The little birds from Theres

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After Hermann Vogel : Heinrich the Vogler

The little birds from Theres. A legend is a story by Gertrud von le Fort , which was written in 1936 and appeared in the Insel-Almanach in 1937 . Insel brought out the book form in 1950, together with a reprint of " Das Reich des Kind " .

Compared to Ludwig the Child , one of his predecessors, Heinrich I was a worthy king of Eastern France .

time and place

Two key dates mark the beginning and end of the legend. On February 4, 900, Ludwig was crowned at the age of six in the Forchheim Palatinate and Heinrich in Fritzlar on May 12, 919 .

title

The title, alluding to Henry I, is ambiguous. On the one hand, reference is made to Heinrich's talent as a bird catcher and, on the other hand, to his later "subordinates", the greats of the empire. The latter are the dukes and margraves who ride along with Heinrich in Ludwig's entourage in 900 and puzzle over: What kind of a son of the Duke of Saxony is this actually? Will he one day catch us like Theres' little birds? With the last question the Dukes and Margraves of East Franconia mean the following incident. Before 900, the Babenbergers had invited people to catch birds at Theres Castle . Heinrich had most of the little birds on the net.

content

Stubborn and also a little irascible, as Ludwig the child is, he wants to get off his horse at the coronation site of Forchheim without any outside help. When that doesn't work out, he chooses young Heinrich as his helper. The astonished adults are envious of one another: their future King Ludwig caught the bird's eye like the little birds of Theres. After the coronation, the much too large crown slips over little Ludwig's ears. You jump in. In the meantime, the crown falls, rolls between the feet of the helpful big ones, right up to Heinrich's feet. Heinrich cancels the predecessor of the imperial crown . The comment of the big ones: The crown flies to this Saxon like the little birds from Theres.

But eighteen years later, at Heinrich's coronation in Fritzlar, the people say that the new ruler did not receive the crown, that is, it was placed on his head, but rather lifted it out of the dust with his hands.

literature

source
  • The little birds from Theres. A legend p. 63–73 in Gertrud von le Fort: The kingdom of the child. The little birds from Theres. Two legends. Insel-Bücherei No. 111. 73 pages. Insel-Verlag Wiesbaden 1952 (21st to 36th thousand)
First edition
  • The little birds of Theres in: Gertrud von le Fort: The kingdom of the child. The little birds from Theres. Two legends. Insel Wiesbaden 1950. 72 pages, paperback
Secondary literature
  • Nicholas J. Meyerhofer: Gertrud von le Fort . Morgenbuch Verlag Berlin 1993. Heads of the 20th Century, Volume 119. ISBN 3-371-00376-0

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The little birds of Theres
  2. ↑ Meyerhofer, p. 21, 1. Zvo and p. 102, entry from 1934
  3. ↑ not contemporary epithet: Heinrich der Vogeler