Der Struwwelpeter by Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann. The Story of Fidgety Philip , 1st page of cautionary tale. Printed in 400 th edition, published 1917. German children ‘s book, first published 1844. Illustrations by Hoffmann. HH: German psychiatrist and children’s author, 13 June 1809 – 20 September 1894. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
3. Der Struwwelpeter
Der Struwwelpeter is an 1845 German children’s book. Perhaps you’re not all set to read your child some Victorian-era folk tales, but let me warn you just in case.
Like so much 19th century literature intended for children, each story contained in the collection contains a moral. Perhaps that’s not so bad on the face of it, but the morals and the stories that accompany them are often pretty severe.
The title story, “Struwwelpeter” (Shockheaded Peter) tells the tale of a young boy who refuses to groom himself and is thus shunned by his friends. Harsh, but true. Things get worse, though. “Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug” (The Dreadful Story of the Matches) relates the story of a young girl who plays with matches and horrifically burns to death. Another boy starves to death because he decides that he doesn’t want to eat soup anymore.
In “Die Geschichte vom Daumenlutscher” (The Story of the Thumb-Sucker), a young boy refuses to stop sucking his thumb, despite repeated pleas from his mother. His punishment? A tailor appears with giant scissors and cuts his thumbs off.Other parents might tell kids that it’s dirty, or that thumb-sucking with mess up your teeth, but 1800s German families really knew how to ramp up the terror.