Hausgeister!: Household Spirits of German Folklore: Household Spirits of German Folklore (Wool of Bat) - Hardcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Florian Schäfer 

Florian is the driving force behind Forgotten Creatures. The biologist has been fascinated by the sagas and fairy tales of his homeland since childhood. In his artistic work he combines his knowledge of anatomy and ecology, as well as his in-depth knowledge of cultural science. In this way Florian creates unique creatures and spirits that give us insight into our own cultural past.

Janin Pisarek 

Janin is a folklorist and responsible for the technical quality control at Forgotten Creatures. She studied folklore, cultural history, and educational science at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. Her thesis on wolves and werewolves in oral stories and German folk belief, including the current return of the wolf, received the Special Promotion Prize from the Märchenstiftung Walter Kahn.

Hannah Gritsch 

Hannah is a communication designer with a focus on photography and graphic design. With her unique style, Hannah manages to breathe life into Florian’s sculptures in a fascinating way. She is the designated contact person for all graphical and aesthetical issues and supports the project with her experience in the advertising industry.

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<p><strong>THE KOBOLD</strong></p>

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<p>&ldquo;In some places almost every farmer, wife, son, or daughter has a kobold doing housework, carrying water in the kitchen, chopping wood, bringing beer, cooking, grooming the horses, mucking out the stable, and the like. Where there is a kobold at work, the cattle put on weight, and everything flourishes and succeeds. Even today we say of a maid who finishes her work quickly, &lsquo;she has the kobold.&rsquo; But anyone who enrages a kobold better watch out.&rdquo;</p>

<p>From Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm (1965): Deutsche Sagen, Munich.</p>

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<p><strong>Rulers of Hearth and Home</strong></p>

<p>In German-speaking regions, there are more stories, tales, and legends about kobolds than any other house spirit. In view of this plethora of sources, it is not easy to arrive at a conclusive and consistent image of a kobold. As with all house spirits, the kobold&rsquo;s origins cannot be completely documented, and nor is there seamless continuity between the original, supposed veneration of house gods and today&rsquo;s concept of kobolds.</p>

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<p><strong>A PATRON SAINT WITH MANY NAMES</strong></p>

<p>&ldquo;What are known in old Prussian lands as Barstukken are the kobolds of north-western and southern Germany. They have been given many and various names (&hellip;). Their duties are the same almost everywhere: working in the house and kitchen, cleaning floors, cellars, and stables, their reward a bowl of food or milk.&rdquo;</p>

<p>From Bechstein, Ludwig (1853): Deutsches Sagenbuch, Leipzig.</p>

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<p>Even so, we find the narrative of the presiding house spirit in a whole range of slightly altered or adapted forms: kobolds are the hidden rulers of the home, protectors of their houses and families. They are always solitary figures, bound closely to their house and the family living in it. They may either be invisible, or appear in many forms, human or animal, even as an object. In popular imagination they are not abstract, numinous powers, but rather a home and family spirit in tangible form. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The first written record of the German term &ldquo;kobold&rdquo; dates to the 13th century. It is derived from the German nouns Kob - &ldquo;house&rdquo;, and Bold - &ldquo;ruler&rdquo;. Thus, kobolds are the rulers of house and farm.</p>

<p>The term kobold replaced older names, such as the 13th century Stetewalden which translates as &ldquo;Walter des Platzes&rdquo;, or &ldquo;ruler of the place&rdquo; and referred to house gods. Today kobold is the generic term, because over the centuries the idea of a kobold has not only taken on many and various forms, but it has also developed many regional names. This variety is characteristic of the tradition of German house spirits.</p>

<p>This abundance of names can also be misleading: in some places a Schrazel or Schrat is a wood spirit, in others a kobold. Some H&uuml;tchen are kobolds, others are gnome-type spirits. Even the term Heinzelmann is now applied to spirits of the kobold type.</p>

<p>The names were constantly subject to change, were used, adapted, and combined &mdash; as was the idea of a house spirit itself. In Germany&rsquo;s eastern regions in particular, the concept of a kobold merged with that of a house dragon, sometime also with the Geldm&auml;nnlein, or money dwarf. Consequently, as with many spirit beings, it is almost impossible to offer a description of a house spirit based purely on its name. However, they are easier to identify when their activities, descriptions of their origins, and their sociological functions in folk belief are considered.</p>

<p>Many narrative researchers regard the kobold as the house spirit par excellence as, in contrast to many other spirits in the house, the kobold does not leave the house and is more tightly bound to the family than any other spirit being. Furthermore, we have at our disposal a rich treasury of legends and tales which describe the kobold&rsquo;s actions in detail.</p>

<p>In &ldquo;Kobold&rdquo; (1987), the narrative researcher Erika Lindig (*1954) dedicates a complete monograph to this house spirit. She examined 106 printed collections of tales, in 139 volumes, dating from the 19th and 20th century, and compiled information about the kobold drawn from all the German-speaking regions. She extracted no fewer than 488 unique instances of textual evidence of kobolds.</p>