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Pied Piper's tune plays on
By TOM BROSS
He did his tootling in a city named Hameln -- spelled Hamelin for those of us who learned the anglicized place name in the fairy tale about the Pied Piper. One of the most familiar of many scary old Germanic legends, the Piper's story harks to the year 1264. For an agreed-upon fee, the itinerant musician promises to solve Hameln's rat problem. He keeps his word, for the tune he plays spooks the critters to such an extent that they are lured to a mass drowning in the Weser River. The tale, however, does not have a happy ending: Hameln's citizens turn out to be a stingy lot, refusing -- as the saying now goes -- to pay the piper. His revenge is severe. Wearing an ominous red hat and multicolored (or "pied") clothing, he returns on June 26. This time he plays a different tune while the adults are in church for Sunday services. His mournful melody mesmerizes 130 of their children, ages 4 and older. He leads them through the east gate, then up a distant hill, where they vanish, forever after. Nearly seven centuries later, Hameln contains abundant reminders of its legendary Pied Piper. Rats can be purchased in such benign reincarnations as carved toys, peppermint sweets and bewhiskered biscuits. One restaurant features flamed rat tails and a rat-killer drink. (This turns out to be sauteed strips of pork with a glass of Rhine wine.) This combo is served in the Rattenfdngerhaus, a German word meaning the Rat Catcher's House, so-named because the Pied Piper legend is recalled on an outside wall fresco. Actually, the restaurant was built in 1603 as a residence.
So it should come as no surprise that the town-hall fountain, near the infamous east gate and dedicated in 1967, is embellished with sculpted figures depicting the piper followed by two single-file lines of barefoot youngsters. And the legend annually comes to life in a full-fledged pageant. At noon each Sunday from mid-May to mid-September, a colorfully arrayed piper wearing a feathered hat marches down Osterstrasse. Behind him comes a rat pack of ham-acting kids in gray rodent outfits. Their destination is an outdoor stage between the early 17th century Hochzeithaus and St. Nikolai Market Church. The morality tale of promise and salvation, betrayal and revenge, is enacted with the participation of four dozen townsfolk in medieval attire. The town's flamboyant architecture ranks comparably high as a visitor attraction. Connoisseurs call the style Weser Renaissance, which flourished here in Lower Saxony during the 16th and 17th centuries. Prominent characteristics are Ionic columns, protruding bay windows, stepped gables adorned with swoops and swirls and, overall, a stonemason's splurge of obelisks, pyramids, bas reliefs, shields, rosettes, swirls and bulging circles. In several instances, rich burgers spent extra gold marks to indulge in a whimsical game of one-upmanship. Result: the sculpted Neidkvpfe heads of envious neighbors can be seen atop certain facades. Hameln, current population 58,000 or so, became a prosperous mercantile center during its century-and-a-half membership in northern Europe's Hanseatic League. That affiliation began in 1426, with wealth generated by shipping Weser Valley grain north to the mighty Hamburg and Bremen seaports. The wealthy burgers commissioned the era's trendy Italian and Flemish architects to design their mansions and important public buildings. Now, about 500 such structures are "officially preserved." When an urban restoration and renewal program was inaugurated four decades ago, Osterstrasse became a wide, vibrant pedestrian corridor lined wall-to-wall with showpieces of Weser Renaissance opulence. Shops and typically European open-air cafes are plentiful. Gothic, half-timbered dwellings constructed in the 13th and 14th centuries are also emblematic of Lower Saxon townscapes. Rows of them grace Hameln's oldest side streets, especially Bdckerstrasse and Wendenstrasse. There were no such niceties as sightseeing routes and visitors' comforts when the Pied Piper appeared. During Europe's 13th century, serfdom bound the peasants, and plagues frequently swept the land. The rat catcher's story adds a dash of tuneful myth to that distant age -- and to the enduring charm of present-day Hameln. If you go
STAYING THERE: Zur Bvrse, a hotel with cozy Old World ambience, is centrally located on Hameln's Osterstrasse. Double accommodation rates are in the $75-$85 range. Hotel Zur Krone, also old and on the same pedestrian street, is in the $155-$245 category for two persons. For a modernistic, pricier alternative ($135-$220), consider the 105-room Dorint, situated in a leafy park on Hameln's outskirts, a walkably short distance from the historic heart of town. Numerous small hotels and guest-house inns can be found in town and in pleasant, woodsy settings close to Hameln. Room rates vary, but $65-$75 for double accommodations including breakfast would be the norm. WESER SIGHTSEEING: Taking a cruise aboard an excursion boat is an easygoing way to enjoy the rustic beauty of the Upper Weser Valley region. Some afternoon outings (available April to October) include a stopover in tiny, picturesque Bodenwerde -- about 15 miles downriver from Hameln -- where a real-life legendary German was born in 1720: Baron von Munchhausen, renowned spinner of preposterously tall tales. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact the German National Tourist Office, 122 E 42nd St., New York, NY 10168-0072; call (212) 661-7174; the Web site is www.germany-tourism.de. In town is a handy tourist-office resource, on Deister-allee, alongside Hameln's municipal park. Web site: www.hameln.de. - Freelance writer Tom Bross lives in Boston.
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From the Times Travel page
From the AP |
GETTING THERE: From Tampa, Lufthansa German Airlines, Northwest, Delta, US Airways and Continental fly to Frankfurt via connections in the United States. After next-morning arrival in Frankfurt, take a Lufthansa domestic flight to Hanover. Hameln is 30 miles southwest of that city, accessible via German Rail or rental car.
