The Heinzelmännchen (German pronunciation: [ˈhaɪntsl̩ˌmɛnçɛn] ) are a mythical race of creatures, appearing in a tale connected with the city of Cologne in Germany akin to gnomes, or elves.
The little house gnomes are said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne during the night, so that the inhabitants of Cologne could be very lazy during the day. According to the legend, this went on until a tailor's wife got so curious to see the gnomes that she scattered peas onto the floor of the workshop to make the gnomes slip and fall. The gnomes, being infuriated, disappeared and never returned. From that time on, the citizens of Cologne had to do all their work by themselves.
Nomenclature
editHänneschen once used to be a commonplace character in Cologne's puppet theater.[1] The genuine Kölsch (Colognian) dialect form should be Heizemann/Heizemännche (pl. Heizemänncher), while Heinzelmänchenn is the normalized High German form.[2]
Weyden (1826)
editThis legend of the Heinzelmänchenn was first written down by the Cologne teacher Ernst Weyden (1805–1869) in 1826.[3][4][5] It was translated into English by Thomas Keightley and published 1828 in his book The Fairy Mythology.[6][4]
Weyden's account opens thus:
Es mag noch nicht über fünfzig Jahre seyn, daß in Cöln die sogenannten Heinzelmännchen ihr abentheuerliches Wesen trieben. Kleine nackende Männchen waren es, die allerhand thaten, Brodbacken, waschen und dergleichen Hausarbeiten mehrere; so wurde erzählt; doch hatte sie Niemand gesehen[3] |
It is not over fifty years since the Heinzelmänchen.. used to live and perform their exploits in Cologne. They were little naked mannikins, who used to do all sorts of work; bake bread, wash, and such like house-work. So it is said but no one ever saw them.[7] |
—Weyden (1826) Cöln's Vorzeit | —Keightley (1828) Fairy Mythology |
Kopisch's ballad (1836)
editIn 1836 the painter and poet August Kopisch published a famous poem beginning with the words:[8]
Wie war zu Cölln es doch vordem |
Once upon a time in Cologne, |
Musical adaptations
editThe words were set to music by the German Lieder composer Carl Loewe, a contemporary of Schubert.[9]
Monuments
editIn Cologne, a fountain (Heinzelmännchenbrunnen) commemorates the Heinzelmännchen and the tailor's wife.
See also
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References
edit- ^ Grässe, Johann Georg Theodor (1856). "Zur Geschichte des Puppenspiels". Die Wissenschaften im neunzehnten Jahrhundert, ihr Standpunkt und die Resultate ihrer Forschungen: Eine Rundschau zur Belehrung für das gebildete Publikum. 1. Romberg: 559–660.
- ^ Hilgers (2001a), p. 49.
- ^ a b Weyden, Ernst (1826). . (in German). Cöln am Rhein: Pet. Schmitz. pp. 200–202 – via Wikisource.
- ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar, eds. (2012) [1899]. "Heinzelmännchen". Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (25 ed.). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 406. ISBN 9783110223651.
- ^ Hilgers (2001a), p. 30: "Diese Aufzeichnung von Ernst Weyden aus dem Jahr 1826 ist diee älteste bisher bekannt gewordene Version der Kölner Heinzelmännchensage".
- ^ Keightley (1828), 2: 29–31.
- ^ Keightley (1828), 2: 29.
- ^ August Kopisch: Gedichte. Berlin, Duncker und Humblot, 1836, p. 98, the first stanza; full text on the German language version of Wikisource.
- ^ "Loewe: Lieder".
- Bibliography
- Hilgers, Heribert A. [in German] (2001a). "Die Herkunft der Kölner Heinzelmännchen". In Schäfke, Werner [in German] (ed.). Heinzelmännchen: Beiträge zu einer Kölner Sage. Kölnisches Stadtmuseum. pp. 25–55. ISBN 9780738715490.
- —— (2001b). "Kopischs „Heinzelmännchen" auf Kölsch". In Schäfke, Werner [in German] (ed.). Heinzelmännchen: Beiträge zu einer Kölner Sage. Kölnisches Stadtmuseum. pp. 87–. ISBN 9780738715490.
- Keightley, Thomas (1828). "Heinzelmännchen". The Fairy Mythology. Vol. 2. London: William Harrison Ainsworth. pp. 29–31.