2nd Sunday of Advent

In Austria today is not only the 2nd Sunday of Advent, but also Saint Nicholas Day. During the night Saint Nicholas filled the children's boots with gifts and sweets, and at the same time checked up on the children if they were good, polite and helpful last year. Saint Nicholas is usually accompanied by Krampus, a demon-like creature warning and punishing bad children. If the children were not good, he puts a tree branch in their boots. The K. u. K. Court Confectionary Bakery Demel  shows the "team" in one of its windows. Click here for Austrian actor Christoph Waltz's explanation of Krampus.