The Heinzelmännchen are a race of creatures appearing in a tale connected with the city of Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.
The little house gnomes are said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne during the night, so that the inhabitants of Cologne could be very lazy during the day. According to the legend, this went on until a tailor's wife got so curious to see the gnomes that she scattered peas onto the floor of the workshop to make the gnomes slip and fall. The gnomes, being infuriated, disappeared and never returned. From that time on, the citizens of Cologne had to do all their work by themselves.

This legend was first written down by the Cologne teacher Ernst Weyden (1805-1869) in 1826.
It was translated into English by Thomas Keightley and published 1828 in his book "The Fairy Mythology".

In 1836 the painter and poet August Kopisch

August Kopisch

August Kopisch , was a German poet and painter.-Biography:Kopisch was born on 26 May 1799 in Breslau, Prussia...

 published a famous poem beginning with the words:

Wie war zu Cölln es doch vordem Mit Heinzelmännchen so bequem! Denn war man faul, ... man legte sich Hin auf die Bank und pflegte sich. Da kamen bei Nacht, eh' man's gedacht, Die Männlein und schwärmten Und klappten und lärmten Und rupften Und zupften Und hüpften und trabten Und putzten und schabten - Und eh' ein Faulpelz noch erwacht, war all sein Tagwerk ... bereits gemacht!...

So it was once upon in Cologne, so comfortable with the Heinzelmen! One could been lazy ... just lie down on the bench and let things slide. There came at night, before one knew it, little men who swarmed and worked and fussed and plucked and picked jumped and trotted cleaned and scoured - and before the lazy man awoke, his daily work was ... already done! ...

In Cologne, a fountain (Heinzelmännchenbrunnen) commemorates the Heinzelmännchen and the tailor's wife.

See also

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