All Topics  
Belsnickel

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Belsnickel
 
 
  Topics Belsnickel Topic Home

Belsnickel is the fur-clad Santa
Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus....
 of the Palatinate (Pfalz) in northwestern Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 along the Rhine, the Saarland, and the Odenwald region of Baden-Württemberg.

In Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch

The Pennsylvania Dutch are the descendants of German people immigrants who came to Pennsylvania prior to 1800. According to Don Yoder, a Pennsylvania German expert and retired University of Pennsylvania professor, the word "Dutch" in this case owes its origin to an archaic meaning where it designated groups that are today considered Ger...
 communities, it is also a mythical
Mythology

The word mythology refers to a body of folklore/myths/legends that a particular culture believes to be true and that often use the supernatural to interpret natural events and to explain the nature of the universe and humanity....
 being who visits children at Christmas
Christmas

Christmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts Twelve Days of Christmas....
 time. If they have not been good, they will find coal and/or switches in their stockings. The Belsnickel was a scary creature not well loved except by parents wanting to keep their children in line.

Belsnickel is similar to Krampus in Austria
Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
 legend, except compared to Krampus, Belsnickel is rather benign.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Belsnickel'
Start a new discussion about 'Belsnickel'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Belsnickel is the fur-clad Santa
Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus....
 of the Palatinate (Pfalz) in northwestern Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 along the Rhine, the Saarland, and the Odenwald region of Baden-Württemberg.

In Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch

The Pennsylvania Dutch are the descendants of German people immigrants who came to Pennsylvania prior to 1800. According to Don Yoder, a Pennsylvania German expert and retired University of Pennsylvania professor, the word "Dutch" in this case owes its origin to an archaic meaning where it designated groups that are today considered Ger...
 communities, it is also a mythical
Mythology

The word mythology refers to a body of folklore/myths/legends that a particular culture believes to be true and that often use the supernatural to interpret natural events and to explain the nature of the universe and humanity....
 being who visits children at Christmas
Christmas

Christmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts Twelve Days of Christmas....
 time. If they have not been good, they will find coal and/or switches in their stockings. The Belsnickel was a scary creature not well loved except by parents wanting to keep their children in line.

Belsnickel is similar to Krampus in Austria
Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
 legend, except compared to Krampus, Belsnickel is rather benign. Belsnickel is a man wearing fur which covers his entire body, and he sometimes wears a mask with a long tongue. Krampus, on the other hand, is a demonic looking creature whose purpose is to scare children through his looks as well as his discipline techniques
Discipline

In its most general sense, discipline refers to systematic instruction given to a disciple. This sense also preserves the origin of the word, which is Latin disciplina "instruction", from the root discere "to learn," and from which discipulus "disciple, pupil" also derives....
.

Among some families of German descent, Belsnickel delivers socks or shoes full of candy to children on the feast day of St. Nicholas, December 6. St. Nicholas is purported to have enabled the three daughters of a poor man to pay the dowries for their weddings. The poor man couldn’t afford his daughters’ dowries so Nicholas came to the man’s house at night and sneaked three sacks of gold into the house thus saving the daughters from the indignity of a solitary life or prostitution.

Belsnickel and Christkind
Christkind

Das Christkind , pronounced /k??stk?nt/, is the traditional Christmas gift-bringer in regions of Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Hungary, parts of Hispanic America, in certain areas of southern Brazil and in the Acadiana region of Louisiana....
 are also found among population of Volga German
Volga German

The Volga Germans were ethnic Germans living along the River Volga in the region of southern European Russia around Saratov and to the south. They maintained German culture, German language, traditions and churches: Evangelical Church in Germany, Reformed Church, Roman Catholicism, and Russian Mennonite....
 descent in Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
.

Spelling variations

In North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, it is often spelled Belsnickel, Belschnickel, Belznickle or Belznickel. In South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, it is spelled as it is in German language: Pelznikel.

See also

  • Companions of Saint Nicholas
    Companions of Saint Nicholas

    File:Krampus Morzger Pass Salzburg 2008 10.jpgThe Companions of Saint Nicholas are a group of closely related figures who accompany St. Nicholas in many European traditions....


External links