Peter Klaus

The story was written as "Der Ziegenhirt" ('The Goatherd') by Johann Karl Christoph Nachtigal, who published it in 1800 under the alias Otmar.

[1] The story follows a German goatherd from a village named Sittendorf, today part of the town Kelbra.

While looking for escaped goats, Peter Klaus is led to where others are playing games in the woods.

After tasting their wine, he falls asleep and wakes up twenty years later.

"Der Ziegenhirt" has been translated into English a number of times: The story was part of the inspiration for American writer Washington Irving's 1819 short story "Rip Van Winkle".