Austria's traditional 'Mullerlauf' wards off winter demons

Jan 26, 2010, 7:33 GMT

Innsbruck, Austria - 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.

On that day the Muller men and boys will wear handmade wooden masks to symbolically drive winter off and allow spring to begin. An important part of the Mullerlauf is Abmullen where a masked figure lightly taps a spectator on the shoulder to bring fertility and luck. The ritual is usually accompanied by a large drink of schnapps that the Muller men give away.

The procession is led by a group of fearful looking witches who 'sweep away' the winter with their brooms. They are followed by a figure called the Kloetzler who is covered in small pieces of wood that clack together to frighten winter demons. It is the job of the Melchers to invoke spring by dancing to a waltz played on an accordion.

'A Melcher needs to be musical and match their rhythm exactly to the timing of the accordion player,' says Josef Posch from Thaur's Mullerlauf association. While the men and boys dance they work up a sweat and you can hear them gasping for breath as strands of sweat drenched hair protrude from beneath their masks.

The most difficult role to play is given to the Spiegeltuxer who portrays the summer. He wears a richly decorated mask with a large mirror in its centre. 'A Spiegeltuxer mask can weigh as much as 12 kilograms and it takes a lot of strength and good condition to wear one,' says mask maker Christian Pittl. The 53-year-old carves about 15 masks a year from Swiss pine wood. It takes about 12 hours to complete one.

Every mask Pittl makes is unique with its own expression. They costs at least 425 dollars to buy but can go for as much as 11,000 but once the investment is made the mask lasts a lifetime. 'You only get one mask made in your life and once you stop taking part in the Mullerlauf, you hand it to your son,' says Pittl.

The Martha Mullerlauf associations are popular with the next generation and even the youngest villagers like to practice the daredevil jumps that are a part of the procession. 'I've been raised with the Mullerlauf from the cradle and I've been an active Muller since I was two-years-old,' says 12-year-old Romed Bichler. Like many of his friends Bichler dreams of one day wearing the Spiegeltuxer's mask.

Eight-year-old Fabian Braito and his 10-year-old brother David have the same dream. They say they want to continue the family tradition as their grandfather Adi was one of the best known Spiegeltuxers in Tyrol.