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A wild Christmas character is making a devilish comeback. Krampus gets his name from a word for “claw.” That’s apt for a demon said to grab naughty children and stuff them in his sack. Popular in Alpine villages centuries ago, Krampus scared kids straight—his long red tongue upped the fear factor—and taught them that evil bows before good. He served Santa’s forerunner, kindly St. Nicholas, who had “the power to send Krampus back to hell,” says Austrian ethnologist Ulrike Kammerhofer-Aggermann.
Europe once had a roster of Christmas rascals like Krampus, many with pagan roots. And Yule was a lot like today’s Halloween, partly because farmers had time off from chores and could party with abandon. On December 5, the eve of St. Nick’s feast day, folks would bang on doors for food and drink.
But by the 1800s, church leaders had marginalized Krampus. Now he’s enjoying a mini-revival, mainly for the fun of it. The Austrian state of Salzburg alone has 180 Krampus clubs, more than half set up since 1990, says Josef Moser, Jr., chairman of Austria’s Krampus Museum. Revelers roam streets in Krampus garb, rattle bells, and roar. “It feels good!” says Moser. Alas, some drink, brawl, even riot—frightening kids and adults alike. —Marc Silver
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Comments
Nov 30, 2009 12PM #
Holy smokes...that is one scary picture...amazing!
GartenGrl
Nov 30, 2009 12PM #
Merry Krampus NatGeo. I'm just courious if I'm supposed to postly only praises on your blog.
It appears all the criticism in Chris' "uncommon courage" blogpost have been censored.
Nov 30, 2009 12PM #
In the Tirol (Austria) they are also known as "Tuifl" and they have really Hollywood-like styled masks and perform shows with great shocking elements:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxn7dcWnllw
http://images.google.at/images?hl=de&rlz=1C1CHOQ_deAT351AT352&um=1&sa=1&q=krampus&btnG=Bilder-Suche&aq=f&oq=&start=0
Nov 30, 2009 12PM #
These are some cray creatures! I would recommend you see these too... might be scared!
http://www.viewbug.com/news/
Nov 30, 2009 12PM #
Yep, I know those "guys". I met them every single year while I grew up in Germany. It's a wonderful tradition. Kids kind of go out and "look" for them. Of course if they catch you, and you get a litte whipping it hurts, but hey, afterwards you have bragging rights and next year you do it again :o).
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