Christmas curiosities #1 - Who's afraid of the Krampus?

Today I'm starting a small series of posts to share some curiosities related to Christmas, and it will be running until the 25th December 2018.

My first Christmas curiosity is related to Krampus.

Who is Krampus!?

He's the Christmas devil, or should we say the Krampus is St. Nicholas's scary companion!?

_{Nicholas and Krampus @ Salzburger Weihnachtsmuseum}

Krampus is a legendary beast typically depicted as half-goat, half-demon, and cames with a chain and bells that he lashes about, along with a bundle of birch sticks meant to swat naughty children into being nice. A sack is also carried by Krampus, in which he carries children to the underworld.

The legend is part of a centuries-old Christmas tradition in Germany, and was created as a counterpart to kindly St. Nicholas, who rewarded children with sweets. Krampus, on the contrary, punished childrens who have misbehaved.

According to germanic folklore, Krampus purportedly shows up in towns on the evening of December 5th, known as Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night. It is celebrated in parts of central and eastern Europe, including Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Other curiosities:

• Krampus is known by various names: in Carinthia he is called "Parti", in Bavaria "Klaubauf", and in Switzerland "Schmutzli";
• A Krampus mask is made of wood, and painted in black, red and white;
• The masks have horns of a billy goat, an iber or a ram.

Where you a good boy or girl this year?

Guess you will find out tomorrow (December 6th) morning!!

"December 6 also happens to be Nikolaustag, or St. Nicholas Day, when German children look outside their door to see if the shoe or boot they'd left out the night before contains either presents (a reward for good behavior) or a rod (bad behavior)."

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Source: Who Is Krampus? Explaining the Horrific Christmas Devil

Stay tuned for Christmas curiosities #2!!

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Please do not forget to check the other daily photography initiatives: Weekday Challenges:

• Monochromemonday - initiated by @old-guy-photos
• TreeTuesday - initiated by @old-guy-photos
• BeachWednesday - leaded by @lizanomadsoul and initiated by @uwelang
• SunThursday - leaded by @lizanomadsoul and initiated by @uwelang
• LoveFriday - initiated by @liliana.duarte
• MarketFriday - initiated by @dswigle
• DanceWeekend - initiated by @uwelang
• MetalWeekend - initiated by @detlev
• Caturday - initiated by @dswigle
• BeautifulSunday - initiated by @ace108
• BeautifulDay - initiated by @barbara-orenya

...and challenges

• BeerSaturday - initiated by @detlev
• ColorChallenge (with daily color tags too) - initiated by @kalemandra
• Bwphotocontest - initiated by @daveks
• MyPictureDay - initiated by @timsaid