Preparing for Christmas has a special meaning in the small Bavarian town of Kirchseeon near Munich where monsters known as "Perchten" perform a traditional dance to scare away winter and darkness.
"Perchten" processions are traditionally held between December 21 and January 6, the shortest and darkest days of the year and the monsters march, sing and dance in their effort to call nature back to life.
Andrea, a local woman in this town on the eastern outskirts of Bavaria's capital Munich said it was very important to keep the tradition alive.
Full of joy, Andrea recounted how only a year ago, her small daughter Frida was still scared of the monsters.
"This year, she is a Percht herself," Andrea said with a smile.
The leader of the Kirchseeon procession, Wolfgang Uebelacker, told Reuters that according to an old saying, grain the following year will grow as high as the Perchten jump.
According to Uebelacker, the tradition dates back to the pre-Christian era, though experts disagree on exactly where and when it began.
