The Pied Piper of Hamelin is based on a real event in 1284 where most of the children of Hamelin disappeared. The exact reason for the disappearance is unknown, but many theories have been suggested, including an epidemic or a military campaign. The Brothers Grimm version of the story is the most well-known, but there are over 1800 different sources for the story. It is believed that the children founded their own colonies in Eastern Europe, possibly in Transylvania, Maehren, Oelmutz, or Ueckermark. The event is lost to history, and the legends inspired by the event are the only concrete record we have.
Historians agree that the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, recorded in the 19th century by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, is based on a real event in 19 where most of the children of Hamelin disappeared. However, no one knows for sure the exact reason for the disappearance. Many scenarios have been speculated, some more probable than others.
The story of the Pied Piper was first depicted in a stained glass window from around 1300. The first written account dates from the mid-15th century. The Brothers Grimm version of 15 is the one most people are familiar with and folklorists have drawn on 1800 different sources for their story.
In the Grimm version of the story, the Pied Piper, also known as the Rattenfaenger, or rat catcher, appears in the town of Hamelin in the midst of a rat infestation and offers to rid the town of vermin. He uses an enchanted pipe to lure rats into a river, where they all drown, but the townspeople refuse to pay him a shilling per rat, as promised. He leaves Hamelin, but returns a few weeks later to seek revenge. During his second visit to Hamelin, the Pied Piper uses his magic pipe on the children of the town, leading them down a hole in a mountain at the edge of town and sealing them inside. Only two children remain in the village, one blind and one lame, because they have not been able to follow the piper.
Some suggest that the cause of the children’s disappearance was an accident of an epidemic. These theories make sense of some of the elements of the Brothers Grimm version, as being sealed inside a mountain could refer to a large landslide, or the rats could be a reference to the plague. However, the European Black Death epidemic did not begin until the 14th century, and rats do not appear in versions of the Pied Piper story until the late 16th century, so the plague theory is unlikely.
Another branch of epidemic theory posits that children fell prey to some sort of disease that caused them to dance, such as Huntington’s disease or another form of chorea. Because Huntington’s disease is a genetic disease, however, it’s not likely that every child in the town has been affected. It has also been suggested that the dance in the story of the Pied Piper is an example of the widespread medieval theme of the Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death, with the Pied Piper as Death, leading the way. Death was often depicted in multicolored or piebald clothing in the Middle Ages.
Another theory holds that the children left as part of a military campaign or children’s crusade, in which case the Pied Piper represents their leader or recruiter. This was the most widely accepted explanation until the 1950s. Today, most historians believe it is very likely that the sons of Hamelin set out in large numbers to found their own colonies in Eastern Europe, always with the Pied Piper at the head. However, there is still some disagreement about exactly where they settled.
The Brothers Grimm story, as well as Robert Browning’s 1842 poem on the subject, has it that the sons of Hamelin became the founders of Transylvania. More recent historians have suggested that the children formed colonies at Maehren, Oelmutz or Ueckermark in Eastern Europe. Place names in areas east of Hamelin, as well as records of many towns founded in this period, corroborate this theory.
Exactly what happened at Hamelin in 1284 is probably lost to history forever, but whatever it was, it seems to have been traumatic enough for its witnesses to willingly forget the particulars. The various legends inspired by the event are the only concrete record we will likely ever have.
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