St Nicholas and Krampus
Nikolaus und KrampusCustomWritten records of Krampus from the late…
St Nicholas and his Krampus visit homes and streets across Austria and Bavaria on 5 and 6 December, and a Krampus run suits adults and older children who want to see carved masks and hear the cowbells up close. The runners carry switches and use them, so small children and anyone nervous should watch from well behind the barriers.
Visiting with care
- Masks are the carvers' work and the runners' property. Never pull at a mask or a horn, and ask before you photograph a runner who has taken his mask off.
- St Nicholas is a bishop and a saint for the families who keep the custom. Let the children have their moment with him and keep your camera back.
The name
Krampus
Most likely from Middle High German Krampen, a claw, or Bavarian Krampn, something lifeless or withered.
german
Regional names include Kramperl, Bartl, Tuifl and Ganggerl.
Source
On the evening of 5 December, the eve of St Nicholas's feast, St Nicholas calls on families to reward the children who behaved, and the Krampus comes with him to punish the ones who did not. The two often appear together that evening, and in some places on the 6th. He goes by Kramperl in Bavaria and Salzburg. Styria and Carinthia call him Bartl, short for Bartholomew, and in Tyrol you hear Tuifl, the dialect word for devil. The name most likely comes from the Middle High German Krampen, a claw.
Popular telling gives the Krampus pre-Christian roots, and the written record begins only at the end of the 16th century. The German Wikipedia links him to an Italian 16th-century image of a devil who devours sinners, an image that spread through the lands of the Counter-Reformation, and dates the house visits to the mid-17th century, when they grew out of school feasts with a boy bishop. Old indoor plays with St Nicholas and his devils survive in Bad Mitterndorf and its neighbouring villages in the Styrian Salzkammergut. Public Krampus runs grew up beside the Perchten runs and came back into the open in the mid-19th century.
A Krampus wears a coat of fur or sheepskin and a carved wooden mask, often of stone pine or linden, topped with goat or ram horns. Cowbells hang from his belt, and he carries a birch switch and sometimes a basket on his back for the children he means to take away. Perchten are separate figures tied to the nights between Christmas and Epiphany, which is why Salzburg's Perchten run on the Domplatz comes weeks after its Krampus run. In the Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria, five municipalities keep the Buttnmandl custom on 5 and 6 December: unmarried men aged 16 and over wrap themselves in long threshed straw and walk with St Nicholas from house to house, with fur-clad Gankerl figures playing the Krampus part.
At Lienz in East Tyrol in 2013 eight people went to hospital, most with fractures, and more than 60 were treated on the spot. In November 2024 a brawl at a run in Zams left eight people hurt and led to 67 police reports, and at Imst a Krampus struck a woman's hand with his switch. The Zams organizers now register each Krampus by name and give him a number, and marshals walk with every group. Read the organizer's rules before you go, and find the marshals before the run starts.
Worth knowing
- Stand behind the barrier and keep your hands in. A runner who swings a switch at your legs is doing what the custom expects, and grabbing a mask or a horn is how fights start.
- Take small children to a St Nicholas procession, where the bishop hands out gifts, and leave the Krampus run for the older ones. Innsbruck's St Nicholas procession is built for young families, and the Krampus run at Hellbrunn near Salzburg starts earlier than the city run.
- Note a runner's number if anything goes wrong at a run that registers them, and tell the nearest marshal or the police.
Quick answers about St Nicholas and Krampus
When is Krampus night?
Krampus night is the evening of 5 December, the eve of St Nicholas's Day on 6 December. In 2026 it falls on a Saturday, and many towns in Austria and Bavaria also hold Krampus runs on other evenings from late November into December.
Are Krampus runs safe for children?
Krampus runs are loud and physical, and runners strike spectators with switches, so they suit older children who know what to expect. Small children do better at a St Nicholas procession, and everyone should stay behind the barriers.
What is the difference between Krampus and Perchten?
Krampus walks with St Nicholas around 5 and 6 December, and Perchten belong to the nights between Christmas and Epiphany. The masks look alike, and the two customs grew up side by side.
How should you behave at St Nicholas and Krampus?
At St Nicholas and Krampus: Masks are the carvers' work and the runners' property. Never pull at a mask or a horn, and ask before you photograph a runner who has taken his mask off. St Nicholas is a bishop and a saint for the families who keep the custom. Let the children have their moment with him and keep your camera back.