Uli der Fehlerteufel (English: "Uli the mistake devil") is a fictional character used in schoolbook exercises. The name in abbreviated form is "Uli", full name "Ulimantulus Irrichmich". The last name is pronounced, "Irr ich mich", which means something like, "Am I wrong?" (However, "Uli" is a common German name, short for

Ulrich Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...

). Uli was a rotund little red devil with blue-black hair depicted in German

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

books in the 1970s and the 1980s. Exercises were based on him, where for example Uli had removed the

capital letters Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

punctuation mark Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. An ...

s from a text and it was up to the student to replace them. Uli was created by Ilse Herrndobler who developed the character during her work as a teacher in the 1960s. Subsequently about 40 primary school books were published. Due to the enormous success of the "Uli" school books, the children's book author

Ellis Kaut Elisabeth "Ellis" Kaut (17 November 1920 – 24 September 2015) was a German author of children's literature, best known for her creation of Pumuckl, a kobold appearing in radio plays and TV series. She also published novellas and some illustrate ...

(who created the very popular children's book character "

Pumuckl ''Meister Eder und sein Pumuckl'' (English: ''Master Eder and his Pumuckl)'' is a German children's series created by Ellis Kaut. Originally a radio play series of the Bavarian Radio in 1961, the stories were later adapted into books, a successf ...

") was asked to write stories based on "Uli" which was followed by the "Fehlerteufelgeschichten" (English: "mistake devil stories") in 1974 with illustrations contributed by Franz Josef Ott. Aside from what he helped students learn, Uli himself remains a fond memory. Comparable English concepts are ''Typo Fairy'' or ''Typo Demon'', but while they are generic and open to interpretation, there is only one Uli. He also bears resemblance to

Titivillus Titivillus was a demon said to work on behalf of Belphegor, Lucifer or Satan to introduce errors into the work of scribes. The first reference to Titivillus by name occurred in , c. 1285, by Johannes Galensis (John of Wales). Attribution has als ...

, a demon who serves Satan by introducing errors into type or writing.

References

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External links

Image Of Uli
German words and phrases Fictional demons and devils