What’s the plural of Krampus?

By Kristin Fehlauer

 

This will be my fifteenth Christmas in Munich, but it marks the first year that I made it to the Krampuslauf. For those of you who have never been terrorized by otherworldly beings from Alpine folklore, allow me to explain: Krampus is a kind of devil-like counterpart to St. Nicholas. Whereas St. Nick rewards good children for their behavior with sweets and presents, Krampus comes after the naughty children with birch rods. Some even wear baskets to carry the truly bad kids off to some unspeakable fate. A Krampus is bedecked in shaggy wool, wears cowbells on his back or waist, has a grotesque visage with maniacal grin, protruding tongue, soulless eyes, and wicked-looking horns. Not really sure what this all says about the (South) German psyche…

This Krampuslauf (“Krampus run”) in Munich was a fairly tame affair. No serious fights broke out among the performers or between them and the onlookers; no one needed medical attention as is sometimes the case. I sent a video to my family in the US, and they remarked how quiet it was. And it’s true: no blaring music, no cacophonous noisemakers, no obnoxious shouting or singing. It was nice! And the Krampusse (the official plural of Krampus) were much kinder with the kids than I’d expected. I didn’t see any crying babies or toddlers, and all that the older ones got was some gentle roughhousing or half-hearted attempts to pull them along, then a friendly tousle of the hair as they got sent back to the crowd.

Weirdly, the “monsters” were much more interested in the hats on the women in the front row, either tugging them down over the wearer’s eyes or pulling them off and trying them on over their horns. At one point, a Krampus pushed past me to menace someone in the back of the crowd. I was surprised at how soft the costume was; I suppose I didn’t expect a beast with such a horrid face to be clad in something so cuddly. I got another up-close-and-personal encounter when one suddenly pulled me into the middle of the parade path and swung me around before another “whipped” me with the birch twigs! It’s all a bit of a blur now, but I definitely felt a slight sting on the back of my legs for a few minutes afterward!

I wish I could tie this in to some sort of pithy holiday message, but really I just wanted to share the experience 😉 As the year draws to a close, we at KWP hope that you and your loved ones can find rest and comfort in your own celebrations and traditions—hopefully, for your peace of mind, ones with less devilish imagery. All the best and Happy New Year!