The Monstrefact: The Silvesterkläuse

In this episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses the Silvesterkläuse, particularly the monstrous “ugly” versions that factor into Swiss New Year’s Eve traditions.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. Hi,
my name is Robert Lamman. This is the Monster Fact,
a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,
focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters and time. Today

(00:24):
is New Year's Eve, of course, or as it's known
in many Western Christian traditions, Saint Sylvester's Day or the
Feast of Saint Sylvester, or simply Sylvester the day's namesake.
Pope Sylvester the First was an historic fourth century individual
and Bishop of Rome, but much legend was later attributed
to him during the Middle Ages, including the idea that

(00:45):
he converted Emperor Constantine and cured him of leprosy, as
Alexander Reinsteiner discusses in an excellent post for the Switzerland
National Museum's blog titled Sylvester Klaus. Both beautiful and ugly
residents of the Swiss Canton of Upinstel also rode in

(01:06):
celebrate Saint Sylvester's Day with a mummers parade. The costume
marchers in this parade are the Klausa, and they come
in three different varieties. First, there are the beautiful Klausa
with costumes consisting of traditional breeches or skirts, doll like masks,
and elaborate glass be decorated headdresses, some of which resemble

(01:28):
dioramas of traditional alpine life. They're really spectacular. Throw in
some giant bells for good measure and you're ready to go. Next,
we have their opposite, the monstrous ugly Klausa, featuring fearsome
monster masks and bodies made of hay, straw, moss or
fir tree trimmings, snarling wild faces, and elements of the

(01:50):
wilderness itself made manifest in this humanoid form. Again, throw
in some giant bells and you're good to go. Finally,
we have the pretty ugly Klausum. By pretty ugly, they
don't mean fairly ugly or even more ugly, but rather
a little bit of the beautiful and a little bit
of the ugly. So while they may boast bodies of

(02:11):
moss or straw, their masks are typically more neutral stoic.
Even also giant bells, and with all Klausa bells of
any size. Really the bells are key, you see, because
the Klausa, grouped by tight make their way around town
and announce their presence at a given house by jumping
around and ringing their many bells. When the occupants of

(02:32):
the house open the door, the klauso wish them a
great new year ahead and accept gifts of cash and drink,
the ladder of which they take through long straws due
to their elaborate masks, then onto the next house. Now,
some of you might be wondering about the Klaus and
klausum as that suggests there is a connection here to

(02:53):
Christmas traditions. As Reichsteiner explains, the practice ultimately stems from
pre Christian pagan traditions, but then comes to coalesce around
Christmas during the Christian era, at least until a moral
mandate issued by the Protestant Reformed Church in sixteen sixty
three banned activities surrounding Saint Nicholas. Rather than stopping these

(03:16):
traditions outright, they apparently shifted to the new year and
a new Saint, though they focus less on the actual
saint and more on archaic of folksy traditions so less
overtly Catholic imagery, and Reinsteiner writes that by the early
nineteenth century these customs had fully shifted. He also points

(03:37):
out the Traditions such as these, involving bells and mild
noises to drive out the old year and bring in
a freshman, can be found throughout the world, including for instance,
in Chinese traditions, which we've discussed on the show before.
Do check Reinsteiner's blog post for more information about the
Sylvester Klausa. He has some excellent photographs on there as well.
I also recommend the beautifully illustrated book Festival Folk, An

(04:00):
Atlass of Carnival Customs and Costumes by Rob Flowers, which
includes a few pages on the Sylvestia Klausa, in addition
to various international mask and costume traditions. So, whether you're
celebrating Saint Sylvester's Day today, or you're waiting for old
New Year's Eve on January thirteenth, or you're saying to
heck with it, I'm just gonna wait on Lunar New

(04:21):
Year fair enough. Whenever you plan to leap into twenty
twenty six, I just want to issh you a great
new year ahead, full of life, happiness, curiosity, and maybe
a few monsters. Tune in for additional episodes of The
Monster Fact, The Artifact or Animalius stupendium each week. As always,
you can email us at contact that's Stuff to Blow

(04:43):
Your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
visit the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.