~(Read on to win a hilarious, free “Krampus Tshirt” from RareDirndl)~

Ooooooh Germans. Gotta love their “We go hard” mentality.

The rest of the world is like, “Tsk Tsk. Tsk. Now kiddos. If you don’t behave, St. Nick will leave a lump of coal in your stocking.” 

Germans? HA! They are like “Lump of coal???” 

🍺 HOLD MY BIER (Maß)!!!!

While I was sung holly jolly songs as a kid on how I “better watch out, I better not cry. I better not pout, I'm telling you why. Because Santa Clause is Coming To Toowwwwwn!” (tell me you sang that in your head while reading it, right??) Germans were concocting a whole new level of...

“KID, YOU BETTER BEHAVE! OR ELSE” 

Enter: Krampus 😈

I don’t want to spoil it all in here because the whole Legend of Krampus is both insanely terrifying while simultaneously being pretty hilarious. 

The thing I still can’t wrap my head around though is that they legit had a real, planned lesson in school last year that taught the first graders about Krampus!

I mean, how would YOU have handled the situation when your 6 year old son is freaking out on the couch asking, “Is Krampus really going to steal me away while I sleep and then eat me!?!?!?” I knew if I flat out said, “Oh honey, he’s just a made up figure to trick kids into being good around Christmas time” that it was only going to be a matter of moments before he connected the dots on Santa. 

And while I actually was originally going to be THAT parent. Oh, c’mon…you know the one! We sat on the fence for a while about “Not lying to our kids” and not even doing the whole Santa Charade. But in the end, I decided there really is just something magical about Christmastime, Santa, etc. And in this moment on the couch, I still wanted my little boy to stay little for just a little bit longer.

But a half goat/ half demon that beats you on the legs? I know I’m a sensitive, new-age-thinking Millenial, but isn’t that a bit much???? 

Anyway, just go Read my article about the Legend of Krampus in Germany (well, Bavaria) and see for yourself if it’s a story you would tell YOUR kids.

Win a Free Krampus Shirt

I don’t care if you are going to an Ugly Christmas Sweater party and you need something better than everyone else’s or if you just get a kick out of joyfully singing songs about stealing and eating naughty children. To each their own.

Either way- you NEED a Krampus shirt in your life!

WIN ONE HERE By Reading My Krampus History Article

~ My Dirndl from RareDirndl is STILL getting compliments on it each time I wear it, so you KNOW Erika is making some pretty amazing German Holiday Gear as well (PERFECT for Christmas Gifts and St. Nicholas Day boot stuffers this year!)

PS~ If you like free things like awesome Krampus t-shirts, then stick around the next few weeks as I start sharing what awesome Black Friday deals I find on things that are going to help you save tons of money on your trip to Germany! I'm also going to be sharing all my favorite Germany Christmas Market insider tips, locations, and more.

PPS: Fun fact: I was talking to my friend last night who grew up in Stuttgart. I was explaining how I was looking forward to going to some Krampuslaufen (Krampus Parades) this year and he was like, “A what????” 

Naturally, I just assumed that I was butchering pronunciations of German words. But, despite me even writing in my own article and knowing that Krampus is really only a (Southern) Bavarian thing, I was still shocked that he legit had NO CLUE who Krampus was. Like ZERO. Blank, confused face (and no, NOT because I mispronounced "Krampus" after all)

(Granted, they did do the Knecht Rupert folklore more in that region, but that legend is for another time and blog post)

My point is that, like SO many other things in Germany, certain traditions are not everywhere and so much of what the rest of the world knows as "German" are often actually Bavarian Stereotypes. While I thought he at least would have heard of Krampus, this was a great reminder to me just how diverse the traditions in Germany range from region to region. 

👉 Now go enter to win some Krampus Gear to scare your kids this year get a good laugh at your next holiday event.

Merry Krampus Christmas Everyone,

LeAnna

WanderInGermany.com