The small people's wedding party at the Eilenburg
The small people's wedding party on the Eilenburg is a legend that is said to have taken place in the medieval Eilenburg Castle . The saga first appeared in 1816 according to an oral tradition in the saga collection of the Brothers Grimm and possibly served as a template for the Cologne Heinzelmännchens saga (1826).
The legend of the Brothers Grimm
The small people's wedding party at the Eilenburg
“The little people on the Eilenburg wanted to hold a wedding one day and therefore went through the keyhole and the cracks in the window into the hall during the night and jumped down onto the smooth floor like peas are poured onto the threshing floor.
From this the old count, who slept in the high canopy bed in the hall, woke up and was amazed at the many little fellows. Then one of them, adorned like a herald, came up to him and, with appropriate words, politely invited him to attend their feast. “But we ask for one thing,” he added, “you alone shall be present; none of your court servants may dare to watch the festival, not even with a single glance. "
The old count replied in a friendly manner: “Because you disturbed me in my sleep, I want to be with you too.” Now a little woman was brought to him, little lamp holders stood up and cricket music began. The count struggled not to lose the female while dancing, because he jumped so easily and finally turned in such a vortex that he could hardly catch his breath.
In the middle of the merry dance, however, everything suddenly stopped. The music stopped and the whole bunch hurried to the cracks in the door, mouse holes or wherever there was a hiding place. The bride and groom, however, the heralds and dancers looked up to an opening in the ceiling of the hall and discovered there the face of the old countess, who looked cheekily down at the merry company.
Thereupon they bowed to the count, and the one who invited him came forward again and thanked him for the hospitality he had shown. "But because", he then said, "our joy and our wedding has been disturbed by the fact that another human eye had glanced at it, so from now on your family should never count more than seven Eilenburgers."
One by one they pushed out quickly; soon it was quiet and the old count was again alone in the dark room.
The curse has arrived up to the present time and one of the six living knights of Eilenburg has always died before the seventh was born. "
The little people's wedding feast (Heinzelmännchensaga)
reception
The legend was included in the collection of German legends of the Brothers Grimm (1816) and under the name Der Graf von Eilenburg und die Zwerge in Ludwig Bechstein's German legend book (1853) . The ballad Hochzeitlied by Johann Wolfgang Goethe , which was set to music by Carl Loewe in 1832 , refers to this legend. The poet August Kopisch brought Goethe's poem with his adaptation Die Heinzelmännchen (1836) again in connection with the Cologne Heinzelmännchen saga . In the vernacular, the small people's wedding party on the Eilenburg is also referred to as a brownie legend.
marketing
Since the 1050th anniversary of Eilenburg in 2011, the city has increasingly used the legend for city marketing . The city mascot "Heinz Elmann", whose name is a play on the word Heinzelmann , has existed since then . This figure is regularly used at folk festivals and events in or related to Eilenburg. The market fountain in front of the Eilenburg town hall , which was opened to the public in 2000, also has the legend as its theme. The accessible fountain created by Michael Weihe shows figures from the Heinzelmännchensaga, which can be read on the edge of the fountain.
The originally Slavic Eilenburg Castle, which was formerly converted into a palace, is said to have been the scene of the legend. The legend was therefore taken into account with the design of the open space there in 2016. A metallic hill called Lauschberg was built on the site of the dismantled castle fountain . It has seven small and large listening funnels through which the various noises of the "Heinzelmännchen" as well as the original legend of the Brothers Grimm spoken by children can be heard. The former prison in the immediate vicinity is now used as a guesthouse for cyclists and pilgrims. It bears the name Heinzelberge as a play on words from Heinzelmännchen and hostel.
City mascot Heinz Elmann
Market fountain in Eilenburg
Lauschberg
Pension Heinzelberge
literature
- Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm : Deutsche Sagen, Kassel 1816/1818, No. 31
- Ludwig Bechstein : Deutsches Sagenbuch, Merseburg and Leipzig 1930, pp. 410-411., No. 613
Web links
_V1_075.jpg){kind=link}
Individual evidence
- ^ City administration Eilenburg: Heinzelmännchensage. Retrieved September 11, 2017 .
- ^ City administration Eilenburg: Presentation of Heinz Elmann. Retrieved September 11, 2017 .