Hameln

Hameln lies on the River Weser and is home to about 60,000 people.

It is very quaint and picturesque.

This is one of the main streets downtown.

Most of the historic buildings were originally built in the 1500's and 1600's and are often very ornate.

The style is called Weser-Renaissance, a variation of the more serious Italian architecture.

These "rats" are actually made of bread dough.

You may know that rats are fairly harmless, but they became deadly in the 14th century when they helped spread the Black Death through much of Europe and Asia. It is estimated that this pandemic killed roughly 100 million people worldwide in the space of some 200 years.

The town of Hameln is most famous for the folk tale of the Pied Piper of Hameln (Der Rattenfanger von Hameln). The incident of the Pied Piper is said to have happened in 1284 and may be based on a true event, although probably slightly different from the folk tale.

The tale goes that the town hired a man dressed in multi-colored (pied) clothes to lure the rats from the town with his magic pipe. The townspeople were greedy and refused to pay the piper once the job was done. The story is that the piper sought revenge and lured the children from town in the same way he had the rats and they were never seen again.

This story may actually reflect an historical event when Hameln lost its children. Theories are that the children of Hameln were either lost by the plague or another catastrophe and the pied piper is the symbol of that. Another fairy tale without a happy ending.

We stayed at the Hotel Jugenstil, pictured above. It's the one with the colorful carvings on the front. It was right in the middle of this pleasant little neighborhood.

The streets and businesses downtown are really charming.

As is true with most town squares, either the church is being renovated or the street in front of the church. Hameln was no exception. :)

An inviting and lovely little city and completely free of rats.