The little house gnomes are said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne during the night, so that the inhabitants of Cologne could be very lazy during the day. According to the legend, this went on until a tailor's wife got so curious to see the gnomes that she scattered peas onto the floor of the workshop to make the gnomes slip and fall. The gnomes, being infuriated, disappeared and never returned. From that time on, the citizens of Cologne had to do all their work by themselves.

This legend was first written down by the Cologne teacher Ernst Weyden (1805-1869) in 1826. It was translated into English by Thomas Keightley and published 1828 in his book "The Fairy Mythology".

In 1836 the painter and poet August Kopisch published a famous poem beginning with the words: {| |- | width="50%" | :''Wie war zu Cölln es doch vordem'' :''Mit Heinzelmännchen so bequem!'' :''Denn war man faul, ... man legte sich'' :''Hin auf die Bank und pflegte sich.'' :''Da kamen bei Nacht, eh' man's gedacht,'' :''Die Männlein und schwärmten'' :''Und klappten und lärmten'' :''Und rupften'' :''Und zupften'' :''Und hüpften und trabten'' :''Und putzten und schabten -'' :''Und eh' ein Faulpelz noch erwacht,'' :''war all sein Tagwerk ... bereits gemacht!...'' | width="50%" | :::''So it was once upon in Cologne,'' :::''so comfortable with the Heinzelmen!'' :::''One could been lazy ... just lie'' :::''down on the bench and let things slide.'' :::''There came at night, before one knew it,'' :::''little men who swarmed'' :::''and worked and fussed'' :::''and plucked'' :::''and picked'' :::''jumped and trotted'' :::''cleaned and scoured -'' :::''and before the lazy man awoke,'' :::''his daily work was ... already done! ... '' |} In Cologne, a fountain (Heinzelmännchenbrunnen) commemorates the Heinzelmännchen and the tailor's wife.

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Category:Kobolds Category:German folklore

Richard Eilenberg (13 January 1848, Merseburg – 6 December 1927, Berlin) was a German composer.

His musical career began with the study of piano and composition. At 18 years old, he composed his first work - a concert overture. As a volunteer he participated in the Franco-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871. In 1873, Eilenberg became the music director and conductor in Stettin. In 1889, he decided to move to Berlin as a freelance composer, where his second marriage with his wife Dorothee started. They lived on 73 Bremer Street.

Eilenberg composed marches and dances for orchestra, harmony and military music, and a ballet ''The Rose of Shiras,'' op. 134. He also composed the operettas ''Comteß Cliquot'' (1909), ''King Midas,'' ''Marietta,'' and ''The Great Prince.'' The most notable music that he composed were his marches, including ''The Coronation March'' (for Alexander III of Russia), and ''Janitscharen-Marsch,'' op. 295.

Some of his music pieces, attributable to the salon and its entertainment, were ''The Petersburg Sleigh Ride'' op. 52 and ''The Mill In The Black Forest,'' op. 57 (1885). Eilenberg completed 350 compositions throughout his life, including ten fantasies after melodies of great masters, like ''Ehrenkränze der Tonkunst,'' op. 268-277 and the suite ''Durch Feld und Wald,'' op. 119.

His grave is located on the South-West Cemetery of the Berlin Ecclesiastical Assembly in Potsdam.

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Category:1848 births Category:1927 deaths Category:German composers Category:Romantic composers Category:People from Merseburg Category:People from the Province of Saxony

Born in Offenbach am Main, Hotter studied with Matthäus Roemer in Munich. He worked as an organist and choirmaster before making his operatic debut in Opava in 1930.

He performed in Germany and Austria under the Nazi regime, but was unable to pursue an international career until his Covent Garden debut in 1947. After that time, he sang in all the major opera houses of Europe. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as the title role in ''The Flying Dutchman'' (in English) in 1950. In four seasons at the Met, he performed 35 times in 13 roles, almost all Wagnerian.

Probably Hotter's best known vocal achievement was his Wotan in ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', beginning with the ''Rheingold'' Wotan and ''Siegfried'' Wanderer (debuting as the latter at the Bavarian State Opera in 1937), and adding the ''Walkure'' Wotan in 1941; he owned the roles until the mid-1960s, by which time his voice had begun to display an incipient wobble due to hard use. He was afflicted, too, with a chronic back injury.

His interpretation of Wotan in the operas ''Die Walküre'' and ''Siegfried'' was documented as part of Decca's famous Ring Cycle in the early 1960s, with conductor Georg Solti and record producer John Culshaw officiating. In addition, his interpretation of the role of Wotan was captured on live recordings from the Bayreuth Festival conducted by Clemens Krauss and Joseph Keilberth in the mid-1950s, and a 1930s studio recording of Act II of ''Die Walkure'' captures him at the beginning of his association with the role. He also directed a complete ''Ring'' at Covent Garden from 1961 to 1964. His magnificent portrayal of Gurnemanz in ''Parsifal'' was preserved on record in Hans Knappertsbusch's second live recording at Bayreuth; in his old age he switched to the same opera's briefer, and less demanding, part of Titurel (also captured on record).

A much-admired Hans Sachs in ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'', he nevertheless preferred to sing the smaller and lower-pitched role of Pogner later in his career, because its range was better suited to his voice. Similarly, he sang in ''Parsifal'' as the baritone Amfortas when he was younger, and switched to the bass Gurnemanz as he aged. He was also celebrated for his Pizarro in Beethoven's ''Fidelio'', of which a live 1960s recording from Covent Garden was issued for the first time in 2005.

Although his international fame was almost entirely in the German repertoire, in Germany itself he was also known for performing Verdi in the vernacular and was, for example a popular Falstaff and a formidable Grand Inquisitor in ''Don Carlo''. He performed, and recorded, several non-German opera roles in German translation, including "Graf Almaviva" (Mozart), Boris Godunov, and Don Basilio (Rossini).

As a ''Lieder'' singer he had few peers. Among German male singers of the 1950s and 1960s, only Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau commanded such widespread admiration and affection. Hotter, like his younger colleague, brought a true feeling for words as well as music to the songs of Schubert, Schumann, and others.

His memoirs describe how he got into trouble by making fun of Hitler at parties. According to Hotter's obituary in ''The Times'', Hitler kept Hotter's records in his private collection. When Hotter was interrogated about this, he answered that the Pope had some of them too.

Hotter retired from the stage in 1972, but made occasional appearances in small roles thereafter. He was a notable narrator in Schoenberg's ''Gurrelieder'', a role he continued to take well into his eighties.

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Category:1909 births Category:2003 deaths Category:People from Offenbach am Main Category:Operatic bass-baritones Category:German male singers Category:German opera singers Category:Members of the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art