The Fairy Tale Fountain was designed by architect Ludwig Hoffman from 1901-1913. Badly damaged in WWII, the fountain has been restored to its former glory. It includes statues of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, The Seven Ravens, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Sister and Brother, and Cinderella. There are also statues of Ryubetsal and Mother Hulda nearby.
My search for the Bremen Town Musicians statue was thwarted because a refugee rally was taking place in the town square. I returned the next day and was able to locate my statue. I did get the chance to explore St. Petri cathedral and much of the architecture of the square. Bremen is known as a blue collar town, and in the modern day has some fairly obvious issues with drugs, alcohol, and homelessness. Someone tried to pick my pocket in the train station, and I encountered several people who were clearly either mentally ill or intoxicated who were aggressively panhandeling. I also encountered an elderly man loudly and endlessly singing a song about cuckoos on a park bench.
It is interesting to note that all 5 of Germany’s veterinary schools have a statue of the Bremen Town Musicians in front of them.
Little brother took his little sister by the hand and said, since
our mother died we have had no happiness. Our step-mother
beats us every day, and if we come near her she kicks us away
with her foot. Our meals are the hard crusts of bread that are left
over. And the little dog under the table is better off, for she
often throws it a choice morsel. God pity us, if our mother only
knew. Come, we will go forth together into the wide world.
Continue reading Tale: Brüderchen und Schwesterchen
Hard by a great forest dwelt a poor wood-cutter with his wife
and his two children. The boy was called Hansel and the
girl Gretel. He had little to bite and to break, and once when
great dearth fell on the land, he could no longer procure even daily
bread. Now when he thought over this by night in his bed, and
tossed about in his anxiety, he groaned and said to his wife, what
is to become of us. How are we to feed our poor children, when
we no longer have anything even for ourselves. I’ll tell you what,
husband, answered the woman, early to-morrow morning we
will take the children out into the forest to where it is the
thickest. There we will light a fire for them, and give each of
them one more piece of bread, and then we will go to our work and
leave them alone. They will not find the way home again, and we
shall be rid of them. No, wife, said the man, I will not do that.
How can I bear to leave my children alone in the forest. The wild
animals would soon come and tear them to pieces. O’ you fool, said
she, then we must all four die of hunger, you may as well plane the
planks for our coffins, and she left him no peace until he
consented. But I feel very sorry for the poor children, all the
same, said the man.
Continue reading Tale: Hänsel und Gretel
Erlkönig
von J.W. Goethe
Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.
«Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?» –
Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif? –
«Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif.» –
«Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel’ ich mit dir;
Manch bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand,
Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand.»
Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht? –
«Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind.» –
«Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn,
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein.»
Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort? –
«Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau:
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau.»
«Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt.»
Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan! –
Dem Vater grausets, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Mühe und Not;
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.
Continue reading Poem: Der Erlkönig by Goethe