What is "heinzelmannchen"

The Heinzelmännchen are a race of creatures appearing in a tale connected with the city of Cologne in Germany.

The little house gnomes are said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne during the night, so that the inhabitants of Cologne could be very lazy during the day. According to the legend, this went on until a tailor's wife got so curious to see the gnomes that she scattered peas onto the floor of the workshop to make the gnomes slip and fall. The gnomes, being infuriated, disappeared and never returned. From that time on, the citizens of Cologne had to do all their work by themselves.

This legend was first written down by the Cologne teacher Ernst Weyden (1805–1869) in 1826. It was translated into English by Thomas Keightley and published 1828 in his book "The Fairy Mythology".

In 1836 the painter and poet August Kopisch published a famous poem beginning with the words:

Wie war zu Cölln es doch vordem Mit Heinzelmännchen so bequem! Denn war man faul, ... man legte sich Hin auf die Bank und pflegte sich. Da kamen bei Nacht, eh' man's gedacht, Die Männlein und schwärmten Und klappten und lärmten Und rupften Und zupften Und hüpften und trabten Und putzten und schabten - Und eh' ein Faulpelz noch erwacht, war all sein Tagwerk ... bereits gemacht!... Once upon a time in Cologne, how comfortable it was with the Heinzelmen! For if you were lazy, ... you just lay down on your bench and took care of yourself. Then at night, before one knew it, came the little men and swarmed and clattered and rattled and plucked and picked and jumped and trotted and cleaned and scoured - and even before a lazy bum awoke, ''all his daily work was ... already done! ... ''

In Cologne, a fountain (Heinzelmännchenbrunnen) commemorates the Heinzelmännchen and the tailor's wife.