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The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the
title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...
of a
legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
from the town of
Hamelin Hamelin ( ; german: Hameln ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. ...
(Hameln),
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. The legend dates back to the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, the earliest references describing a piper, dressed in multicolored (" pied") clothing, who was a rat catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his magic
pipe Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...
. When the citizens refuse to pay for this service as promised, he retaliates by using his instrument's magical power on their children, leading them away as he had the rats. This version of the story spread as folklore and has appeared in the writings of
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
, the
Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...
, and
Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical sett ...
, among others. The phrase "pied piper" has become a metaphor for a person who attracts a following through charisma or false promises. There are many contradictory theories about the Pied Piper. Some suggest he was a symbol of hope to the people of Hamelin, which had been attacked by
plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...
; he drove the rats from Hamelin, saving the people from the epidemic. The earliest known record of the story originates from the town of Hamelin itself, depicted in a
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
window created for the church of Hamelin, which dated to around 1300. Although the church was destroyed in 1660, several written accounts of the tale have survived.


Plot

In 1284, while the town of Hamelin was suffering from a rat infestation, a piper dressed in multicolored ("pied") clothing appeared, claiming to be a rat-catcher. He promised the mayor a solution to their problem with the rats. The
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
, in turn, promised to pay him for the removal of the rats (the promised sum was 1,000
guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...
s). The piper accepted and played his pipe to lure the rats into the Weser River, where all the rats drowned. Despite the piper's success, the mayor reneged on his promise and refused to pay him the full sum (reputedly reduced to a sum of 50 guilders) even going so far as to blame the piper for bringing the rats himself in an
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
attempt. Enraged, the piper stormed out of the town, vowing to return later to take
revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." P ...
. On Saint
John and Paul John and Paul ( Latin: ''Ioannes, Paulus'') are saints who lived during the fourth century in the Roman Empire. They were martyred at Rome on 26 June. The year of their martyrdom is uncertain according to their ''Acts''; it occurred under Juli ...
's day, while the adults were in church, the piper returned, dressed in green like a hunter and playing his pipe. In so doing, he attracted the town's
child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...
ren. One hundred and thirty children followed him out of town and into a cave, after which they were never seen again. Depending on the version, at most three children remained behind: one was lame and could not follow quickly enough, the second was deaf and therefore could not hear the music, and the last was blind and therefore unable to see where he was going. These three informed the villagers of what had happened when they came out from church. Other versions relate that the Pied Piper led the children to the top of Koppelberg Hill, where he took them to a beautiful land, or a place called Koppenberg Mountain, or Transylvania, or that he made them walk into the Weser as he did with the rats, and they all drowned. Some versions state that the Piper returned the children after extorting payment, or that the children were only returned after the villagers paid several times the original payment in gold. The Hamelin street named ("street without drums") is believed to be the last place that the children were seen. Ever since, music or dancing is not allowed on this street.


Background

The earliest mention of the story seems to have been on a stained-glass window placed in the Church of Hamelin . The window was described in several accounts between the 14th and 17th centuries. It was destroyed in 1660. Based on the surviving descriptions, a modern reconstruction of the window has been created by historian Hans Dobbertin. It features the colorful figure of the Pied Piper and several figures of children dressed in white. The window is generally considered to have been created in memory of a tragic historical event for the town; Hamelin town records also apparently start with this event. The earliest written record is from the town chronicles in an entry from 1384 which reportedly states: "It is 100 years since our children left." Although research has been conducted for centuries, no explanation for the historical event is universally accepted as true. In any case, the rats were first added to the story in a version from and are absent from earlier accounts.


14th-century Decan Lude chorus book

Decan Lude Johannes de Lüde (also known as Johann von Lüde, John of Lude and Johannis de Lüde) was dean of Hamelin. His mother was an eyewitness to the children being lured out of the town by the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Johannes de Lüde had an uncle named ...
of Hamelin was reported to have in his possession a chorus book containing a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
verse giving an eyewitness account of the event.


15th-century Lüneburg manuscript

The Lüneburg manuscript () gives an early German account of the event.Illustrated in
Rattenfänger von Hameln The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to ...
 According to the Christmas Eve edition of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' in 1955, on the back of the last tattered page of a dusty chronicle called The Golden Chain, written in Latin in 1370 by the monk Heinrich of Hereford, is there written in a different handwriting the following account:
''Here follows a marvellous wonder, which transpired in the town of Hamelin in the diocese of Minden, in the Year of Our Lord, 1284, on the Feast of Saints John and Paul. A certain young man thirty years of age, handsome and well-dressed, so that all who saw him admired him because of his appearance, crossed the bridges and entered the town by the West Gate. He then began to play all through the town a silver pipe of the most magnificent sort. All the children who heard his pipe, in the number of 130, followed him to the East Gate and out of the town to the so-called execution place or Calvary. There they proceeded to vanish, so that no trace of them could be found. The mothers of the children ran from town to town, but they found nothing. It is written: A voice was heard from on high, and a mother was bewailing her son. And as one counts the years according to the Year of Our Lord or according to the first, second or third year of an anniversary, so do the people in Hamelin reckon the years after the departure and disappearance of their children. This report I found in an old book. And the mother of the Dean Johann von Lüde saw the children depart.


Rattenfängerhaus

It is rendered in the following form in an inscription on a house known as (English: "Rat Catcher's House" or
Pied Piper's House The Pied Piper's House or Rattenfängerhaus ("Rat Catcher's House") is a half-timbered building in Hamelin. It is named after an inscription on its side which purports to be an eyewitness account of the events of the Pied Piper of Hamelin story, According_to_author_Fanny_Rostek-Lühmann_this_is_the_oldest_surviving_account.__(High_German.html" ;"title="i ...
) in Hamelin: According to author Fanny Rostek-Lühmann this is the oldest surviving account. (High German">i ...
) in Hamelin: According to author Fanny Rostek-Lühmann this is the oldest surviving account. (High German , meaning a knoll or domed hill) seems to be a reference to one of several hills surrounding Hamelin. Which of them was intended by the manuscript's author remains uncertain.


The Wedding House

A similar inscription can be found on the "Wedding- or Hochzeitshaus, a fine structure erected between 1610 and 1617 for marriage festivities, but diverted from its purpose since 1721. Behind rises the spire of the parish church of St. Nicholas, which may still enwall stones that witness how the parents prayed, while the Piper wrought sorrow for them without":


The Town Gate

Part of the town gate from the year 1556 is today exhibited at the Hamelin Museum. According to Hamelin Museum, this stone is the oldest surviving sculptural evidence for the legend. It bears the following inscription:


Verses in the monastery at Hamelin

The Hamelin Museum writes:
In the mid 14th Century, a monk from Minden, Heinrich von Herford, puts together a collection of holy legends called the “Catena Aurea”.  It speaks of a “miracle” that took place in 1284 in Hamelin.  A youth appeared and played on a strange silver flute.  Every child that heard the flute, followed the stranger.  They left Hameln by the Eastern gate and disappeared at Kalvarien Hill.  This is the oldest known account of this occurrence. Around this time a verse of rhyme is found in “zu Hameln im Kloster”.  It tells about the children’s disappearance.  It is written in red ink on the title page of a missal.  It bewails “the 130 beloved Hamelner children” who were “eaten alive by Calvaria”.  The original verses are probably the oldest written source of this legend.  It has been missing for hundreds of years.'
However, different versions of transcriptions of handwritten copies still exist. One was published by Heinrich Meibom in 1688. Another was included by Johann Daniel Gottlieb Herr under the title Passionale Sanctorum in ''Collectanea zur Geschichte der Stadt Hameln''. His manuscript is dated 1761. There are some Latin verses which had a prose version underneath:


16th- and 17th-century sources

Somewhere between 1559 and 1565, Count Froben Christoph von Zimmern included a version in his . This appears to be the earliest account which mentions the plague of rats. Von Zimmern dates the event only as "several hundred years ago" ( ), so that his version throws no light on the conflict of dates (see next paragraph). Another contemporary account is that of
Johann Weyer Johann Weyer or Johannes Wier ( la, Ioannes Wierus or '; 1515 – 24 February 1588) was a Dutch physician, occultist and demonologist, disciple and follower of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. He was among the first to publish agains ...
in his (1563).


Theories


Natural causes

A number of theories suggest that children died of some natural causes such as disease or starvation, and that the Piper was a symbolic figure of
Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
. Analogous themes which are associated with this theory include the
Dance of Death The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of ...
, or , a common medieval trope. Some of the scenarios that have been suggested as fitting this theory include that the children drowned in the river Weser, were killed in a
landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environmen ...
or contracted some disease during an epidemic. Another modern interpretation reads the story as alluding to an event where Hamelin children were lured away by a
pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...
or
heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...
sect A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that ...
to forests near Coppenbrügge (the mysterious "hills" of the poem) for ritual dancing where they all perished during a sudden landslide or collapsing
sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
.


Emigration

Speculation on the emigration theory is based on the idea that, by the 13th century, overpopulation of the area resulted in the oldest son owning all the land and power ( majorat), leaving the rest as serfs.. It has also been suggested that one reason the emigration of the children was never documented was that the children were sold to a recruiter from the Baltic region of Eastern Europe, a practice that was not uncommon at the time. In his book ''The Pied Piper: A Handbook'',
Wolfgang Mieder Wolfgang Mieder (born 17 February 1944) is a retired professor of German and folklore at the University of Vermont, in Burlington, Vermont, USA, where he had taught for 50 years. He is a graduate of Olivet College (BA), the University of Michigan ...
states that historical documents exist showing that people from the area including Hamelin did help settle parts of
Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...
.
Emily Gerard (Jane) Emily Gerard (7 May 1849 – 11 January 1905) was a Scottish 19th-century author best known for the influence her collections of Transylvanian folklore had on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel '' Dracula''. Life Early life Emily Gerard was ...
reports in ''The Land Beyond the Forest'' an element of the folktale that "popular tradition has averred the Germans who about that time made their appearance in Transylvania to be no other than the lost children of Hameln, who, having performed their long journey by subterranean passages, reissued to the light of day through the opening of a cavern known as the Almescher Höhle, in the north-east of Transylvania." Transylvania had suffered under lengthy
Mongol invasions The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire (1206-1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastation ...
of Central Europe, led by two grandsons of
Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; ; xng, Temüjin, script=Latn; ., name=Temujin – August 25, 1227) was the founder and first Great Khan (Emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in history a ...
and which date from around the time of the earliest appearance of the legend of the piper, the early 13th century. In the version of the legend posted on the official website for the town of Hamelin, another aspect of the emigration theory is presented:
Among the various interpretations, reference to the colonization of East Europe starting from Low Germany is the most plausible one: The "Children of Hameln" would have been in those days citizens willing to emigrate being recruited by landowners to settle in Moravia, East Prussia, Pomerania or in the Teutonic Land. It is assumed that in past times all people of a town were referred to as "children of the town" or "town children" as is frequently done today. The "Legend of the children's Exodus" was later connected to the "Legend of expelling the rats". This most certainly refers to the rat plagues being a great threat in the medieval milling town and the more or less successful professional ''rat catchers''.
The theory is provided credence by the fact that family names common to Hamelin at the time "show up with surprising frequency in the areas of Uckermark and Prignitz, near Berlin." Historian Ursula Sautter, citing the work of linguist Jürgen Udolph, offers this hypothesis in support of the emigration theory:
"After the defeat of the Danes at the Battle of Bornhöved in 1227," explains Udolph, "the region south of the Baltic Sea, which was then inhabited by Slavs, became available for colonization by the Germans." The bishops and dukes of Pomerania, Brandenburg, Uckermark and Prignitz sent out glib "locators," medieval recruitment officers, offering rich rewards to those who were willing to move to the new lands. Thousands of young adults from Lower Saxony and Westphalia headed east. And as evidence, about a dozen Westphalian place names show up in this area. Indeed there are five villages called Hindenburg running in a straight line from Westphalia to Pomerania, as well as three eastern Spiegelbergs and a trail of etymology from Beverungen south of Hamelin to Beveringen northwest of Berlin to Beweringen in modern Poland.
Udolph favors the hypothesis that the Hamelin youths wound up in what is now Poland. Genealogist Dick Eastman cited Udolph's research on Hamelin surnames that have shown up in Polish phonebooks:
Linguistics professor Jürgen Udolph says that 130 children did vanish on a June day in the year 1284 from the German village of Hamelin ( in German). Udolph entered all the known family names in the village at that time and then started searching for matches elsewhere. He found that the same surnames occur with amazing frequency in the regions of Prignitz and Uckermark, both north of Berlin. He also found the same surnames in the former Pomeranian region, which is now a part of Poland. Udolph surmises that the children were actually unemployed youths who had been sucked into the German drive to colonize its new settlements in Eastern Europe. The Pied Piper may never have existed as such, but, says the professor, "There were characters known as ''
lokator The ''lokator'' (lat. ''locator'': landlord, land allocator, from Latin to allocate, rent, establish, settle or locate; also ''magister incolarum''; in Mecklenburg and Pomerania also or , similar to the ''Reutemeister'' in South Germany) was ...
s'' who roamed northern Germany trying to recruit settlers for the East." Some of them were brightly dressed, and all were silver-tongued. Professor Udolph can show that the Hamelin exodus should be linked with the Battle of Bornhöved in 1227 which broke the Danish hold on Eastern Europe. That opened the way for German colonization, and by the latter part of the thirteenth century there were systematic attempts to bring able-bodied youths to Brandenburg and Pomerania. The settlement, according to the professor's name search, ended up near Starogard in what is now northwestern Poland. A village near Hamelin, for example, is called Beverungen and has an almost exact counterpart called Beveringen, near Pritzwalk, north of Berlin and another called Beweringen, near Starogard. Local Polish telephone books list names that are not the typical Slavic names one would expect in that region. Instead, many of the names seem to be derived from German names that were common in the village of Hamelin in the thirteenth century. In fact, the names in today's Polish telephone directories include Hamel, Hamler and Hamelnikow, all apparently derived from the name of the original village.


Pagan—Christian conflict

It has been noted that all local reports of the incident date it to the specific date of 26 June, the date of
pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...
midsummer celebrations and often also place emphasis the children being led away to the "''Koppen''" meaning hills. It was traditional in some areas of Germany to celebrate midsummer by lighting bonfires in the hills. This has led to speculation that the children may have been led away by a pagan
shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...
to participate in one of these celebrations and been forced into a
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...
or massacred by local Christians.


Other

Some theories have linked the disappearance of the children to
mass psychogenic illness Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria, or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for c ...
in the form of dancing mania. Dancing mania outbreaks occurred during the 13th century, including one in 1237 in which a large group of children travelled from
Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...
to
Arnstadt Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially preserved to ...
(about ), jumping and dancing all the way, in marked similarity to the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, which originated at around the same time. Others have suggested that the children left Hamelin to be part of a
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
, a
military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the ...
, or even a new Children's Crusade (which is said to have occurred in 1212) but never returned to their parents. These theories see the unnamed Piper as their leader or a recruiting agent. The townspeople made up this story (instead of recording the facts) to avoid the wrath of the church or the king.
William Manchester William Raymond Manchester (April 1, 1922 – June 1, 2004) was an American author, biographer, and historian. He was the author of 18 books which have been translated into over 20 languages. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal and the ...
's ''
A World Lit Only by Fire ''A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age'' is an informal history of the European Middle Ages by American historian William Manchester. Published in 1992, the book is divided into three sections: "The ...
'' places the events in 1484, 100 years after the written mention in the town chronicles that "It is 100 years since our children left", and further proposes that the Pied Piper was a psychopathic paedophile.


Adaptations

* In 1803,
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
wrote a poem based on the story that was later set to music by
Hugo Wolf Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf (13 March 1860 – 22 February 1903) was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Ro ...
. Goethe also incorporated references to the story in his version of ''
Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...
''. (The first part of the drama was first published in 1808 and the second in 1832.) * Jakob and
Wilhelm Grimm Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm. Life and work Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, i ...
, known as the
Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...
, drawing from 11 sources, included the tale in their collection ''Deutsche Sagen'' (first published in 1816). According to their account, two children were left behind, as one was blind and the other lame, so neither could follow the others. The rest became the founders of Siebenbürgen (
Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...
). * Using the
Verstegan Richard Rowlands, born Richard Verstegan (c. 1550 – 1640), was an Anglo- Dutch antiquary, publisher, humorist and translator. Verstegan was born in East London the son of a cooper; his grandfather, Theodore Roland Verstegen, was a refugee f ...
version of the tale (1605: the earliest account in English) and adopting the 1376 date,
Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical sett ...
wrote a poem of that name which was published in his '' Dramatic Lyrics'' (1842). Browning's retelling in verse is notable for its humour, wordplay, and jingling rhymes. *
Viktor Dyk Viktor Dyk (; 31 December 1877 – 14 May 1931) was a nationalist Czech poet, prose writer, playwright, politician and political writer. He was sent to jail during the First World War for opposing the Austro-Hungarian empire. He was one of the sign ...
's ''Krysař'' (The Rat-Catcher), published in 1915, retells the story in a slightly darker, more enigmatic way. The short novel also features the character of ''
Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...
''. * In Marina Tsvetaeva's long poem ''liricheskaia satira, The Rat-Catcher'' (serialized in the émigré journal ''Volia Rossii'' in 1925–1926), rats are an allegory of people influenced by Bolshevik propaganda. * ''
The Pied Piper The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back t ...
'' (16 September 1933) is a short animated film based on the story, produced by
Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...
, directed by
Wilfred Jackson Wilfred Jackson (January 24, 1906 – August 7, 1988) was an American animator, arranger, composer and director best known for his work on the ''Mickey Mouse'' and '' Silly Symphonies'' series of cartoons and the ''Night on Bald Mountain''/''Ave ...
, and released as a part of
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's '' Silly Symphonies'' series. It stars the voice talents of
Billy Bletcher William Bletcher (September 24, 1894 – January 5, 1979) was an American actor. He was known for voice roles for various classic animated characters, most notably Pete in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short films and the Big Bad Wolf in Disn ...
as the Mayor of Hamelin. *ಬೊಮ್ಮನಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಕಿಂದರ ಜೋಗಿ (''Kondara Jogi of
Bommanahalli Bommanahalli is a locality in Bengaluru and one of the zones of BBMP. It is located adjacent to Hosur Road National Highway 44 (India) in India and is proximate to the IT hub Electronics City. Two of The Oxford Educational Institutions are lo ...
'') by the Kannada poet-laureate
Kuvempu Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa (29 December 1904 – 11 November 1994), popularly known by his pen name Kuvempu, was an Indian poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He is widely regarded as the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th century. He wa ...
is a poetic adaptation of the story *'' Paying the Piper'', starring
Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many criti ...
, is a ''
Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. ...
'' parody of the tale of the Pied Piper. *
The Town on the Edge of the End
', a comic-book version, was published by Walt Kelly in his 1954 Pogo collection
Pogo Stepmother Goose
'' *
Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment ...
starred as the Piper in NBC studios' adaptation: ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin'' (1957). * ''
The Pied Piper The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back t ...
'' is a 1972 British film directed by Jacques Demy and starring Jack Wild, Donald Pleasence, and John Hurt and featuring Donovan and Diana Dors. * "Emissary from Hamelin" is a short story written by Harlan Ellison, published in 1978 in the collection "Strange Wine." * ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin'' is a 1981 stop-motion animated film by Cosgrove Hall using Robert Browning's original poem verbatim. This adaptation was later shown as an episode for the PBS series '' Long Ago and Far Away''. * The paperback horror novel ''Come, Follow Me'' by Philip Michaels (Avon Books, 1983) is based on the story. * In 1985 Robert Browning's poetic retelling of the story was adapted as an episode of
Shelley Duvall Shelley Alexis Duvall (born July 7, 1949) is an American actress and producer who is known for her portrayals of distinct, often eccentric characters. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Peab ...
's
Faerie Tale Theatre Faerie Tale Theatre (also known as Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre) is an American live-action fairytale fantasy drama anthology television series of 27 episodes, that originally aired on Showtime from September 11, 1982 until November 14, ...
starring
Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. Idle was a member of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band The Rutles, and is the writer of the music and lyrics for the Broad ...
as the Piper, and as Robert Browning in the prologue and epilogue, who narrates the poem to a young boy. * In 1986,
Jiří Bárta Jiří Bárta (19 June 1935 – 4 January 2012) was a Czech pianist and composer. Biography Jiří Bárta was born in Šumice, Uherské Hradiště District. In his youth, he studied piano with organist and composer Emil Hába (1900–1982). He ...
made an animated movie ''
The Pied Piper The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back t ...
'' based more on the above-mentioned story by
Viktor Dyk Viktor Dyk (; 31 December 1877 – 14 May 1931) was a nationalist Czech poet, prose writer, playwright, politician and political writer. He was sent to jail during the First World War for opposing the Austro-Hungarian empire. He was one of the sign ...
; the movie was accompanied by the rock music by
Michal Pavlíček Michal Pavlíček (born 14 February 1956) is a Czech guitarist, musical composer, singer, lyricist, and producer. He is considered to be an accomplished guitarist and holds numerous awards. Career Pavlíček, a FAMU graduate, broke onto the mus ...
. * In 1989,
W11 Opera W11 Opera is an independent opera company in London which produces operas performed by young people aged 9 to 18. Founded in 1971, it takes its name from its location in W11, a postal district in West London consisting largely of Notting Hill and ...
premiered ''Koppelberg'', an opera they commissioned from composer Steve Gray and lyricist Norman Brooke; the work was based on the Robert Browning poem. * In Atom Egoyan's '' The Sweet Hereafter'' (1997), the myth of the Pied Piper is a metaphor for a town’s failure to protect its children. * China Miéville's 1998 London-set novel '' King Rat'' centers on the ancient rivalry between the rats (some of whom are portrayed as having humanlike characteristics) and the Pied Piper, who appears in the novel as a mysterious musician named Pete who infiltrates the local club-music scene. * The cast of
Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and inf ...
did their own version of the tale in the direct-to-DVD special ''
It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown ''It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown'' is the 39th and last animated special produced under the supervision of Charles M. Schulz. Based on characters from the comic strip '' Peanuts'', it was originally released exclusively in VHS and DVD formats ...
'' (2000), which was the final special to have the involvement of original creator
Charles Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wi ...
, who died before it was released. * Demons and Wizards' first album, '' Demons and Wizards'' (2000), includes a track called "The Whistler" which recounts the tale of the Pied Piper. * Terry Pratchett's 2001 young-adult novel, '' The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents'', parodies the legend from the perspective of the rats, the piper, and their handler. * The 2003 television film '' The Electric Piper'', set in the United States in the 1960s, depicts the piper as a
psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound effects and recording te ...
guitarist modeled after
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
. * The Pied Piper of Hamelin was adapted in '' Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child'' where it uses jazz music. The episode featured
Wesley Snipes Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist. His prominent film roles include '' Major League'' (1989), ''New Jack City'' (1991), '' White Men Can't Jump'' (1992), '' Passenger 57'' (1992), '' ...
as the Pied Piper and the music performed by Ronnie Laws as well as the voices of Samuel L. Jackson as the Mayor of Hamelin, Grant Shaud as the Mayor's assistant Toadey,
John Ratzenberger John Dezso Ratzenberger (born April 6, 1947)About John
from Ratzenberger's official website is an Americ ...
and Richard Moll as respective guards Hinky and Dinky. * The Pied Piper, "voiced" by
Jeremy Steig Jeremy Steig (September 23, 1942 – April 13, 2016)Peter Keepnews, "Jeremy ...
, has a small role (flute only) in the 2010 Dreamworks animated film ''
Shrek Forever After ''Shrek Forever After'' is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The sequel to '' Shrek the T ...
''. * In the anime adaptation of the Japanese light novel series, '' Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?'' (2013), a major story revolves around the "false legend" of Pied Piper of Hamelin. The adaptation speaks in great length about the original source and the various versions of the story that sprang up throughout the years. It is stated that Weser, the representation of Natural Disaster, was the true Piper of Hamelin (meaning the children were killed by drowning or landslides). * In '' Ever After High'', the Pied Piper has a daughter named Melody. * In 2015, a South Korean horror movie title '' The Piper'' was released. It is a loose adaptation of the Brothers Grimm tale where the Pied Piper uses the rats for his revenge to kill all the villagers except for the children whom he traps in a cave. * The short story "The Rat King" by John Connolly, first included in the 2016 edition of his novel '' The Book of Lost Things'', is a fairly faithful adaptation of the legend, but with a new ending. It was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast on 28 October 2016. *In 2016, Victorian Opera presented ''The Pied Piper,'' an Opera by Richard Mills. At the Playhouse the Art Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. * In the American TV series '' Once Upon a Time'', the Pied Piper is revealed to be
Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
, who is using pipes to call out to "lost boys" and take them away from their homes. *In the Netflix series The Society (TV series), a man named Pfeiffer removes a mysterious smell from the town of West Ham, but is not paid. Two days later he takes the kids on field trip in a school bus and returns them to an alternate version of the town where the adults are not present. *In the song "Pied Piper" by the boy group BTS, dedicated to their fans to remind them not to get distracted by said group. *In 2019, the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, introduced a new set based on European folk and fairy tales. This set contained the first direct reference to the Piper, by being named "Piper of the Swarm

*In the 1995 anime film Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie, one of the film's antagonists named Poupelin was very similar to the Pied Piper, using his special flute to hypnotize children and follow him into his ship away from their homes where they sailed off to his home planet. *In
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...
there is a villain called the Rat King who uses rats as troops; like the Pied Piper he uses a flute to charm them and even turns Master Splinter on his prized students. *The HBO series
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Cou ...
centers around a compression company called Pied Piper. The denouement of the series depicts the company as benevolent and self-sacrificing as opposed to the extortionist depiction in the fable. One of the characters refers to the company's eponymous inspiration as "a predatory flautist who murders children in a cave." * ''The Pied Piper'' An opera in one act based on the poem ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin'' by
Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical sett ...
with additional material by Adam Cornford. Music by Daniel Steven Crafts
Karl Weigl
composed a children’s operetta The Pied Piper of Hamelin in 1934, with libretto by Helene Scheu-Riesz. Under the direction of Davide Casali, th
Festival Viktor Ullmann
mounted
dramatic performance
of the operetta in 2021, in Italian rather than the original German. *Piedmon, from the first season of the animated series “Digimon” (1999), is also based on the Pied Piper. In the show, he played a pipe and was able to lure other people and Digimon to do his bidding, much like mind control. * ''Piper'', a 2017 liberal adaptation of the original story into a
Young Adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...
graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
written by
Jay Asher Jay Asher (born September 30, 1975) is an American writer and novelist. He is best known for writing the bestselling 2007 book ''Thirteen Reasons Why''. Early life Asher was born in Arcadia, California, on September 30, 1975. He is half Jewish. ...
and Jessica Freeburg and illustrated by Jeff Stokely, from
Penguin Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adap ...
imprint
Razorbill The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis im ...
. * ''Ratcatcher'', a 2022 song by
GWAR Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. After th ...
, has GWAR's lead singer take credit for being the Piper and stealing the children when their bill went unpaid.


Literature

* The Pied Piper is a central figure in ''Rainbow Valley'' and ''
Rilla of Ingleside ''Rilla of Ingleside'' (1921) is the eighth of nine books in the ''Anne of Green Gables'' series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, but was the sixth "Anne" novel in publication order. This book draws the focus back onto a single character, Anne and Gilb ...
'' by
Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with ''Anne of Green Gables''. She ...
, calling, or in hindsight luring, that generation of boys off to war.


Allusions in linguistics

In
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...
, '' pied-piping'' is the common name for the ability of question words and relative pronouns to drag other words along with them when brought to the front, as part of the phenomenon called
Wh-movement In linguistics, wh-movement (also known as wh-fronting, wh-extraction, or wh-raising) is the formation of syntactic dependencies involving interrogative words. An example in English is the dependency formed between ''what'' and the object position ...
. For example, in "For whom are the pictures?", the word "for" is ''pied-piped'' by "whom" away from its declarative position ("The pictures are for me"), and in "The mayor, pictures of whom adorn his office walls" both words "pictures of" are pied-piped in front of the
relative pronoun A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause. It serves the purpose of conjoining modifying information about an antecedent referent. An example is the word ''which'' in the sentence "This is the house which Jack built." Here the r ...
, which normally starts the relative clause. Some researchers believe that the tale has inspired the common English phrase "pay the piper", although the phrase is potentially a contraction of the English
proverb A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbia ...
"he who pays the piper calls the tune" which means, contrary to paying a debt such as the modern expression implies, that the person paying for something is the one who gets to say how it should be done.


Modernity

The present-day city of Hamelin continues to maintain information about the Pied Piper legend and possible origins of the story on its website. Interest in the city's connection to the story remains so strong that, in 2009, Hamelin held a tourist festival to mark the 725th anniversary of the disappearance of the town's earlier children. The Rat Catcher's House is popular with visitors, although it bears no connection to the Rat-Catcher version of the legend. Indeed, the Rattenfängerhaus is instead associated with the story due to the earlier inscription upon its facade mentioning the legend. The house was built much later, in 1602 and 1603. It is now a Hamelin City-owned restaurant with a Pied Piper theme throughout. The city also maintains an online shop with rat-themed merchandise as well as offering an officially licensed Hamelin Edition of the popular board game ''
Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
'' which depicts the legendary Piper on the cover. In addition to the recent milestone festival, each year the city marks 26 June as "Rat Catcher's Day". In the United States, a similar holiday for exterminators based on Rat Catcher's Day is marked on 22 July, but has not caught on.


See also

* ''Hamelen'' (TV series) * List of literary accounts of the Pied Piper * Pied Piper of Hamelin in popular culture *
Hamline University Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline ...
, whose mascot is the Pied Piper


Footnotes


References


Further reading

* Marco Bergmann: ''Dunkler Pfeifer – Die bisher ungeschriebene Lebensgeschichte des "Rattenfängers von Hameln"'', BoD, 2. Auflage 2009, . * Hans Dobbertin: ''Quellensammlung zur Hamelner Rattenfängersage''. Schwartz, Göttingen 1970. * Hans Dobbertin: ''Quellenaussagen zur Rattenfängersage.'' Niemeyer, Hameln 1996 (erw. Neuaufl.). . * Stanisław Dubiski: ''Ile prawdy w tej legendzie?'' (How much truth is there behind the Pied Piper Legend?). n:"Wiedza i Życie", No 6/1999. *
Radu Florescu Radu Florescu (23 October 1925 – 18 May 2014) was a Romanian academic who held the position of Emeritus Professor of History at Boston College. His work on Vlad Dracula includes a series of bestselling books that he co-authored with his colle ...
: ''In Search of the Pied Piper''. Athena Press 2005. . * Norbert Humburg: ''Der Rattenfänger von Hameln. Die berühmte Sagengestalt in Geschichte und Literatur, Malerei und Musik, auf der Bühne und im Film''. Niemeyer, Hameln 2. Aufl. 1990. . * Peter Stephan Jungk: Der Rattenfänger von Hameln. Recherchen und Gedanken zu einem sagenhaften Mythos. n:"
Neue Rundschau The ''Neue Rundschau'', formerly ''Die neue Rundschau'' (), founded in 1890, is a quarterly German literary magazine that appears in the S. Fischer Verlag. With its over 100 years of continuous history, it is one of the oldest cultural publicatio ...
", No 105 (1994), vol.2, pp. 67–73. * Ullrich Junker: Rübezahl – Sage und Wirklichkeit. n:„Unser Harz. Zeitschrift für Heimatgeschichte, Brauchtum und Natur". Goslar, December 2000, pp. 225–228. * Wolfgang Mieder: ''Der Rattenfänger von Hameln. Die Sage in Literatur, Medien und Karikatur.'' Praesens, Wien 2002. . * Aleksander R. Michalak: ''Denar dla Szczurołapa'', Replika 2018. * Heinrich Spanuth: ''Der Rattenfänger von Hameln''. Niemeyer Hameln 1951. * Izabela Taraszczuk: Die Rattenfängersage: zur Deutung und Rezeption der Geschichte. n:Robert Buczek, Carsten Gansel, Paweł Zimniak, eds.: ''Germanistyka 3. Texte in Kontexten''. Zielona Góra: Oficyna Wydawnicza Uniwersytetu Zielonogórskiego 2004, pp. 261–273. . * Jürgen Udolph: ''Zogen die Hamelner Aussiedler nach Mähren? Die Rattenfängersage aus namenkundlicher Sicht''. n:''Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte'' 69 (1997), pp. 125–183.


External links

* Maria J. Pérez Cuervo
"The Lost Children of Hamelin"
Originally published in ''Fortean Times''.
The Lüneburg Manuscript
– The original manuscript published digitally
Chronica Ecclesiæ Hamelensis
(1384) by Joannem de Polda, Seniorem Ecclesiæ, in ''Rerum Germanicarum tomi III : I. Historicos Germanicos'' (1688) by Heinrich Meibom *
D. L. Ashliman Dee L. Ashliman (born January 1, 1938), who writes professionally as D. L. Ashliman, is an American folklorist and writer. He is Professor Emeritus of German at the University of Pittsburgh and is considered to be a leading expert on folklore and ...
of the
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
quotes th
Grimm's "Children of Hamelin"
in full, as well as a number of similar and related legends.
An 1888 illustrated version of Robert Browning's poem
(Illustrated by
Kate Greenaway Catherine Greenaway (17 March 18466 November 1901) was an English Victorian artist and writer, known for her children's book illustrations. She received her education in graphic design and art between 1858 and 1871 from the Finsbury School o ...
)
The 725th anniversary of the Pied Piper in 2009

''The Pied Piper of Hamelin''
From the Collections at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

A Translation of Grimm's Saga No. 245 "The Children of Hameln"

A version of the legend from Howel's Famous Letters
{{Authority control 1284 in Europe Fiction set in the 1280s Fictional characters from Lower Saxony Fictional kidnappers Fictional flautists German folklore Grimms' Fairy Tales Hamelin Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Legendary German people Music in fiction Poetry by Robert Browning Transylvania in fiction