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terwards. Since the 14th century, traditions slowly walked away from
liturgy, which lead to more freedom – at least from a dramaturgic
point of view. A good example for their modern perversions are our
office Christmas parties.”
(147. Annual report 2004, the Monastery Sec-
ondary School of Kremsmünster, theologian P. Klaudius Wintz).
By the way, the tradition of the Christmas tree plundering, which took
place on December 25, was as important as the tree itself. It represent-
ed “shaking off” the sins, referring to the salvation of humanity through
Jesus Christ. In the end, it was the Protestants, who lead the tradition of
our modern Christmas tree to its victory.
“Setting up a nativity scene would have been a horrific thought for
a real reformer, as Protestants considered the worship of an idol or a
physical object as a representation of a god a consternation of an in-
nocent soul. Therefore, in the middle of the 16th century, the Christ-
mas tree was introduced as an anti-Catholic counterpart to the na-
tivity scene. It was only in the 19th century, when the Christmas tree
was finally tolerated also beyond the borders of Elsass.”
(147. Annual
report 2004, the Monastery Secondary School of Kremsmünster, theolo-
gian P. Klaudius Wintz).
It still took a while though, until the custom of setting up a Christmas
tree in one’s own home became popular in Austria. Because unlike to-
day, back then pine trees were a rare commodity in Central Europe and
only the rich could afford this luxury.
Starting from the middle of the 19th century, pine plantations were
established, which enabled more families to buy their own Christmas
tree. At the same time, it started to become common to decorate the
tree with candles, which was important to the Catholic belief in order
to be able to tolerate the tradition as these candles were meant to rep-
resent the light that was brought into this world through Jesus Christ.
From the cradle to the nativity scene
In Tyrol, a Christmas without nativity scene is totally inconceivable.
However, it was not here in Austria, where the nativity scene was in-
vented. The art of crib-making leads
back to two customs:
Firstly, the custom of cradling, which
developed in the 13th century in nun-
neries. Every year on Christmas Day,
nuns used to cradle a doll, symbolising
baby Jesus. In the course of time, the
making of baby Jesus figures out of wax
or wood became common, which were
placed in beautifully decorated cribs.
Starting from the end of the 16th cen-
tury, those figures were set up in peo-
ple’s living rooms as a popular Christ-
mas decoration. Nativity scenes as we
know them today didn’t exist back then.
As a result, baby cradling developed as a tradition among the peo-
ple: It was mostly women in need, who during Advent time used to
take their own child or a doll with a cradle from house to house. The
cradle was then placed on the table, and while the people were pray-
ing together, the woman was cradling the baby. In return, she received
groceries and sometimes a little bit of money. In Tyrol, this custom
was practiced until far into the 20th century, but it slowly faded away.
In the 1960s, people tried to revive the tradition without success. Even
today, there is still a few, who try to bring baby cradling back to life.
The second custom, which influenced the development of nativity
scenes, were the Christmas games.
In very early times, those games were held in churches to illustrate
the birth of baby Jesus for people who couldn’t read. This is how the
nativity scenes finally evolved.
In the Museum of Tyrolean Regional Heritage, an extensive collec-
tion of nativity scenes from the Alpine regions with huge grips of 1 m
length can be admired from December until January. Crib exhibitions
are very popular in Austria – not only in public places but also in pri-
Eine weitere traditionelle Axamer Fasnachtsfigur ist der Flitscheler, er
symbolisiert Fruchtbarkeit. Auf der Jacke eines alten Anzugs, die verkehrt
herum getragen wird, werden zusammengeknotete, getrocknete Blätter
der Maiskolbenenden, die sogenannten „Flitschen“, aufgenäht. //
Another characteristic figure of Axams is the “Flitscheler”. He stands for fertility.
The jacket of an old suit is worn inside out and decorated with the dried
leaves of corncobs - the so-called “Flitschen”.
Ein Bestandteil des Axamer Fastnachtsbrauchtums sind
die Bluatigen: Mit Tierblut beschmiert, im Mund
Erdäpfelzähne, fauchend und furchteinflößende Laute
von sich gebend schleichen sie umher ... Und ihnen stets
voran geht der „Tod“ – mit weißem Umhang, einer
Totenkopfmaske und einer Sense auf der Schulter. //
The “Bluatigen” (the bleeding) are an integral part of
Axams’ carnival: They sneak around covered in animal’s
blood, baring their huge potato teeth and making scary
sounds. The “death” always walks ahead of them – in a white
coat, a skull mask and with a scythe on his shoulder.