The Pied Piper of Hamelin

From far away, so far the direction was difficult to guess, came the sound of a flute. It was rather strange, as it was not played on a familiar tune of our place, hence caught our attention. Somehow, it reminded me of an old story that I, in fact, most of us have read in our childhood, but could not remember the name of! Well, it didn't take too much effort in doing some internet search and finding the name - The Pied Piper of Hamelin. (German: Der Rattenfänger von Hameln)

Here's an account of some interesting facts I read about the Story.

✽ The key telling was by the Grimm brothers because they weren’t storytellers. They didn’t make up fairy tales. They were historians, doing their best to write down oral history passed from one generation to another. It was told by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in 1812, written as a children’s book by Robert Browning in 1888 and even Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote his version. ("The Pied Piper Was Real: 130 Children Disappeared And Never Came Back")

Germany – Scott #1273 (1978)

The Children of Hameln

BY JACON AND WILHELM GRIMM 

In the year 1284 a mysterious man appeared in Hameln. He was wearing a coat of many colored, bright cloth, for which reason he was called the Pied Piper. He claimed to be a ratcatcher, and he promised that for a certain sum he would rid the city of all mice and rats. The citizens struck a deal, promising him a certain price. The ratcatcher then took a small fife from his pocket and began to blow on it. Rats and mice immediately came from every house and gathered around him. When he thought that he had them all he led them to the River Weser where he pulled up his clothes and walked into the water. The animals all followed him, fell in, and drowned.

Now that the citizens had been freed of their plague, they regretted having promised so much money, and, using all kinds of excuses, they refused to pay him. Finally he went away, bitter and angry. He returned on June 26, Saint John's and Saint Paul's Day, early in the morning at seven o'clock (others say it was at noon), now dressed in a hunter's costume, with a dreadful look on his face and wearing a strange red hat. He sounded his fife in the streets, but this time it wasn't rats and mice that came to him, but rather children: a great number of boys and girls from their fourth year on. Among them was the mayor's grown daughter. The swarm followed him, and he led them into a mountain, where he disappeared with them.

All this was seen by a babysitter who, carrying a child in her arms, had followed them from a distance, but had then turned around and carried the news back to the town. The anxious parents ran in droves to the town gates seeking their children. The mothers cried out and sobbed pitifully. Within the hour messengers were sent everywhere by water and by land inquiring if the children -- or any of them -- had been seen, but it was all for naught.

In total, one hundred thirty were lost. Two, as some say, had lagged behind and came back. One of them was blind and the other mute. The blind one was not able to point out the place, but was able to tell how they had followed the piper. The mute one was able to point out the place, although he [or she] had heard nothing. One little boy in shirtsleeves had gone along with the others, but had turned back to fetch his jacket and thus escaped the tragedy, for when he returned, the others had already disappeared into a cave within a hill. This cave is still shown.

Until the middle of the eighteenth century, and probably still today, the street through which the children were led out to the town gate was called the bunge-lose (drumless, soundless, quiet) street, because no dancing or music was allowed there. Indeed, when a bridal procession on its way to church crossed this street, the musicians would have to stop playing. The mountain near Hameln where the children disappeared is called Poppenberg. Two stone monuments in the form of crosses have been erected there, one on the left side and one on the right. Some say that the children were led into a cave, and that they came out again in Transylvania.

The citizens of Hameln recorded this event in their town register, and they came to date all their proclamations according to the years and days since the loss of their children.

According to Seyfried the 22nd rather than the 26th of June was entered into the town register.

The following lines were inscribed on the town hall:

In the year 1284 after the birth of Christ

From Hameln were led away

One hundred thirty children, born at this place

Led away by a piper into a mountain.

And on the new gate was inscribed: Centum ter denos cum magus ab urbe puellos

duxerat ante annos CCLXXII condita porta fuit.

[This gate was built 272 years after the magician led the 130 children from the city.]

In the year 1572 the mayor had the story portrayed in the church windows. The accompanying inscription has become largely illegible. In addition, a coin was minted in memory of the event.

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✽ The ending of the story is different in most bedtime storybooks, i.e. “The mayor graciously paid the piper for his service, and the rodent-free town of Hamelin lived happily ever after.” However, there are several theories about what really happened that day, which definitely cannot end with the three magical words "happily ever after". Although it does, like most folk tales, teach us a lesson at the end. 

✽ Various shreds of evidence support the fact that the story might be based on true events, some of them are mentioned below. 

• The first record is a stained glass window from 1300 of a church, which was destroyed in 1660. The window is considered to have been made in memory of a tragic historical event for the town. Eyewitness account from the time,  states in Latin, "On the day of John and Paul, 130 children in Hamelin went to Calvary and were brought through all kinds of danger to the Koppen mountain and lost." Interestingly, this inscription did not mention anything about a piper.
• The Town records of Hamelin seems to start with this event. The earliest written record is from the town chronicles in an entry from the year 1384 which states: "It is 100 years since our children left."
• A monk named Heinrich, of Herford, wrote about a man of age about 30, who came to the town playing a flute and led out the children. This was found in the Lüneburg Manuscript, which was written more than a century after the window is thought to have been constructed (c. 1440-50). This manuscript gives a date when the children are lured away of June 26, 1284.
• By 1603, the town erected the façade of what is known now as the Pied Piper House. On the façade, there is an inscription that was included in later editions of the original Grimm's fairy tales*. This inscription is similar to the one put on the church window but this one does mention the existence of the piper.
• In the sixteenth century, the Zimmer Chronicle, written by Count Froben Christoph von Zimmer of Swabia, expands the story with the inclusion of rats.

1592 painting of the Pied Piper copied from the glass window of Marktkirche in Hamelin

Based on the surviving descriptions, a modern reconstruction of the window destroyed in 1660 has been created by historian Hans Dobbertin.

✽ Hamelin Today

Hameln (Germany) is a city in Lower Saxony Land (state), north-central Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, and has a population of roughly 57,000. It lies along the Weser River, southwest of Hannover.  It is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Hameln is a commercial center with a rail junction and a river port. Its industries include the manufacture of electrical products, textiles and carpets, chemicals, machinery, and food products. Tourism is also important. Hameln is the central city of the Weser Highland scenic region and nature park.

A town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany

The Pied Piper story is regularly retold in Hameln/ Photo: Alamy

Credit: Gonzalo Azumendi/ Photo: Getty Images

River Wesser of Hamelin/ Photo: Needpix

Christmas market in Hamelin Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0

✽ Folktales are important constituents of Folklore, which is, a significant part and source of information in the study of Anthropology; to learn about past traditions, cultures, and events, around the World. They may or may not be based on true events, but they are certainly not merely the creation of chance; just like any other element of human culture. 

References:
"The Pied Piper Was Real: 130 Children Disappeared And Never Came Back". Medium, 2022,

https://historyofyesterday.com/the-pied-piper-was-real-130-children-disappeared-and-never-came-back-542085ffb34.
Diamond, Andrea. "The Legend Of The Pied Piper". Blog.Bookstellyouwhy.Com, 2022, 

https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/the-legend-of-the-pied-piper.
"THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN - Globus Blog". Globus Blog, 2022, 

https://blog.globusjourneys.com/2020/09/17/the-pied-piper-of-hamelin/.