“My Father Was Krampus”: Arnold Schwarzenegger Shared a Popular Christmas Folklore That Kept Him and Other Austrian Kids in Line (Book)

Arnold Schwarzenegger has always proved his inclinations towards his kids’ upbringing over the years and its importance. Now that he has written a book about his life, he could finally get the opportunity to lay bare his childhood moments. The Austrian Oak is often viewed with his Americanized lifestyle after he moved to the US. However, the former bodybuilder recalled the traditional instances from his past experiences in his native state, along with a special mythical character.

According to some legends in German, Krampus is thought to be the son of Hel, who usually is seen as a figure of half-goat and half-demon. This mythical figure was often brought forward in children’s stories to represent a negative entity that would punish the children who behaved badly. Through Schwarzenegger’s narrative, he recalled some fond moments of his dad taking up the role several times.

Arnold Schwarzenegger shared stories from his childhood!

In his book “Be Useful,” Arnold Schwarzenegger recalled how in his childhood he used to hear stories from the book Der Struwwelpeter where the character of Krampus was frequent. The popularity of the book reached such heights that people started dressing up as Krampus to scare children. Arnie stated in his book that when he was a kid, his downstairs neighbor was his Krampus.

But he also told his readers that his father took part in the event. He stated, “My father was the Krampus for a number of families in the village.” The former bodybuilder then went on to explain how these Krampus figures always kept the kids in line and urged them to behave properly.

Arnold Schwarzenegger however developed another method of parenting for his kids. Instead of the usual “Negativity” for motivation, he relied upon gratitude and implemented the same in his parenthood technique.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s way of parenthood!

In one of his Newsletter issues, Arnie confessed how he followed a scientific study where writing letters of gratitude to family helped them get closer to one another. He said, “One week after writing the letter, they reported more positive emotions, empathy, happiness, connectedness, and competence”. He felt communicating with his kids in that manner would have been the best way of their upbringing.

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Indeed, Arnold Schwarzenegger found effective results with his approach and hence he stated how his family never had to face much of behavioral issues from the kids. Yet the childhood memories and the disciplinary tips from his earlier days later helped the bodybuilder to maintain his position in the industry.

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