Küssnacht Klausjagen: a mortar shot, the lights go out — and 1,500 men set off
Checked at the source: date still open · as of 7 October 2026
Nothing in Küssnacht am Rigi matters quite as much as this one evening. At 8.15 pm every light in the village centre goes out, and illuminated mitres over two and a half metres tall sway through the dark lanes, followed by a din you won't forget. To be there, you first need to know a rule.
📅 Date 2026 — and status
The date as the society published it for 2026. Where it only states its rule, the date derived from it is shown, marked as calculated.
Küssnachter Klausjagen
rule, not confirmedFriday, 4 December 2026 · rule, not confirmed — Main procession on 5 December at 8.15 pm — if 5 December falls on a Saturday or Sunday, on the Friday before (St. Niklausengesellschaft Küssnacht)
- Organiser
- St. Niklausengesellschaft Küssnacht
In 2026 the Klaus is chased on Friday 4 December — not on St Nicholas Eve: the 5th falls on a Saturday, and the society's rule then moves it to the Friday before.
Source: To the organiser's page · checked on 7 October 2026
🕐 Start time and sequence
The time as published. With children it matters more than the date.
Start: 20:15
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Calculated from the ConvivaPlus dataset — every row with its own source above.
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Every entry read individually at the organiser's, municipality's or tourist office's source. «Calculated» means the source states a fixed rule; the 2026 date is derived from it and not yet published.
🚋 Route & transport with stop
- Meeting point
- Dorfzentrum Küssnacht am Rigi
📋 Notes from the organiser
- Well over 200 Iffelen — lantern mitres more than 2.5 metres tall with punched-out ornaments — move through the darkened streets.
- Over 1,500 men take part, close to a thousand of them bell ringers; up to 30,000 people watch.
- From 2 November onwards, whip crackers can be heard somewhere in the village every evening.
- At 8.15 pm sharp a mortar shot silences the crowd and the lights go out. Order of the procession: whip crackers, Iffelen, St Nicholas with his Schmutzlis and torch bearers, the band with its three-note chord, the bell ringers — and the horns last.
- The general assembly of 28 November 2025 shortened the children's procession route: a break at the Lindenhof car park instead of the extra loop via Bahnhofstrasse, Geissacherstrasse and Luzernerstrasse.
- The organiser states the rule, not the 2026 date. 4 December 2026 is CALCULATED from it and expressly unconfirmed.
✨ What makes it unique
What sets this St Nicholas apart from every other isn't in the date.
At exactly 8.15 pm a mortar shot silences the crowd. The street lights go out and a cheer goes up — up to 30,000 people line the darkened streets. First come the whip crackers, then the sight everyone came for: well over 200 «Iffelen», illuminated mitres more than two and a half metres tall with finely punched-out figures and ornaments, greeted again and again by spontaneous applause.
Behind them, St Nicholas with his Schmutzlis, lit by torch bearers. Then the band with its three-note chord, close to a thousand bell ringers — and last, the horns with their unchanging, eerie call. More than 1,500 men take part every year. From 2 November, whips crack somewhere in the village every evening; 5 December is only the climax of a month of noise.
And then the rule that catches visitors out every year: the procession is on St Nicholas Eve, 5 December — unless that falls on a weekend. Then the Klaus is chased on the Friday before. That's exactly the case in 2026: 5 December is a Saturday, so the Klausjagen falls on Friday, 4 December 2026.
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🎯 Tips for the evening
What visitors should know before this evening.
- 1Work out the weekday, don't memorise the dateThe rule: 5 December, or the Friday before if it falls on a weekend. In 2026 that's Friday, 4 December 2026. A look at klausjagen.ch in early December confirms the evening.
- 2Arrive early — and stay putWith up to 30,000 spectators, the good spots are taken long before 8.15 pm. Moving during the procession means seeing less, not more.
- 3With small children: the bang and the darkThe evening starts with a blast, then everything goes dark and very loud. For toddlers, a calm arrival — such as Zurich's parade a week earlier — is often the better St Nicholas.
- 4Come by trainKüssnacht is on the Lucerne–Arth-Goldau line; the procession takes place in the village centre. Driving into a darkened village with tens of thousands of visitors is a bad idea.
🗺️ Nearby — more St Nicholas events
The Klausjagen is one of 2 Chlausjagen-type events in the ConvivaPlus St Nicholas survey, which lists 13 events. The related custom in the canton of Zug is the Chlauseslä in Unterägeri on 5 December 2026.
That this din still exists is no given: in 1760 the council of the town of Zug banned it «on pain of the highest penalty». The full story and every form are in the St Nicholas calendar.
St Nicholas nearby
❓ FAQ about this event
Answers from the verified dataset — no date carried over from last year.
People also ask
Related questions from our magazine
In the Ägerital valley: the Chlauseslä in Unterägeri, with its wooden donkey and Rottä groups.
Arrivals and parades in the afternoon or early evening — the survey lists 13 events by form and time.
The Escalade, with three parades and the marmite.
The ConvivaPlus verdict
If you want one St Nicholas evening as a spectacle, come here. Nothing about it is cute: the bang, the dark, the glowing mitres, the horns. That makes it the wrong choice for toddlers and an unforgettable one for everyone else.
The key fact isn't the time but the weekday. Miss the rule and in weekend years you arrive a day late.
Freshness note: The 2026 date is calculated from the published rule and not yet confirmed by the society. Check klausjagen.ch in early December.
Check the latest: ConvivaPlus St Nicholas dataset 2026 – Küssnacht →
- ◆The weekend rule: 5 December only applies on weekdays. If it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, Küssnacht chases on the Friday — in 2026 on Friday, 4 December 2026.
- ◆A month of noise: the whip crackers practise every evening from 2 November.
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The Küssnacht Klausjagen is on 5 December — except at weekends. So in 2026 it falls on Friday, 4 December 2026.
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🎅 St Nicholas · 7 October 2026