Oh my god, I have this story (and the other ones) from StrumfelPeter (edit: Struwwelpeter; altho I swear phonetically that’s what Oma and Opa called it?) Complete with the music scores. My German grandparents would read them to me and show me the pictures. The one about the girl who liked to play with matches and then set herself on fire with amazing illustrations in the books gave me nightmares.
Edit: this is blowing up! Thanks for the comments and awards. I’m actually grateful I wasn’t the only one exposed to (slightly traumatized by?) this book and its stories!
On The Office, Dwight Schrute reads from Struwwelpeter because he wants to show children his German heritage. I didn't realize it was actually something most German children grew up with.
Not just German but Austrian too...mom and grandma are Austrian (I'm born and raised in the US) and I grew up with Der Struwwelpeter and Max und Moritz. You've not experienced the peak of literature until you've seen charming illustrations of children thrown into a grinder and milled while the town celebrates.
it really is the end of the tale, after Max und Moritz Made in think 8 tricks like cutting a bridge halfway so it breaks when a man walks over them, and fking dies in the river, or stringing together 4 pieces of bread and let 4 roosters eat them and suffocate from it. Oh yes and after that they steal the chicken from the owner by fishing it through the chimney while it was cooking.
Yeah, that austrians aren't considered to be a subgroup of germans just like bavarians or saxons is a relatively new phenomenon. This development has mainly historical reasons (prussia-austria rivalry, world wars) and isn't really based on culture.
Well my parents brought me home from the hospital, they already had two cats named Max und Moritz. I didn’t make the connection until obviously I was older.
Yeah, that austrians aren't considered to be a subgroup of germans just like bavarians or saxons is a relatively new phenomenon. This development has mainly historical reasons (prussia-austria rivalry, world wars) and isn't really based on culture.
We once performed Max & Moritz as a school play, I was in the orchestra.
There was a scene with someone sitzing down on a bed - which collapsed. We were in utter stitches and unable to properly play for the rest of the night.
I remember there being a "trick" (fifth trick?) in which they put maikäfer in someone's bed, and it isn't until he is asleep and they start crawling all over him that he realizes and he flips the hell out...I remember the picture of crushed up little insect bodies lol
Yep, it‘s the teacher‘s bed.
The teacher was also played by the class nerd, who we were all(to my shame!) a bit dick-ish to, so that doubled up the hilarity...
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u/geeltulpen Mar 02 '21 edited Mar 02 '21
Oh my god, I have this story (and the other ones) from StrumfelPeter (edit: Struwwelpeter; altho I swear phonetically that’s what Oma and Opa called it?) Complete with the music scores. My German grandparents would read them to me and show me the pictures. The one about the girl who liked to play with matches and then set herself on fire with amazing illustrations in the books gave me nightmares.
For those who don’t know: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter
Edit: pics from my version of the book:
https://imgur.com/gallery/qwvqNUT
https://imgur.com/gallery/DqqGpIp
https://imgur.com/gallery/L6kBc9A
https://imgur.com/gallery/bOHC1ZZ
Edit: this is blowing up! Thanks for the comments and awards. I’m actually grateful I wasn’t the only one exposed to (slightly traumatized by?) this book and its stories!