The Pied Piper of Hamelin/Trivia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Trivia about The Pied Piper of Hamelin includes:

  • Based on a True Story/Very Loosely Based on a True Story: There seems to have been some basis in fact for the story of the Pied Piper. The rat-catching and reneging mayor were added in the sixteenth century, but the core story -- that on June 26, 1284 a piper in pied (many-colored) clothing led away 130 of the town's children, who were never seen again -- not only has been remarkably consistent over the past 800 years, but the further back one investigates, the more the story stops being a fairy tale and the more it starts sounding like a historical account of a tragedy. A stained glass window was placed in the Church of Hamelin circa 1300, less than twenty years after the event is supposed to have happened, commemorating it. (This window was destroyed in 1660, but has since been reconstructed from contemporary descriptions by a historian.) The earliest written record in the town chronicles, dated 1384, starts with the sentence "It is 100 years since our children left." Several written accounts have been found dating to within a century or so describing the event, including one that claims to be a transcription of an eyewitness account. Wikipedia has an extensive list of the various written records. It seems clear that something occurred in 1284 that resonated in the town's memory for centuries afterward. But infuriatingly, what actually happened other than the disappearance of 130 children with a piper is far less clear. Theories presented by historians range from disease, emigration (with "children" being idiomatic for "persons born in Hamelin"), a case of dancing mania, a pilgrimage or even an attempt at a new Children's Crusade. The YouTube channel "Into The Shadows" has a quite good video on the topic for those interested in more details.
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