Perchtenlauf!

On Saturday, I went to Baden where there was going to be a Perchtenlauf. Now, a little background first: I wrote my thesis on Frau Holle, which is a fairy tale, but the figure of Frau Holle herself plays a major role in the mythology of the Germanic culture, especially during the mid-winter time. Of course there are variants, but Frau Holle is most widely known in Germany. During my research, I found an Austrian variant called Perchta. This figure differs from Frau Holle in many ways. The main difference is the witch-like or "hex" aspect of the Perchta figure. Since this is an Austrian Alpine figure, the traditions surrounding this figure are different than those that surround Frau Holle.

Could this be Frau Holle???

Perchta's entourage, the Perchten, go along the streets in what is called the Perchtenlauf- like a parade they go through the streets of a town, shaking their bells and making loud noises as to scare away the bad spirits. Additionally, they carry whips with them and whip the people who have been bad. Also, if children have been bad, they come along and stuff them into sacks and carry them off.

None of that happened, except they did have little hairy/feathery whips (which didn't hurt and you couldn't even feel it) and would go around to people and swat them on the rear-end. They were really very nice to the children, friendly actually, and they had most of their wild fun with teenage girls. They would bring them out from the crowd into the Perchtenlauf, and try to take them with them. It was interesting to see, and it was a great cultural experience. They sure were ugly though!