Der Belsnickle . . .

"In the eighteenth century, Christmas day was a meager celebration in comparison to today. There was no Christmas tree; no exchanging of Christmas gifts; and no singing of Christmas carols, as the majority of these hymns were unknown to the Valley Dutch. What did make Christmas day special was fresh meat for the dinner table.

Right before Christmas is when the butchering was done. The weather was cold and there was less chance of the meat spoiling. If the family was a member of the Lutheran or Reformed church, the children could expect a visit from the Belsnickle.

The Belsnickle was not Santa Claus!

He was ugly and he frightened the children.

The Belsnickle traveled from house to house brandishing his switches in the air. He would use these switches to whip naughty children. To good children the Belsnickle would hand out cakes or candies. It was the custom for the Belsnickle to receive a treat at each house. This was usually in the form of a libation.

Needless to say, as the Belsnickle proceeded on this visits, he became more and more oblivious to his behavior and the severity of his whippings.

One informant told me this story: her great-aunt was three years old the Christmas the Belsnickle came to visit.

She was so terrified of the ugly figure that she ran and hid under a bed. The Belsnickle followed, reached under the bed and pulled her out. Her mouth was drawn to one side in terror, a condition that remained permanent.

The Custom of the Christmas visit from the Belsnickle slowly faded into the past."

What I remember from my youth wasn't this harse . . . actually, the tradition our family followed was more fun than anything! My Grandfather played Belsnickle(r) and dressed in raggedy clothes, carried a bag of coal and swithes - along with gingerbread cookies (for those of us who were "good". We all gathered at my grandparents house - I had a zillion cousins - and there was a knock on a side window, followed by a knock on the door. All I can say is that more cookies were handed out than coal and no "switching" took place. It was a fun early-December traditon.