If they do, they receive apples, nuts, and gingerbread. Īccording to tradition, Knecht Ruprecht asks children whether they know their prayers. Knecht Ruprecht sometimes carried a long staff and a bag of ashes, and wore little bells on his clothes. Tradition holds that he was a man with a long beard, wearing fur or covered in pea-straw. In the folklore of Germany, Knecht Ruprecht, which translates as Farmhand Rupert or Servant Rupert, is a companion of Saint Nicholas, and possibly the most familiar. Knecht Ruprecht (on the left) and Saint Nicholas In many contemporary portrayals the companions look like dark, sinister, or rustic versions of Nicholas himself, with a similar costume but with a darker color scheme. They are sometimes dressed in black rags, bearing a black face and unruly black hair. Often the subject of winter poems and tales, the Companions travel with Saint Nicholas carrying with them a rod (sometimes a stick and in modern times often a broom) and a sack. In France, Saint Nicholas' companion is called Rubbels in German-speaking Lorraine and Hanstrapp in Alsace, East of France and the Père Fouettard ( Wallonia, Northern and Eastern France). In the Czech Republic, Saint Nicholas or svatý Mikuláš is accompanied by the čert (Devil) and anděl (Angel). The corresponding figure in the Netherlands and Flanders is called Zwarte Piet or Black Pete, and in Swiss folklore Schmutzli, ( schmutz meaning dirt). Names for the "dark" or threatening companion figure include: Knecht Ruprecht in Germany, Krampus in Austria, Bavaria, Parkelj in Slovenia, Friuli, Croatia, Hungary (spelled Krampusz) īelsnickel in the Palatinate (and also Pennsylvania, due to Pennsylvania Dutch influence) The association of the Christmas gift-bringer with elves has parallels in English and Scandinavian folklore, and is ultimately and remotely connected to the Christmas elf in modern American folklore. Jacob Grimm ( Deutsche Mythologie) associated this character with the pre-Christian house spirit ( kobold, elf) which could be benevolent or malicious, but whose mischievous side was emphasized after Christianization. These characters act as a foil to the benevolent Christmas gift-bringer, threatening to thrash or abduct disobedient children.
The companions of Saint Nicholas are a group of closely related figures who accompany Saint Nicholas throughout the territories formerly in the Holy Roman Empire or the countries that it influenced culturally.
The Hans Trapp character in a 1953 photograph taken in Wintzenheim, Alsace.
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