According to the legend , there used to be a man called Hans Trapp who was rich and powerful and lived in the heart of the Alsace. He had a very bad reputation, known to be awfully cruel and very vain and heartless, he spent his life doing whatever means necessary just so he could live a better life no matter how bad of a crime he had to commit he didn't mind doing it. A bitter and narcissistic man, Trapp hated to see others happy.
He was said to worship Satan and delve into the realms of black magic, this was how he gained his wealth and power but when the Catholic Church found out about this he was arrested and brought before the Pope in Rome and thrown out of the church for the crime of sacrilege. On his return to the Alsace, everyone abandoned him, they took his land and money and exiled him deep into the forest away from society.
He was pushed into a region of Bavaria known as the mountain of Geisberg and here he built a small shack made from sticks where he would take refuge while slowly losing his sanity dreaming and planning his revenge on all who took what he had away from him. Over time as his anger grew and food became more scarce he had cravings for human flesh, these cravings got more intense up until all that took over his thoughts was him biting into the flesh of a human arm or leg.
Roaming around looking for sticks and hay he had an idea to disguise himself as a scarecrow in an effort to lure young kids in. One day a boy passed by, he was no more than 10/11 years old but Hans saw him as the perfect victim , he was drooling at the mouth as his taste for flesh became uncontrollable he jumped out and attacked the boy. He brought the body of the boy back and roasted him over an open fire, he licked his lips preparing to finally taste what he had so wanted for a long time until at the moment of the flesh entering his mouth he was struck down by lightening. Many believe this was an act of God as he would not allow the crimes of Hans Trapp to continue anymore and he put an end to him once and for all.
The story of Trapp is still told around these parts of the world around Christmas time as a way of scaring kids into doing good by muttering the words "Hans Trapp will come for you". The visual of Hans is that of an old hunched over man with a long grey/black beard and always wore a long brown coat but that was him before he was exiled, since then he is known as the scarecrow man with many believing that if your kids act out in a bad way then he comes knocking on your house waiting to devour your child.
If Hans does visit your house the first thing you will hear is the sound of sticks breaking in the yard and the swoosh of his invisible steps through the snow. If this is heard then the only ways to prevent him from entering is to attach a small figure of a scarecrow with a cross and say out loud the prayer of Saint Nicholas, this guards the house from the presence of Hans.
Across many regions this terrifying tale is told, some believe it to be true and have their own experiences while others believe it to be nothing more than a sick way of scaring your kid into doing good. Either way the legend lives on to this day and is just one of the many stories to the dark side of Christmas.
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