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~ The Cölln (Berlin) Connection ~

Adapted from the Prosit article published, December 1991
by Floyd Dietlein and Roland A. Henschen

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The Heinzelmännchen, whose story the poet and painter August Kopisch wrote about in 1836, supposedly resided in Cölln on the Spree River (not Köln on the Rhine). The one-time fishing village to the south of the Berliner Mühlendock (mill dam) was first mentioned in the year 1237 and was later integrated into the sister city of Berlin.

As stated in the Berlin website (www.berlin.de) under History, "Berlin is a relatively young city by European standards, with its origins at the end of the 12th century. The city developed from two merchants' settlements, Berlin and Cölln, straddling the River Spree in what is today the "Mitte" district. The earliest documentary records date from 1237 (Cölln) and 1244 (Berlin). Both cities, conveniently situated on a crossing point on the Spree and a medieval trading route junction, experienced rapid economic growth and formed a union in 1307. For 400 years, their parallel development was closely coordinated, leading to the edict of King Frederick I of Prussia (1688-1713) which in 1709 incorporated the two towns with three new suburbs to form the so called Residential City of Berlin with some 57,000 inhabitants."

"Die Heinzelmännchen," a poem for children, first appeared in the year 1836, illustrated with the silhouette scissor cuts done by Regina Gebhard. The new edition is by V B Postreiter Verlag, Halle, 1987. It is translated below, in its entirety, along with some of the original scissor cuts. This is what the Germans call "Scheerenschnitt" and, in the 19th century, was a very popular art form with children. It was also taught in many schools as part of the curriculum.

Die Heinzelmännchen
How comfortable it used to be at Cölln
With the Heinzelmännchen there!
If one was lazy
One just rested on a bench and took it easy.
They came by night before one even thought about it:
The little men - and they swarmed
And clapped, made noise, and plucked and pulled,
And hopped and trotted, polished and scraped.
And before a lazy fellow woke up
His entire day's work was done.
For the baker master there was no problem:
The Heinzelmännchen baked the bread.
The lazy lads lay down,
And the Heinzelmännchen became active -
And strained with the heavy sacks,
And kneaded thoroughly
And weighed it precisely,
And lifted and shoved and swept and baked
And knocked and chopped (wood to heat the oven).
The lads snored in unison
While the fresh bread already came out.
At the butcher the same thing happened:
Journeyman and apprentice, both at rest.
Meanwhile came the little people
And chopped up the pig every which way!
This all went so quickly, like the mill in the wind.
They chopped with the ax,
And carved and skewered,
They washed and ground, they blended and mixed,
And stuffed and cleaned up.
As soon as the apprentice opened his eyes -
Wapp! The sausage was hanging ready to be sold.
The carpenters stretched themselves
Out on the shavings and relaxed.
In the meanwhile came the band of ghostly spirits
And saw what was to be done.
They quickly took up chisel and ax and saw;
They sawed and pierced and planed and broke,
Plastered and domed and trimmed,  
Glued parts together as tight as hawks
And put the beams into place.
Before the carpenter knew what happened,
Klapp, The whole house was finished!
In a tavern it was like this:
The wine and barrel maker drank until he slumped down
At an empty barrel and fell asleep.
The little people cared for the wine
And sulfured all the barrels.
And rolled and lifted with winches and pulleys
And swayed and sank and poured
And stomped on the grapes,
And mixed and tasted.
And before the cellar master woke up,
The wine was already perfected and well-made!
One time a tailor had a serious problem:
The ceremonial coat was supposed to be ready;
He just lay down on his ear and took it easy.
So they slipped in eagerly
Unto the tailor's table
And cut and arranged,
And sewed and pinned and fastened and fitted,
And smoothed and inspected
And plucked and pulled.
And before our tailor awoke,
The mayor's coat was already finished!
Curious was the tailor's wife
And found herself a way to pass the time:
She scattered some peas the next night.
The Heinzelmännchen came cautiously:
One tripped, fell down in the house,
They slipped down the steps
And plopped into vats!
They fell with a bang,
They hollered and screamed and cursed!
She jumped at the noise with a light:
Husch, husch, husch - they all vanished!
Oh my! Now they are all gone,
And none of them are still here in this place!
One can no longer rest as before,
One must do everything for himself!
Every one must
Be industrious himself,
And scrape and polish
And run and trot and dress and iron
And pound and chop and cook and bake.
Oh, that it would be again as it was back then!
But this beautiful time will never come back again!

While the new booklet was printed in 1987, it keeps many of the old German words, which have, to some extent, disappeared or changed their meanings over the past 150 years. In addition to translating the old words, the authors have used quite some poetic license.

To thoroughly understand the poem, one must be somewhat acquainted with the various trades mentioned at the time the poem was written, which means around the first half of the 19th century. For example, bread was baked in a huge outdoor hearth-style oven. The oven was first heated with wood on the inside, and then all the wood ashes were scraped and swept out. The bread dough was then placed in the oven to be baked by the residual heat. The finished bread would be removed in the same fashion it had been placed in the oven - with a huge flat wooden paddle. Hence in the story of the baker, we find the appropriate action words.

An interesting fact that is borne out in this article is that the Heinzelmännchen poem, written by August Kopisch so many years ago in his village, Cölln, has been shortened and adopted by the city of Cologne (Cölln- Kölln -Cologne) to adorn their beloved Heinzelmännchen Brunnen" When viewing this wonderful fountain, we should remember the "Cölln - Cologne" connection.


May the Heinzelmännchen be with you!

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