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The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a folk
tale, among others written down by the Brothers Grimm. It tells about a
disaster in the town of Hamelin, Germany, that supposedly occurred on June 26,
1284. In that year a man came to Hamelin claiming to be a rat-catcher. The
people of Hamelin promised him payment for killing the rats. So the man took a
pipe, attracted the rats by his music and made them follow him to the Weser
river, where they all drowned. Despite this success the people reneged on
their promise and did not pay the rat-catcher.
He left the town, but returned several weeks later. While the inhabitants were
in the church, he played his pipe again, this time attracting the children of
Hamelin. One hundred thirty boys and girls followed him out of the town, where
they were lured into a cave and sealed inside. Depending on the version, at
most two children survived.
Although there has been a lot of research, no clear explanation can be given
of what historical event is behind the story.
Theories that have gained some support can be grouped into the following four
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.
These theories perceive the Piper as a symbolic figure of Death.
The children left the city to be part of a pilgrimage, a military campaign, or
even a new Children's crusade 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. Again the Piper is seen as their leader.
The tradition that the children emigrated in 1284 is so old and well-reported
that explanations associated with the Black Death seem unlikely. Modern
scholars regard the emigration theory to be the most probable, 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.
Source:
Wikipedia.org |
