Purpose

The Hamelin Project explores the history behind one of Europe's most enduring legends: the disappearance of the children of Hamelin in 1284.

Rather than asking what the legend became, this project follows the evidence left behind by the people who have tried to explain it over the centuries.

Through original sources, forgotten publications and archival research, it aims to better understand not only the events themselves, but also the history of the scholarship that has shaped our understanding of them.

Scope

The project combines historical research with the translation and study of primary sources, particularly those that have received little attention in the English-speaking world.

Alongside the legend itself, the research explores the lives of the scholars who investigated it, the libraries and archives that preserve their work, and the often surprising paths that historical research can take.

Current Focus

The current phase of the project centres on the work of the eighteenth-century pastor Christoph Friedrich Fein (1705–1761), whose remarkable 1749 study Die entlarvte Fabel proposed one of the earliest evidence-based explanations of the Hamelin tradition.

Alongside the translation of Fein's work, current research examines his sources, correspondence and family history, while exploring how his interpretation influenced, and was later overlooked by, subsequent generations of researchers.

The journey continues in the Research Journal, where new discoveries are added as the project unfolds.