Found in Krampus's baby book.

More about Found in Krampus's baby book.

Today is Saint Nicholas Day, the Feast of Saint Nicholas, and children are either enjoying gifts from Saint Nicholas for their good behavior or suffering from last night's chastisements from Krampus for their bad behavior. Krampus should be home resting from his long night. So today, let's start at the beginning...

According to Brittanica "Krampus was thought to have been part of pagan rituals for the winter solstice. According to legend, he is the son of Hel, the Norse god of the underworld."
Wikipedia adds details about established pagan traditions in the Alpine regions: "People would masquerade as a devilish figure known as Percht, a two-legged humanoid goat with a giraffe-like neck, wearing animal furs. People wore costumes and marched in processions known as Perchtenlaufen, which are regarded as an earlier form of the Krampus runs. Perchtenlaufen were looked at with suspicion by the Catholic Church and banned by some civil authorities. Due to sparse population and rugged environments within the Alpine region, the ban was not effective or easily enforced, rendering the ban useless." But eventually the Percht became subsumed into Christmas traditions as what is now known as the Krampus and put under the control of Saint Nicholas.

Beginning on Krampusnacht and extending through December, there are a myriad of contemporary parades and festivals. Here is a url to some of these traditions:

https://www.austriadirect.com/krampus-perchten-and-glockler/#:~:text=All%20of%20them%20are%20creatures%20who%20appear,popular%20in%20the%20mountainous%20regions%20of%20Europe.