It's Sankt Nikolaus day
In Austria the guy who inspired the creation of good old Santa - Sankt Nikolaus (or affectionately called Nikolo by little kids) - walks the streets and gives his blessings. Yesterday, his grumpy companion - Krampus - birched naughty children [1]. Today, the nice kids get sweets and fruits. Dudes and dudesses, put your boots or socks outside your doors and hope for the best.
I always loved that tradition. According to stories from my grandmother I used to be terribly afraid of the Krampus [2], nevertheless, behaved quite cleverly when one of the dressed up Nikolos asked me what I wanted for Christmas. Well knowing that he was carrying around a sack full of sweets I replied: «Ein Zuckerl, bitte» (candy, please).
[1] Isn't it a funny coincidence that December 05 is also my brother's birthday?
[2] No wonder, look at the embedded picture.
2 Comments:
Man, Krampus is creepy-looking.
There is a tradition in the more rural regions of Austria that several young men dress up as Krampuses and try scare the shit out of the crowd. Some of the costumes actually look as if they came straight from hell. The German term for this is "Perchtenlauf" (not that anyone is interested in this anyway ;-)
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