For more than 80 years, the community of Küssnacht am Rigi has held a “Klausjagen” on December 5—the most impressive St. Nicholas tradition in Europe. This event brings the entire community together for one day and attracts around 30,000 spectators to watch this unusual procession. In complete darkness, it starts with a silent parade of about 250 “Iffele,” a type of colorful and artistically decorated lantern that each take about 600 man-hours to create and which are individually lit with candles to bring a special glow to the parade. The men carrying these lanterns gently prance and spin throughout the procession, making this a feast for the eyes of moving colors in the otherwise darkened streets. The lantern procession is followed by St. Nicholas, who is himself followed by approximately 1,500 “Klausjägern” (Nicholas chasers or hunters) who make an incredible archaic noise with whips, bells, hand-made horns, and other strange noise-makers (note that this can get very loud!).
The procession will start at 20:15 at Seebodenstrasse, wind its way through town, and finish around 22:40, with a break from around 21:30-22:00 (for the exact route see their website). Küssnacht can be reached in about 1 hour 20 minutes by car, or 1 hour and 45 minutes by train.
The event is free.

Website
klausjagen.ch/

Where
Seebodenstrasse
6403 Küssnacht a. Rigi

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