!!!Nikolausbräuche

Saint Nicholas Day Customs, popular traditions around the feast day of St. Nicholas (December 6). The Saint´s legend (Bishop of Myra, 
d. around 350) includes elements from the lives of Saints with the 
same name (e.g. Abbot Nicholas of Sion, d. 564) such as the giving of 
presents to three poor virgins, the rescue of three travelling 
scholars and a ship in distress. Nicholas is the patron saint of 
children, pupils and sailors. When his relics were brought to Bari in 
1087, the veneration of St. Nicholas began to spread across southern 
and western Europe. Starting in the 17%%sup th/%  century in monastery 
schools, "visits" of the Saint in homes became popular (according to 
an old custom, pupils dressed as bishops on certain holidays, 
"Knabenbischofsfest"). Accompanied by monsters, devils and people with 
animal masks ("Habergeiss" goat), someone from the parish dressed as 
St. Nicholas visits children in their homes, asks them if they have 
behaved well in the past year and gives them presents. In-door St. 
Nicholas plays (still exist in Mitterndorf (Styria) and in Tirol) 
developed during the Counter-Reformation. In East Tyrol, in the 
neighbouring province of Carinthia and in the province of Salzburg, 
"Krampus" pageants ("Krampus" = devil) are held on St. Nicholas´ 
Day, with the saint himself playing only a minor role. However, in 
recent years the "Krampus" has increasingly been replaced by the  
Perchten in Salzburg.

!Literature
K. Meisen, Nikolauskult und Nikolausbraeuche im 
Abendlande, 1931; E. Hoerander, Nikolausbraeuche I und II, in: 
Oesterr. Volkskundeatlas, 5. vol., 1974; W. Mezger, Sankt 
Nikolaus zwischen Katechese, Klamauk und Kommerz, in: Schweizerisches 
Archiv fuer Volkskunde, 1990.



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