The Chilling True Story Behind the Pied Piper Legend

Welcome back, Darklings!
Dive into the eerie legend of the Pied Piper-a story far from the whimsical fairy tales we're used to. Discover the chilling tale of 130 missing children and the haunting possibility that this legend is rooted in real historical events. 🧒🧒🧒
Could the sinister Pied Piper have truly existed? Join us as we unravel the dark mystery behind one of the most unsettling stories ever told. 📜🕵️‍♂️
#PiedPiper #DarkHistory #HistoryMystery #History #DarkFairyTales #FairyTaleOrigins
CHAPTERS
01:01 Revisiting the Story
05:33 The Evidence
08:07 A Place of Execution
13:10 The Children of Erfurt
14:30 Darker Theories
15:47 The True Story?

[@elliotjacomo6618]

As a child I remember being told the moral of this tale as: "Beware of following enchanting, charismatic strangers." As always a lovely telling. But I don't except the migration theory. The village of Hamelin was obviously traumatized by this event - a trauma which lasted hundreds of years and was recorded in various ways, including a stained glass window. I find it difficult to believe that a "migration event" would have caused that level of traumatic memory.

[@BusterHWJones]

"Beware of following enchanting, charismatic strangers." Much like today's politicians.

[@bringmethatcoffee5235]

what if those who left were people important to the others? like, VERY important? not (just) in an emotional way, but practical way as well. they were their best or only smiths for example? and after those very important people left, those left struggled a lot? just one thing i thought of.

[@TheSatanel]

Difficult?😂

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Indeed, it is a mystery most perplexing! While the theory of a migration event holds merit, it fails to fully account for the tale's swift transformation into such a strange, tragic legend. The earliest comprehensive account I discovered dates back to 1370 (displayed on screen at 11:20), less than a century after the incident, by which time the story had already evolved into an intricate story of disappearing children.... Thanks for watching! 🖤:)

[@e.jameszettlemoyer3819]

What I got out of this as a child was... Pay your bills.

[@HalfEye79]

I am from this city (in german called Hameln). The pied piper of Hamlin in german is just called "Rattenfänger von Hameln". But I know it as a saga not a fairy tale. But, to be fair, I don't really know the exact difference. I'm really in favor of the migration theory. The term "Rattenfänger" ("rat catcher") is rather broadly used for people, who wants to lure somebody towards a terrible idea.

[@manfredconnor3194]

Ich war schon da bei euch als in in Bremen Wohnte. Ich bin aber kein Deutscher. Ich vermute, die Kinder würden hingeschickt, um irgendwo in ein Untertagbergbau zu schuften.

[@willempasterkamp862]

Drusus 'germanicus'

[@lilyw.719]

Perhaps that terrible idea was some bargain with the Devil that the townspeople made. They lost their children as a result. The fact that this happened on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul indicates that the judgment of Heaven was against them. The question is, what did they do? What happened cannot have been migration. The stained glass window from the year 1300, just 16 years after the events, is contemporary documentary proof of the event and proof that it involved actual children. Plus, migration makes no sense as a source of a town's trauma. There is no similar collective trauma in any other region that underwent a migration, even under the famine circumstances of Ireland. There's just nothing else like the story with Hamlin.

[@imperfectsimulacrum]

Soo...politicians?

[@manfredconnor3194]

Du bist aber nur den Halbäugigen unter den Blinden, nicht wahr?

[@ericswain4177]

Many of the old and ancient "Legends" are based on real events etc... and almost always darker and more disturbing than the current version today.

[@willempasterkamp862]

It is an allegory on how Drusus germanicus (the Camillus) liberated rome from the threath of the rebelling rhine legions (rats) in the 1st century. In the aftermath his offspring (children) were persecuted by Tiberius princeps (bad mayor). The legend of the 7 sleepers (dwarfs, children) is intertwined in the story. The only lame kid left behind is Drusus disabled brother Claudius ( Joseph of Arimathea ). The pied colors is like Josephs cloak or Krampus dark colors. dutch 'black pete' etc. The old Dioscuri (boanerges) were the children of Zebedee = Drusus = Klopas. the true origin is ROMAN NOT GERMAN.

[@MichelleRomero-lf1nu]

Yup.

[@soniastjules]

Yes, that is true. I am thinking that the Piper had helpers who assisted him to guide the children "over the mountains" (quote from the poem) using an opportunity presented by the festival, in order to sell them into slavery. An early example of child trafficking.

[@willempasterkamp862]

@@soniastjules Puy.

[@michaelmccartin2054]

A lot of them are based on actual events, naturally things were changed but they usually start with an event.

[@jillsouthers5916]

I've researched this, and I have a different theory. The "pied piper" was, more likely than not, a minnesinger, who was a performer by trade. Pied, or colored, clothing was expensive, showing that this piper had been well-paid at some point, or possibly was a minor nobleman, himself. The rats were probably poisoned. Certain poisons will cause rats to confusedly run to water, because extreme thirst results from the poison. This would account for the rats drowning themselves. As for payment, each town and each lord had their own coinage in each realm. The piper probably demanded gold, which was fairly universal, but Hamelin refused, probably wanting to pay him in brass or copper coins, which would have been worthless anywhere else. So, the piper left town, and probably took his complaint to a lord who oversaw Hamelin. The lord may have ordered that payment be made in labor, and ordered the children to work in fields, mills, and mines to repay the piper, which would have taken years. At least one historian has traced some of the Hamelin family names to a town several miles away, after the event, and, following their years of indentured servitude, would have stayed where they were, rather than return to Hamelin, which they barely remembered. So, my theory is that a lord, count, bishop, or some other nobleman ORDERED the children to leave with the piper, while the adults were all "at church" hearing the bad news about welching on their debt.

[@anthonygrizzel4168]

Do you, or can you, cite any resources for your theory??? ...concerned researchers would appreciate it!

[@princessmarlena1359]

Sound possible.

[@peregrinemccauley5010]

Nearly all of old tales of yore, have their origin based in fact. It's just that for most people, reality is a bitter pill to swallow.

[@dorothyjohnson6743]

Most stories or tales have a grain of truth in them, often obscured but there.

[@ascendantindigo271]

I've heard hundreds of stories... most "Legends & Lore". I don't recall one...... ever, being, about "Yore". [Bars]

[@akademikz23]

​@@ascendantindigo271worst bars ever

[@MarchHare55]

I agree that the emigration theory probably makes the most sense. However, one of the other theories that struck me was that the children were lost in a landslide. This reminded me of the landslide in Aberfan, Wales, in 1966, when 144 people were buried when a colliery collapsed; 116 of the victims were children. The children of Hamelin were said to have been led into a mountain cave...

[@TukikoTroy]

The colliery didn't collapse. The children were in a school situated at the foot of a spoil heap from the town's main occupation, mining. During exceptionally heavy and prolonged rainfall, the spoil heap slipped and engulfed the school.

[@MarchHare55]

@@TukikoTroy Thank you, yes. Not the colliery, but the spoil heap, which was monstrous in size from what I understand.

[@Heartwing37]

I always thought the moral was “don’t renege on your promises”

[@fredfosdick4093]

Tom Jones mentions that in his autobiography. He credits the disaster as part of why the song "Green green grass" became such a hit.

[@denisetolson817]

People was more n to Witch's n Other Supernatural Beings was more than just a Story!! Life is said to Repeat it Self!! A lot of people would say it crazy 😢But a lot of people Understand n pay Attention to before as well as Present Times!! There a lot We will never know or understand!! But The Truth is pay Attention n Listen 👂🏾

[@labethspain7936]

Has anyone else ever the old saying, “if you’re going to dance, you have to pay the piper”?

[@Friendship1nmillion]

Yeah , I've heard that saying . I've never truly been sure what it means . 🤷 ♑✍️🇳🇴🇦🇺

[@VijaySuryaAditya]

I've heard, 'he who pays the Piper, names the tunes'!

[@1977-NES-OG]

It means if you want to dance you'll need music. So you pay the piper to perform.

[@goldknox9629]

Yes. It means if you are going to do the crime, you are going to do the time. It's a statement about your dues will come due and their is always a price or piper to pay

[@TakohamoOlsen-2]

Yes, definitely.

[@melissadahl7561]

Even though its so dark, this is the legend that I LOVE reading the background of, especially since it could be based on a true story. I was so excited to see that it was the story today!

[@The-Resurrectionists]

So happy to hear that! Thank you! 🖤:)

[@thehomeschoolinglibrarian]

I have always been fascinated by this tale. Something definitely happened that traumatized the people of this town and we will probably never really know what.

[@gregorybryan9988]

I wonder if the children were working in a mine and the mine collapsed. And the piper perhaps was the foreman supervising the children in the mine? This would explain them disappearing into the mountain. Also, the parents would probably feel guilt about sending their children off to work in the mine. Just a thought.

[@cristinaaltobelli4860]

Sounds feasible. Cx

[@lilyw.719]

Given that it was the Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul, nobody would have been working that day, as it would be considered a sort of holy holiday. It would have been considered sacrilegious to work unless necessary. Source: I'm a Catholic. It is no longer a holy day of obligation for us, but back then, it would have been a major feast for the Church, and everyone would have had off from their labors unless absolutely necessary. I don't know why the children weren't with their parents in church, but perhaps it wasn't big enough.

[@M0butu]

meh. Then why is their no record? We Germans record things like this.

[@squarebear619]

​@M0butu yeah, you all are known for recording truthfully except for your exploits in Afrıca and the Holocaust. 🥴

[@AngelBaby-cp6kf]

It's possible the town elders didn't pay the stranger the 1,000 gold coins because they had reason to suspect a trickery had been played on them to extract money. There is mentioned of a stone from the old town gate that was erected in 1556, the stone currently in the Hamelin Museum, to memorialize the 130 children led away by a "magician". The trickery had not been forgotten.

[@frogmarch1000]

My thoughts too...if he can get rid of the 'rats' he can also bring them there in the first place.

[@rosskstar]

That may have been his aim from the beginning ~reminds of the Satanists running our govt taking children from their parents at the border.

[@nicoleroth3127]

But it could only just be, that he was called such in hindsight, because he had 'spirited' the children away. The inscriptions (both of the destroyed town hall and at the town gate) are of a significantly later date (around 200 years after the event). Describing the piper as a magician centuries later, knowing he had led the children away, doesn't imply anyone at the time of the event thought he was a magician.

[@AngelBaby-cp6kf]

@@frogmarch1000 - Exactly. There's no mention of any other nearby town or hamlet being overrun by rats. Just Hamelin. Sounds like a gang of Medieval extortionists were operating back then. Someone mentioned rats could swim. The only explanation I can think of is that the story hides a deeper meaning involving the Jews. Among certain Christians even today a story or belief persists as a cautionary tale of Jews having kidnapped children during Jewish holy days.

[@AlbertCanil]

As a child brought up following the dictates of traditional European education of the late 50s early 60s I was exposed to many fairy tales, but they were presented as cautionary tales, more than mere entertainment. This tale in particular was a very dire warning against not keeping one's word and what would befall those who did not honour their pledge. For decades on end I took it to be just a folktale with no grounding in reality; silly me, for I have since learned that no forktales arise out of blue smoke, and all of them are based on something that really happened, lest they would have no impact on the society in which they sprung and would not have persisted through the ages. Let me add yet another comment on your impeccable performance: being a Shakespearean thespian myself I have had the honour to play Iago, perhaps one of the most inescrutable villains of Shakespearana. When I was rehearsing for the part I was given the timely advice that whatever I did I should not ever attempt to turn him into a villain, abandoning all the traditional tropes of villainy as presented by actors both on stage and screen. Having asked why I was given the obvious answer: you cannot turn a villain into what he already is, adding villainous traits to Iago would be as mindless as sweetening sugar with honey. He already is a villain and the most flat level voiced performance will highlight his monstrosity, as through his monologues and actions his true motives will shine clear. This of course applies to your extraordinary reading of your deeply researched text. Your calm voice makes the horrors that befell to those innocent children far worse than if you had vainly attempted to add any of the tropes of the trade. As an actor and director I must wholeheartedly congratulate you for a brilliant performance that was deeply disturbing to say the very least.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Thank you for your thoughtful and eloquent comment. Your insights into portraying Iago are truly fascinating, and I appreciate the comparison to my work. Iago is an incredibly interesting part to play, with his complex layers and inherent villainy. It’s an honour to receive such high praise from a Shakespearean thespian :) I agree that sometimes restraint can amplify the horror more effectively than overt dramatization. Thank you for your support and for sharing your wisdom, I really appreciate it 🖤

[@docgb5990]

Not too much butter luv the egg will slide off!!

[@adoxartist1258]

I would be very interested to know whether the years of the dancing plagues and the "Pied Piper's" visit were unusually wet years, encouraging the growth of ergot mold.

[@deed5811]

Hallucinations would explain alot. 🤔

[@kathleenvargovich9539]

Why would only the children have eaten the bread?

[@MrBonney1990]

I can only say this: I’m 52..In 1991, I followed the Grateful Dead across America. Starting in Boston, we went up to Niagara Falls, then thru the Midwest, out to Sacramento, and ending in Squaw Valley California. I have ingested COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF LSD …in puddles, micro-dot, Gel, Window Pane, and Blotter( 10 Hits at one time ) I lived in my car for a year and smoked so much weed that I hear the Zig-Zag Man has MY face tattooed on HIS arm… And not once did I witness a single death…and although dancing was always possible…the best of trips will almost always immobilize the user-not ambulate him So forget the ergot theory…seriously….that shits a joke…right up there with poinsettia leaves, and smoking banana peels …ain’t NO WAY that such a compound caused “death by dancing “ I’m sticking with Supernatural something-or-other..

[@wraithmoor5231]

@@MrBonney1990 The only really bad stories i've heard of LSD, where when someone didn't know they had been dosed with it. Also, i'd imagine there are more chemicals in this different grain mold derivative. The only time i had heard of ergot mold before was a supposed find of it in grain found in Salem Massachusetts, from around the time of the witch trials, as a possible reason for the number of people acting strange then.

[@DamiAkawnt-d7w]

@@MrBonney1990 Ater initial hallucinations, ergotism causes severe restriction of peripheral blood flow. Milder symptoms include loss of touch sensation, in severe cases necrosis of peripheral tissue, often leading to death. So nothing like synthetic LSD. Small children eating the same amount of contaminated bread would be more susceptible than adults.

[@bondvagabond42]

The only one ive heard that you didnt mention, was that like you said, when there was a plague or something that wiped out the peasants in area, the lord would give land grants to encourage peasants from other areas to move there, but the land grants were based on family members, so a farmer with 5 kids could kidnap a couple street urchins, to get more land, maybe promising them they would be adopted, then abandoning them after they were granted the additional land for the extra children.

[@alaricgoldkuhl155]

"And here are my 130 children" seems rather unlikely to work in such a case.

[@waynesmith3767]

Robert Browning wrote an excellent narrative poem on The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

[@speedysteve9121]

Victorian poetry was the best!

[@Lisa-x3n5x]

That's my memory source! 😊

[@ferociousgumby]

We studied this poem in school. I absolutely loved it! Our teacher, Mr. Service, would read it aloud, bringing it to life with his dramatic (if a bit hammy) presentation. We never forgot it! I still remember these lines: "Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats, Brown rats, black rats, grey rats, tawny rats, Grave old plodders, gay young friskers, Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins, Cocking tails and pricking whiskers, Families by tens and dozens, Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives - Followed the Piper for their lives."

[@HitomiKitage]

Wonderfully told! This was a fascinating story! The explanation of migrating makes the most sense but it still leaves questions. They all leave questions. The last explanation just leaves the fewest questions. I wish I could like this video ten more times! Your content is always so intriguing to me.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

That means the world to me, thank you! 🖤:)

[@nancyholcombe8030]

I've wondered what happened to these children since my own childhood! As I grew older, I started to ponder the question in earnest. I strongly believe the migration theory to Romania to be correct, as people back then would have called entire young families with children to all be 'children of Hamelin'. But, why the pied piper story? They obviously felt that these people weren't going to a good place! Then, I dug into the history just before the year they left: the abbey that started the town had closed and the township lands changed hands several times until the early 1300s! So the properous town of Hamelin was itself on precarious political and financial ground! To young folk with small children, a new land where their hard work would be welcomed and they could make their own way would indeed be enticing! And all it takes is one man with a plan for all of you! It was for my ancestors! I live in what once was an even scarier place called America. When they came, it wasn't even the Colonies yet!😊

[@annedonker4795]

wow it sounds like you made a real discovery regarding the abbey in Hameln. There could well be a direct connection as you said, between what happened to those kids of hameln and the fact the abbey closed and that Hamelen was in a difficult situation maybe economically. You should write about this

[@peggywalker4081]

I always get excited when I see you've dropped a new video! To this day I have yet to be disappointed. I dearly love your thought provoking way of telling these tales. 💙

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Thank you for the lovely comment! Glad you enjoyed it 🖤:)

[@alaricgoldkuhl155]

She's also attracted and nurtured an amazing community on this channel. The discussion in the comments is always golden. Very respectful, enthusiastic and well worth a read!

[@peggywalker4081]

@@alaricgoldkuhl155 That is such a beautiful thing to say! I agree with you whole heartedly. 💙

[@The-Resurrectionists]

@@alaricgoldkuhl155 I'm truly grateful for everyone who comments and shares their knowledge. It's wonderful how we can all learn from each other-myself included! I'm constantly learning so much from fellow Darklings :) 🖤

[@cath3638]

I've been to Hamlin and the story is very much part of the atmosphere of the old town. All the theories are interesting, but I think the tragedy of a rock fall or similar rings most true. Fascinating and beautifully presented as always! Thank you.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Thank you! I'm so happy you enjoyed it :) 🖤

[@brucewalker5890]

Yes I’ve been to Hamlin also. Nice place but there’s no escaping the all pervading presence of the Pied Piper in the town.

[@iainmulholland2025]

A truly mysterious event, told by the best narrator 😍.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Thank you! Your comment made me smile :)🖤

[@monicacall7532]

There was a 1950’s film about the Pied Piper of Hamelin that my grade school showed every year at the end when teachers were doing book inventory and preparing report cards. The Pied Piper will always look like actor Van Johnson and the mayor will always look like Claude Rains when I think about them. I taught accelerated learning students aged 10-11, and we read and discussed Robert Browning’s famous poem about the Pied Piper. One thing that they always brought up was the fact that the city council and the adults reneged on their promise to pay the piper after he fulfilled his end of the bargain and rid the town of rats. 🐀 Could it be that the children of Hamelin, who weren’t stupid, decided that the adults who would do such a patently dishonest thing-their own parents, grandparents and trusted adults in town-weren’t people that they wanted to live with anymore? Why stay at home and in a town where you now knew that the adults were obviously untrustworthy? The Pied Piper had shown the children that he could be trusted. Perhaps this is why they chose to follow him. Also, as a teacher I quickly learned that most children have an innate sense of who to trust unless those other people have physically and in other ways abused them. In this case the children of the town may have just decided that living with adults who were proven liars wasn’t something that they wanted to do anymore. When we studied this poem every year my students came up with a myriad of reasons for why the children willingly left. This story got them seriously thinking in ways that other books and poems didn’t, and we always ended up taking much more time discussing this story because they all had so much to say. Even afterwards students would share new thoughts and ideas about the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Occasionally I’ll see a former student and many of them will still remember our class discussions and some have said that they’ve introduced their own children to this story. I wish that your video had been available back then!

[@LindaCooper-i3f]

Don’t forget about the 1933 Disney Silly Symphony version.

[@willashby2250]

Beautifully told as always! Having travelled through Saxony and indeed Hamelin, I was always taken by the more macabre plot of a sinister stealing of the children; almost Chitty Chiity Bang Bang like! But your final explanation seems to me the most plausible, so again, thank you dearest!

[@sarahudson108]

You never know , It could have inspired the person who wrote chitty chitty bang bang.

[@willashby2250]

@@sarahudson108 Who was of course Ian Fleming, he of James Bond fame!

[@sarahudson108]

@@willashby2250 Thanks for letting me know

[@MelusineWinter]

Hameln is not in Saxony, it's in Lower Saxony. Mind the difference.

[@HalfEye79]

@@MelusineWinter Yes, that is like telling a city in Arkansas is in Kansas.

[@RizDaMan73]

Your word is your bond, always pay your debts.

[@roberteckard1846]

That's effect everything a real man has his back his word in his balls and he isn't breaking for anybody

[@sarahjarden8306]

Interesting! I like your options for the loss of 130 children. My theory is, holy day, parents in church, kids playing near river, flash flood.

[@andygardner9219]

And then a plane crashed into the river. Any survivors were murdered to death by zombie otters armed with clothes pegs?

[@susanlansdell863]

@@andygardner9219yes…xx😉😂

[@margeebechyne8642]

That sound possible.

[@Bethgael]

"swept away" certainly supports either a flash flood or an avalanche, yes.

[@margeebechyne8642]

@@Bethgael Oh, an avalanche! That would explain the claims that the children disappeared into a mountain.

[@mauricebate5069]

Love this channel it so entertaining the best on U tube beyond doubt the amount of time and energy and research that goes into making it is superb and the narrator is first class great food to thought more please ❤🙏🏼👍🏼

[@The-Resurrectionists]

I'm thrilled to hear that! Thank you so much for your support 🖤:)

[@user-gq3ip8kr5r]

Great presentation as usual! I'm so interested in the reasoning behind some of our tales and phrases like "it's raining cats and dogs." I'm always glad when I see another of your posts and I share it with my friends. Thank you!

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Thank you for the suggestion! I will add it to my list :) And your support is very appreciated, thank you so much! 🖤

[@RedheadLondon]

I heard it referred to a time when pets sat on roofs of houses - they would not have been tall in those days, and were wooden. When it rained the roof was not waterproof, and the animals dropped through. Heavy rain meant the cats and dogs would fall - but not if it was just a light downpour.

[@DonP_is_lostagain]

As I've aged, I've always thought that the phrase "our children" was a metaphor for villagers who left. Although why so many, and seemingly all at once has never been satisfactorily answered for me. One thing though, is that the phrase "pay the piper" has a direct etymology to this tale.

[@mjinba07]

It might make sense if a large group of people - numbering 130 - decided to travel together for the sake of safety, with the plan for some to peel off here and there as they found new places to settle. It's possible that the shock of so many leaving all at once left a sad mark on the village, gradually growing into a sense of trauma over time and the story developed into it's mythical version. We tend to think in modern terms - facts established and nailed down, as in historical records. But when events aren't thoroughly documented or when documentation is fragmented or lost, the story of events can be fluid and evolving, subject to forgetfulness, reinterpretation, recombination, exaggeration, etc..

[@DonP_is_lostagain]

@@mjinba07 while travelling for safety in a large group makes sense, 130 still seems too large to leave all at once. To me, it's possible that it was 130, but not all at once. Perhaps the date referenced is merely when the last of them actually left. For me, it's more the why did they leave in so large a number, seemingly all at once in a time when travelling in large groups like that would have been considered a bit suspicious.

[@mjinba07]

@@DonP_is_lostagain Interesting notion that 130 could have been a final number in a given season or year. It makes me wonder what the population of the village was at the time. Memorializing an event like that would imply that it was excessive but, for all we know, the politics of that place in that time might have lent itself to dramatizing. Without further facts and scholarship we just can't say. Anyway, we tend to overlook our assumptions so it's always good to let our questions drift a little outside the box. Cheers.

[@kittyjohnstone5915]

“

[@davidfaulkner8201]

This story gives you a lot to think about . I thought that it was just another fairy tale . I never heard of the possible historical truth behind it before this video . A great video by the way . Thank you !

[@The-Resurrectionists]

You're very welcome! Thank you for watching :) 🖤

[@frankd4581]

Please make a full video explaining everything we need to know about the history of my favorite story titled Jack The Giant Killer please

[@Lisa-x3n5x]

Oh yes!!

[@The-Resurrectionists]

I definitely will do a video in the near future as it's a fascinating story. Thanks for watching and for your great suggestion! 🖤:)

[@princessmarlena1359]

“Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum…something stinks!”

[@Nariasan]

The migration theory seems unlikely to me: why would only the children have migrated? I know that they say people are "children of Hamelin," but then why would the event be treated with such sorrow? The way the town remembers the event seems to traumatic for people merely moving elsewhere. Also, people don't usually emmigrate in a single day. I think the dancing plague is the more likely explanation, as most cases of dancing plague would last a day and then be over. It would likely appear as something magical, for sure. And while the current hypothesis is that dancing plagues were caused by ergot poisoning, truth is we might never know. However, there were several occurrences of dancing plague in the middle ages, and then the disease vanishes from history. Ergot poisoning kept happening even in later years, so I'm not sure that was the root cause of dancing plague... Anyway, all this rambling to say the events of Ehrfurt make it seem most likely. Edit: for clarity

[@Cricket2731]

I've heard this story was the basis for the Children's Crusade.

[@manfredconnor3194]

She explained it. Go back and listen. I suspect that children were needed for the mines. That is why they disappeared into a cave. They migrated to a mine.

[@Nariasan]

@manfredconnor3194 if you think people "migrate into mines," then I'm not convinced you understand what a "migration event" is. The mines and landslide theories are separate from the migration one. Either way, dancing plague and egotism make a lot more sense.

[@manfredconnor3194]

@@Nariasan It's a figure of speech (*). Of course, I don't believe that people migrated into mines. And all the children of one village moving out of said village does not a "migration" make.

[@manudollfie]

I agree that this was probably an incident of dancing plague caused by ergot poisoning. People started spontaniously dancing, then they went elsewere, many not be seen again... At that time a random street musician (a piper) was providing the music by chance. But after the event the people of the town decided to blame the musician for all of this random dancing. Notice how early acccounts also call him a "magician".

[@steventate9276]

You should do a video on brave sir Robbin and his mistrals. for some reason I think of that every time I think of a bard (or whatever you call'em)

[@trashcatlinol]

I remember hearing the dancing sickness was possibly caused by guilt. Can't see how young children would have such a severe reaction to guilt of sin...but I really haven't studied much XP Hearing hallucinations could've been to blame as well is fascinating. I am studying foraging, though I'm only confident enough to identify nettles tactily. The amount of toxic plants that you could accidentally mistake for a safe forage is unreal. And my niece taught us how quickly a kid will put any tasty berry in their mouth before checking if it's poisonous. Thank goodness for plant i.d. apps. And that they they spit out the seeds. And kids will quickly convince each other to do risky stuff together. Even stuff grandma told them was poisonous. I can't be too judgemental of the kids, though. I was 30 when I learned a yard weed I loved the flavor of when I was six is called henbit. Didn't know it was poisonous, but got told off when my mom caught me. Glad I never tried one of the yard mushrooms... probably would have met my own pied piper

[@Glammazon]

Exactly what the inscriptions specifically state happened: a piper lured the children over the mountains.

[@corinnedefazio9178]

I agree. The straightforward recording of the event is the truest to be believed. Also, the town implores Christ to protect the guilty. I believe the town didn't pay a debt and later felt it caused the loss of their children. It is fascinating...

[@lilyw.719]

​The fact that this happened on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul very much makes it look like the judgment of Heaven on this town. The question is, how did the town offend God? The only thing I can come up with is that they were lax in practicing the faith and properly instilling it in their children. That particular feast day is a major feast to this day. So I wonder, was it also a holy day of obligation to attend Mass back in those times? If the children were required to be in Mass, and the town didn't take that seriously and let the kids skip out for a festival instead, then I could absolutely see a punishment like this. Or perhaps some heresy was flourishing in that town. Regardless, the town did somehow bring this on themselves.

[@M0butu]

I agree. Could just have been a slaver with connections to the Ottomans.

[@M0butu]

​@@lilyw.719Or a non-Christian slaver chose this particular day because it made his crime so much easier.

[@katzsmith1781]

Thank you 😊..Your voice is as captivating as your story telling skills are..I’m so glad to have found your channel 🤗

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Thank you! Your support makes all the hard work worth it :) 🖤

[@GrandOldMovies]

Great video, as always! I like the Children's Crusade theory, although, as you note, the dates are off. There could also be epidemic or famine. Have there been any theories of military attacks around that time, with mass abductions of the young? Since the original story emphasizes how the town adults had broken a contractual agreement, could some kind of attack have resulted from that kind of provocation?

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Great observation! There's a theory suggesting a connection to the 'Battle of Sedemünder' in 1259/1260, where Hamelin's townsfolk faced a devastating defeat and many were taken captive in Minden... It's a complex puzzle because once we start to question the date, numerous other interpretations emerge about what the story might truly be referencing. Thank you for watching and for sharing your thoughts, your ongoing support is truly appreciated :) 🖤

[@ringo1692]

​@@The-Resurrectionistswasn't there more than one Children's Crusade? I've only recently learned about them through a Crusades history video here on KZbin but if it's true children of Hamelin joining up with one does make a lot of sense...

[@The-Resurrectionists]

@@ringo1692 Technically, there were two events referred to as the Children's Crusade: one led by Stephen of Cloyes in France and another by Nicholas of Cologne in Germany. It is believed that the French group passed through Germany and inspired the second crusade. Since these events occurred around the same time, they are often grouped together and collectively referred to as the Children's Crusade.

[@gingerft.honeybees4097]

If I could travel back in time, this would definitely be my first travel, no doubt. I had a storybook with this tale as a child, and it was the only one that wopuld leave me shaken after reading. I ended up hiding that book away! It made me feel so scared and worried!

[@JosephSaintClair]

Subbed:- Just came across your channel and this was the first video the algorithm suggested. All I can say is, thank you for doing what you are doing. This is truly an amazing channel 🙏🙏

[@Sk8Bettty]

I’d heard about many of the facts of this case, thank you for presenting this so well! Your voice having such a lovely haunting lilt keeps me hanging on every word. I love a good brain teaser, an historical puzzle, and a conspiracy theory… Perhaps tainted alcohol, religious fervor, or some other ‘adults only’ activity drove the parents to commit an unspeakable act. Realizing their horrors after they got sober, they created the story. Why do they ask Mary to “protect the guilty?” What if a witch hunt led the adults to blame & kill the children for witchcraft but they realized they were mistaken after the fact?

[@ladywisewolf3942]

That triggered another possibility. What if "led away" was actually "led astray" and the piped piper was a metaphor for the devil? Perhaps the children were involved in some unusual, heretical, blasphemous or self destructive behavior that a charismatic person, cult leader wooed them away with and they died or disappeared as a result? A cult of children. That would also explain the "protect the guilty" phrase, because what the children did would have made them guilty of sin in the eyes of the Lord. Usually when children die, the prayer is always "Lord protect the innocents".

[@AngelBaby-cp6kf]

I suspect the "protect the guilty" was a reference to the Jews who were forever guilty of Deicide in the eyes of Christians.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Thank you for your kind words! 🖤 The story is filled with endless possibilities, and it seems we may never uncover a definitive answer to the mystery. I wholeheartedly agree that there's far more to this tale than just a simple migration event however. Thanks again for watching! :)

[@lilyw.719]

​​@@ladywisewolf3942 The stained glass window from the year 1300, just after the event took place, depicts the children dressed in white, like innocent martyrs. It was clearly not their fault. As a devout Catholic, I can tell you that asking Mary to protect the guilty very much refers to the adults - it does not necessarily mean, however, that the adults directly did anything to the children. It is normal for us to refer to ourselves as sinners - all of us guilty and deserving of hell - in contrast to innocents like children. I don't believe for one second that the parents did anything to those kids. I do, however, believe that they felt guilty because they understood that the loss of the children was God's judgment on the town. The fact that this happened on such a major feast day - especially that of St. Peter, the first Pope, who was given by Jesus the keys of the Kingdom and the power to bind and loose sins on earth and in Heaven (ie, forgiving them or binding them in the sacrament of Confession), heavily suggests that the town was being judged by Heaven. Evil may indeed have been directly responsible for taking the children away, but only with God's permission. The children would have been saved if they were in Mass for that great feast day. Was God offended that they were not? The town earned God's judgment somehow. The question is, what did they do? It had to have been particularly horrible. Or perhaps the town had become a hotbed of heresy.

[@joanhoffman3702]

After watching this video, I realized how much I enjoy and appreciate your research and storytelling skills. I learn so much from your story behind the story. Thank you! ❤

[@badgerchillsky535]

The avalanche idea is interesting. That would give a practical explanation to a cave ‘closing’ behind them.

[@MrSkypelessons]

I think ergot and 'the dancing plague' is the most convincing explanation. People, and children even more so, are far easier to lead and manipulate and hypnotize when under the influence. Halucinogens make peopls want to whistle, sing, and dance.

[@mollsch6820]

Anyone else feel the use of the word "magician" in the ancient text stands out as a clue?

[@AngelBaby-cp6kf]

Definitely, yes. I think the town elders suspected trickery in the sudden appearance of a stranger who just happened to know how to rid the town of the rats. One wonders where did such a plague of rats come from in just this one town?

[@joelaichner3025]

With an open mind , and considering the Earth is supposedly 65 billion years old , Magic might existed once , maybe twice

[@joelaichner3025]

Interesting

[@CrazyBear65]

@@joelaichner3025 Magick exists to this very day.

[@denisetolson817]

Yes!! My comment is what I was saying!! Paying Attention and listening to me is the Best Way of really understanding the way life can become strange and Magic was well Practice I'm sure 🪄✨

[@1st1anarkissed]

Children suffered all the abuses about which we speak, including slavery. Slaverybwas quite popular, in fact. It is not impossible that he led them to a slaver outside of town to cash in his fee.

[@1st1anarkissed]

How then did he use a flute to move rats? Well, a piccolo can.produce a tone high enough to do what ultrasonic pest repellants do. So perhaps he blew high piercing notes at the cracks and holes, driving forth the beasts. I doubt there was any undergeound infrastructure in the 1200s so they would run out and could be herded or perhaps captured in baskets and killed.

[@troyallen8223]

My initial thought was the dancing plague after you'd mentioned that it happened before the black plague and in that thinking, I thought maybe they were taken up into the mountains (to keep from infecting the village)to be laid to rest all the while thinking maybe there was a refraction of colors that was seen quite often in the mountains and maybe there was someone in pied clothing crafting a somber tune on the way to their burial. Don't know why I thought that, but that's what happened to my train of thought.

[@saddaddrummer]

The amount of work you put into these videos is superb. When I see there is a new one to watch I get quite excited, and at my age that really is not a good thing (Checks pulse) anyway L, as this one was particularly good I now need to lie down in a darkened room.........with the lid down of course.........

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Ah, your praise warms my haunted heart! It's a delight to hear my videos stir such excitement, even if it quickens the pulse. Rest assured, I'm already lurking in the shadows of my cobweb-filled library, conjuring mysteries to delight and spook you anew. Until next time... 🕯🕸🦇 🖤

[@saddaddrummer]

@@The-Resurrectionists Ah the sensory smell of a dusty cobweb laden old library, I always think it's the closest we're ever going to get to the aromas of a memory. Yes indeed L, until next time.

[@hebbyhope2094]

A brilliant video, in my opinion the best so far! So interesting and thought provoking. Thanks again L. ♥♥♥♥

[@The-Resurrectionists]

You're very welcome! Thank you for watching :) 🖤

[@jessecaple170]

Once again the melodious syrup that is your voice drags me from my crypt by the ears to wallow in the fascinated enchantment of your content. And also once again I am astounded to find the interest in me piqued. I remember as a child hearing this story and always assuming the the children were led to a happier place. As a frazzled old corpse, my cynicism has shattered this believe and here you are offering me far more logical if not less palatable explanations. Thank you so much for sparking our darker sides.❤Stay well and don't stop😈💀👻

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Your words are as enchanting as the tales we delve into, and I truly appreciate them 🖤 I am delighted to have summoned you from your crypt once more! Rest assured, I shall not stop weaving these macabre tales :) Stay well in your crypt, until our next eerie adventure!

[@brendanjohnston-z7d]

Your channel never ceases to amaze me and remind me of knowledge underestimated, discaeded, even!

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Thank you so much :) 🖤

[@smdrocker]

I have always been fascinated by this tale, and you presented it so very well. The final possibility, that of mass emigration does make the most sense; although I have another theory. Granted my theory is just that and I have done no research to support, nor disqualify it. It is possible that one manic stranger COULD have come into town on that day and simply deleted the lives of the children, leading to the dark story being written.

[@laurabuehler]

Exactly what I was thinking. The strange piper murdered the children in retribution.

[@13_13k]

As a child this story didn't scare me but it did make me feel that there was something sinister about the Pied Piper. I believe as I've gotten older and have seen news and read true stories about how in our world, in the past and present that children have often been mistreated, abused, used as barter, sold into slavery, etc... by people of authority and their own parents or other guardians, for money or to get out of debt, or because someone told them there would be some benefit in giving the children away. I have to say that I think a possibility was similar to the hiring of the Piper to rid the town of rats but more like all the adults in the town were in some kind of trouble, perhaps they were tricked by some scam artist who promised the towns people something to fix their problem and the price was the lives of all the children and the desperate adults, fearing the demise of the whole town, and their homes and farms agreed as a group that it was more beneficial in the long run, or as the saying goes, for the greater good of everyone, to agree to the terms and they could have more children. Then, on the day of the feast, the children were taken away and nothing was ever fixed or made better as promised by the stranger. The parents then feeling so guilty and ashamed , as a group they couldn't let the other towns know the truth or let the Church or the rulers know how they traded their children for nothing so they all ag reed to make up a story about a traveling minstrel who play ed the pipe showed up one day .... we all know the story. It was a cover up on a large scale, but they did grieve and feel ashamed hence the stained glass window, the stone engraving, and the story spread across Europe. As time continued so did the story and it was slightly changed over the centuries to teach children about strangers that wear fancy clothes who lure children into wagons, buggies, carriages, automobiles, etc... . Just another guess. We will never know.

[@tempusedaxrerum5943]

Darlings us all... we love this channel!

[@Friendship1nmillion]

She calls us Darklings 🥰 . ♑✍️🇳🇴🇦🇺

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Thank you so much :) 🖤

[@samueldavidrucker7514]

Fantastic work! Again I say - my main reaction I have from this most fascinating research is, "God, thank you I live today and not back in those days!" You really do a wonderful job and I'm sure eventually I'll see all your videos.

[@davidpenny9865]

Totally fascinating analysis as usual. I really look forward to each new posting, makes my day!

[@The-Resurrectionists]

I'm thrilled to hear that! Thank you for your support 🖤:)

[@lyamainu]

As a young child, I was convinced that the piper was Peter Pan, using his panpipes to lead children away to never land. I was pretty disappointed to grow up and realize how wrong that was.

[@sassylittleprophet]

Funnily enough, there's a show called Once Upon A Time which combines a lot of fairytales into one narrative, and Peter Pan *is* the Pied Piper and the main villain of Season 3.

[@alfeersum]

I wonder if the "rats" were used as symbolism for a bunch of slavic pirates/mercenaries who's modus operandum was hanging around in towns, essentially putting the town under siege from within, by consuming _everything_ - the piper comes along and offers to 'remove' said mercs for a fee. Given that the fee wasn't paid, piper and mercs decide to make an example of the town (so that they could repeat the process in the next town) and go back to Hamelin and kidnap the kids, and sell them into slavery. Baltic pirates preyed on Hansa, so it wouldn't be so farfetched.

[@SpicyTexan64]

*Islamic

[@kalrandom7387]

I wonder if there was an aqueduct either being built or being repaired in that area? Children were often used in the construction, especially in places where there were tight quarters, so the mountain would have swallowed them?

[@nicoleroth3127]

No, there's no aquaeduct or mine in that area. Or to me more precise there weren't any mines in the 13th century. There is a small coal mine near Hamelin in Osterwald from the late 16th century and there are other mines around a little further away from the 19th and 20th century, all at depths, that would've been impossible to reach in medieval times and up to the industrial revolution. Aquaeducts also weren't built in that area, because local wells, springs, small streams and rivers provided enough clean water to make them unnecessary, and there's no shortage of them around there. The most that would've been required, would've been wooden pipes, but nothing that covers long distances or has to be dug through a mountain.

[@kalrandom7387]

@nicoleroth3127 thanks for the info

[@kaloarepo288]

Didn't listen to the whole video but I think one of the main things that inspired the legend of the Pied Piper is the Children's Crusade - when some of the crusades failed to reconquer the Holy Land for the Christians some people believed that the reason was because sinful adults led to the failure so what needed to be done was to recruit innocent and guileless children. So they were recruited but the whole thing was a failure and the children disappeared without a trace and probably ended up in the slave markets of the Middle east.

[@alaricgoldkuhl155]

If you listened until the end, this was debunked since the Children's Crusade was in 1212, 7 decades earlier.

[@rosskstar]

probabilly what?

[@jasonread2887]

Date is inconsistent with the Children's Crusade

[@carolluscombe7499]

Listen to the whole video and your question is answered.

[@Heartwing37]

The emigration explanation doesn’t quite fit. Something traumatic happened that triggered this tale. Emigration is not traumatic.

[@shawnpatrick4703]

A beautifully spoken and elaborated professional channel.

[@Readingsandlore]

I love this channel! So happy I found it!I I would love to see a video about The Seven Swans. Or, one of my absolute favorites: the brother and sister. The story of the boy who turns into a deer and the sister breaks his curse.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

And I'm so glad you found my channel! 🖤 Thank you for the suggestions, I'll definitely add them to my list for future videos! 🕯️✨

[@andydavis8437]

Very well done, another thought provoking story, well worth the wait. Unlike the other tales where we search for an origin, amazingly this one has an exact date. a ground zero; which technically makes this a legend. I suspect a fast spreading plague affecting mostly the young caused the town elders to banish the children to stop the contamination spreading. After such a horrific solution they concealed their guilt in a story (a common coping mechanism to deal with tragedy). A piper could well have been employed to perform the task whilst the adults hid away in the Church. Also in the 13C they had not yet fully made the connection between rats and fleas and disease, Plague was thought to be airborne.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

I'm delighted you enjoyed it! This tale is indeed a fascinating and complex puzzle, likely we will never have a definitive answer. I'm inclined to think there's far more to it than just a migration event however. Thank you for watching and for your insightful comment! :) 🖤

[@annepoitrineau5650]

What about weather events resulting in famine? Famine results in death and disease and can conveniently become a "plague" metaphorically (remember the 7 plagues of Egypt, one at least being a famine). Children will die first. So I imagine parents might turn to somebody for help, and then promise to repay...and cannot. So this somebody takes away the kids as serfs to settle their empty land.

[@StevenBaer-zv6lq]

There were actually the Dancing Plague in France. A girl who has been dancing in the street followed by a few people then multiple people who got involved with a musical band who joined in. They actually danced for a few days and mostly dropped dead.

[@carlosanosoriano8890]

there was a gruesome theory i read back then was that the pied piper was a serial killer and child molester if it is true he would have been one of the worst 😳

[@willempasterkamp862]

King Herod : Tiberius princeps : baron Harkonnen (Germanicus got the blame)

[@whatsupdoc84]

That’s actually my theory. Was scrolling until I found someone else mentioning it.

[@LindaCooper-i3f]

Good grief!

[@LindaCooper-i3f]

Sounds like they are the ancestors of Lucy Van Pelt of “PEANUTS” by the late cartoonist Charles Schulz.

[@sandyfeet9502]

Thank you so much for this. Legends and myths are often woven together to hide the truth. The idiom "pay the piper" means to pay for one's pleasures or bear the consequences of one's actions.

[@nicoleroth3127]

Personally, I think the theory with the young people leaving Hamelin to settle elsewhere makes the most sense, especially in the light of the evidence in regards to surnames, place names, and culture. The Pied Piper probably was a herald sent to persuade young people to move there. This could also explain his colourful and unusal clothing. And of course, he would've played a 'lovely tune' to do his persuasion, meaning, he would paint the potential opportunities abroad in the brightest and most vibrant colours imaginable to achieve his goal. As for why this event was commemorated? Well, considering the average size of towns and cities at the time (since I couldn't find any actual numbers) , 130 young and healthy people, many, if not most of them skilled and trained in a craft, could add up to as much as 10% of the overall population of Hamelin, and close to a whole generation. Now, a town doesn't only cosist of people able to work, there will also be those too young or too old to do so and those who are impaired, so we could be talking well over 10% (probably closer to 20%) of the people capable of working (as implied by the mention of those with disabilities being left behind) and skilled in a craft, leaving a small town all at once. That most certainly is a major event that would've had a noticeably negative effect on those staying behind and the town's economy. The mention of this event a hundred years later could be down to Hamelin only just recovering from all those people leaving. The cause might not have been a spectacular disaster people would talk about outside of Hamelin, but it could very well have been a major and long lasting catastrophe for the people there. So, how do the rats come into play? Perhaps at one point there had been a rat problem (maybe during the plague), or it stands for something else, and two unrelated stories were mashed into one over time. Could also very well be, that those events weren't originally in that order and completely unrelated. Or, it was just made up and added to a real-life event to have a better story to tell. Who knows? Perhaps, if I'm in the mood for it and find the time, I will look for an event in Hamelin's history that could potentially fit as inspiration for the rat part of the story. As it stands, even though living less than an hour away from Hamelin, it has been a while since I was there... P.S.: The percentages are just my guess based on the average size of towns and cities at the time since I couldn't find any exact numbers, and there could also be factors I haven't considered, like were there men and women, or just men leaving, or mostly men - or mostly women? But regardless, in any case, I'm pretty sure it would've had a noticeable impact. We often tend to forget, that towns and cities were much, much smaller than what we would think of as a town or city today.

[@RedheadLondon]

If it was just migration, then adults would have gone, too. How can a piper look after 130 kids, how did he feed them, take care of the ones who could no longer walk, or sprained an ankle, etc. When they got to their destination, then what? 130 kids - what would he do with them? This would only work if everyone went, not just kids.

[@nicoleroth3127]

@@RedheadLondon 'Children' in this context, doesn't necessarily mean actual children, but can also refer to adult citizens. In German town elders/aldermen are often referred to as town fathers (Stadtväter), with everyone else being the 'children' of a town. This was, btw, also explained in the video. - And that is also why, in my comment, I referred to them as young (and healthy) people who had already learned a craft, and not as children. Hope that clears things up.

[@RedheadLondon]

Yes, christians are known as 'God's children', and as you say, this means adults, too. The pictures are of 'kids' though. All the images and stained glass windows are of folks much smaller than the piper, himself.

[@nicoleroth3127]

@@RedheadLondon True, but they are from several centuries later, from a time when the story started to turn into the one we know today. One has to keep in mind, that originally there weren't even any rats, and still, these days they are a major part of the whole story.

[@RedheadLondon]

@@nicoleroth3127 So the whole fairy tale had nothing to do with rats or kids!!!!

[@greybeardcanadian1036]

The emigration theory sounds good, but it doesn't hold up. Why would it be written about as something that happened on one particular day, and never before or since. Something left that town traumatized, it had to be more than just emigration

[@The-Resurrectionists]

I agree! Thank you for watching and commenting :) 🖤

[@20nartana]

Very captivating, well spoken, well done and well researched. Juust one little thing- It's Hameln not Hamlen. I should know.. I didn't know that this story was so widespread. Growing up in Germany it was known as 'Der Rattenfänger von Hameln'. Thank you much

[@zero_bs_tolerance8646]

Always interesting. Thank you very much.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

My pleasure! I'm so happy you enjoyed it :) 🖤

[@andreasrademacher5715]

A natural disaster a famine or plague and for sure not emigration would need a scapegoat. Something happened to the children, that traumatized the city and they bereaved couldn't cope with their own responsibility. I have two ideas. Maybe a mining accident, where the "dwarfs" that were forced to do it, had bad luck. OR much darker, I'm thinking maybe child sacrifice (maybe some "magician" told them, maybe to get rid of rats...).

[@schinderiapraemeturus6239]

Consider the lyrics in Led Zeppelin 's Stairway to Heaven, 'the Pipers' calling you to join him ..'and Page's obsession with the occult. There are some who maintain The May Queen refers toba real person, Somerset Belenoff, an admirer of LZ in her early years. Peter Grant- LZ's manager said in an interview the song was about her, a tribute. Now to make things weirder- Belenoff is royalty, her title is Duchess of Banberry and Arran, from the House of Wettin- which originates from...lower Saxony. Then we have the truly odd webpage...Glamis Calling. If one peruses the archives there...one finds an entry dedicated to.... the missing children of Hamlein. A song...can be more than a simple tune ... depending on its origin and crafting..it can be a form of lesser magick. There are audio files in those archives that are dangerous for weak minds, they are insidious -be wary.

[@chrisdorrell1]

Epic again (darkling (where is that? ) I will say it again you have possibly if not definitely the best voice on the Internet. This was absolutely brilliant. I have recommended you to producer Richard Osman and presenter Bettany Hughes this time. I have integrated with them many times. Ofc nothing is a guarantee. However your talent MUST not be lost. Your voice must not be lost. I wish you success and will hope they post you but you 100% will be amazingly successful. I am old but I hope to see it. Good luck mate. X

[@alphooey]

I love Bettany Hughes work. Enthralling presentation. ❤️❤️

[@chrisdorrell1]

@alphooey absolutely. She seems really lovely too.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Thank you so much for your incredibly kind words! I'm thrilled that you enjoy my content and appreciate my voice. I'm also very honoured that you've recommended me to such esteemed individuals! I'm truly grateful for your support and encouragement. While nothing is certain, your belief in me gives me hope! Thank you again, and I wish you all the best. Your support means the world to me 🖤:)

[@clwest3538]

I have issue with immigration theory - surly there would be stories from the 'children' who left "yes, we came from Hamelin.." ; currently our family still tells tales of immigration to America - 200 - 300 years later. However, if 130 young adults were lulled into following a 'lokator' and disaster struck - river crossing gone bad, enemy attack, etc. then I could see how it would work.

[@user-gq3ip8kr5r]

I liked that theory until I read your remark. Over here in the USA, we have named towns and streets and buildings after the places we came from. We wanted to remember our old homes in some way. And out of that amount of children who eventually grew up, some would surely send messages home or go back. 🤔

[@dorothyjohnson6743]

Were there any other towns that had a large number of children disappear. Are there any towns that had an influx of children arriving.

[@pinatajuju4471]

Wow!!! That is really amazing, thank you so much 💓

[@leonfairhurst7597]

There are many theory's, but the simple fact is the Piper came and the children left, just pray, or hope, the music of the Piper isn't heard again

[@rolandhippe903]

I visited there once. On weekend,s during the summer the village re,inact the story . absolutely fantastic . really pretty part of GERMANY.

[@pianoman1842]

There are several themes in this story. I’d love to know how the original read without the inclusions of the rats. I’m thinking the rats were added later as a sort of parallel. The rats followed the piper without question to their deaths. There is also the theme of greed. I agree with the video that the piper is likely more a representative figure. The devil, the seducer, the mysterious fairy that lures people away. My theory is that the town got greedy. A representative of a nearby mine talked them into using their children for labor. Hence the children with disabilities being left behind. The hill “opened” and then closed behind them hence the mine collapsed and the children were never recovered. That would explain the greed, the children disappearing all at once, and the guilt associated with some of those quotes.

[@LaurieValdez-zk3dy]

I appreciate your stories they're excellent

[@sgdeluxedoc]

There's plenty of evidence that certain frequencies can create behavioral changes in rats, people, and other animals. So if some advanced being harnessed that ability it could accomplish lots.. Certainly there's ancient reports of heavy stones being lifted by sound, and someone recently filmed a large door opening up out of a mountainside after a particular frequency was heard. All this seems to bear witness to the possible reality of this tale. Something to consider.. I find it hard to accept that the rats were added later to the tale, since they're so integral to the reason the piper was called in the first place, and certainly rats were a nightmare in many towns in the middle ages. Having had to deal with them myself in the country I can understand how they'd be willing to do almost anything to get rid of them!

[@updownstate]

Thank you great essay. Something I've wondered about. It is different from other stories I've read in which the plots involve a number of people in an area close but unknown, for instance Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding hood, the Three Bears. This is the only story I know that involves a large number of people whose common fate is unknowable.

[@johnwayne3085]

One of the girls from the Rura, Zimbabwe UFO landing case, said "it sounded like flute music playing".

[@MikeToledo-fq5hc]

I was thinking the same thing buddy, holy smokes. I just thumbed the comments up quick and landed on yours. I actually was thinking about this a couple of weeks or so ago possibly a bit longer, but it was before i even came across this random video today, wow! There's a word for that, just not popping in my head right now. Could it be synchronicity? I'll have to research this now tomorrow, very wild coming across this video and then your comment.

[@rhondadavis3837]

It could have been someone like myself. I play a native American style flute and play in different locations all the time. I've been known to get some odd looks sometimes and my son told me when I play and he's behind the house working, it's hard to tell where the music is coming from. It's a bit eerie.

[@Bdcrock]

I really hope that you’re not saying that UFOs are real because if so, you’re gonna have to get a dislike

[@AliciaNyblade]

My favorite take on the story is the song "Pied Piper" by Heather Dale. In it, the kids approach the piper, striking a deal with him to "lead them away" because "We want out of this dreary town, and anyway, our parents won't miss us."

[@susanbutler2542]

Thank you for another wonderful video. I hope you’re enjoying your weekend.❤❤❤❤❤❤ ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@The-Resurrectionists]

You're very welcome! Hope all is well with you :) 🖤🖤🖤

[@angeloflight5148]

Well told fellow darkling,deep stories have a meaning. 😮

[@mandolinic]

Another excellent video. Great stuff. PS: Thumbs up for the inclusion of the gruesome Goya at 14:40.

[@dherbert8288]

There are hundreds of pipers today, using their music to lead children astray. Just turn on the radio.

[@donaldalessio7580]

😂😂😂

[@JimRogers-oc2jd]

Or the Internet may be?

[@MichelleRomero-lf1nu]

​@@JimRogers-oc2jdThe internet as well.

[@Egill2011]

Of course, you don't mean Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull.

[@brandexample1776]

Just listen to politicians.

[@josephstanton4872]

2 things that didn't get mentioned! Old saying - time to pay the piper and The Pied Piper by Crispian St Peters! A famous 60s song!

[@garyleegomez8670]

Has anyone thought of checking the in and around the mentioned mountain cave that the children were led into? Ground penetrating radar and the like?

[@dorothyjohnson6743]

Yes, is possible, but doubt anyone has done so.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

The issue is the fact that Hamelin is surrounded by hills, and it's unclear which one the children "vanished" into. Adding to the challenge is the passage of several hundred years, which has likely obscured any physical evidence. Archaeological investigations are costly and time-consuming, and this would resemble a needle-in-a-haystack scenario. It's a pity because the discovery of a mass grave in the hills could definitively solve the mystery once and for all!

[@airborneranger-ret]

There's a poem that explains that the children came out in the Balkans and founded the Siebenburgen (Balkan Ghosts)

[@larrymrobinson1051]

I think John Keel mentioned that event in his book "Strange Creatures From Time and Space"!

[@brissygirl4997]

I read a webtoon based on a similar tale called "When Jasy Whistles." Its storyline comes from legends in Panama or a South American country. The basic gist is that people, especially children, should be inside their homes after dark or else they will be lured away by Jasy Jattere. It's been a few years since I read the start of the comic, so I can't remember exactly what Jasy is apart from some kind of god or which country the original legend comes from, but check it out its definitely worth a read!

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Thank you for the recommendation, I will definitely check it out! :) 🖤

[@jackflak]

Nice video I enjoy them one and all .. the children leaving town for new territory sounds the most likely .

[@The-Resurrectionists]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching :) 🖤

[@JM-The_Curious]

I'd be interested in knowing how many houses were in the town at the time, to see if that would give a clue as to how it correlates to the number of children present. Evidence from the local graveyard would also be interesting to see if there's potential for 130 few children than you'd expect to be buried there.. Landslide, flood, mass poisoning, or migration all seem potential explanations.

[@laurabuehler]

I love this channel.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

That means the world to me, thank you! 🖤:)

[@bigblue6917]

The migration theory is the most likely as it was a common practise during this period. The feelings of tragedy may well be because, unlike today, those that left would often never be seen again. So people may have been expressing their lose of loved ones. When people started migrating from Europe to America similar feeling were felt by both sides as there was every likelihood neither would see the other ever again. So parting was often felt more like a bereavement. So it is quite possible that this concentration on the loss has grown out of proportion and distorted what actually happened.

[@BaritoneUkeBeast4Life]

I on the other hand have had supernatural events with non-human intelligences occur in my own childhood, most of which were terrifying. Based on my personal experiences I choose to believe the Piper to be what is commonly referred to as Fae in origin and like most tales of the "Good Folk" they often take objects belonging to people as well as abducting adults and children alike. They are also known to possess devices or technologies that appear magical in nature and are often found living in subterranean dwellings like caves. They also take people into their own dimension where time and space occur differently than it does here, like in the case of Rip Van Winkle which I believe was an actual event not fictional.

[@JitkaWood]

I am from Iglau, the Czech Republic in Czechia and my hometown was settled by Germans in the 13th century after silver was found there. German was spoken there until the WWII ended. My grandmas first language was German. I have 20% German DNA, specifically of Bavarian Lowe Saxony origin based on 23andMe. I think it is possible they were promised riches and just left.

[@annepoitrineau5650]

The pied piper costume also brings something else to mind: the dress of the Swiss papal guards. And then I also recall the way soldiers were sometimes "coerced" into armies, by somebody who would exalt the positives and not mention the negatives, but that would not explain the fact girls also left. Mind you they could have been sold in sex slavery which is not a new phenomenon. There is another explanation relative to the "plague". It would be very interesting to find out if there were particular weather events at that time, which affected this community, that would have relied on farming for its sustenance. We can view destitution as a kind of plague as it also results in death and disease. Let us imagine that they appeal to some authority for help. But of course, they would have to pay back. When the term comes, they are not able, or willing, to re-imburse, and the lender repays themselves by taking young people away to work for them. Somebody in the thread doubts the migration theory. MIgration of the young and hopeful to make a living is a very traumatic event for a community, and the Irish are still traumatised by the migrations they had to endure for their children to survive. The most extreme of these events was the result of the potato blight around 1840. You will have a notion of the tragedy it was if you listen to the Pogues kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6qmdKuYj5mcZ6c as A Swiss, I can report similar deep trauma int he 19th century especiially in the Tessin area. Of course, it was closer to us, and literacy has allowed this to be recorded in a less metaphorical manner.

[@davidwright8432]

A haunting and chilling tale. Something happened - we (no longer?) know what. Some of the explanations in the comments below are ingenious - but that there are so many, and of such varied types, that all I can conclude as to the fate of the children is, 'Nobody knows.'

[@ianr02]

Really well researched documentary.

[@IRSA1]

Absolutely fascinating.

[@The-Resurrectionists]

So happy you enjoyed it! :) Thank you for your comment! 🖤