The Brownies of Cologne

Book excerpt: What if… you woke up in the morning and all the work you had to do had already been done? And nobody wanted anything in return? And the next morning the same thing would happen. And the morning after that again. And the next day it would happen again? The former inhabitants of Cologne had just this pleasure and know that firsthand. Hardly anyone today knows the first version of the Brownies of Cologne saga, which was written by Cologne educator and city historian Ernst Weyden. He probably thought of his experience with the annoying grammar-school boys- when he pondered laziness, ingratitude, diligence and esteem almost 200 years ago and prosaically ventilated the outcome of his deliberations. Ten years later, the artist and jack-of-all-trades Alfred Kopisch liked the tragicomic narrative so much that he sang of it as a lively ballad - and made it really famous. The Aachen graphic artist and illustrator Nuesret Kaymak pays his due respect as a Rhinelander by choice in his homage to the creator, interpreter and creation. Nuesret Kaymak works as a creative for public relations, advertising and television and has been publishing didactic and humorous books about legends, myths, nature and the history of the hobby since 2012.