Pumuckl
“Hurra, hurra, der Kobold mit den roten Haaren, hurra, hurra, der Pumuckl ist da.”
There is a little creature EVERYBODY knows in Germany – Pumuckl. You don´t believe that? Go ask any German about him. I am pretty sure that no matter how old people are, everyone will be able and happily willing to sing Pumuckl´s song for you or recite one of his rhymes.
Pumuckl is a little goblin who got stranded (yes, stranded) in Munich living with the carpenter Meister Eder. He is invisible but due to a really untidy workshop he gets stuck to a pot of glue and – that´s the goblin rule – has to stay with the first person who sees him (who is by the way also the only person) – Meister Eder.
He is a really cheeky little goblin with many creative ideas on how to play tricks on people. He experiences cool little adventures and is a true poet.
Have you thought Germans are not emotional and passionate? I am sure this will change your mind:
The series was shot in a backyard in Munich-Lehel (Bavaria). In the late 80s the workshop building was planned to be taken down. Since Pumuckl had already been extremely popular at the time, he of course got famous supporters. The Bavarian prime minister advocated for the building´s preservation – comme on … honestly, where should Pumuckl live, if not in the untidy workshop?! It unfortunately didn´t help and in the end the workshop was torn down.
When people talk about the colour red – I mean bright red – they sometimes refer to it as “Pumuckl red”. He truly is famous and at least in a short video I think you should meet him.
If you speak German and grew up with Pumuckl I think today is a good time to take out the records, watch one episode or just recite one of his poems.
What do you like best about Pumuckl? I definitely love his style!
Oh yeah. Now I have the Pumuckl song as an “Ohrwurm”. Ah very nice German word, by the way. I looked it up in the dictionary and there it says “catchy tune”.
Watching Pumuckl I liked his little ship on swings the most. Meister Eder built it for him and Pumuckl used to sit in there reciting his poems.
Good to have an “Ohrwurm” Chris – and I have to agree, I always wanted a ship like that!
This program was very popular in Hungary as well. There is a tradition in Hungary: around late February we (mostly children) put on masks and costumes to chase away the winter. In schools this is a big thing, all the kids are in costumes – usually they dress up as fairy pricesses or animals, now they probably dress up as Harry Potter. Or was it five years ago? Anyways, for many many years (when I was this kind of young kid) at least 3-5 kids dressed up as “Pumukli” from a 30 kids class.
Here is the Hungarian theme song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg6w4oTDJMY
Gooood memories…
So cool Viktor, I didn’t know that Pumuckl has spread outside of Germany and was equally loved:-)