Performance times:
17:00 Uhr Stoffbauer-Tenne in Krungl
18:15 Uhr Gasthof Zauchenwirt
19:00 Uhr Parking Tauplitzalm Alpenstraße in Thörl
20:00 Uhr Hotel Grimmingblick - Terrasse
21:00 Uhr Center of Bad Mitterndorf
Every year on the 05th of December, the Nikolospiel takes place in Bad Mitterndorf for more than 100 years, as you can read in the village chronicle. More than 80 men and boys walk about 5 kilometers from the village of Krungl to Bad Mitterndorf and perform this traditional peasant game 5 times. There are still real customs there. It may seem too coarse to some when the Krampusse beat the young girls and boys with the rod, but this coarseness is usually only seen where the performer and the person concerned know each other. If you value tradition, Bad Mitterndorf is the place to be. The texts are about 100 years old and have kept their original wording until today. Even if some things seem difficult to understand in today's world, the expressions convey to the listener the past of a less hectic world. The wooden masks are frightening, but show human features. At over 200 years old, the oldest mask is that of the Bartl. Very special figures are the Strohschab, who with their meter-long horns reach far into the sky and ponderously walk in front of the procession, snapping their whips in time. Quartermasters, night watchmen and white horse riders open the game. The Bartl carries a humped basket with fruit and sweets, which Bishop Nicholas and the priest distribute to the children. In the Everyman play of Bad Mitterndorf the poor man dies, who confesses all his shameful deeds to the priest, but is not ready to repent and improve. Death appears in the form of the Grim Reaper and strikes him down. The forces of evil, represented by two Krampuses, drag him out of the inn. If Bishop Nicholas has previously preached to refrain from sins and to be good, he warns anew, but then leaves the audience in the parlor to the marriage devil. The latter tells how he breaks up marriages. In this rhyming text, the old and the rural are particularly reflected. The wildly rushing Lucifer also speaks of the wheat field, but especially of his many helpers. After the end of his negative sermon he calls all his helpers in and quite a confusion arises, in which the spectators are not blameless by their shrieking and their actually unfounded fear. However, one should pay attention to the blacksmith and the goat. The Nikolojäger have however everything in the best way under control and provide for order. Masks and furs are constantly being renewed, but the main characters have remained almost unchanged for several decades. A visit to Bad Mitterndorf certainly pays off.