Krampus and the Dark Companions of Saint Nicholas

 

 

 

As December arrives, you may notice increasing appearances by a certain demonic-looking hairy goat man named the Krampus. And if you’re not from the Alps, you might be wondering just what this character has to do with Christmas. Let’s find out.

Krampus hails from the mountainous regions of Austria, an evolution of earlier creatures called Perchten. Perchta (or Berchta) is a goddess from the Alpine regions who took care of various cultural traditions related to the household (and especially the spinning of flax and wool.) Around the winter solstice, she was said to travel into houses to inspect whether the children and young people of the house had been good and the place was tidy. If it was, she’d leave a small gift. If they’d been bad, however, she would slit their bellies, remove their insides, insert hay and rocks, and sew them back up.

Her followers, the Perchten, come in forms both beautiful and monsterous. The beautiful ones bring good luck, and the monsterous to drive away evil spirits. Midwinter is, of course, the peak time of the year for evil spirits to invade homes and villages, so many places have traditions of people (particularly young men) dressing in horrible costumes to drive them out and bring in luck. 

 (A Perchtanlauf. Large amounts of noise and elaborate costumes and headpieces are an essential part of the parade.)

As Saint Nicholas spread in popularity across the Germanic regions of Europe, the tradition of giving children gifts shifted to his feast day. But there was a problem. The good Saint, friend of children, couldn’t be used to scare naughty kids into behaving. For that, he needed a helper. An evil helper, to provide the stick to St Nicholas’ carrot.

Krampus was created to accompany St Nicholas on his rounds. His fearsome appearance, and his habit of carrying a switch to beat naughty children and a basket to carry them away with, is specifically designed to strike fear into the hearts of kids. But all in good fun, of course. The night before St Nicholas feast day (December 5^th) is Krampusnaucht, when the Krampus all run free and wild through the streets. Inevitably, however, St Nicholas appears to bring the devils to heel at his side. 

(Krampus parade through the streets the night before Saint Nicholas Day)
 

In many regions, especially small towns, they make house visits. A troupe (consisting of a St Nicholas and anywhere from one to many Krampus) go from home to home in the village. The Krampus menaces the family for a bit, before the Saint steps in. The children are asked to show how good they’ve been that year (by showing off their grades, or reciting a song or bible verse) and are rewarded by St Nicholas. 

 

(Saint Nicholas and his companions make home visits)

Krampus became especially popular in the 1800s, when the exchange of Christmas Greeting Cards became common. Krampuskarten spread the popularity of the character across Europe. 

 (Greetings from Krampus!)

However, Krampus is not the only companion to St Nicholas, with many areas who celebrate the Saint’s holiday providing their own evil counterpart.

In Czech regions, one has to worry about the Čert, a demon-like mischevious being who hangs out with Saint Nicholas in December. In the border regions of France, Belgium, and Switzerland, the children fear Père Fouettard, or "Father Whipper." This character is tied back to the old legend of Saint Nicholas when he raised the three young boys butchered by the evil innkeeper. This innkeeper apparently was forced by the Saint into being his servent, and became the character of Father Whipper. (What a punishment !)

 

(Father Whipper, with his basket full of switches)

Other parts of Switzerland have Schmutzli, (from schmutz, or dirt), a man in dark clothing with a blackened face who follows alongside the Saint. He carries Saint Nicholas’ sack of presents, but also won’t hesitate to carry away a naughty child as well. 

(Samichlaus and Schmutzli making their rounds)
 

In the Palatinate region of Germany, particularly Alsace, the character of Hans Trapp accompanies St Nicholas. Amusingly, this was a real person. Hans von Trotha was a knight who lived from 1450-1503 and was the marshal of the Palatinate. He famously got into a fued with the local order of Benedictine Monks. In one incident, he dammed a local river (depriving the downstream village of water), and then destroyed the dam, nearly wiping out the town. After death, he was turned into a local bogeyman and spirit used to scare children.

In the Netherlands, Zwarte Piet accompanies Sinterklaas in his rounds. Zwarte Piet first appeared in print in an 1850 book titled “Saint Nicholas and his servant.” Zwarte Piet is depicted as a black man in the clothing of a page, and is said to carry off naughty children in his sack and take them back to Spain (where Sinterklaas is from) to force them to work making toys. While blackening one’s face with coal soot has been a common method of disguise dating back centuries, and is a feature found in many Companions, the Dutch take it a step further by going for full minsteral blackface. Including large red lips, and black curly wigs. This tradition has seen significant pushback in recent years, and thus “Sooty Pete”, who is merely smudged with coal dust from coming down the chimney instead of a racist blackface caricature, has been gaining popularity. 

(Zwarte Piet and Sinterklaas in the book "Saint Nicholas and his Servant")

These Dark Companions are the foil to the goodness of Saint Nicholas. Where the worship of the saint was no longer practiced (due to an area converting to Protestantism), the Christmas gift-giver often morphed into a figure that could both punish and gift simultaneously. (As the modern Santa Claus does, though his punishment is usually no worse than the threat of coal). But more on them in another post.