Putting a pre-Christmas scare into an Austria town
Townsmen dressed head-to-hoof in shaggy black sheepskin costumes and scaring children - welcome to Austria's annual Saint Nicholas play awarded UNESCO heritage status. "Nikolospiel" as it is known in German, has been performed every December 5, the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, for more than 150 years in the Austrian town of Bad Mitterndorf. "The youngest are afraid, they wonder if they have been wise enough to escape the devil," said resident Daniela Puercher, adding that she has never missed a single performance. Video: AFP The procession of 130 performers - men from the town - begins at nightfall, and passes from inn to inn in the town, around 300 kilometres west of Vienna. Once only, and as long ago as World War I, did a woman play the part of an angel and only then because they were one man short. The play begins with 12 straw-covered silhouettes called "Schab" who clear a path by loudly cracking their whips in a specific eight-beat pattern. At each inn, Saint Nicholas questions children on their knowledge of catechism. Those with the right answers are gifted bags of sweets. Those who get it wrong are whisked away by the "Krampus" - Saint Nicholas's helpers whose stunning...