Krampus: The Sinister Sidekick of Santa

What, no mention of his appearance in "A Very Venture Christmas"?

lol, yeah he was in the Venture brothers. :)

Still, i have to wonder, why a demon based on punishing children would be designed with such a prominant tounge as its dominating facial feature?!
o.O

Thank You Tiny Joesph!

Interesting. The Dutch Santa (Sinterklaas) doen't have little helpers either. He travels with Zwarte Pieter (Black Pete). Not as terrifying as Krampus but they also promise a good whipping to misbehaving kids.

No sleighs or northern headquarters either. They travel by ship from Spain!

Anything that gives the populace an excuse to drink is good as far as I am concerned. This is why I still celebrate Christian holidays though I am not a Christian.

festivus for the rest of us!

I cannot tell you how excited I was to see this post. I lived in Southern Germany for 8 years (Garmisch to be exact). Whenever I try to explain what happens when this time of year comes around, no one believes me. Yes, it is yet another reason to fill a mass and drink, but it is also one of the most fun, yet scary Christmas traditions. The town that I went to for Krampus is Berchtesgaden. There are several "hordes" of Krampus (you can hear them coming as they have HUGE cowbells) that roam the town over, looking for people to whip. Yes, I said whip (made from long willow branches braided together). The point is to whip the bad out in order to let the good in. St. Nicolaus also roams the town with a band of merriment men (elves). So, imagine this.....every bar in town is packed with people, drinking and being merry....there are gluwein stands everywhere (alcoholic of course)....you hear the bells, you know they are coming....you try to hide behind others, so you don't get picked to be whipped, but you cannot help by watch as others get the crap whipped out of them (I can tell you stories that involve blood and jeans...)...then you go back to drinking and having a good time. Now, if you do happen to be chosen, they are supposed to "mark" you with black soot to show that you have already received your beating, but that tends to make you a target for others. For woman, the name of the game is to snag the whips from the Krampus. I'm sure you can imagine what can be done (lots of kissing under costumes). All in all, it is a fun tradition to witness, just beware of the whips! I miss living in Germany....

I like that toungue....

He looks pretty jolly to me!

seems like something out of supernatural.

and belled, i think i might be choosing the wrong time of year to head over there... anyhting this exciting happen during may?

I think they did have an episode of Supernatural where they find a couple of Pagan gods summoning a Krampus to slaughter people. Man, I cringed at that part where they removed the Sam's fingernail.

check out youtube for some of those crazy krampus festivals... apparently, they like metal

I loved Krampus on Venture Bros. Running around snarling and humping....

qwhacker: Any time if year is a good time to go....

In May, depending on what towns you are near, they may be putting up the May Pole. Each town has it's own and they are replaced after several years. Big ceremony, lots of beer (hey, it's Germany).

And, since it is spring, there will be plenty of fests going on.....more beer....

What part of Germany are you visiting?

(and I am JEALOUS!)

belled: i'll be heading to erlangen mainly, also planning on hitting berlin, heidelberg and eichstatt so it should be a grand old time.