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St. Nicholas Day

December 6, 2010 by · Comments Off on St. Nicholas Day 

St. Nicholas Day, Swiss celebrate St. Nicolas. In the third evening of December in the Swiss city of Küssnacht, which is located on the shores of Lake Lucerne in the canton of Schwyz, will be held very unusual, but impressive and fun holiday. It is called Klausjagen and is celebrated in honor of Saint Nicolas or Santa Claus in a local variant. According to legend, St. Nicolas with the help of the whip and bells all the devils and demons in this region and in the memory of these events, the people of Küssnacht organizes annual parade three days before the Saint-Nicolas Wonderworker (the day of celebration and commemoration of Saint-Nicolas).

The festival itself begins at 20:15 when the whole town is turned on all the lighting and the main street of the city appears the procession. The procession is led by men opens with Shepherd and whips cracked by it. It is followed by approximately 200 participants with “Iffelen” on their heads. Iffelen is a construction of about one meter high, made of cardboard in the shape of bishop’s miter with a mosaic pattern. Inside Iffelen are candles and the whole construction is placed on the head. In the dark, it looks like a multicolored mosaic window.

And finally, surrounded by children with torches, Saint-Nicolas is himself; he is accompanied by “Bogeyman” in black clothes and hoods. They give candy to children and bystanders. They are followed by men dressed in white shirts carrying their belts village large cowbells, which during the movement produces a strong rhythmic chime. The show is also supplemented by trumpeters dressed in white robes with hoods. They have flocked to the movement in their strengths cow horn. Because everything that happens in the darkness is lit by torches and Iffelen is a truly fabulous and memorable. Klausjagen annually collect in small Küssnacht more 25 000 tourists, which is 2 times its population.

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