Herr von Ribbeck auf Ribbeck im Havelland is a popular literary

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

written by the German poet and novelist

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known toda ...

in 1889. Up to today, the poem is published in German

anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...

and learned in schools.

Content

The poem tells of a member of the German lower ''

Uradel (, German: "ancient nobility"; adjective or ) is a genealogical term introduced in late 18th-century Germany to distinguish those families whose noble rank can be traced to the 14th century or earlier. The word stands opposed to ''Briefadel'', ...

'' nobility, named in the title (Squire ''von Ribbeck,'' his family name; ''auf Ribbeck,'' residing on Ribbeck manor (today part of

Nauen Nauen is a small town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is chiefly known for Nauen Transmitter Station, the world's oldest preserved radio transmitting installation. Geography Nauen is situated within the Havelland Luch glac ...

); ''im Havelland,'' in the

Havelland Geographically, the Havelland is the region around which the River Havel flows in a U-shape between Oranienburg to the northeast and Rhinow to the northwest. The northern boundary of the Havelland is formed by the River Rhin and the Rhin Canal. ...

region). Von Ribbeck is described as gentle and generous; he often gives away

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the p ...

s from his pear trees to children passing by, addressing them in a friendly

Brandenburgisch dialect Brandenburgian,e.g. Michael .Clyne: ''The German language in a changing Europe.'' 1995, p. XV Brandenburgish or Brandenburgisch is a dialect spoken in Germany in the northern and western parts of Brandenburg (Uckermark, Prignitz and Mittelmark ...

. But he knows his son and heir to be a scrooge; so when von Ribbeck feels his end near, he asks that a pear be put into his grave. This pear quickly grows into a pear-tree, which now provides free pears to the children, thus preserving the heritage of the late von Ribbeck.

History

The Ribbeck family of Brandenburgian nobles has been attested since 1237; they were mentioned as owners of the Ribbeck estates in the 1375 register of Emperor Charles IV. The legend of kind-hearted Hans-Georg von Ribbeck (1689–1759) and his pear-tree first appeared in a collection of fairy tales published in 1887. Fontane used this text as a base for his poem, which he wrote in summer 1889. The legendary pear-tree on the grave of the von Ribbeck family, near the village church of Ribbeck, about north-west of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, did in fact exist at Fontane's time; it was destroyed in a storm in 1911.

Popularity

More than 100 years after its initial publication, the poem is still very popular in Germany. It is available as a picture book in several editions, and has been featured on children's TV series ''

Die Sendung mit der Maus ' (''The Show with the Mouse''), often simply ' (''The Mouse''), is a German children's television series, popular nation-wide for its educational content.Bernhard Borgeest"Von Mäusen und Machern"''Focus, official website. (March 12, 2001) Retr ...

''. It is the subject of common classroom study in German schools. The poem has also been the subject of many scholarly reviews.See the

further reading Further or Furthur may refer to: * ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus *Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band *Furthur (band), a band formed in 2009 by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh * ''Further'' (The Chemical Brothers alb ...

section on Wikisource In 2007, Fontane's original

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

of the poem was sold for 130,000 Euros at an auction in Berlin.130.000 Euro für Herrn Ribbeck auf Ribbeck
DIE WELT, June 26, 2007 (in German)

References

External links

Translations
of the poem into English and other languages {{Authority control 1889 poems German poems Works by Theodor Fontane