The controversial Christmas tradition involving women on the German island is finally being banned

The festival takes place on December 5, on the eve of Saint Nicholas Day on December 6, also known as the Feast of Saint Nicholas, in honor of the patron saint who is the inspiration for Santa Claus. Sinterklaas Day is celebrated in different ways in many Western Christian countries. In Germany, children put a boot outside at night and it is filled with candy ‘by Sinterklaas’ if the child has been good in the past year, or there is still a stick in the boot if the child has been naughty.

However, on the island of Borkum, which is about 250 miles off the coast of East Anglia, there was also a very different tradition involving adults on the evening before the healthier holiday.

However, when footage of a woman being hit on the bottom by a man with a horn was filmed on German ARD television in 2023, the public and authorities expressed outrage.

After reports of aggressive behavior by some men towards women, the association that organized the festival, known as the Borkum Boys Association, said it would scrap the practice and no longer tolerate violence against women.

When the ban came into effect in 2024, the island’s mayor, Jürgen Akkermann, said the violence had developed from “a tradition of a kind of chastisement” of people approaching the “Klaasohms”, men dressed in masks, sheepskin and feathers, without permission.

He said a review had already begun over the past decade after previous incidents, but the matter had not been investigated sufficiently until now.

According to German broadcaster NDRthe festival was celebrated this year, but without any cow horn-related violence against the island’s female population. Mayor Akkermann said before the event on Friday evening: “We hope to experience a wonderful Klaasohm.”

According to local police, the festival involves six young men dressed as Klaasohms, who were still rampaging around Borkum on Friday, but without any incident. The Klaasohms ended their tour of the city by jumping from a city-built pillar into the waiting crowd, similar to a rock star trying to crowd surf from a stage.