a good kid.

Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.com said...

My thoughts are the same as Sharon's. If I were a kid, I would be scared into being good to avoid being confronted by anyone who looked like that.

VP said...

That is a scary character...

William Kendall said...

Now he looks fierce!

Taken For Granted said...

Have a friend who collects ethnic masks, and this one is terrific. I'm sure kids would be terrified if this fellow showed up. Interesting Christmas traditions. Thanks for the post.

cieldequimper said...

I'm glad that Nikolaus is coming tonight and not Krampus. Yes, I know I'm too old for it but my Mum doesn't seem to care... :-)

hamilton said...

Well, kids like to be scared, and this creature would certainly do that!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Oh la! That's one scary Krampus Karl :))

Unknown said...

What a fantastic mask!

Oakland Daily Photo said...

Holy cow. If I were a kid, Krampus would scare my socks off.

Select your favorite posts and photos by clicking on the labels below...

Adige Valley (793) Agriculture (192) Ahrntal (22) Animals (119) Architecture (190) Art (72) Benches (311) Bolzano (613) Castles (116) Churches (505) Culture (23) Details (706) Dolls (84) Events (64) Festivities (90) Flowers (253) Folklore (64) Food (77) Fountains (57) Free time (259) Funes Valley (61) Handicrafts (59) Isarco Valley (331) Just for Fun (83) Ladin (11) Landscapes (1082) Martell Valley (30) Merano (155) Monuments (29) Murals (452) Nature (236) Reflections (452) Ritten (95) Schlern (205) Seasons (440) Signs (191) Society (111) South Tyrol (221) Sport (38) Stecher (12) Sundials (66) Theme Days (116) Tourism (193) Tschögglberg (89) Überetsch (200) Ulten (77) Unterland (226) Val Badia (52) Val Casies (13) Val di Non (47) Val Gardena (205) Val Passiria (190) Val Pusteria (229) Val Sarentino (124) Val Senales (91) Videos (9) Vinschgau Valley (274) Wipptal (62)