Der Struwwelpeter
In Take Your Daughter to Work Day, the eighteenth episode of NBC’s The Office, Dwight reads the children a cautionary tale by Dr. Heinrich Hoffman.
I initially thought the horrific looking book was made up. I did a little half-hearted research and found that Heinrich Hoffman was a photographer who took many photos of Hitler during his rise to power. What I didn’t realise was that Dr. Heinrich Hoffman was a German psychiatrist who wrote a series of frankly terrifying cautionary tales for children in the late 19th Century.
Today I saw a restored first edition of Struwwelpeter on a stall in a market for £75. It made me laugh so hard I nearly bought it. The story of the book is interesting and a bit frightening. Hoffman went to seek out a book for his son as a Christmas gift in 1884. Instead, horrified at the lack of moral guidance the books on show provided, he bought a notebook and wrote down and illustrated some tales of his own. He was persuaded to publish these by friends and family, under the marvelous title “Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder mit 15 schön kolorierten Tafeln für Kinder von 3-6 Jahren”, which translates as the catchy “Funny Stories and Jocose Pictures with 15 Beautifully Coloured Panels for Children Aged 3 to 6”.
The stories range from border-line racist (in which boys are ducked in black ink to punish them for taunting a dark-skinned child) to the brilliantly upsetting: a roving tailor cuts off the thumbs of a boy who’s mother leaves the house after warning him not to suck his thumb using an enormous pair of scissors.
My favourite is without a doubt the seventh tale. From Wikipedia: “”Die Geschichte vom Suppen-Kaspar” (The Story of Kaspar who did not have any Soup) begins as Kaspar, a healthy, strong boy, proclaims that he will no longer eat his soup. Over the next five days he wastes away and dies.”