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Ratcatcher's Day, Rat-catcher's Day or Rat Catcher's Day is celebrated on 26 June or 22 July, commemorating the myth of the
Pied Piper of Hamelin The Pied Piper of Hamelin (, 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 the Middle Ages. The earliest refer ...
.


Overview

The town of
Hamelin Hameln ( ; ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hameln-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. History Hameln ...
in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
uses the June date and the term "Pied Piper Day". The confusion of dates is because the
Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...
cite 26 June 1284 as the date the Pied Piper led the children out of the town, while the poem 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 literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...
gives it as 22 July 1376. It is a holiday remembering
rat-catcher A rat-catcher is a person who kills or captures rats as a professional form of pest control. Keeping the rat population under control was practiced in Europe to prevent the spread of diseases, most notoriously the Black Death, and to prevent dam ...
s, similar to
Secretary's Day Administrative Professionals Day (also known as Secretaries Day or Admins Day) is a day observed yearly in a small number of countries. It is not a public holiday in any of them. In some countries, it falls within Administrative Professionals W ...
and Presidents Day.


References

Rats June observances July observances Unofficial observances Pied Piper of Hamelin {{Holiday-stub