Krampus and Other St. Nicholas Companions in Europe

In modern day Austria and Bavaria, there is a pre-Christian tradition still celebrated at Yule time, of a figure named Krampus. Groups of young men dress up in rags, goat hair costumes and scary masks with horns. They roam the streets in the company of a person dressed as St Nicholas, sometimes getting drunk and hitting people with sticks. In Croatia Krampus is dressed as a devil in chains, and in Hungary as a more comic form of devil.

In the Netherlands, a companion to Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas) is Zwarte Piet, or Black Peter, a black man in a colorful costume. He brings presents to children and parents tell them that if they are bad he will take them away in his sack. He was originally thought to be an enslaved devil, but in modern times is thought to be a servant of St Nicholas and may be a chimney sweep, explaining his black face.

In Germany, Knecht Ruprecht is also associated with chimneys , bringing gifts and parents will also threaten children that if they are bad,  Knecht Ruprecht will put them in a sack and take them away. Also in Germany, Belsnickel, a milder version of Krampus wears fur clothing and delivers gifts. He is not a companion to St. Nicholas, but not really a substitute for him either  but possibly a prototype Santa  Claus. The Pennsylvania Dutch (Germans) still celebrate the Belsnickel tradition.