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U.S. kids have it easy – in Germany a demon accompanies Santa and beats naughty kids with a stick. Meet the anti-Santa Claus named Krampus.

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Krampus – A half-goat, half-demon known by many names

He’s known in Alpine countries variously as Krampus, Klaubauf, Bartl, and Wubartl, a beast-like, half-goat, half-demon creature that takes over where Santa left off (think of Krampus as the anti-Santa).  While Saint Nicholas rewards well-behaved boys and girls with gifts, Krampus captures naughty kids, places them in his oversized-sack, and carries them away to his lair or worse, hell. To ensure kids truly understand the legend, each year during the Christmas season, men in Austria, Bavaria, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Croatia dress up in frightening elaborate Krampus costumes and roam the streets looking for small kids to chase, scare, and beat with sticks.

The history of Krampus

The history of the Krampus creature dates back to pre-Christian Germanic traditions and likely originates from well-known tales about St. Nicholas’ battle with the devil.  He is sometimes said to be the son of Hel, from Norse mythology, but he also shares appearances, including goat-like ears, legs, feet, with the satyrs of Greek mythology.

Thinking the celebration of a demonic creature might not be good for kids, the early Catholic Church discouraged celebrations based around the creepy goat-like creatures, and during the Inquisition efforts were made to stamp out the celebrations for good.  Even as late as the 1950’s, in Austria, the government attempted to stop the tradition and distributed pamphlets titled “Krampus is an Evil Man” to all citizens.  Alas, Krampus celebrations persisted despite their efforts because, well, who wouldn’t want to see kids chased by demons and beaten with sticks.

What Krampus looks like

Although Krampus appears in many variations, most share some common physical characteristics.  He is typically portrayed as a hairy, demon-like creature with cloven hooves and the twisted horns of a goat.  Krampus typically carries chains, thought to symbolize the binding of the Devil by the Christian Church, which he rattles about for dramatic effect.  In addition to chains, bundles of birch branches (or occasionally a simple whip) are carried which are used to occasionally swat the naughty children with.  More disturbingly, Krampus usually appears with a sack, or a washtub strapped to his back which he uses to cart off bad children for drowning, eating, or transport to Hell.

Krampus picture gallery

If the description alone is not enough to scare the living daylights out of you, check out the pictures of Krampus creatures below.

Image Credits

In-Article Image Credits

Saint Nicholas and Krampus via Wikimedia Commons with usage type - Public Domain. Circa 1900
Krampus "Morzger Pass" Salzburg 2008 via Wikimedia Commons by MatthiasKabel with usage type - GNU Free. Own work, copyleft: Multi-license with GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-2.5 and older versions (2.0 and 1.0)
Old Christmas card reading Greetings from Krampus via Wikimedia Commons by Historie čertů Krampus with usage type - Public Domain. Circa 1900
Krampus capturing a small terrified child via Wikimedia Commons by Auktionshaus Markus Weissenböck with usage type - Public Domain. Circa 1911
Nikolaus and Krampus in Austria. Newspaper-illustration from 1896 via Wikimedia Commons by Wiener Bilder with usage type - Public Domain. 1896
Nikolaus and Krampus in Austria via Wikimedia Commons by Ostrovok with usage type - Public Domain. Early 20th century
Captured Krampus 1910 via Wikimedia Commons by Cenek Zibrt with usage type - Public Domain. 1910
Krampus a Sesto via Wikimedia Commons by Llorenzi with usage type - Creative Commons License
Krampus a Dobbiaco via Wikimedia Commons by Luca Lorenzi with usage type - GNU Free. 2006
Krampus at Perchtenlauf Klagenfurt via Wikimedia Commons by Anita Martinz with usage type - Creative Commons License. December 2, 2006
Krampus via Flickr by Wolfgang with usage type - Creative Commons License
Krampus via Flickr by Stefan Klauke with usage type - Creative Commons License
Krampus 9 via Flickr by David McGregor with usage type - Creative Commons License. December 7, 2018
Krampus as an Austrian spa via Flickr by Miles Actually with usage type - Creative Commons License. December 5, 2012
Krampus via Flickr by Traveller 40 with usage type - Creative Commons License. December 11, 2011
Krampus via Flickr by Vincenzo Caico with usage type - Creative Commons License. February 23, 2010
Krampus brave one via Flickr by I_PINZ with usage type - Creative Commons License. December 6, 2014
Krampus via Flickr by David McGregor with usage type - Creative Commons License. December 7, 2018
Scary Krampus via Flickr by Wolfgang with usage type - Creative Commons License. November 9, 2008

Featured Image Credit

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