Tutorial Transcript

I am bored, what should I do? Ah! Ich weiss! Get Germanized! Hallo und willkommen! I wish you all a happy Krampustag and a happy Nikolaustag to those who prefer a less scary holiday! Today we're gonna talk about the origins of the Krampustag / Nikolaustag. For those of you who haven't heard about him before, the Krampus is a demonic-looking creature from the folklore of Alpine countries. He is the companion of Saint Nicholas (Sankt Nikolaus) and his job is to punish the naughty children while St. Nick rewards the good ones. In other areas, for example Northern Germany, the Krampus is replaced by Knecht Ruprecht, a sketchy-looking man who whips bad children. The story of the Krampus has its roots in Southern Germany but has spread to other countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia. The monster's appearance varies but usually it is black or brown, furry and has the horns and hooves of a goat. During the first week of December, and particularly on the evening of the 5th December, which is Saint Nicholas day on many church calendars, young men, often fueled by alcohol, dress up as the Krampus and participate in so called Krampusläufe, Krampus walks. During these walks they scare little children with rusty chains (which symbolize the binding of the Devil by the Christian church) bells and ruten, which are bundles of birch branches the Krampus uses to swat children with. Sometimes the Krampus can also appear with a bag strapped to his back in which he carries naughty children off to his lair or to hell to eat or drown them. Or both. There are also funny holiday cards called Krampuskarten which look quite bizarre compared to your usual, heart-warming Christmas card.Well, that's how German holidays work. Full of fear and demons! Gruß vom Krampus to you too! Over the years the depiction of the Krampus on these cards has changed though. While the originals are more demonic, the newer ones show a more cupid-like creature instead. I guess the dark ages are over after all. In Northern Germany the tradition of the Krampus is not very famous. Here Saint Nicholas comes to your house on the 6th of December and fills up your shoes with candy and sometimes little gifts. And if you were naughty Knecht Ruprecht might give you a little slap on the fingers with his Rute. Sometimes kids might also have to recite a short poem first in order to get their reward from Saint Nicholas. So will you get your boots filled with chocolate and candy this year or will the Krampus take you to hell? Tell me which version you prefer in the comments section below! If you liked this video please give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends in order to spread these fun German traditions! Also like my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter and Instagram for exlusive bonus content and sneak peeks into my daily life here in Germany! Thank you for watching, vielen Dank fürs Zusehen, don't forget to Get Germanized, goodbye and auf Wiedersehen!

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