Erstellt am: 13. 1. 2011 - 11:55 Uhr
Rendezvous with the Devils
Dear Mike,
Steven Colbert about Krampus
Movie: Kranky Klaus by Cameron Jamie, Live-Soundtrack: Melvins.
Eine kleine Begleitmusik: Witch House
How are things going? Do you remember the mulled wine party in Brooklyn last December when I told you about Krampus and the tradition of the Perchten Run in Austria? Where young men from Alpine villages slip into hairy goatskins with fanged masks and six horns covering their heads during the Christmas season? How they roam the streets at night on December 5th in search of girls and boys to punish for their sins while Saint Nikolaus hands out treats to those who were good kids? And how we were chased and beaten up as children by those devils and how I still remember the smell of Schnapps coming from behind their masks while we nearly shit our pants? And that the Perchten Runs date back to paganism, a time before Christianity was the dominant religion in Europe (Perchta is a pagan goddess, a beauty that can turn into an ugly beast slitting the bellies of wicked kids and ripping out their bowels…)?
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There are many Krampus or Perchten clubs in Austria. Sometimes, in the not too distant past, those gangs took out their villages' rivalries on each other. These young men used to fight so fiercely with birches, horns and iron chains that people got wounded or even killed. Well I guess you remember all of this, Mike, because your face went pale when I told you about those lovely Austria rituals. Halloween is like “Kindergarten” compared to the Krampus, I think that was what you said after my little cultural lecture.
So when I got news last week about a Perchten Run in honor of the last “Rauhnacht” of the season in Kirchdorf an der Krems in Upper Austria, I packed my gear and tried to hunt down the devils for you. I mean “taking pictures” of them, which I did.
It was damn cold and hot like hell at the same time. Nowadays the Perchten resemble the look of Orcs from “Lord of the Rings”. The young men, who often put sheep fat on their bodies to “smell good”, were guided by private security, police and fire fighters (ha ha ha!) and had to follow a path which was secured by iron fences on each side of the street.
But still those devils managed to grab a few girls (no gay Perchten known so far, maybe they practice a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy) and eat some kids. One of those wild things even turned on a chain saw, but was put down by the police immediately. Can you believe this: a devil in handcuffs? What became of hell on earth, my friend?
I hope you like the pictures.
And please say hello to Lena
All the best
Christian