Today is Saint-Nicolas, the patron bishop of schoolchildren, but not only: we can cite pell-mell physiotherapists, sailors, fishermen, a Saint-Nicolas church should always be close to the water , this is the case in Strossbori, for example. But he is also the boss of pawn shops, butchers, perfumers, and unmarried 30-year-old men, as for catherinettes, men should dress up in pajamas, nightcaps or clogs to put their finger on. on their single status.
And of course, schoolchildren, St. Nicholas comes to reward good children with a Mannele, or two. What about the others? Two figures will accompany the Sànkt-Niklaus in Alsace. Le Hàns Tràpp, in the north of Alsace. This character would be modeled on the knight Hans von Trotha of the castle of Berwartstein just across the German border, this sad sire is marshal of the princes electors of Palatinate at the end of the 15th century.
He is 2 meters tall, a big, violent and ambitious nag. He scares everyone. After a big deal of money, the disputes with the city of Wissembourg have reached the breaking point, Trotha has the waters of the neighboring Wieslauter withheld, thus depriving Wissembourg of water below. The day the Abbot of Wissembourg complained in high place, Trotha had the dam demolished, causing a violent flood in Wissembourg, with considerable damage. He was banished from the empire and excommunicated, and he remained a devilish figure.
A real villain as we only see in James Bond, and on Saint Nicholas or Christmas, when he takes on the role of Hàns Tràpp and accompanies Sànkt Nikolaus, or Christkindel. In the south of Alsace, it is rather the Rüpelz which will visit the turbulent children. Pelz, that means fur, so it’s really the animal side, bestial, oh no, it’s less nice, it’s the animal side of the devil, which must, as always, appear as the counterpart of the benevolent Saint-Nicolas. Gods and devils walk together on special days. And when we know that according to another legend, the devil’s grandmother was Alsatian, no wonder he likes to go there in December …