If you possess any sort of fluency in the german language, theres a good chance youve encountered childrens author heinrich hoffmans 1845 bedtime classic struwwelpeter. The title poem is about a messy boy struwwel means slovenly with his uncombed hair and dirty nails. The book was written and illustrated in 1845 by a physician for his 3 year old son. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. The book contains 10 poems that serve as warnings to naughty boys and girls. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehavior in an exaggerated way. Two years later, hoffmann searched for a decent childrens book for. The 19thcentury book of horrors that scared german kids into behaving in the original edition of heinrich hoffmans 1845 german children s book, the most famous characterstruwwelpeter, or.
The fun but morbid struwwelpeter is a 19thcentury german children s book in which the children suffer bizarre punishments learning can be a painful process, especially for children. The best scenes from the most demented german childrens. I asked the manager of the hotel which museum we should visit and she told me about the struwwelpeter museum dedicated to the doctor who wrote books in the mid 1800s to address the moral character of children who didnt mind. I was intrigued and ordered the book with the collection of stories and the consequences of children misbehaving. This web edition of hoffmanns classic childrens story incorporates the original illustrations. But nothing is as hard as learning the system of ethics. Struwwelpeter is a bit different from the poetry book of my youth. Struwwelpeter in english translation dover childrens classics. The 19thcentury book of horrors that scared german kids. From the struwwelpeter library dover children s classics by heinrich hoffmann and theodor hosemann nov 21, 2012. First 100 essential words in german german book german kids learn german german words kinder books. Struwwelpeter in english translation dover childrens.