Is Krampus Coming for You?

With the arrival of the Christmas season, legends and traditions from this celebration start to resurface. The most common in the West is, of course, Santa Claus, who used to be known as Saint-Nicholas, and his Gulag... I mean the toy factory in the North Pole.

But did you know that Saint Nicholas wasn't the only one who visited children in December? If the patron of children delivered presents to those who behaved well, someone else came along to punish the disobedient. This being was Krampus, also known as Belsnickle or Knecht Ruprecht. He was a sort of devil following the Saint during his annual visit. If you couldn't tell already, he was German. While Saint Nicholas would distribute presents to nice children, as we mentioned earlier, Krampus came to punish the misbehaving ones by either beating them up with a stick (when he was feeling nice), eating them or dragging them to hell (if they were REALLY pushing it). So, kids, behave or else…!

Like all old legends, it is a bit of a blur when it comes from his origins. While Saint Nicholas was most likely a real-life person living in the Roman Empire, Krampus has more of a pagan origin. Indeed, during the ancient winter solstice celebrations, it was recorded that a goat-like figure also wandered around to beat up unruly children. Seems like Christmas wasn't all nice and charming back then!