Krampus
You hear it again, the aggressive rattling of chains grows closer and closer as you hesitantly peer into the darkness. Faintly you can see their source and your heart beats fast as you try to run, but there is no escape. In mere seconds they are on you! Devilish looking being with horns and red faces taunting yoo. Suddenly you feel a sharp pain as one sweeps your legs and sends you tumbling to the ground. Surrounded now the demonic figures begin their merciless beating.
A couple of Krampuses during a Krampus Run. Courtesy of Sott.
Description and Origin
Krampus is a malevolent holiday figure whose presence is celebrated towards the end of every year across Central and Eastern Europe. While descriptions of him vary from region to region he is mostly seen as a mix between goat, man, and demon. His most prominent features include long horns protruding out of his head, coal black fur, a long snake-like tongue, and two cloven footed legs. He is also often described as having a bare fiery red face and chest, fangs, and sharp claws.
Krampus stuffs a little boy into his basket while a little girl, presumably the boys sister, sits and enjoys her gift for being good. The text says “Greetings from Krampus!” Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
When the night of December 5 rolls around children are terrified at the prospect of a visit from Krampus. This night is known as Krampusnacht, Krampus Night, and is when the devilish figure leaves the underworld to punish children who have been naughty during the year. In order to announce his presence and scare the children he incessantly rattles a length of rusty chain or a belt covered in bells. For actual punishment he carries a bundle of birch sticks which he uses to mercilessly beat misbehaving kids. Krampus also carries a sack or basket which he stuffs particularly naughty children into. He then takes these kids to his lair in the underworld where he will torment and possibly eat them. The day after Krampusnacht is called Nikolaustag, St. Nicholas Day. On this day children rush outside to see if St. Nicholas left them a present in the shoe they set out for him. Children who misbehaved that year would receive a rod in their shoe instead of a gift, though most did not need to check to know that they had misbehaved since they would have already been visited by Krampus.
A postcard showing St. Nicholas and Krampus. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
While this may sound like a fantastical creature made up by parents in order to stop their children from misbehaving, and certainly it was and is used for that, Krampus does have a real world presence. In many parts of Austria and Germany people would take part in Perchtenlauf or Klaubaufe. This was an event where primarily men dressed up as the demon goat and ran through the town scaring people and hitting them with bundles of twigs and switches. Some would even go so far as putting young children in cloth sacks and dragging them through the snow. Understandably this terrified, and likely traumatized, many children to the point that they dreaded his return.
While stories of Krampus can be found all across Europe he is most prominently celebrated in Germany and Austria. Krampus’s name is even derived from the German word krampen, which means claw. The Christmas devil sprung up in these regions due to pagan celebrations surrounding the Winter Solstice. The earliest written evidence of Krampus comes from the 17th century, but the tradition is certainly older than that and the folklore was likely passed down orally before. Anthropologists and historians believe that the reason Krampus is depicted as a goat, man, demon hybrid is because whoever wanted to dress up as him had to use materials that were available in the alpine regions. Which in the way of demonic creatures would have been horns and goatskins. Krampus also has some roots in Norse mythology. The Nords believed that Krampus was the son of Hel, the goddess of death, and resides in the underworld with her.
Krampus postcard from the 19th century. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Suppression
Due to his devilish appearance and menacing actions it should come as no surprise that throughout the ages there have been attempts to put an end to this tradition. Due to Krampuses pagan roots and similarities to Lucifer the Catholic Church forbade its members from taking part in the tradition, even going so far as to actively suppress it in regions where they had great influence. Starting in 1934 Austria’s conservative Christian Social Party tried for several years to make the tradition more tame, but little came of their efforts. During the Second World War Fascist countries deemed Krampus “despicable” and called it an invention of the Social Democrats. However none of these parties could stop the annual traditions, and today it has spread farther than any likely ever imagined.
A postcard with St. Nicholas and Krampus looking at each other in an unsettling way. Courtesy of The Vintage News.
Modern Day
Krampus has seen a resurgence in modern times. For a long time Krampus was only known in localized regions throughout Europe, but when the popularity of Christmas cards exploded in the 19th century images of Krampus were emblazoned across many of them and he reached a much wider audience. During the First and Second World Wars his popularity died down, but has come back in recent years due to pop culture and peoples want for a less traditional holiday figure. For example, in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic the Perchtenlauf/Klaubaufe has been reborn. It is now called the Krampuslauf, Krampus Run, and takes place on the evening of December 5. Mostly dunken men dressed like Krampus run through the streets of towns and villages carrying torches, rattling chains and bells, and chasing people with whips and switches. The event can become extremely rowdy and violent, it is not uncommon for spectators to receive bruises and welts from the switches. In recent years safeguards have been put in place to ensure the beatings do not get out of hand. Parts of Europe have also begun selling chocolate Krampuses, Krampus shaped breads, Krampus action figures, and decorative horns.
Some pictures from a modern Krampus Run. (Click the right edge to flip through the gallery.) Images courtesy of I Am Expat, Ruptly, Tirol Werbung, and LA Weekly respectively.
The Christmas demon has even crossed the pond and gained traction in the United States. In the 19th century Santa Claus/St. Nick became popular in America. During this time Santa did the job of Krampus, punishing bad children by giving them lumps of coal instead of gifts. However as time went on the image of Santa softened and he was no longer seen as an entity that truly punished kids. This softening planted the seeds that allowed Krampus to creep into American society.
Late 19th to early 20th century depiction of St. Nick/Santa Claus. Courtesy of Getty Images.
Krampus became incredibly popular in the 21st century thanks to director and magazine editor Monte Beauchamp. A friend gave Beauchamp several pre-World War One postcards containing prints of the devilish figure and he became fascinated with them. Beauchamp decided to feature the postcards in his popular BLAB! magazine, which features collections of found art and comics. The demonic creature was a hit and garnered widespread attention. This inspired him to collect more of these vintage cards and publish a book featuring the most artistic ones. In 2004 The Devil in Design: The Krampus Postcards was published and Beauchamp was soon contacted by numerous media agencies to license the designs to use in TV shows and movies. Thanks to Beauchamp there have been Krampus movies, popular tv shows with Christmas specials featuring him, comic books, Krampus parties, and even localized Krampusnachts. Chicago in particular has embraced the tradition and is now the unofficial Krampus capital of the United States.
Monte Beauchamp. Courtesy of Society of Illustrators.
However all the attention and commercialization has made some people unhappy. Many are now complaining that the once edgy holiday figure is becoming too mainstream and losing his original frightfulness. While several are dismayed by this, pop culture experts say that we should have seen it coming. As Santa became nothing but a spirit for good people yearned for a balancing bad spirit, which just happened to come in the form of Krampus. He has survived condemnation from the Catholic Church and major authoritarian governments. It does not appear that he will be going anywhere anytime soon, especially without some sort of (Christmas) miracle.
Several vintage postcards of Krampus. (Click the right edge to flip through the gallery.) Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons x9, Buzzfeed, Krampus.com, and True Jersey respectively.
Personal Thoughts
I want to say that I found out about Krampus around the time of my freshman year of high school, that is when a lot of TV shows began showing Christmas specials involving him. I always thought he was interesting and I think it would be cool to go to one of the Krampus runs. Being a Christian myself I don’t have an issue with Krampus. To me it is a tradition that people partake in more for the fun of it, not because they believe in him. I don’t see anyone being dragged away from Christ because of Krampus. The costumes are neat, while doing research I saw some really well put together ones. People certainly take it seriously.
Also I would highly recommend googling “Krampus Run” and looking at some of the costumes people have. I included some in this article but it’s crazy what people come up with.
Sources
Cover photo courtesy of The Vintage News.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/12/131217-krampus-christmas-santa-devil/#close
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/krampus-could-come-you-holiday-season-180957438/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Krampus
http://www.krampus.com/who-is-krampus.php
https://www.christmasmarketsaustria.com/krampus.php
https://www.stnicholascenter.org/around-the-world/customs/austria/krampus
https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-krampus-christmas-kogan-1124-20191119-kbu4iyybafcgfmo6b2eo3tmxda-story.html
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-truth-about-krampus
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hel-Norse-deity#:~:text=Hel%2C%20in%20Norse%20mythology%2C%20originally,to%20lie%20downward%20and%20northward
