Belsnickel is a crotchety, fur-clad Christmas gift-bringer figure in the folklore of the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany. He may have been based on an older German myth, Knecht Ruprecht, a servant of Saint Nicholas. The figure is also preserved in Pennsylvania Dutch communities and Brazilian-German communities.
About Belsnickel in brief
Belsnickel is a crotchety, fur-clad Christmas gift-bringer figure in the folklore of the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany along the Rhine, the Saarland, and the Odenwald area of Baden-Württemberg. He may have been based on an older German myth, Knecht Ruprecht, a servant of Saint Nicholas and a character from northern Germany. The figure is also preserved in Pennsylvania Dutch communities and Brazilian-German communities. The tradition fell into decline toward the end of the nineteenth century, but has seen a revival in recent years. In this branch of the tradition, the father or other male relative was often working outside to see some older male relative to see to some naughty children.
In Pennsylvania, the character is the character who visits homes prior to Christmas to check up on the behavior of the children. He was known as Kriskinkle, Beltznickle and sometimes as the Christmas woman. He or she would be equipped with an ample sack about the shoulders filled with cakes, nuts, and fruits, and a long hazel switch which was supposed to have some kind of a charm in it as well as a sting. Children then not only saw the mysterious person, but felt him or rather his stripes upon their backs with his switch. Some make Pelsnichol identical with Krishkinkle, but the more general opinion is that they are two personages, one the rewarder of the good, the other the punisher of the bad.
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This page is based on the article Belsnickel published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
