With a gentle “Ga Ga Ga”, they make their way from house to house, checking that homes have had the appropriate upkeep, whether the floor has been properly swept and every corner has been dusted. Heaven forbid you don’t clean your house correctly – the ancient version of the legend says that, if that’s the case, the Schnabelperchten will slice open your stomach with a long pair of shears and empty all of the rubbish inside!
Let it be said, however, that the Schnabelperchten are generally welcome guests – especially since they bring happiness and blessings for the coming year.
Schnabelperchten (more than one beaked Perchta) roam around the Alpine region of Austria in midwinter, appearing on or before the eve of the Twelfth Night, the last of the “Twelve Days” of Christmas, the “Haunted Season.”
“Located in Borgloon, Belgium, ‘Reading Between The Lines’ is a nearly transparent steel church designed by Belgian architect studio Gijs Van Vaerenbergh. The 10-meter high structure consists of 100 evenly spaced steel layers stacked in the form of a steeple and seems to dissolve into the landscape when viewed at certain angles.”
The battleship USS IOWA (BB-61) circa Christmas 1983.
“It usually took us (Electricians Mates with assistance from the ICmen, Gunners Mates, Bos’n Mates, Quartermasters) three days to rig & test this light display… 10,856 light bulbs total.
This is the award winning display that won us the “Best Large Surface Combatant” award for four out of our six year commissioning during the eighties. (MED Cruise in 87, lost to USS America in 84)
I served aboard from Dec.1983 to June 1989, was involved with each and every one of those displays.”
Martin A. (Marty) Palmiere EMC(SW) USN(ret.)
USS Iowa BB-61 ’83-’89
