Men dressed as Krampus, the companion of St. Nicholas and one of Austria's unique Advent traditions, are seen during a traditional Krampus procession in the city of Munich, southern Germany, on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008.
Debate on Christmas was taking place hundreds of years before the so called "war on Christmas" in which modern secular society is supposedly stripping Christ from the holiday. Early Puritans in New England went the opposite direction completely banning the holiday for awhile and especially wanted to rid the celebration of all of the pagan traditions that have been assimilated as various peoples were conquered and sometime forcibly converted to Christianity.
Our modern version of Santa Claus is an amalgamation of various traditional givers of gifts across Europe. In the Alps, some customs that would seem very shocking to modern Americans survive to this day. In those regions, Saint Nicholas is accompanied by an incubus demon called the Krampus who gives warnings and punishments to the bad children or even takes them to hell in a bag or basket. That will give your kids nightmares!
The word Krampus originates from the Old High German for claw (Krampen). Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in the first two weeks of December, particularly in the evening of December 5, and roam the streets frightening children and women with rusty chains and bells. In some rural areas the tradition also includes birching (spanking with a birch rod typically on the bare buttocks) by the Krampus, especially of young females.
Here's a good article on the Krampus from Utica, NY's WKTV entitled Naughty or Nice - Santa's Helper, Krampus, deals with the naughty children.
