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GRESTEN, Austria (Reuters) - As Christmas nears, Austrian children
hoping for gifts from Santa Claus will also be watching warily for
"Krampus," his horned and hairy sidekick.
In folklore, Krampus was a devil-like figure who drove away evil
spirits during the Christian holiday season.
Traditionally, he appeared alongside Santa around December 6, the
feast of St. Nicholas, and the two are still part of festivities in
many parts of central Europe.
But these traditions came under the spotlight in Austria this year,
after reports last week that Santa -- also known as St Nicholas,
Father Christmas or Kris Kringle -- had been banned from visiting
kindergartens in Vienna because he scared some children.
Officials denied the reports, but said from now on only adults the
children knew would be able to don Santa's bushy white beard and red
habit to visit the schools.
Now, a prominent Austrian child psychiatrist is arguing for a ban on
Krampus, who still roams towns and villages in early December.
Boisterous young men wearing deer horns, masks with battery-powered
red eyes, huge fangs, bushy coats of sheep's fur, and brandishing
birchwood rods storm down the streets, confronting spectators gathered
to watch the medieval spectacle, which is also staged in parts of
nearby Hungary, Croatia and Germany's Bavaria state.
Anyone who doesn't dodge or run away fast enough might get swatted --
although not hard -- with the rod.
"The Krampus image is connected with aggression, and in a world that
is anyway full of aggression, we shouldn't add figures standing for
violence... and hell," child psychiatrist Max Friedrich said.
Friedrich, who says Krampus is scary because people can't communicate
with a mask, doesn't get much of a hearing in the traditionalist towns
of Lower Austria and the Salzburg and Tyrol regions that hold the most
elaborate Krampus processions.
In Gresten, 3,000 people, including many children, packed the kerbs of
Dorfstrasse one recent night to await his coming.
The horned figure suddenly burst out of a dark corner, shouting
menacingly at onlookers and waving his birchwood whip.
As he knocked over a metal crowd barrier and waded into the
spectators, a boy who identified himself as Simon flinched.
"Don't worry," a nearby adult assured Simon. "Krampus won't do
anything to you. He's not allowed to."
Johann Leichtfried, a young Krampus actor in Gresten, defended his
role and said most children were fascinated by Krampus's symbolism.
"Krampus is for the kids."
But not everyone agrees.
Listeners of Austrian youth radio station FM4 shared the horror they
felt when first confronted the figure.
"Krampus scared ... me when I was seven," said one, identified as Riem
on FM4's Web site. "I panicked that I was never going to see my father
again because a hoofed human wanted to throw me in his wooden
backpack."
But Friedrich conceded there had been few known cases of "Krampus trauma."
He said Krampus remained a popular custom probably because "there's a
phenomenon of finding fear attractive," pointing for example to the
frequently frightening, sometimes gruesome, plot twists in the classic
fairy-tales of the Grimm brothers.
Sometimes, Krampus can get carried away -- in some towns in the Tyrol
and Salzburg areas, some of the horned devils have lost control after
downing a few too many beers or schnapps.
"In Tyrolean communities ... the Krampus actors have to wear a number
so everyone can know who the bad guy is behind the mask, just in
case," said Friedrich.
GRESTEN, Austria (Reuters) - As Christmas nears, Austrian children
hoping for gifts from Santa Claus will also be watching warily for
"Krampus," his horned and hairy sidekick.
In folklore, Krampus was a devil-like figure who drove away evil
spirits during the Christian holiday season.
Traditionally, he appeared alongside Santa around December 6, the
feast of St. Nicholas, and the two are still part of festivities in
many parts of central Europe.
But these traditions came under the spotlight in Austria this year,
after reports last week that Santa -- also known as St Nicholas,
Father Christmas or Kris Kringle -- had been banned from visiting
kindergartens in Vienna because he scared some children.
Officials denied the reports, but said from now on only adults the
children knew would be able to don Santa's bushy white beard and red
habit to visit the schools.
Now, a prominent Austrian child psychiatrist is arguing for a ban on
Krampus, who still roams towns and villages in early December.
Boisterous young men wearing deer horns, masks with battery-powered
red eyes, huge fangs, bushy coats of sheep's fur, and brandishing
birchwood rods storm down the streets, confronting spectators gathered
to watch the medieval spectacle, which is also staged in parts of
nearby Hungary, Croatia and Germany's Bavaria state.
Anyone who doesn't dodge or run away fast enough might get swatted --
although not hard -- with the rod.
"The Krampus image is connected with aggression, and in a world that
is anyway full of aggression, we shouldn't add figures standing for
violence... and hell," child psychiatrist Max Friedrich said.
Friedrich, who says Krampus is scary because people can't communicate
with a mask, doesn't get much of a hearing in the traditionalist towns
of Lower Austria and the Salzburg and Tyrol regions that hold the most
elaborate Krampus processions.
In Gresten, 3,000 people, including many children, packed the kerbs of
Dorfstrasse one recent night to await his coming.
The horned figure suddenly burst out of a dark corner, shouting
menacingly at onlookers and waving his birchwood whip.
As he knocked over a metal crowd barrier and waded into the
spectators, a boy who identified himself as Simon flinched.
"Don't worry," a nearby adult assured Simon. "Krampus won't do
anything to you. He's not allowed to."
Johann Leichtfried, a young Krampus actor in Gresten, defended his
role and said most children were fascinated by Krampus's symbolism.
"Krampus is for the kids."
But not everyone agrees.
Listeners of Austrian youth radio station FM4 shared the horror they
felt when first confronted the figure.
"Krampus scared ... me when I was seven," said one, identified as Riem
on FM4's Web site. "I panicked that I was never going to see my father
again because a hoofed human wanted to throw me in his wooden
backpack."
But Friedrich conceded there had been few known cases of "Krampus trauma."
He said Krampus remained a popular custom probably because "there's a
phenomenon of finding fear attractive," pointing for example to the
frequently frightening, sometimes gruesome, plot twists in the classic
fairy-tales of the Grimm brothers.
Sometimes, Krampus can get carried away -- in some towns in the Tyrol
and Salzburg areas, some of the horned devils have lost control after
downing a few too many beers or schnapps.
"In Tyrolean communities ... the Krampus actors have to wear a number
so everyone can know who the bad guy is behind the mask, just in
case," said Friedrich.