Belsnickel Unmasked!

UPDATED: Great blog post by Cora Buhlert from Bremen in North Germany: Jolly Old st. Nicholas.

Who this mysterious fellow, anyway? Today is the Feast of St. Nicholas and I have been surprised by the stories I am hearing. The Scarlet Letter Press in Salem is having a Sinterklass celebration on Saturday night at their shop. My friend Cora Buhlert, who lives in Bremen, Germany (remember Grimm's The Bremen Town Musicians?) wrote to say that she got twenty Kinder Surprise Eggs to pass out tonight. These are chocolate eggs with a toy inside. Apparently in Bremen the children go Trick or Treating on Belsnickel.

Belsnickel the old man of the woods dressed in fur

My Grandmother Werner said when she was little Belsnickel was very frightening because he came with switches and a gunny sack and the legend was that he would carry off naughty children and give them a good switching. She said her brothers would run outside in the snow when they heard Belsnickel's bells jingling and hide in the outhouse. Of course, when I was a child Belsnickel didn't do those things but as I went searching on the internet I found pictures of Belsnickels carrying switches and giving a child a thrashing. These are disturbing but at the time they were popular parents much more stern with children than most are now.

Belsnickel carries a bundle of twigs to punish naughty children.
This was the Belsnickel my grandmother was told about

St. Nicholas, as my friend Cora pointed out, was a bishop in what is now Turkey. That is why he is often depicted wearing a bishop's mitre. There are a number of variations on the Belsnickel theme: Sinterklaas is the Dutch St. Nicholas, and there is also a nasty character called Krampus who is often depicted as a devil-like character and who was also in the habit of punishing naughty children.

Seen wearing a Bishop's Mitre and thrashing a bad child, this was NOT the Belsnickel of my childhood

A friend who grew up Erie, Pa told me that her parents told her about “Bushnickel,” whom they referred to as “the bad kid's Santa.” They said he came on St. Nicholas Night and left straw and switches and broken toys as a warning that kids had better shape up before Christmas came. I have been pleasantly surprised by how many people have written to tell me that they have carried on the Belsnickel tradition for their children even though they live far away from St. Marys where they grew up.

Krampus and Saint Nicholas (in Mitre) driving off with a basket full of naughty children

One of the oddest stories I heard was a custom practiced in some very rural Southern Appalachian areas. There they “go Belsnickeling” on the Feast of St. Nicholas. Men dress in clown-like costumes, wear masks, and go from house to house, singing and holding out mugs to be filled with beer or liquor. It is sort of a cross between Christmas caroling, trick or treating, and mumming, the ancient Medieval custom of going from house to house performing plays in costume.

Last year at this time I received an email from Father Kurt Belsole who is from St. Marys and is now a priest teaching at the Pontifical College in the Vatican. He told me that for years he has made up little Belsnickel bundles that he leaves outside of the doors of his seminarians' rooms. I think it is lovely to know that the St. Marys Belsnickel is alive and well at the Vatican. 

I find these customs fascinating and wonderful. As everyone who knows me knows, I love folk customs and the story-telling that goes with them. For years now I have been writing about family stories and encouraging people to tell stories handed down from their parents and pass them on to their children. I hope people will do whatever they can to keep these folk tales and accompanying customs alive. I am going to append a blog post from last December here that includes more about Belsnickel. Also, today and tomorrow my story The Reluctant Belsnickel of Opelt's Wood is still free for Kindle. It is currently ranked #15 in Amazon's Folklore category and #18 in Mythology. Grab a copy, brew some tea or hot chocolate and enjoy!  

from 12/16/11

My friend Terry McMackin sent me the following two stories that were sent to him by his cousin. He does not know the origin of the stories but his grandfather is the "George Wagner" mentioned in them. Terry and I lived in the same neighborhood -- our backyards adjoined -- across the street from Mary Opelt's Woods. This appears to be two separate recollections. Thanks, Terry!

          I have been writing stories to my Grandchildren about my childhood in the City of St. Marys, Pa. One of the subjects concerned the coming of Der Peltznichol (Nicholas in Furs) on December 6th, the Feast Day of St. Nicholas. We, children, were always looking forward to this day, but always with a great deal of trepidation. Der Peltznichol always had an evil henchman who carried switches and lumps of coal. I remember quite vividly having to kneel down and say prayers so that the evil one would be forced to leave, rattling his bells and chains off into the night. Then we got candy and homemade cookies. If we were especially lucky, there would be a small toy included in the package of goodies.
          We were particularly afraid of one Peltznichol who was able to call voices out of the fireplace or from behind chairs or the couch. Long after I stopped believing in Santa Claus, I got in the habit of hanging around the local brick factory. One summer day I was snooping in a kiln that was being loaded with green brick. Suddenly a voice came out of one of the firing holes right beside me. My mind was transported back to a December 6th many years before. I forced myself not to turn and look at the men in the setting crew, but waited for the voice to come again. When it started, I instantly whirled around, searching their faces for any indication or movement of lips. I perceived the slightest movement of the jaw belonging to Mr. George Wagner. I blurted out in exasperation and triumph, "You're the damn Peltznichol". A general uproar broke out among the setting crew, because they had all been treated to stories about the activities of Der Peltznichol.
          I should explain that St. Marys was a sanctuary from persecution of German Catholics in the middle 19th century, and in fact maintained bilingual teaching of German and English in the Catholic schools until World War I. The F.B.I. and government seemed to think that the associations with the Old Country posed a threat to the security of the United States and so the practice of teaching German was quickly abandoned. Even today, a certain group of the Great-Great Grandchildren of the original settlers continue to preserve the tradition of St. Nicholas, but have pretty much eliminated the evil personage and made it more like an early visit by Santa Claus.

- Bill Hoehn

Margie McKelvy:

          Sr. Maureen has sent an e-mail asking if I could send you some things about Bellsnickle and St. Marys when we were growing up in the still much German St. Marys. I have done some research about this, mostly because of several programs on N.P.R. and the fact that my father played Bellsnickle and Santa for many years.
          My research indicated that the Bavarians and the French along the border between Lorraine and Germany in the Rhine Valley and on into the Black Forest have practiced the tradition for over a thousand years. The belief is that Peltznichol (Nicholas in furs) and his evil henchman, Swart Pater (the devil) were characters in Christmas Plays to illustrate and help convert the masses to Christianity. St. Nicholas was first a Good Samaritan, who provided dowries for destitute maidens so that their poor families might get them married to promising young men. Thus the tradition of gift giving and St. Nicholas. (Good - vs. - Evil)
When my father was growing up, and even in the early years of this playing Bellsnickle, he and his friend "Coxy" Sporner always went as the good Bellsnickle and the evil Swartz Pater. By the 1930's things had changed and sometimes there were just two Bellsnickles. Except at those homes where the old traditions still held like the Crawford house where one of the visitors still wore chains and dragged them through the streets from house to house. This brings me to the collective experience of the Crawford kids. I was always invited to Aunt Irene’s on December the 6th, and so got to have the shit scared out of me along with Freddy, Dotty and Puss. (I still can't believe that she became a nun.) Freddy was so frightened of the Bellsnickle that he would hide when we heard the sleigh bells and chains coming down West Mill Street.
           After the pair entered the front room, we kids were assembled in front of them. We all had to be questioned about our behavior for the past year, and sometimes they knew a little bit more about our activities than we wanted to admit to. Several years we got some real shocks, because the voices accusing you of misbehavior would come out of the fake fireplace or out from behind the couch. We were so scared it is a wonder that we didn't all pee our pants. Then it was time to kneel down and say our prayers. If you prayed really well the Swartz Pater would shake his chains and leave, then we would each get a bag of goodies or maybe a toy.  If we were particularly bad or didn't say our prayers just right, Swartz Pater would stay and hand us a switch or worse, the dreaded lump of coal.
           Many years later, I might have been 14 or 15; I was hanging around the Elk Fire Brick Company, just watching what the setting crew was doing inside the kiln, when a voice spoke out of a firing hole right next to me. Instantly I recognized the voice, but didn't see any of the workers looking at me. I tried to see who it was that was throwing his voice, but I couldn't catch any one moving his lips. I half turned to go out the arched opening in the end of the kiln like I hadn't heard anything. Just before I reached the opening I whirled around right in time to see just the slightest movement of one fellow’s lips. I yelled, "You’re the damn Bellsnickle". There was a burst of laughter from the whole crew. One fellow said, "Finally somebody caught you, George". That's how I learned who the Bellsnickle was at Crawford's house so many years before. Old George Wagner was a super ventriloquist and a really nice old guy.
           Ku Shise (Cow Shit) was my father’s nickname, and Ku played Santa Claus many times. Once he was the Bellsnickle at Crawfords (Before I was born). My father had cut off the end of this thumb splitting wood for a fire. Anyway as he and Uncle George Crawford told the story, John was about 3 or 4 this particular time. After the Bellsnickle left, John turned to his father and said, "Ya know, Pop, dat dare one Sanny Claus had a tum off chust like Uncle Ku." After that my dad always had to wear white gloves with the thumb stuffed full of cotton.
          I started out writing about Coxy Sporner being one of the Santa Clauses. He and my dad went to Coxy's brother's house because Coxy's nephew, Hiddy, was about the right age. The Feast of St. Nicholas comes on December the 6th and is always in the middle of hunting season. This particular year Coxy had shot a buck on the first day of the season. The two Santas stood outside the living room window while Mrs. Sporner questioned Hiddy about what he would do if the Santa Clause should come to visit. Hiddy replied, "I have a great club. I would hit him over the head and drive him away." The two Santas let themselves into the through the kitchen door as quietly as they could. Mrs. Sporner, however heard them and told Hiddy to go into the kitchen and bring her a spool of thread. Be sure to turn on the light, she said.
          Hiddy came around the corner, snapped on the light and froze in his tracks. About half a second later he let out a scream, yelling, "Yiiiii! "Ich mus pee." as he tore out the back door and ran for the outhouse. My dad said it took about 20 minutes to get Hiddy to unlock the outhouse and come out. All the while Mrs. Sporner was trying to get Hiddy to come out, the Santas were laughing under their beards. Finally they were able to get him to talk and say his prayers. Suddenly Coxy growled, "I understand you shot one of Sanny Clauses Reindeer." Hiddy replied, "Oh No! Sanny Clause, Honest to God, that was Uncle Soxy!" The two couldn't keep from laughing and so had to beat a hasty retreat back out into the night.
          Such was the goings-on around St. Marys concerning Bellsnickle, and in some quarters it still continues today, but with a lot less scare and a lot more good things. Maybe it is for the best!

         

I also discovered a very interesting blog post about Belsnickel at: Conjure Cinema. The pictures here are from this blog:

    Today we turn to one of the strangest Christmas traditions I have come across in my research in a long time (and that's saying something), called belsnickeling. It's a holiday practice that stems from the Appalachian Valley area of Virginia and West Virginia - essentially, think "naughty mummers" for lack of a better term. A group of men would dress in outlandish costumes and go door to door, putting on some form of entertainment and demanding payment for their performance (usually food or drink, most often drink) - if the payment wasn't to their liking, then some mischief was performed at the offending house. The belsnickelers would go from house to house continuing their revelry, getting paid off with more drink at each house, until they were fully in their cups and God knows what their act looked like as the evening progressed. As you can see from the photo at left, the belsnickelers were always masked, so if the mischief got out of hand you didn't know WHO to blame for it the next day (the thought of looking for who was the most hungover in the town must not have occurred to the locals back then). Read the rest here

Thanks for the great stories and thanks for reading. Merry Christmas.
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Posted in another forum by German author Cora Buhlert: "Belsnickling" sounds very like our custom of "Nikolauslaufen", only that here it's children up to approx. 12 who go from door to door, sing a song or recite a poem and receive a treat in return. Nowadays, it's mostly chocolate and sweets (I always give Kinder Surprise Eggs) and tangerines among the more traditionally minded, but my Mom told me that she often got small household items such as shoelaces or matchboxes when she went "Nikolauslaufen" in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

I got 13 Nikolaus kids this year, which is about average. Though I've also had more than 20 kids in other years. One year, I opened the door to find an entire girls' basketball team standing outside and singing and had to dig into my own stash of chocolate, because the sweets I'd bought weren't enough for them all.