Austria's Traditional 'Mullerlauf' Wards Off Winter Demons

January 26, 2010

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Earth Times

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305767,austrias-traditional-mullerlauf-wards-off-winter-demons.html

Austria's western state of Tyrol is home to the pre-Christian tradition known as the Mullerlauf when men and boys don scary masks with crooked noses and bushy beards to conduct a procession to the sound of rattles and jingle bells in the cold month of February. The Mullerlauf takes place every year in one of the Tyrollean villages of Muehlau, Arzl, Rum, Thaur or Absam close to Innsbruck. These communities are collectively known as the Martha villages and are regarded as the true home of this spectacle that takes place on the eve of Lent.

The Mullerlauf is held in one of the Martha villages every year. This year on February 7 Rum will host the ritual when Mullerlauf associations from neighbouring villages will conduct the procession wearing masks and costumes to the tune of brass bands and watched by thousands of spectators.