Traditional St. Nicholas game at the village square Bad Mitterndorf

Performance times:
5:00 p.m. Stoffbauer-Tenne in Krungl
6:15 p.m. Gasthof Zauchenwirt
7:00 p.m. Parkplatz Tauplitzalm Alpenstraße in Thörl
8:00 p.m. Hotel Grimmingblick - Terrace
9:00 p.m. Village square Bad Mitterndorf 

Every year on December 5th the Nikolospiel takes place in Bad Mitterndorf, as can be read in the local chronicle, for over 100 years. Over 80 men and boys walk from the village of Krungl about 5 kilometers to Bad Mitterndorf and perform 5 times this age-old agricultural Everyman play.

There is still real custom present there. While it may seem too rough to some when the Krampuses beat the young girls and boys with sticks, this coarseness is usually only seen where performers and those affected know each other. Those who value tradition will find the right place in Bad Mitterndorf. The texts are 100 years old and have retained their original wording to this day. Even if some things seem hard to understand in today's time, the expression conveys the past of a less hectic world to the listener. The wooden masks are terrifying but have human features.

With over 200 years, the oldest mask is that of the Bartl. Particularly special figures are the Strohschab, which tower high into the sky with their meter-long horns and walk heavily - cracking their whips in rhythm - ahead of the procession. Quartermakers, watchmen, and the white horse rider open the play. The Bartl carries a hunchbacked basket filled with fruits and sweets that the Bishop Nicholas and pastor distribute to the children. In the Everyman play of Bad Mitterndorf, the poor man dies, who confesses all his misdeeds to the pastor, yet is not willing 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 already preached before to refrain from sins and to be good, he warns once more, but then leaves the spectators in the inn to the marriage devil. This one tells how he dissolves marriages. In this rhyming text, especially the old and rural aspects are reflected. Even Lucifer, who rushes in wildly, speaks of the wheat field, but above all of his many helpers. After the end of his negative sermon, he calls all his helpers in, and a considerable chaos ensues, for which the spectators are not blameless with their screaming and largely unfounded fear. Though one should pay some attention to the blacksmith and Habergeiss. The Nikolojäger have everything well under control and ensure order. Masks and furs are continuously renewed; however, the main characters have remained almost unchanged for several decades. A visit to Bad Mitterndorf is certainly worthwhile.