Krampus - Special Topics II

Krampus in
Austria

Through expat eyes

This december in a village near you….

https://youtu.be/7QnbCPNIv0o

’Krampus’, December 2016

Courtesy of Jarad Carleton and Haus Eva Films

‘I've been coming to Austria since 2001. I Saint Nicholas looks friendly and
knew there were a lot of things I had not strangely familiar, but who is that
experienced yet, so when this came
around it was more fun than culture frightening devil?
shock.’ What kind of tradition is this?!

Krampus scaring the Austrian public, Krampus always appears when Nikolaus
December 2016 (Saint Nicholas) comes to town in Austria,

Courtesy of Jarad Carleton December 2016

Courtesy of Jarad Carleton

But first, who am
I?

‘Hello everyone, I’m Jarad Carleton and I live in
Austria.

I’m an American from San Francisco and I’m
married to an Austrian that had lived in the USA
for 25+ years. In 2014 we moved from Berkeley,
CA to her home village of Uttendorf im Pinzgau,

Austria for family. Our village has 2,800
inhabitants and is part of the National Park Hohe

Tauern region.’

Jarad Carleton was a rotating curator for the Twitter account
@WeAreXpats of the Expat Archive, September 2017

Courtesy of Wearexpats.org

Jarad introduces the tradition of Krampus to the followers of @WeAreXpats,
September 2017

Courtesy of @WeAreXpats

Courtesy of @WeAreXpats Well, Krampus comes to Austria at the
beginning of Advent along with Saint
‘I had visited my wife's village Nicholas. On Krampusnacht on the night of 5
approximately every 9 December, there’s a huge show in many
Austrian towns, like the one you could see in
months between 2006-2013
before moving here, but she the video.
never mentioned Krampus to

me…’

And you? Have you heard of Krampus
before?

familiarities Well, Jarad knows Krampus and Saint Nicholas
visit Bavaria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy
and the Czech Republic.
And a majority of the followers of
@WeAreXpats also recognized Krampus.

Saint Nicholas with his helper
on a Nikolaus and Krampus-

party, December 1950

Courtesy of ÖNB/Vienna, US
23.070

Courtesy of @WeAreXpats

However, some followers responded with
different versions of Krampus they know

about.

Apparently, Saint Nicholas has more helpers!

The celebration of Krampus is not limited to
Austria, September 2017

Courtesy of @WeAreXpats

A helper of Saint Nicholas (Samichlaus),
who seems to play a similar role as

Krampus, is the German Knecht Ruprecht
and is called Schmutzli in Switzerland.
While his appearance is less frightening,

he still used to hit naughty
children with a switch.

Nowadays, Schmutzli is a more benevolent
figure.

Schmutzli throws a naughty child in his bag, December 1953

Courtesy of Archäologie und Museum Baselland, D2.3734

As Jarad found, Saint Nicholas is celebrated a bit differently in the
Netherlands, September 2017

Courtesy of @WeAreXpats

Another companion of Saint Nicholas is Saint Nicholas strolling down the street with his
Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). In the controversial companion Black Pete, November

Netherlands and Belgium he used to scare 2006
and threaten children, but now he’s just a
Courtesy of Flickr-user Michell Zappa
jolly helper of Sinterklaas. However,
Black Pete resembles a racist stereotype
of people from African descent from the
19th century and therefore there’s a huge
discussion to whether or not change his

appearance.

Different kinds of Namahage
on display in Japan, July 2010

Courtesy of Douglas P. Perkins

Even in Japan children get disciplined by a Like Krampus, the Japanese Namahage looks like a devil!
demon-like being, September 2017 Namahage is portrayed by men wearing ogre masks and
traditional straw capes during a New Year's ritual. Namahage
Courtesy of @WeAreXpats goes door-to-door and scares children who may be guilty of
laziness or bad behavior. Parents know who the Namahage
actors are each year and might request them to teach

specific lessons to their children during their visit.

Remarkable that traditions across the globe can be so
similar.

History of Krampus

Krampus and the other companions
of Saint Nicholas have been said to
stretch back to an Alpine tradition
of pre-Christian times. The figure of

Krampus started out as a pagan
tradition and was prohibited during
the Inquisition-period. If one dressed

up as Krampus, the death penalty
would be the consequence.

However, it had been incorporated
again by the 17th century, but this

time into the Christian winter
celebration.

‘Greetings from krampus’: even on postcards Krampus was a
popular figure, early1900’s.

Courtesy of Public Domain Review

Since then, the scary
Krampus accompanies
Saint Nicholas during
the Christmas season.

Opposite to Saint
Nicholas, who brings

the ‘good’ children
gifts, Krampus is there
to make sure that the

‘bad’ children get
punished for their

misbehavior.

Krampus resembling Knecht Ruprecht in 1890

Courtesy of ÖNB/Vienna, Kor 135/1

Already since the 17th
century, it would be the
male adolescents who

played the role of
Krampus. Even nowadays,

weeks before the
Krampusnacht - or the
Krampuslauf (the parade

of multiple Krampus
figures) - the youngsters

of their town are
competitively creating
their Krampus costumes.
The current Krampus
costumes mostly exist out
of read wooden masks, the
skin of a black sheep and

horns.

Krampus as a humorous form of national identity and pride in the
early 1900’s

Courtesy of Public Domain Review

Living in Austria

Jarads’ wife was born and raised in
Austria. How did she experience
Krampus as a child?

‘When she was a girl, just before Advent in the early

evenings after it was dark, she would hear the bells
the Krampus wear on their backs. People that are
part of the Krampuspass (a village Krampus group)
would do this to intentionally get the attention of

children to scare them and remind them that

Krampus is coming.’

Courtesy of @WeAreXpats

‘Since I've lived here I have not
heard anyone doing this, but my
wife has and it reminded her of
how scared she would get when she
heard the bells. Also, some young
boys of men in the Krampuspass

would dress up as smaller
Krampus and intentionally scare

the girls. She remembers this
happening and understanding it
was someone she went to school

with, but it still scared her.’

A sober postwar version of Krampus scaring little children in
Vienna, December 1949

Courtesy of ÖNB/Vienna, US 23.072

‘It's a mix of Catholic and pagan
tradition which I find delightful
although I'm not religious. The
thought of bad children getting
beaten with switches & the very bad
children getting beaten and thrown
into a basket on the back of the
Krampus to be taken away and
never seen again has made the start
of the Christmas season fun for me

again.’

Teenagers challenging Krampus at a youth party in Vienna,

December 1949

Courtesy of ÖNB/Vienna, 23.069

Krampus as a way to discipline
Austrian children

Krampus is back in town!
November 1952

Courtesy of ÖNB/Vienna, US 10.664/8

‘In America Christmas is about He will spy on children's behaviour,
consumerism and getting presents November 1948
even when children are spoiled and
undeserving. We have the threat of Courtesy of ÖNB/Vienna, US 8150/1
coal in a stocking, but it only happens
‘Krampus on the other hand is outside of
as a joke.’ parental discretion. Children at the

Krampuslauf in villages in the Alps see
Krampus hitting teenagers with

switches. They can see that it hurts a lot
and they are afraid of it.’

He will check if the kids brushed
their teeth, November 1952

Courtesy of ÖNB/Vienna, US 10.664/4

‘I'm a middle aged man ‘I think it's a fun celebration that
who has been teaches children that there can be
consequences in life when they made
accidentally hit multiple
times when the Krampus bad decisions.’
was getting someone next
He will make sure that they finish
to me. It hurts and can their plates, November 1948
leave welts, so the kids do
Courtesy of ÖNB/Vienna, US 8150/7
have something to be
afraid of.’

‘I emigrated to Austria in The traditional way
2014, but when it comes to
Krampus, I do have a deep People with masks from
the Orcs of The Lord of
appreciation for the
traditional masks and the Rings in New
costumes. It used to be that Zealand, February 2010
masks were hand carved
Courtesy of Flickr-user
from wood.’ Airflore

Traditional wood- ‘These days some seem to be creating fiberglass masks
carved Krampus- or masks from other materials. A small handful look
mask, September 2016 more like Orcs from Lord of the Rings & while they do
look interesting, my wife also prefers the old style
Courtesy of Jarad Carleton Krampus masks and costumes. She was away from
Austria for 25+ years in the USA and she understands
change is natural, but this is one area where she does
like Austrian tradition more than change.’

‘Salzburg has a Krampus event in
the old part of the city, but there
are police barricades to separate
the Krampus from the people. It's
been turned into a tame event for
tourists to photograph. That is not
what Krampus is about and I'm
very glad that I live in a village of
~2,800 where the Krampuslauf is
done in the traditional manner. I
think it's much better to let the
Krampus mix with bystanders

and allow them to do what is
traditional -- threaten and
occasionally hit people with
switches.’

Jarad likes the way Krampus is done in his village, December 2016

Courtesy of Jarad Carleton

Getting hit

Sometimes, the youths-dressed-as-
Krampus get drunk before the
Krampuslauf. There have been

incidents in big towns like Salzburg
with a Krampus getting too violent.

Resulting in bad injuries of
spectators.

Therefore alcohol controls are
now mandatory. However, Jarad, as
an American, likes the rough edges

of the tradition.

Attending a Krampuslauf is not for the faint-hearted, September
2017

Courtesy of @WeAreXpats

There are some barriers that protect bystanders ‘There is far too much
from the switch of Krampus, December 2014 concern about what could

Courtesy of Jarad Carleton happen. Coming from
America where everyone has
to be careful because they are
afraid of being sued in court,

I'm glad we haven't gotten
that crazy in Austria.

Everyone in my village knows
what Krampus is about and if
you don't want to risk getting
hit, you stand behind others

or you don't go.’

‘In my village we have volunteer firefighters watching and

ready to intervene if something goes wrong. The best way to In the Pinzgau

deal with the occasional abuse is to hold the perpetrators everything is under
control, December
responsible for their actions. In addition, any Krampus that
gets drunk and violent should perhaps face the wrath of an 2015

angry crowd before they are arrested.’ Courtesy of Jarad

Carleton

‘Perhaps this is me taking a step back and
getting intellectual about Krampus, but I
do think it is a cultural lesson the people
of the Alps were teaching to children of

impressionable age - behave in life or
there will be consequences that aren't
desirable. For me Krampus is wonderful. I
look forward to the Krampuslauf in my
village each year and I go out of my way to
ensure I am not traveling for work. It's
something I would never want to miss.’

‘No bad children’, Krampus cannot harm the good, November 1952

Courtesy of ÖNB/Vienna, US 10664/6

Credits

This digital scrapbook was researched and authored by Tom van der Aart and
Anne-Goaitske Breteler

Special thanks to:
Jarad Carleton for providing insights in the tradition of Krampus through

interviews and wonderful material.

Marlies Dornig and Peter Prokop from the Österreichische
Nationalbibliothek for assisting with finding historical material.

John Bert and Florien Jenner for giving us information on misbehaving
Krampusses.

And of course we want to thank The Expatriate Archive Centre The Hague, dr.
M.S. Parry and A.K. Levin for all the given information and stimulation.

Cover Illustration: courtesy of Jarad Carleton (December 2014)