Advent, advent...
The Eppan pre-Christmas calendar is full of events, with December the busiest season for the tourist office and anyone working in the background. But the fruits of their labour are many. There are the St. Nicholas and Krampus processions, the contemplative nativity scene in St. Pauls/San Paolo, Christmas lights in St. Michael/San Michele, Christmas nights in Girlan/Cornaiano and the Christmas market. Other traditions include the living nativity scene, during Advent, with many of these events forming regular chapters in the village chronicle. Then came the pandemic and its impact on these events. With this experience in mind, the Eppan Tourism Association is preparing for the upcoming winter with all necessary precautions to adapt everything on offer to our troubled times.
The Krampus tradition
Their elaborately-carved, horned wooden masks, the fur that smells like a billy goat and the horse tails, all make the infernal Krampus an iconic local figure. As they stride around, with their bells and staffs, torches and smoke, they re-enact today the times when they prowled looking for naughty children. From adults, there is a sense of awe for the interplay of good and evil represented in St. Nicholas and the Krampus. In our region, this custom was neglected for a while, but about fifteen years ago, the two Tuifl associations - the Wild Monn Tuifl aus Girl, in Girlan and Schildhauser Tuifl in Gand – revived this
