Heinzelmännchen

The Heinzelmännchen (German pronunciation: [ˈhaɪntsl̩ˌmɛnçɛn] ⓘ) are a helpful household spirits or kobolds associated with the city of Cologne in Germany, akin to brownies of Scotland.

Es mag noch nicht über fünfzig Jahre seyn, daß in Cöln die sogenannten Heinzelmännchen ihr abentheuerliches Wesen trieben.

Kleine nackende Männchen waren es, die allerhand thaten, Brodbacken, waschen und dergleichen Hausarbeiten mehrere; so wurde erzählt; doch hatte sie Niemand gesehen[14] It is not over fifty years since the Heinzelmänchen, as they are called, used to live and perform their exploits in Cologne.

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!

[24] Folklorist Marianne Rumpf [de] (1976) argued that the oral origins material Ernst Weyden (1826) compiled was essentially the sole source Kopisch used to craft his ballad.

Some of the underlying assumption, such as Weyden must have owned a considerable library of folkloric writings while Kopisch had none such, has been challenged by Heribert A. Hilgers [de].

[26] In the HdA or Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens [de], contributor Lily Weiser-Aall classed the Heinzelmännchen as a "literary name" type of "kobold", crediting Kopisch for its fame.

[24] Figures of Heinzelmännchen are is featured in various situations at Cologne's annual Christmas season markets held at the Heumarkt and the Alter Markt square (the "Heinzels Wintermärchen").

[28][29] The words were set to music by the German Lieder composer Carl Loewe, who published his "Die Heinzelmännchen" (the brownies), opus 83, in 1841.