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Krampus
The Krampus () is a horned anthropomorphic figure who, in the Central and Eastern Alpine folkloric tradition, is said to accompany Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of 5 December (''Krampusnacht''; "Krampus Night"), immediately before the Feast of St. Nicholas on 6 December. In this tradition, Saint Nicholas rewards well-behaved children with small gifts, while Krampus punishes badly behaved ones with birch rods. The origin of the figure is unclear; some folklorists and anthropologists have postulated that it may have pre-Christian origins. In certain traditional parades and in such events as the ("Krampus run"), some young men dressed as Krampus attempt to scare the audience with their antics. Krampus is featured on holiday greeting cards called . The figure has been imported into popular culture around the world, and has appeared in movies, TV shows and games. Origins Discussing his observations in 1975 while in Irdning, a small town in Styri ...
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Krampus Morzger Pass Salzburg 2008 04
The Krampus () is a horned anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic figure who, in the Central and Eastern Alps, Alpine folklore, folkloric tradition, is said to accompany Saint Nicholas (European folklore), Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of 5 December (''Krampusnacht''; "Krampus Night"), immediately before the Feast of St. Nicholas on 6 December. In this tradition, Saint Nicholas rewards well-behaved children with small gifts, while Krampus punishes badly behaved ones with Birching, birch rods. The origin of the figure is unclear; some Folklore studies, folklorists and anthropologists have postulated that it may have pre-Christian origins. In certain traditional parades and in such events as the ("Krampus run"), some young men dressed as Krampus attempt to scare the audience with their antics. Krampus is featured on holiday greeting cards called . The figure has been imported into popular culture around the world, and has appeared in movies, TV shows and game ...
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Knecht Ruprecht
Knecht Ruprecht (; English: ''Farmhand Rupert'', ''Servant Rupert'' or ''Farmhand Robert'', ''Servant Robert'') is a companion of Saint Nicholas as described in the folklore of Germany. He is the most popular gift-bringing character in Germany after Saint Nicholas, Christkindl, and Der Weihnachtsmann but is virtually unknown outside the country. He first appears in written sources in the 17th century, as a figure in a Nuremberg Christmas procession. Background The companions of Saint Nicholas are a group of closely related figures who accompany Saint Nicholas in territories formerly in the Holy Roman Empire or the countries that it influenced culturally. These characters act as a foil to the benevolent Christmas gift-bringer, threatening to thrash or abduct disobedient children. Jacob Grimm (in ''Deutsche Mythologie'') associated this character with the pre-Christian house spirit (kobold, elf) which could be either benevolent or malicious, but whose mischievous side was em ...
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Saint Nicholas (European Folklore)
Saint Nicholas is a legendary figure in European folklore based on the Greek early Christian bishop Nicholas of Myra, patron saint of children. On Saint Nicholas Day, children wait for Saint Nicholas to come and put a present under their pillow or in a boot on their windowsill, provided that the children were good during the year. Children who behaved badly may expect to find a twig or a piece of coal under their pillows. In the Netherlands (see ''Sinterklaas''), Dutch children put out a shoe filled with hay and a carrot for Saint Nicholas' horse. It is believed that Saint Nicholas arrives to celebrate his day, December 6 (December 19 according to the Julian calendar) or November 11 in Belgium, and leaves before Christmas. This tradition is well known and celebrated in Austria (Austrian German: Nikolo), Belgium, Croatia (), the Czech Republic (), north-east France (), western and southern Germany (), Switzerland (Swiss German: Samichlaus), Hungary (), Luxembourg, the Netherlands ( ...
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Zwarte Piet
Zwarte Piet (; ; ; ), also known in English by the translated name Black Pete, is a companions of Saint Nicholas, companion of Saint Nicholas. (; ; ; ) in the folklore of the Low Countries. Traditionally, Zwarte Piet serves as an assistant to the saint and distributes sweets and gifts to well-behaved children. The depiction of Zwarte Piet has gone through several changes since the mid 19th century. The earliest known illustration of the character comes from an 1850 book by Amsterdam schoolteacher Jan Schenkman and portrays him as a Blackamoor (decorative arts), black Moor. This became the dominant representation of Zwarte Piet throughout the 20th century. Those portraying the traditional version of the character, since deemed a racial stereotype, usually put on blackface#Belgium and Netherlands, blackface and colourful 1550–1600 in fashion, Renaissance attire in addition to curly wigs and bright red lipstick. This version of Zwarte Piet became increasingly controversial b ...
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Père Fouettard
; ) is a character who accompanies Saint Nicholas on his rounds during Saint Nicholas Day (6 December) dispensing lumps of coal and/or beatings to naughty children while Saint Nicholas gives gifts to the well behaved. He is known mainly in the far north and eastern regions of France, in the south of Belgium, and in French-speaking Switzerland, although similar characters exist all over Europe (see Companions of Saint Nicholas). This "Happy Father" was said to bring a whip with him to spank all of the naughty children who misbehaved. Origin The most popular story about the origin of ''Père Fouettard'' was first told about the year 1252. An innkeeper (or a butcher in other versions) captures three boys who appear to be wealthy and on their way to enroll in a religious boarding school. Along with his wife, he kills the children in order to rob them. One gruesome version tells that they drug the children, slit their throats, cut them into pieces, and stew them in a barrel. Saint ...
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German Folklore
German folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Germany over a number of centuries. Seeing as Germany was divided into numerous polities for most of its history, this term might both refer to the folklore of Germany proper and of all German-speaking countries, this wider definition including folklore of Austria and Liechtenstein as well as the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Italy. Characteristics It shares many characteristics with Nordic folklore and English folklore due to their origins in a common Germanic mythology. It reflects a similar mix of influences: a pre-Christian pantheon and other beings equivalent to those of Norse mythology; magical characters (sometimes recognizably pre-Christian) associated with Christian festivals, and various regional 'character' stories. As in Scandinavia, when belief in the old gods disappeared, remnants of the mythos persisted: There are: * Frau Holle or Perchta, a "supernatural" patron o ...
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Snegurochka
Snegurochka (diminutive) or Snegurka ( rus, ''Снегу́рочка'' (diminutive), ''Снегу́рка'', p=sʲnʲɪˈɡurət͡ɕkə, sʲnʲɪˈɡurkə), or Snow Maiden, is a Novy God character originating from Russian fairy tales. She has no apparent roots in traditional Slavic mythology and customs, having made her first appearance in Russian folklore in the 19th century. Since the mid-20th century under the Soviet period, Snegurochka is known for being depicted as the granddaughter and companion of Ded Moroz during the New Year. Classification Tales of the Snegurochka type are Aarne–Thompson type 703* The Snow Maiden. The Snegurochka story compares to tales of type 1362, The Snow-child, where the child's appearance is attributed to the mother swallowing a snowflake, as a deception to explain away her pregnancy. D. L. Ashliman, The Snow Child: folktales of type 1362' Folk tale versions and adaptations A version of a folk tale about a girl made of snow and named ...
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First Austrian Republic
The First Austrian Republic (), officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I which ended the Habsburg rump state of Republic of German-Austria—and ended with the establishment of the authoritarian Federal State of Austria based upon a dictatorship of Engelbert Dollfuss and the Fatherland Front in 1934. The Republic's constitution was enacted on 1 October 1920 and amended on 7 December 1929. The republican period was increasingly marked by violent strife between those with left-wing and right-wing views, leading to the July Revolt of 1927 and the Austrian Civil War of 1934. Foundation In September 1919, the rump state of German-Austria—now effectively reduced to the Alpine and Danubian crownlands of the Austrian Empire—was given reduced borders by the Treaty of Saint Germain, which ceded German-populated regions in Sudetenland to Czechosl ...
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Der Spiegel
(, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner, a British army officer, and Rudolf Augstein, a former ''Wehrmacht'' radio operator who was recognized in 2000 by the International Press Institute as one of the fifty World Press Freedom Heroes. is known in German-speaking countries mostly for its investigative journalism. It has played a key role in uncovering many political scandals such as the ''Spiegel'' affair in 1962 and the Flick affair in the 1980s. The news website by the same name was launched in 1994 under the name '' Spiegel Online'' with an independent editorial staff. Today, the content is created by a shared editorial team and the website uses the same media brand as the printed magazine. History The first edition of was published in Hanover on Saturday, 4 Januar ...
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Christian Devil
In Christianity, the Devil is the personification of evil. He is traditionally held to have rebelled against God in an attempt to become equal to God himself. He is said to be a fallen angel, who was expelled from Heaven at the beginning of time, before God created the material world, and is in constant opposition to God. The Devil is identified with several other figures in the Bible including the serpent in the Garden of Eden, Lucifer, Satan, the tempter of the Gospels, Leviathan, and the dragon in the Book of Revelation. Early scholars discussed the role of the Devil. Scholars influenced by neoplatonic cosmology, like Origen and Pseudo-Dionysius, portrayed the Devil as representing deficiency and emptiness, the entity most remote from the divine. According to Augustine of Hippo, the realm of the Devil is not nothingness, but an inferior realm standing in opposition to God. The standard medieval depiction of the Devil goes back to Gregory the Great. He integrated the Devil, ...
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Folklore Studies
Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the academic study of traditional culture from the Cultural artifact, folklore artifacts themselves. It became established as a field across both Europe and North America, coordinating with (German language, German), (Norwegian language, Norwegian), and (Swedish language, Swedish), among others. Overview A 1982 UNESCO document titled "Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore" declared a global need to establish provisions protecting folklore from varying dangers identified in the document. UNESCO further published the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003. The American Folklife Preservation Act (P.L. 94-201) passed in 1976 by the United States Congress in conjunction with ...
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New Year's Day
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter solstice. In contrast, cultures and religions that observe a lunisolar or lunar calendar celebrate their Lunar New Year at varying points relative to the solar year. In pre-Christian Rome, under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named. From Roman times until the mid-18th century, the new year was celebrated at various stages and in various parts of Christian Europe on 25 December, on 1 March, on 25 March and on the Date of Easter, movable feast of Easter. In the present day, with most countries now using the Gregorian calendar as their civil calendar, 1 January according to Gregorian calendar is among the most celebrated of public holidays in the w ...
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