Krampus customs have always been highly regionalized. While modern ease in sharing imagery and marketing of costume materials across regional borders has led to greater homogeneity, certain areas, such as those mentioned below, still proudly maintain their own unique take on the tradition.
KLAUSEN
In the Oberallgäu region of the Bavarian Alps in southernmost Germany, the Klausen or Wilde Klausen (“wild Clauses,” i.e., “Wild Nicholases”) play a role similar to the Krampus. They do not appear as part of Nicholas house-visits, but as part of a public run, or Klausentreiben, and are particularly noteworthy for their unusual costuming, called the Häs. While the more usual wooden masks were once used, over the years, hood-like face-coverings made of hide or fur cut with eye-holes have taken their place. Rather than the goat horns traditional to the Krampus, cow horns are more common, and in some towns, deer or elk antlers are used. Bells are worn at the front of the waist rather than the back, and clothing is a patchwork of sheep, deer, fox, or badger skins, sometimes augmented with cooler and more comfortable synthetic fur. If not inherited from an older friend or family member, the unmarried males who perform as Klausen usually create their own costumes, as no specialized woodworking skills are required for the mask. Tradition requires that no suit should resemble another. The Klausentreiben in the town of Sonthofen is the largest and best known in the region with about 200 Klausen belonging to the local Klausenverein (club) founded in 1976. Club guidelines strictly maintain a traditionalist feel, forbidding the use of nonindigenous horns like those of the African kudu or oryx used elsewhere, and the illuminated eyes or painted blood often used in modern masks. The whole body must be covered by fur (not bare leather) so that no clothing or skin is visible. Gloves must be worn to hide the hands, and shoes, if exposed, may not be colorful. The Sonthofen Klausen, like others in the region, use willow for their switches, but limit themselves to a single green branch rather than the bundled branches used in other towns. For safety, they have also forbidden the use of antlers.
In the nearby town of Burgberg, the style of costuming is unique among Klausen, and rather uniform. There, performers wear only white sheepskin suits, and on their heads immense fur hats or helmets made of the same. These are adorned with cow-horns and the pelt of a badger or fox draped decoratively over the top. Barely visible under those hats, performers’ faces are bare, but covered below the nose by an oversized blonde beard made of flax.
Throughout the region, green willow is used for switches, sometimes bundled, sometimes a single, long, well-chosen rod. A favorite game among the Klausen is to corner en masse a more obstinate spectator, demanding that he kneel and recite an “Our Father” or face a beating.
The Oberallgäu is also home to the moss-faced “wild Barbaras” (Bärbele), discussed later, who appear on that saint’s day, December 4. As Klausen runs begin on the following night, Bärbele and Klausen appearances may sometimes bleed over each other’s traditional date, and may belong to a single organization organizing both events.
BUTTNMANDL
Around Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, near the Austrian border, a unique creature called the Buttnmandl is part of the Krampus tradition. His costume consists of a large star-shaped bundle of straw entirely enveloping the body and leaving visible only the arms, lower legs, and a mask covering his face. He appears as part of a troupe (here alled a Bass), along with a St. Nicholas, more traditional Krampus figures, and angels.
The wrapping of the performer in straw is a demanding technique guarded by the the troupe as a sort of trade secret. As there are always 12 Buttnmandln per Bass, and nearly an hour is required to create each straw suit, work begins in the morning to prepare for the troupe’s appearance at dusk. Preparations are usually carried out in a barn lent for the purpose, and make use of straw hand-threshed by the performers themselves sometime in late summer.
Once all Buttnmandln are prepared, they exit the barn, and the farmer’s wife traditionally blesses the Buttmandln with a sprinkling of holy water. The troupe members then recite prepatory prayers: one Our Father, a Hail Mary, and an Angelus said for deceased members of the troupe. The religious aspect of the undertakings is generally taken rather seriously, and it is expected that those who are not in attendance at mass the Sunday previous to the outing will not participate.
The Buttnmandln also wears one or more large bells strapped to their back, carries switches of braided willow, and disguises their faces with masks, either of the carved wooden variety or a soft fur or cloth version inevitably featuring a dangling red tongue.
On the first Sunday of Advent, St. Nicholas, his “Nicholas Wife,” and straw Buttnmandl appear in the small town of Loipl, outside Berchtesgaden, Bavaria.
The name Buttnmandl is sometimes understood to refer exclusively to these straw-clad performers, but may also refer to the entire troupe, which also includes devil characters called Ganggerln (“runners”) or sometimes simply Krampein (“Krampuses”). These characters wear a sort of lightweight version of a more usual Krampus costume consisting of fur pelts, chains, old clothes, and limbs usually exposed, but blackened with soot. Their masks are of either type described earlier, and their bells are much smaller than the usual Krampus bells, hanging from a harness on their back as well as belts. Their lightweight costuming allows them to run ahead of the straw figures and assist with various manouvers made awkward by the more cumbersome straw suits.
Along with these characters, Nicholas is accompanied by a Nikoloweibi (“Nicholas wife”) or two angels, depening on location. The “wife,” formerly played by a costumed boy but now more often a girl, is often now replaced by the female angel characters, as has been the case in the town of Berchtes gaden since 1935. Both are tasked with carrying treats distributed by the saint. Additional switches used by the troupe are sometimes carried by a Ruatntroger (Rod carrier). This role offers a form of apprenticeship to boys under 16 and therefore too young to undertake the other roles.
Going from house to house, the Bass lets out a collective devilish roar as they near each destination. The lead Buttnmandl emits a loud blast on his cow-horn trumpet, and Nicholas leads the entire troupe indoors, including the voluminous straw figures, whose entrance must sometimes be accommodated by clearing furniture or removing doors from hinges.
Nicholas conducts the visit along the usual lines with ecclesiastic flourishes, edifying rhymes or remarks, and a review of children’s behavior and prepared performances. While well-behaved children receive small treats, naughty children and older observers are set upon by the Ganggerln, who administer not only swats but drag occupants outdoors, throwing them in and rubbing them with snow. In snowless winters, piles of old leaves or dirt does the trick, or a dunk in a garden fountain will suffice. Because the Ganggerln are usually blackened with soot, they will also see that some of this is smeared on their victims. The very young, and very old are spared, but household posessions are not. Furniture will be dragged outside and deposited in the front yard if at all possible. More than mere prankishness, this custom, called the “ausramma” (“clearing out”), is interpreted (or perhaps excused) as a clearing of evil influence from inside the house.
While blows from the Ganggerln are understood as punishments, those administered by the straw figures are said to bring fertility. Especially suggestive of this is the Buttnmandl Busserl (“kiss”), namely strokes administered to a young woman on the inner surfaces of the lower legs.
Pagan origins of the Buttnmandllauf are assumed, as the synchronization of the tradition to the Catholic occasion of St. Nicholas Day occurred only around 1730. Previously, it fell in the weeks of the Rauhnächten (later to be discussed) and until the 1950s it was still practiced on Christmas Eve in Berechtesgaden, and in other areas is fixed to other Sundays in December rather than St. Nichols Day.
The straw costumes were not always a prominent feature of the tradition. The name “Buttnmandl” originates with the Bavarian word “buttn” for “rattle,” referring to the bells. Up until the 1970s, straw was used in less elaborate arrangements or combined with animal hides in costumes, and this style still sometimes appears in the community of Marktschellenberg, where only straw leggings are employed.
TYROL
The name “Klaubauf,” used interchangeably with “Krampus” in the area around Gastein and elsewhere, in East Tyrol refers to a rather different breed of monster. Here, the demon is still associated with St. Nicholas Day and the house-visit custom, but is missing some of the classic traits of the Krampus, namely horns and switches. This lack by no means detracts from the Klaubauf’s ferocity. In fact, encounters with the creature in the East Tyrolean town of Matrei are notoriously violent, so much so that the city discourages tourists from taking part in the celebrations and does not welcome news reports, video, and photography documenting the event.
Klaubauf-style Krampus in Thurn, Austria. Photo ©Stefan Tschapeller Photography.
Rather than light swats from a horsetail or switches, the East Tyrolean Klaubauf engages those brave enough to step forward in a sort of wrestling match that usually ends with the Klaubauf’s opponent thrown to the pavement or snow, quite frequently with his shirt torn or even ripped from his body. It is commonly understood that the Klaubauf mask lacks horns because these would be too dangerous in such encounters. The sport reaches its most brutal climax at midnight on St. Nicholas Day, at the Ausläuten, or “ringing out” of the beasts, when 300 or more of these creatures, each wearing up to six bells weighing as much as 40 pounds, come storming into Matrei’s town square. Hospital emergency rooms make special preparations for the event, where as many as 100 injuries may be reported each year. In December 2013, a particularly serious accident occurred when a 15-year-old student sustained a head injury resulting in a coma.
The party responsible for causing the injury went unidentified because costumed participants wear no registration numbers, and the Passen are spontaneously organized and report to no official organizing committee. While the event’s organic character and utter lack of municipal control clearly presents dangers, it is also viewed as a mark of authenticity. Mayor Andreas Köll, in a November 30, 2014 issue of Austria’s Kleine Zeitung, praised the event’s grassroots nature, saying, “The Klaubauf run is a custom of the citizens of Matrei for the citizens of Matrei, a custom which we have not allowed to degenerate into a fire spectacle or show for tourists, a custom which is to be preserved in its originality.”
The impromptu battle matches between spectators and Kleibeife (plural) are regarded as a form of Ranggel, a traditional form of wrestling in the Alps sometimes used to settle disputes or establish dominance. Since the accident in 2013, special emphasis has been laid upon a “Matrei Klaubauf Code of Honor” which lays out certain restrictions on these matches. Any actions resulting in injury are regarded as a violation of the code, which also stipulates that spectators can only be engaged if showing clear signs of their willingness, and that “females, children, the elderly, the frail, and visitors will not be attacked.” All matches are to end with the Klaubauf helping his victim to his feet and a conciliatory hug. A folk etymology of the word Klaubauf for this reason derives the name from “aufklauben,” which could be translated as “pick up.” (The real etymology of the word, however, is not definitively established.)
Beginning around the first of December, the Klaubauf also takes part in traditional house-visits, which are conducted mostly along lines similar to what has been discussed. Nicholas reviews the children’s performance as per usual and is accompanied by two angels as well as two “beggar” characters, the male and female “Lotter” and “Lütterin,” both played by young boys, and a musician on accordion. The beggars and accordionist dance wildly through the rooms of the houses visited, occasionally provoking spectators with lewd gestures, and at the end pass the hat for money (nowadays mostly donated to some worthy cause). After the performance, the Kleibeife rush in with the goal of dragging occupants out of the house and tossing them in the snow. Children may be exempt from some of the rougher handling, but young women, though they may be treated somewhat differently, are favorite targets of this sport.
In traditional homes, families would gather around the dining room table to await Nicholas and his troupe. Once the Kleibeife invaded the home, the table presented a kind of barrier between the family, and the creatures who would attack them. The Kleibeife’s efforts to drag away the table itself became a sort of ritual contest, with ultimate victory on devils’ part resulting in the table being completely removed from the house and set outside. Retaining the table in this tug-of-war was said to bring good luck to the household, while having it displayed in the yard was a disgrace. Modernized home interiors have almost completely eliminated this rustic game of Tischrücken or Tischzoichn (“table-pulling”) but it’s been retained and relocated to Matrei’s city square, where in simple mock-ups of old farmhouse kitchens, grown men with something to prove hide behind a heavy wooden table that teams of Kleibeife try to remove.
Klaubauf-style Krampus in table-pulling game, Thurn, Austria. Photo ©Stefan Tschapeller Photography.
In South Tyrol, or Italy’s Alto Adige province, one finds another variation on the Krampus theme, the Klosn (Clauses) of the town of Stilfs (Italian: Stelvio). The Klosn, named for the occasion of their appearance on the Saturday before or after St. Nicholas day, are of two classes: the bell-wearing “donkeys” who make their initial appearance on the hills over the town, wending their way down into the village like pack animals, and the “devils” or Kleibeife. The “donkeys” are dressed in suits banded with colorful ribbons, lending them the appearance of walking piñatas. Their faces are hidden by what looks like a ski-mask with long, Krampus-like tongues dangling from the mouths. The “devils” wear carved wooden masks similar to the familiar Krampus and robes of much longer, and more ragged multi-colored cloth ribbons.
In Schlanders (Italian: Sildandro) about 15 miles to the east, there is another interesting take on the Krampus. There, the creature’s suit has a peculiar ragged look, as it is composed of wool shorn from sheep. More notable here, however, is the instrument with which the devil pursues his prey, in this case, a Rute the size of a young sapling. With these oversized switches they chase the young men of the city and administer beatings that rival the ferocity of activities in Matrei.
