Pied Piper of Hameln The River Weser, deep and wide, Washes its wall on the southern side; A pleasanter spot you never spied; But, when begins my ditty, Almost five hundred years ago, To see townsfolk suffer so From vermin, was a pity. Rats! They fought the dogs, and killed the cats, And bit the babies in the cradles, And ate the cheeses out of the vats, And licked the soup from the cook's own ladles, Split open the kegs of salted sprats, Made nests inside men's Sunday hats, And even spoiled the women's chats, By drowning their speaking In fifty different sharps and flats. At last the people in a body To the Town Hall came flocking: "'Tis clear," cried they, "our Mayor's a noddy; And as for our Corporation -- shocking To think we buy gowns lined with ermine For dolts that can't or won't determine What's best to rid us of our vermin! You hope, because you're old and obese, To find in the furry civic robe ease? Rouse up, sirs!

Give your brains a racking To find the remedy we're lacking, Or, sure as fate, we'll send you packing!" At this the Mayor and Corporation Quaked with a mighty consternation. An hour they sate in council, At length the Mayor broke silence: "For a guilder I'd my ermine gown sell, I wish I were a mile hence! It's easy to bid one rack one's brain -- I'm sure my poor head aches again I've scratched it so, and all in vain. Oh for a trap, a trap, a trap!" Just as he said this, what should hap At the chamber-door but a gentle tap? "Bless us," cried the Mayor, "What's that?" (With the Corporation as he sat, Looking little though wondrous fat; Nor brighter was his eye, nor moister Than a too-long-opened oyster, Save when at noon his paunch grew mutinous For a plate of turtle, green and glutinous.) "Only a scraping of shoes on the mat? Anything like the sound of a rat Makes my heart go pit-a-pat!" "Come in!" -- the Mayor cried, looking bigger: And in did come the strangest figure!

His queer long coat from heel to head Was half of yellow and half of red; And he himself was tall and thin, With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin, And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin, No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin, But lips where smiles went out and in -- There was no guessing his kith and kin! And nobody could enough admire The tall man and his quaint attire. Quoth one: "It's as my great-grandsire, Starting up at the Trump of Doom's tone, Had walked this way from his painted tombstone!" He advanced to the council-table: And, "Please your honors," said he, "I'm able, By means of a secret charm, to draw All creatures living beneath the sun, That creep, or swim, or fly, or run, After me so as you never saw!

And I chiefly use my charm On creatures that do people harm, The mole, and toad, and newt, and viper; And people call me the Pied Piper." (And here they noticed round his neck A scarf of red and yellow stripe, To match with his coat of selfsame cheque; And at the scarf's end hung a pipe; And his fingers, they noticed, were ever straying As if impatient to be playing Upon this pipe, as low it dangled Over his vesture, so old-fangled.) "Yet," said he "poor piper as I am, In Tartary I freed the Cham, Last June, from his huge swarms of gnats; I eased in Asia the Nizam Of a monstrous brood of vampire-bats: And, as for what your brain bewilders, If I can rid your town of rats Will you give me a thousand guilders?" "One? fifty thousand!" -- was the exclamation Of the astonished Mayor and Corporation.

Into the street the Piper stept, Smiling first a little smile, As if he knew what magic slept In his quiet pipe the while; Then, like a musical adept, To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled, And green and blue his sharp eyes twinkled Like a candle flame where salt is sprinkled; And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered, You heard as if an army muttered; And the muttering grew to a grumbling; And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling; And out of the houses the rats came tumbling: Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats, Brown rats, black rats, grey rats, tawny rats, Grave old plodders, gay young friskers, Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins, Cocking tails and pricking whiskers, Families by tens and dozens, Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives -- Followed the Piper for their lives.

From street to street he piped, advancing, And step for step, they followed, dancing, Until they came to the river Weser Wherein all plunged and perished -- Save one who, stout as Julius Caesar, Swam across and lived to carry (As he the manuscript he cherished) To Rat-land home his commentary: Which was, "At the first shrill notes of the pipe, I heard a sound as of scraping tripe, And putting apples, wondrous ripe, Into a cider press's gripe: And a moving away of pickle-tub-boards, And a leaving ajar of conserve-cupboards, And the drawing the corks of train-oil-flasks, And a breaking the hoops of butter-casks; And it seemed as if a voice (Sweeter far than by harp or by psaltery Is breathed) called out, Oh rats, rejoice! The world is grown to one vast drysaltery! So munch on, crunch on, take your nuncheon, Breakfast, supper, dinner, luncheon!

And just as a bulky sugar-puncheon, All ready staved, like a great sun shone Glorious scarce an inch before me, Just as methought it said, 'Come, bore me!' -- I found the Weser rolling o'er me." You should have heard the Hamelin people Ringing the bells till they rocked the steeple. "Go," cried the Mayor, "and get long poles! Poke out the nests and block up the holes! Consult with carpenters and builders, And leave in our town not even a trace Of the rats!" -- when suddenly up the face Of the Piper perked in the market-place, With a, "First, if you please, my thousand guilders!" A thousand guilders! The Mayor looked blue; So did the Corporation, too. For council dinners made rare havoc With Claret, Moselle, Vin-de-Grave, Hock; And half the money would replenish Their cellar's biggest butt with Rhenish. To pay this sum to a wandering fellow With a gypsy coat of red and yellow!

"Beside," quoth the Mayor, with a knowing wink, "Our business was done at the river's brink; We saw with our eyes the vermin sink, And what's dead can't come to life, I think. So, friend, we're not the folks to shrink From the duty of giving you something for drink, And a matter of money to put in your poke; But, as for the guilders, what we spoke Of them, as you very well know, was in joke. Beside, our losses have made us thrifty: A thousand guilders! Come, take fifty!" The Piper's face fell, and he cried, "No trifling! I can't wait, beside! I've promised to visit, by dinner-time Bagdat, and accept the prime Of the Head Cook's pottage, all he's rich in, For having left, in the Caliph's kitchen, Of a nest of scorpions no survivor: With him I proved no bargain-driver, With you, don't think I'll bait a stiver!

And folks who put me in a passion May find me pipe to another fashion." "How?" cried the Mayor, "d'ye think I brook Being worse treated than a cook? Insulted by a lazy ribald With idle pipe and vesture piebald? You threaten us, fellow? Do your worst, Blow your pipe there till you burst!" Once more he stept into the street; And to his lips again Laid his long pipe of smooth straight cane; And ere he blew three notes (such sweet Soft notes as yet musician's cunning Never gave the enraptured air) There was a rustling, that seemed like a bustling Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling, Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering, Little hands clapping, and little tongues chattering, And, like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is scattering, Out came the children running. All the little boys and girls, With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls, And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls, Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after The wonderful music with shouting and laughter.

The Mayor was dumb, and the Council stood As if they were changed into blocks of wood, Unable to move a step, or cry To the children merrily skipping by, -- Could only follow with the eye That joyous crowd at the Piper's back. But how the Mayor was on the rack, And the wretched Council's bosoms beat, As the Piper turned from the High Street To where the Weser rolled its waters Right in the way of their sons and daughters! However he turned from South to West, And to Koppelberg Hill his steps addressed, And after him the children pressed; Great was the joy in every breast. "He never can cross that mighty top! He's forced to let the piping drop, And we shall see our children stop!" When, lo! as they reached the mountain-side, A wondrous portal opened wide, As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed; And the Piper advanced and the children followed, And when all were in to the very last, The door in the mountain-side shut fast. Did I say, all? No!

One was lame, And could not dance the whole of the way; And in after years, if you would blame His sadness, he was used to say, -- "It's dull in our town since my playmates left! I can't forget that I'm bereft Of all the pleasant sights they see, Which the Piper also promised me; For he led us, he said, to a joyous land, Joining the town and just at hand, Where waters gushed and fruit-trees grew, And flowers put forth a fairer hue, And everything was strange and new; The sparrows were brighter than the peacocks here, And their dogs outran our fallow deer, And honey-bees had lost their stings, And horses were born with eagles' wings; And just as I became assured My lame foot would be speedily cured, The music stopped and I stood still, And found myself outside the hill, Left alone against my will, To go now limping as before, And never hear of that country more!" Alas, alas for Hamelin!

There came into many a burgher's pate A text which says, that heaven's Gate Opes to the rich at as easy rate As the needle's eye takes a camel in! The Mayor sent East, West, North, and South To offer the Piper by word of mouth, Wherever it was men's lot to find him, Silver and gold to his heart's content, If he'd only return the way he went, And bring the children behind him. But when they saw 'twas a lost endeavor, And Piper and dancers were gone forever, They made a decree that lawyers never Should think their records dated duly If, after the day of the month and year, These words did not as well appear, "And so long after what happened here On the Twenty-second of July, Thirteen hundred and Seventy-six;" And the better in memory to fix The place of the children's last retreat, They called it, the Pied Piper's Street -- Where any one playing on pipe or tabor Was sure for the future to lose his labor.

Nor suffered they hostelry or tavern To shock with mirth a street so solemn; But opposite the place of the cavern They wrote the story on a column, And on the great church-window painted The same, to make the world acquainted How their children were stolen away, And there it stands to this very day. And I must not omit to say That in Transylvania there's a tribe Of alien people that ascribe The outlandish ways and dress On which their neighbors lay such stress, To their fathers and mothers having risen Out of some subterraneous prison Into which they were trepanned Long time ago in a mighty band Out of Hamelin town in Brunswick land, But how or why, they don't understand. So, Willy, let you and me be wipers Of scores out with all men -- especially pipers; And, whether they pipe us free from rats or from mice, If we've promised them aught, let us keep our promise. Source: Robert Browning, The Pied Piper of Hamelin . Illustrated by Kate Greenaway (London and New York: Frederick Warne and Company, 1888). This poem was written in 1842.

Source: Joseph Jacobs, More English Fairy Tales (London: David Nutt, 1894), pp. 1-6 . Jacobs entitles this story simply "The Pied Piper." Jacobs' source: Abraham Elder, Tales and Legends of the Isle of Wight (London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Company, 1839), pp. 157-64 . Notes on the place names mentioned in the tale: Newtown (formerly called Franchville) is a small town on the Isle of Wight. The street names "Gold Street" and "Silver Street" are authentic. The Solent is the sound separating the Isle of Wight from the main island of Britain. John o' Groats is the northernmost point of mainland Scotland. Land's End is southernmost and westernmost tip of Cornwall. Source: Sheykh-Zada, "The Lady's Twenty-Eighth Story," The History of the Forty Vezirs; or, The Story of the Forty Morns and Eves , translated by E. J. W. Gibb (London: George Redway, 1886), pp. 300-302 . Title provided and language cautiously modernized by D.

L. Ashliman. Aleppo (Arabic Halab) is the principal city of northern Syria. Avicenna (Arabic Ibn Sina) was the most influential philosopher-scientist of medieval Islam. An ethnic Persion, he was born in the year 980 in Bukhara, Iran and died in 1037 in Hamadan. Contrary to the above legend, his biographers claim that he spent his entire life in eastern and central Iran. The Pied Piper of Hamelin , an article from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. A home page for the city of Hameln, Germany: Stadt Hameln . A home page for city of Korneuburg, Austria: Korneuburg kulturell . A home page for Newtown, Isle of Wight . Der Rattenfänger von Korneuburg , an account, in German, of the man who freed the Austrian town of Korneuburg of rats. This text is part of Wolfgang Morscher's extensive collection of German-language legends Sagen.at . Der Rattenfänger , a ballad by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. This ballad was set to music by Hugo Wolf in 1888.

Der Rattenfänger von Hameln , a ballad from the folksong collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn by Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim. This collection was published in three volumes between 1806 and 1808. Tweet The Pied Piper of Hamelin, a piece written by Robert Browning, is the theme of a legend regarding the departure or the death of a vast many kids from the city of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, in Germany, during the Middle Ages. The most primitive references illustrate a piper, who was dressed in pied, i.e. multicolored clothing, leading all the children further than the city in no way to come back. During the 16th century the tale was extended into a complete storyline, wherein the piper is the rat-catcher rented by the city to lure the rats away with his magical pipe. While the citizenry declines to pay for all his service, he gets revenge by spinning his magic on all their children, leading them far away as he did to the rats. This story version spread as a kind of fairy tale.

This story version has also emerged in the writings of, amid others, the Brothers Grimm, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe along with Robert Browning. The Plot In 1284, as the city of Hamelin was undergoing misery from a rat plague, a man wearing clothes in pied appeared, declaring to be rat-catcher. He guaranteed the citizens an explanation for all their trouble with those rats. The citizens consecutively agreed to pay him for the elimination of the rats. The piper agreed to, plus played a melodious pipe to lure all the rats with a song all into the Weser River, where the entire but one sank. In spite of his accomplishment, the citizens broke their promise and rejected to pay the rat-catcher the entire amount of the money. The piper then left the city angrily, but swore to revisit a short time later, seeking vengeance. On Saint John and Paul's day when the citizens were in the church, he played music in his pipe again, dressed all in green, resembling a huntsman, this time drawing the kids of Hamelin. A hundred and thirty kids followed him away from the town, where they all were lured into a cave and never spotted again.

Relying on this version, somehow three kids stayed behind. One of the kids was lame hence could not go after fast enough, the next was a deaf hence followed the other kids out of inquisitiveness, and the very last was blind hence was unable to see where they all were going. These three told the residents of what had just happened when they all came out of the church. One more version narrates that the Pied Piper took the kids leading them to follow him to the peak of Koppelberg Hill, from where he took them all to a beautiful place along with having his wicked way, or a land called the Koppenberg Mountain. This version says that the Piper returned all the kids only after the payment, or that he returned all the kids after the citizens paid many times more the initial amount of the gold. Author Box 'Pied Piper' needed to lure rats from Hamelin - Telegraph How about that? 'Pied Piper' needed to lure rats from Hamelin A modern-day pied piper is needed to repel a rodent invasion in Hamelin, more than 700 years after the town's rats were lured away by a travelling rat catcher's tunes.

10:52AM GMT 19 Nov 2008 Town officials have reported an "explosion" in the rat population of the north German town best known for its fairy tale about a mystery piper who once got rid of them all. According to legend, the Pied Piper led all the children of Hamelin into a cave A makeshift rubbish dump on the town's fringes is blamed as being a "takeaway" food centre for the rats, as the invasion threatens to overshadow preparations for the town's 725th anniversary celebrations. Thomas Wahmes, a town spokesman, said the land had become a "real refuge" for the unwanted rodents. According to the famous legend, a colourful – or "pied" – rat catcher lured all the rats out of town in 1284 by playing his pipe. When the townspeople refused to pay him, he did the same with Hamelin's children. On St John's Day while the inhabitants were in church, he played his pipe, attracting the children of Hamelin.

Related Articles The Enduring Legacy of the Pied Piper of Hamelin | Mental Floss The Enduring Legacy of the Pied Piper of Hamelin Like us on Facebook Image credit: Edmund Evans, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain Every summer Sunday in the city of Hamelin, actors gather in the old town center to pay homage to a strange, enduring legacy. As the story goes , in 1284, townspeople hired a rat catcher to lure away the vermin that had overrun their village. He did, except the citizens of Hamelin cheated the man out of his payment. So the man—a “pied” piper—returned a year later and lured their children away, too.

A now-destroyed stained glass window from 1300 is among the first known records of the Pied Piper story, though there’s also a supposed eyewitness account from the time, which states in Latin that "130 children were taken from the town by a piper dressed in many colours.” Later on, a 15th century manuscript asserted : In the year of 1284, on the day of Saints John and Paul on June 26, by a piper, clothed in many kinds of colours, 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced, and lost at the place of execution near the koppen. The Brothers Grimm and Robert Browning brought the legend of the Pied Piper to the English-speaking world in the 19th century—but what of this 800-year-old tale is actually true? For one, probably not the rats. They weren’t added to the story until the 16th century , which led some to believe that the Black Death was the true cause of the children’s deaths. That theory has been largely discarded, though, because the plague didn’t hit Europe until the mid-1300s.

Several other theories—from a dancing illness, to recruitment by the doomed " Children’s Crusade ," to pagan rituals—have been put forth in an attempt to get at the real roots of the story. It’s also entirely possible that the youngsters were part of a migration eastward, possibly to Transylvania of all places. (Maybe the colorful man with the flute was just a really convincing real estate salesman?) In any case, nearly all of the theorists seem to agree that the Pied Piper and his rat-whispering abilities were the personification of a force that those left behind in Hamelin could not control. Today, the wounds have mostly healed. On the Bungelosenstrasse, the street where the Pied Piper House is located (and where the children were supposedly last seen), music is banned as a sign of respect. But in the rest of the town, rat iconography is everywhere. An automated clock tower tells the tale three times a day , there’s a Pied Piper statue , a musical take on the story, RATS, plus bars that serve “ rat’s blood ” cocktails (a mix of champagne and blackcurrant juice) and “rat’s tails” (pork, sliced thin).

Twice a day, bells chime the Pied Piper melody. Whatever the cause of the eerie disappearance back in 1284, the children of Hamelin are certainly not forgotten. Project 1: Parallel Pied Pipers Project 1: Parallel Pied Pipers The legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin states that he was a rat-catcher hired by the city of Hamelin to eliminate its rat population. The Pied Piper played his flute, which attracted the rats, and drew them to the river where they drowned. When the city did not pay the piper, he is said to have lured the city's children away. For this project, we'll be more concerned with the first part of the legend, i.e., eliminating rats by luring them with music. You will control a team of pipers in a field of rats. Your goal is to lure every rat from one side of the field to the other, where a grim death awaits them. You will write the code for a piper so that he can effectively and efficiently lure rats, both alone and in teams. The extermination take place in a large square field of side length F meters, that is partitioned in half by a fence.

Precisely in the middle of the fence is a 2m wide gate. A number S of rats are randomly (uniformly) distributed in one half of the field and the other half is empty. The basic task is to move all of the rats through the gate to the other half of the field. Pipers can be in one of two states: (a) playing music, in which case they attract rats, or (b) silent, in which case they do not attract rats, but can run faster through the field. Rats are frantic creatures, and will wander randomly at 1m/s if left alone. Rats ignore silent pipers. However, when a piper playing music comes close, they react by moving towards the closest playing piper. When a piper is within 10m of a rat, but further than 2m, the rat walks at 1m/s directly towards the closest piper. When a rat is within 2m of a playing piper it stays put, mesmerized by the music. Pipers can move at up to 1m/s when playing music, or can run at 5m/s when not playing music.

The simulator is discrete rather than continuous, and operates at 0.1s granularity. The new positions of the rats are calculated based on the positions of the rats and pipers at the current time. The new positions of the piper(s) are specified by your program, and may be any position up to 0.1m away from the current position (if the piper is playing) or 0.5m away (if the piper is not playing). You also specify whether the piper plays or not on the coming turn. A rat that collides with a fence (either in the middle of the field, or on its perimeter) will bounce off as if it were a ray of light (angle of incidence equals angle of reflection) within a single simulator timestep. Pipers and rats can get arbitrarily close to one another, and climb over one another as necessary. You have d pipers, each of which is executing an instance of the same code, but instantiated with a unique piper-id parameter (between 1 and d). The pipers start in the empty half of the field on the far fence, spread out uniformly.

So if the line defining the far fence stretches from (0,0) to (0,F), the d pipers start at . Pipers have complete access to all positional information, but do not explicitly communicate with other pipers. The simulator will detect when the goal is achieved and you will be ranked based on the time taken to achieve the goal. There will be a timeout to handle cases where the last few pesky rats simply can't be convinced to go where you want them. In such a case, you will be ranked by the number of rats transferred. We will run some tournaments at the end of class with various values for the parameters F, S, and d. Some things to think about: Given no explicit communication between pipers, how might you achieve coordinated behavior? This project is similar to the Sheepdog Trials project given in PPS 2013. In that project, sheepdogs repelled rather than attracted the animals they were trying to herd. What similarities and differences are there between the two projects? Might there be something to learn from last year's reports? Note that this is a single-player game. Each group will be operating in their own private field. Is the Pied Piper of Hamelin Based on an Actual Event?

Is the Pied Piper of Hamelin Based on an Actual Event? Images By: n/a, Trotalo, Ciaobucarest, Ilia Shcherbakov Last Modified Date: 20 December 2016 Copyright Protected: These 10 facts about space will blow your mind Historians agree that the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, recorded in the 19th century by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm , is based on an actual occurrence in 1284 in which most of the children in Hamelin disappeared. However, no one knows for sure the exact reason for the disappearance. Many scenarios have been postulated, some more likely than others. The story of the Pied Piper was first depicted in a stained glass window from about 1300. The earliest written account dates from the mid-15th century. The Grimm brothers ' version from the 1800s is the one that most people are familiar with, and the folklorists drew on 11 different sources for their tale.

Ad In the Grimm version of the story, the Pied Piper, also known as the Rattenfaenger, or rat catcher, appears in the town of Hamelin in the middle of a rat infestation and offers to rid the town of vermin. He uses an enchanted pipe to lure the rats into a river, where they all drown, but the townspeople refuse to pay him a shilling per rat, as promised. He leaves Hamelin, but returns a few weeks later to seek revenge. On his second visit to Hamelin, the Pied Piper uses his magic pipe on the children of the town, leading them into a hole in a mountain on the edge of town and sealing them inside. Only two children remain in the town, one blind and one lame, because they could not follow the piper. Some suggest that the cause of the children's disappearance was an accident of an epidemic. These theories make sense of some of the elements of the Grimm brothers' version, as being sealed inside a mountain could refer to a major landslide, or the rats could be a reference to plague.

However, the European Black Death epidemic did not begin until the 14th century, and rats do not appear in versions of the Pied Piper story before the late 16th century, so the plague theory is unlikely. Another branch of the epidemic theory postulates that the children fell prey to some sort of disease that caused them to dance, such as Huntington's disease or another form of chorea. As Huntington's disease is a genetic disorder, however, it is not likely that all the children in the town would have been affected. It has also been suggested that the dancing in the Pied Piper story is an example of the widespread medieval theme of the Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death, with the piper as Death, in the lead. Death was often portrayed in multicolored or pied garb in the Middle Ages. Another theory holds that the children left as part of a military campaign or a Children's Crusade , in which case the Pied Piper represents their leader or recruiter. This was the most widely accepted explanation until the 1950s.

Today, most historians believe that it is most likely that the children of Hamelin left in great numbers to found their own colonies in Eastern Europe, again with a leader personified by the Pied Piper. However, there is still some disagreement about where precisely they settled. The Grimm brothers' story, as well as Robert Browning's 1842 poem on the subject, relates that the children of Hamelin became the founders of Transylvania. More recent historians have suggested that the children formed colonies in Maehren, Oelmutz, or Ueckermark in Eastern Europe. Place names in areas east of Hamelin, as well as the documentation of many cities being founded around this time, corroborates this theory. Exactly what happened in Hamelin in 1284 is probably forever lost to history, but whatever it was, it appears to have been traumatic enough for its witnesses to willingly forget the particulars. The various legends inspired by the event are the only concrete record we will likely ever have. Ad anon961969 Post 10 If the pied piper did exist in real-life, what sort of instrument would he have used to lure the children away?

Many depictions portray him with a trumpet or a horn of some sort, sometimes it is bagpipes or a flute. If we look at medieval instruments, I am not certain as to exactly what kind it would be? anon229860 Post 7 Another aspect that is against the disappearance of the children being due to plague is that it wasn't known that rats were the primary host and that the rat fleas were the vector until 1898. anon159651 Post 6 Many years ago I was traveling in rural Romania in the region of Toplita where I was trying to make contact with the family of a friend on mine who had fled to Australia from here at the outbreak of WW2. At one point I began to have engine trouble and, seeing a worker in a nearby field, I approached him for assistance. When he caught sight of the German number plate on the car he addressed me in German, which I speak fluently, but only to say he had never seen a VW up close before and so he couldn't help but ask.

What was remarkable, however, was that he was speaking in the unmistakable accent of the region in the then North-East (Germany being still divided), centered below the city of Hildesheim, which has Hamelin some 40 km to the west. I have since mused on this at some length and come to the only possible conclusion that he was a descendant of the group of children resettled here at some point in response to religious persecution or plague or whatever. -Harzer JulianScutts Post 4 For an authoritative statement on the origins of the Pied Piper legend, one does well to read the findings of the director of the Burg Museum in Coppenbrügge only eight miles due east of Hamelin. JulianScutts Post 3 It is said two Greek philosophers debated on the number of teeth a horse might possess. Somebody ventured to suggest that instead of theorizing on this subject they should inspect the horse's mouth and count the teeth to be found there. In much the same way, any serious research into the Pied Piper legend involves doing some field work or, in this case, hill climbing in the vicinity of Hamelin.

Some relevant sites contain a transcript of an interview with the director of the Burg Museum in Coppenbrügge only a few miles due east of Hameln (Hameln). Coppenbrügge recalls the word 'Koppen' to which the original versions of the Pied Piper story refer. Is this a coincidence? Herr Hüsam, the director of the museum, supplies plenty of evidence that it is not during an interview recorded on video camera by Mr. John E. Holland and translated into English by me. Herr Hüsam refers to the well documented fact that a major and sinister role in the pied Piper story was played by Count Nicholas von Spiegelberg, who owned the castle that now houses the museum. anon7820 Post 2 I agree this is fascinating and I liked your idea about the poisoned rye and believe such things really happened. But I understand that beer back then is not as beer is now (probably nasty fermented water) and everyone drank it from infants to oldsters. I think the Piper was the first remembered serial killer and lured children away for evil purposes.

anon2242 Post 1 When I was younger, I was always fascinated by the Pied Piper of Hamelin, or Hameln, as it is really called. I read every story book I could get my hands on, and though they were based on some fact, that wasn't good enough for me. I wanted the real truth. During my research, I have read many theories and even come up with some of my own. My best theory is the following: The rye that the people of Hameln harvested to make beer, etc., became poisoned. But at the time, the citizens of Hameln were under siege, and there was a wall around the city, so they had no real form of communication. Slowly, the citizens became poisoned by the rye and began to go crazy. But, what about the children? Because the children never drank the beer, they were not affected by the poison. Hameln's attackers were growing uneasy as they heard stories of the citizen's madness. Inside the walls, the people were killing each other. So, the children managed to escape from the city, explaining their disappearance. But what about the Piper?

I'm uncertain if he really existed, but the bodies of some children were found in a forest, close to Hameln. So maybe the Piper really did exist, someone who lured the children away and murdered them. We may never know the real truth of the mysterious Pied Piper of Hameln... The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin | Ancient Origins 14 August, 2014 - 01:09 dhwty The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin When, lo! as they reached the mountain-side, A wondrous portal opened wide, As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed; And the Piper advanced and the children followed, And when all were in to the very last, The door in the mountain-side shut fast. Robert Browning, The Pied Piper of Hamelin: A Child’s Story Many are familiar with the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Few realise however, that the story is based on real events, which evolved over the years into a fairy tale made to scare children. For those unfamiliar with the tale, it is set in 1284 in the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany.

This town was facing a rat infestation, and a piper, dressed in a coat of many coloured, bright cloth, appeared. This piper promised to get rid of the rats in return for a payment, to which the townspeople agreed too. Although the piper got rid of the rats by leading them away with his music, the people of Hamelin reneged on their promise. The furious piper left, vowing revenge. On the 26 th of July of that same year, the piper returned and led the children away, never to be seen again, just as he did the rats. Nevertheless, one or three children were left behind, depending on which version is being told. One of these children was lame, and could not keep up, another was deaf and could not hear the music, while the third one was blind and could not see where he was going. The earliest known record of this story is from the town of Hamelin itself depicted in a stained glass window created for the church of Hamelin, which dates to around 1300 AD. Although it was destroyed in 1660, several written accounts have survived.

The oldest comes from the Lueneburg manuscript (c 1440 – 50), which stated: “In the year of 1284, on the day of Saints John and Paul on June 26, by a piper, clothed in many kinds of colours, 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced, and lost at the place of execution near the koppen.” The oldest known picture of the Pied Piper copied from the glass window of the Market Church in Hameln/Hamelin Germany (c.1300-1633). Image source: Wikimedia . The supposed street where the children were last seen is today called Bungelosenstrasse (street without drums), as no one is allowed to play music or dance there. Incidentally, it is said that the rats were absent from earlier accounts, and only added to the story around the middle of the 16 th century. Moreover, the stained glass window and other primary written sources do not speak of the plague of rats. If the children’s disappearance was not an act of revenge, then what was its cause? There have been numerous theories trying to explain what happened to the children of Hamelin.

For instance, one theory suggests that the children died of some natural causes, and that the Pied Piper was the personification of Death. By associating the rats with the Black Death, it has been suggested that the children were victims of this plague. Yet, the Black Death was most severe in Europe between 1348 and 1350, more than half a century after the event in Hamelin. Another theory suggests that the children were actually sent away by their parents, due to the extreme poverty that they were living in. Yet another theory speculates that the children were participants of a doomed ‘Children’s Crusade’, and might have ended up in modern day Romania, or that the departure of Hamelin's children is tied to the Ostsiedlung, in which a number of Germans left their homes to colonize Eastern Europe. One of the darker theories even proposes that the Pied Piper was actually a paedophile who crept into the town of Hamelin to abduct children during their sleep. One of the darker themed representations of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Credit: Lui-Gon-Jinn Historical records suggest that the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin was a real event that took place.

Nevertheless, the transmission of this story undoubtedly evolved and changed over the centuries, although to what extent is unknown, and the mystery of what really happened to those children has never been solved. The story also raises the question, if the Pied Piper of Hamelin was based on reality, how much truth is there in other fairy tales that we were told as children? Featured image: An illustration of the Pied Piper of Hamelin . Credit: Monlster Rüdiger Hamelin Watch Collection | Watch Brands by John Sealander According to legend, the children of Hamelin found the Pied Piper irresistible. We predict the Rüdiger Hamelin will prove to be just as irresistible to watch aficionados. Legend has it that during the Middle Ages the Pied Piper of Hamelin was able to lure the town’s children away using the melodic tones of his magic pipe. Will the Rüdiger Hamelin, named after the historic German medieval city , prove just as irresistible to watch aficionados? It wouldn’t be surprising, with the characteristic German good looks and value of this 39 mm multi-function timepiece. The Hamelin features three well-placed sub dials, including a unique retrograde indicator for the day of the week.

With the day, date, and 24-hour time available at a glance, this retro inspired 39 mm timepiece is ready for anything. There are five different variations available in the Hamelin Collection. Choices include models with an IP yellow gold, IP rose gold, or stainless steel top ring with a silver or black dial. The watch has been equipped with a brown or black genuine leather strap , embossed with an alligator pattern and secured by a traditional clasp buckle. Rüdiger Hamelin R3200-02-001 Click to Enlarge Image If you like the clean, good looks of German design, you’re going to love the Rüdiger Hamelin. To see if this German masterpiece looks irresistible on your wrist, contact your authorized Rüdiger dealer today and ask to see the Hamelin Collection . Gevril Group US Agent for Rüdiger Watches Gevril Group is the sole US agent for Rüdiger Watches . Contact us by email or call 845-425-9882. Join the conversation! Follow Gevril Group on Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn . You can also follow Rüdiger Watches on Facebook and Twitter .

Please subscribe to the Gevril Group newsletter and blog. The Pied Piper of Hamelin The History of The Pied Piper of Hamelin Source & Credits: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The oldest picture of Pied Piper (watercolour) copied from the glass window of Marktkirche in Hamelin by Freiherr Augustin von Moersperg. ï¿½Pied Piperï¿½ redirects here. For other uses, see Pied Piper (disambiguation) . The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a legend, documented by the Brothers Grimm (Der Rattenfï¿½nger von Hameln, which translates to "The Ratcatcher of Hamelin"), which tells of an unusual disaster that occurred in the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Germany , 26 June 1284 . In 1284, the town of Hamelin was suffering from a rat infestation. One day, a man claiming to be a rat-catcher approached the villagers with a solution. They promised to pay him for the removal of the rats. The man accepted, and thus played a musical pipe to lure the rats with a song into the Weser river, where all of them drowned.

Despite his success, the people reneged on their promise and refused to pay the rat-catcher. The man left the town angrily, but returned some time later, on June 26th, seeking revenge. While the inhabitants were in church, he played his pipe again, this time attracting the children of Hamelin. One hundred and thirty boys and girls followed him out of the town, where they were lured into a cave and never seen again. Depending on the version, at most two children remained behind (one of whom was lame and could not follow quickly enough) who informed the villagers what had happened when they came out of the church. Other versions (but not the traditional ones) claim that the Piper returned the children after the villagers paid several times the original amount of gold. History The rats of Hamelin The earliest mention of the story seems to have been on a stained glass window placed in the church of Hamelin c. 1300 . The window was described in several accounts between the 14th century and the 17th century but it seems to have been destroyed. Based on the surviving descriptions, a modern reconstruction of the window has been created by Hans Dobbertin .

It features the colorful figure of the Pied Piper and several figures of children dressed in white. This window is generally considered to have been created in memory of a tragic historical event for the city. But although there has been a lot of research, no clear explanation can be given of what historical event is behind the reports, see an external link with a list of hypotheses . However, the rats were first added to the story in the late 16th century ; they are absent from all previous accounts. Some traumatic event must have given rise to the tale; Hamelin town records are dated from this time. Theories that have gained some support can be grouped into the following categories: The children fell victim to an accident, either drowning in the river Weser or being buried in a landslide . The children contracted some disease during an epidemic and were led out of town to die in order to protect the rest of the city's population from contracting it. An early form of Black Death has been suggested. Others attribute the dancing of the children to be an early reference to Huntington's disease ; however, this is an inherited disorder, and the statistical probability of that many unrelated children having the same genetic condition is very low.

Another possibility would be the outbreaks of chorea , or communal dancing mania, which are recorded in a number of European towns during the period of general distress which followed the Black Death. The 'Verstegan/Browning' date, 1376 , would be consistent with this. These theories perceive the Piper as a symbolic figure of Death . Death is often portrayed dressed in motley, or "pied." Analogous themes which are associated with this theory include the Dance of Death , Totentanz or Danse Macabre, a common medieval type. Various ecstatic outbreaks were associated with the Plague, such as the Flagellants , who wandered from place to place while scourging themselves in penance for sins that presumably brought the plague upon Europe . The rat is the preferred host for the plague vector, the rat flea. When the rats die, the fleas seek humans as a substitute host. Children might be especially vulnerable to the disease. The Pied Piper leads the children. The children left the city to be part of a pilgrimage , a military campaign , or even a new Children's crusade (which occured in 1212, not long before) but never returned to their parents.

These theories see the unnamed Piper as their leader or a recruiting agent. The children willingly abandoned their parents and Hamelin in order to become the founders of their own villages during the colonization of Eastern Europe . Several European villages and cities founded around this time have been suggested as the result of their efforts as settlers. This claim is supported by corresponding placenames in both the region around Hamelin and the eastern colonies where names such as Querhameln ("mill village Hamelin") exist. Again the Piper is seen as their leader. There have also been stories that a few months after the disappearance of the children, in a forest nearby there were bodies of children found underneath the trees. Meaning the Pied Piper could actually have been a real person who killed the children. The tradition that the children emigrated in 1284 is so old and well-reported that explanations associated with the Black Death seem unlikely (there is an alternative, post-Black Death, date 1376 , but it is documented far away from Hamelin and as late as 1605 - see below). Modern scholars regard the emigration theory to be the most probable, [1] i.e.

that the Pied Piper of Hamelin was a recruiter for the colonization of Eastern Europe which took part in the 13th century and that he led away a big part of the young generation of Hamelin to a region in Eastern Germany. Decan Lude of Hamelin was reported ca. 1384 to have in his possession a chorus book containing a Latin verse giving an eyewitness account of the event. The verse was reportedly written by his grandmother. This chorus book is believed to have been lost since the late 17th century. The odd-looking name ï¿½Decan Ludeï¿½ may possibly indicate a priest holding the position of Dean (Latin decanus, modern German Dechant) whose name was Ludwig; but as yet he has proved impossible to trace. The Lueneberg manuscript (c. 1440 - 1450 ) gives an early German account of the event: Anno 1284 am dage Johannis et Pauli war der 26.

junii Dorch einen piper mit allerlei farve bekledet gewesen CXXX kinder verledet binnen Hamelen gebo[re]n to calvarie bi den koppen verloren In the year of 1284, on the day of Saints John and Paul on the 26th of June 130 children born in Hamelin were seduced By a piper, dressed in all kinds of colors, and lost at the place of execution near the koppen. This appears to be oldest surviving account. Koppen ( Old German meaning "hills") seems to be a reference to one of several hills surrounding the city. Which of them was intended by the verse's author remains uncertain. Reportedly, there is a long-established law forbidding singing and music in one particular street of Hamelin, out of respect for the victims: the Bungelosenstrasse adjacent to the Pied Piper's House . During public parades which include music, including wedding processions, the band will stop playing upon reaching this street and resume upon reaching the other side.

In 1556 De miraculis sui temporis (Latin: Concerning the Wonders of his Times) by Jobus Fincelius mentions the tale. The author identifies the Piper with the Devil . The Lame Child The earliest English account is that of Richard Rowland Verstegan ( 1548 -c. 1636 ), an antiquary and religious controversialist of partly Dutch descent, in his Restitution of Decayed Intelligence ( Antwerp , 1605 ); unfortunately he does not give his source. He includes the reference to the rats and the idea that the lost children turned up in Transylvania . The phrase 'Pide [sic] Piper' occurs in his version and seems to have been coined by him. Curiously enough his date is entirely different from that given above: July 22 , 1376 . Verstegan's account was copied in Nathaniel Wanley 's Wonders of the Visible World ( 1687 ), which was the immediate source of Robert Browning 's well-known poem (below).

Verstegan's account is also repeated in William Ramesey 's Wormes ( 1668 ) - "...that most remarkable story in Verstegan, of the Pied Piper, that carryed away a hundred and sixty Children from the Town of Hamel in Saxony , on the 22. of July, Anno Dom. 1376. A wonderful permission of GOD to the Rage of the Devil". In 1803 , Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote a poem based on the story. He incorporated references to the story in his version of Faust . The first part of the Drama was first published in 1808 and the second in 1832 . Jakob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , siblings known as the Brothers Grimm , drawing from eleven 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 Siebenbï¿½rgen ( Transylvania ).

Using the Verstegan/Wanley version of the tale and adopting the 1376 date, Robert Browning wrote a poem of that name which was published in 1842. Browning's verse retelling is notable for its humor, wordplay, and jingling rhymes. ï¿½When, lo, as they reached the mountain's side, A wondrous portal opened wide, As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed; And the Piper advanced and the children followed, And when all were in to the very last, The door in the mountain-side shut fast.ï¿½ This location is located on Coppenbrï¿½gge mountain and is known as an ancient site of pagan worship . [citation needed] Allusions in linguistics In linguistics pied-piping is the common, informal 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 .

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 to in front of the relative pronoun , which normally starts the relative clause. Some researchers believe that the tale has inspired the common English phrase "pay the piper", although others disagree . To "pay the piper" means to face the inevitable consequences of one's actions, possibly alluding to the story where the villagers broke their promise to pay the Piper for his assistance in ridding the town of the rats. The phrase sometimes refers to a financial transaction but often does not. Also, some experts on pedophilia , such as Ken Lanning, in writing about the seduction of children by some pedophiles, have used the term the "Pied Piper effect" to describe a "unique ability to identify with children." [A Behavioral Profile of Pedophiles] Contemporary renditions Literature The military interpretation of the Pied Piper story is used as a foreshadowing device in Rainbow Valley (1919) by Lucy Maud Montgomery .

The story is told on two occasions by young Walter Blythe, son of Anne of Green Gables , who will later be called to fight in World War I , and fall in the Battle of the Somme (1916) . The Pied Piper story is heavily referenced by the Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva in her poem The Ratcatcher, first published in 1925 . The story provides the basis for the central plot and several characters in the 1998 debut novel King Rat by China Miï¿½ville . Breath by Donna Jo Napoli tells the tale from the point of view of the lame child left behind when the Piper takes the children into the mountain. Eric Frank Russell 's short story "The Rhythm of the Rats", published in the July 1950 issue of Weird Tales , is a retelling of the Pied Piper legend as a 20th century horror story. After Hamelin by Bill Richardson is a unique story that picks up the story where Browning's poem left off. It is written in the voice of the deaf child in the poem, whom Richardson names Penelope.

Michael Moorcock produces his own theory of the Hamelin tale in his book, The Dreamthief's Daughter , where the cavern that the children escape into is actually a secret entrance to the Mittelmarch . The Ratastrophe Catastrophe by David Lee Stone is a parody based on the Pied Piper about a boy called Diek who takes away the children of a town because a voice in his head told him to. In his poem, "The One Who Stayed," Shel Silverstein tells the story of a kid who stayed behind while the rest of Hamlin's children followed the piper's song. ("Where the Sidewalk Ends") In the fifth book of The Dark Tower Series, Wolves of the Calla , by Stephen King , the town robot Andy leads the children through the town playing a song, and a reference is made to the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Andy turns out to be the one helping the Wolves take the children away. Terry Pratchett 's The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is a humorous take on the Pied Piper. A talking cat engineers the plagues (and subsequent removals by his sidekick piper).

The story lampoons the fairy tale conventions of the original tale while providing thoughtful commentary on the motives that drive people to act as they do in the real world. In 2005 , children's author Jane Yolen wrote a young adult novel about the tale: Pay the Piper, a rock and roll fairy tale. In 2005, Adam McCune and Keith McCune , a father-son writing team, published The Rats of Hamelin , in which an eighteen-year-old Pied Piper faces a hidden enemy with powers like his own. What Happened in Hamelin (1993) by Gloria Skurzynski is a young adult novel in which ergotism from contaminated rye crops helps explain the mystery of what happened there An allusion to the folk tale appears in the poem The Drunk in the Furnace by W. S. Merwin . Children "flock like piped rats" to the noises of a drunk in a furnace while their parents are at church. The Piper is also mentioned as an antagonist in Garth Nix 's series, the Keys to the Kingdom .

In the Mary Higgins Clark novel " Two Little Girls in Blue ", the main antagonist is until the end referred to as the Pied Piper, for his plot involves the kidnapping of a pair of twin children. In the Diana Jo Napoli novel " Breath " the main antagonist, Sal, is the lame boy who did not catch up with the pied piper. Theatre The 2006 DVD version "O Flautista", choreographer by Iolanda Rodrigues, dance show performed by CeDeCe - Companhia de Danca Contemporanea. This dvd was directed by Joao Tocha. In the play The Pillowman , the main character had written a story explaining the origin of the lame child who could not follow the Piper. He claimed that it was the Piper himself who chopped off the child's toes, because the child had showed him kindness, and the Piper did not want to punish the child. Mark Alburger 's opera, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (2004), with a libretto after the Robert Browning poem, was premiered at Thick House Theater in San Francisco (2006), with the Piper in the guise of George W. Bush and the Rats as terrorists.

Film television instead of being shown in American theatres, and was retitled Crossing to Freedom for its U.S. telecast. Atom Egoyan 's 1997 film The Sweet Hereafter (based on the novel by Russell Banks ) makes extensive metaphorical use of the Pied Piper legend. Browning's poem forms the narration for the film, delivered by a young girl who was crippled in a school bus accident that killed all of the other children in her small Canadian town. The script adds several lines that are not in Browning's poem. Katy Towell 's 2006 animated short El Despertar is based on the "Pied Piper" with a Spanish, darker influence, replacing the rats with zombies. Notes ^ Nobert Humburg, Der Rattenfï¿½nger von Hameln. Die berï¿½hmte Sagengestalt in Geschichte und Literatur, Malerei und Musik, auf der Bï¿½hne und im Film. Niemeyer, Hameln 2. ed. 1990, p. 44. ISBN 3-87585-122-6 .

- Jï¿½rgen Udolph, Zogen die Hamelner Aussiedler nach Mï¿½hren? Die Rattenfï¿½ngersage aus namenkundlicher Sicht, in: Niedersï¿½chsisches Jahrbuch fï¿½r Landesgeschichte 69 (1997), p. 125-183, here p. 126. ISSN 0078-0561 ^ The website cites the Lueneberg manuscript and gives the dates 1440-1450. External links

Question: According to the legend, in which city did the Pied Piper lure all the children away?
Answer: Hamelin