Bad Mitterndorf (Austria) (AFP) – Townsmen dressed head-to-hoof in shaggy black sheepskin costumes and scaring children — welcome to Austria’s annual Saint Nicholas play awarded UNESCO heritage status. “Nikolospiel” as it is known in German, has been performed every December 5, the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, for more than 150 years in the Austrian town of Bad Mitterndorf.
