Man behind the masks
Wood carver Hansi Schwabl, 26, works on a traditional wooden Perchten mask in his factory in Inzell, Germany. The masks are made for Buttnmandl and Perchten parades around the Alp regions in southern Germany and Austria. During Buttnmandl parades, unmarried men, known as Buttnmandl and Krampusse, are dressed in straw or skins with wooden masks or skins over their heads and large cowbells tied around their hips. They follow Saint Nicholas from house to house on Dec. 5 and 6 every year to bring luck to those who are good and punish those who aren’t. The Perchten parades are held after Christmas.
Schwabl carves a traditional wooden Perchten mask in his Inzell, Germany, factory.
Schwabl paints a traditional Perchten mask.
Tobias Schwabl looks over his father’s shoulder as Hansi Schwabl paints a Perchten mask.
Schwabl poses with a traditional wooden Perchten mask.
Schwabl paints a wooden Perchten mask.
INZELL, Germany (AP) – Hansi Schwabl has carved masks out of wood for a decade, turning the craft from his native Bavarian town of Inzell into a Christmas hobby.
The masks are worn by companions of Saint Nicholas, who goes house-to-house with gifts in an early December tradition.
Each mask takes about 20 to 30 hours of work to produce, and Schwabl has lost track of how many he has made.
The 26-year-old makes the first rough cuts in a piece of pine with a chain-saw, and carves the rest by hand.
After carefully painting the mask, he adds hair from horse or sheep. Glass eyes are inserted as the finishing touch.
The 9- to 11-pound masks sell for between $300 and $750.