{"id":8005,"date":"2016-12-07T12:05:09","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T12:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=8005"},"modified":"2016-12-07T12:05:09","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T12:05:09","slug":"the-german-boogieman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-german-boogieman\/","title":{"rendered":"The German Boogieman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! Today, inspired by a kids\u2019 song I was reminded of recently, the theme is German mythological monsters! The kids\u2019 song is called Es Tanzt Ein Bi-Ba Butzemann<\/em>. I know this song from my childhood, as many German children probably will.<\/p>\n

The song is about a Butzemann dancing around in somebody\u2019s house. The first few lyrics are as follows:<\/p>\n

Es tanzt ein Bi-Ba-Butzemann in unser\u2018m Haus herum, fidebum,<\/strong>
\nA Bi-Ba-Butzemann is dancing around in our house, fidebum (fi-de-bum is just a filler, like \u201alalala\u2018)<\/em>
\nEs tanzt ein Bi-Ba-Butzemann in unser\u2018m Haus herum,<\/strong>
\nA Bi-Ba-Butzemann is dancing around in our house<\/em>
\nEr r\u00fcttelt sich, er sch\u00fcttelt sich, er wirft sein S\u00e4ckchen hinter sich,<\/strong>
\nHe jolts about, he shakes about, he throws his sack over his shoulder,<\/em>
\nEs tanzt ein Bi-Ba-Butzemann in unser\u2018m Haus herum.<\/strong>
\nA Bi-Ba-Butzemann is dancing around in our house<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The next few verses talk about the Butzemann bringing apples to well-behaved children during the night.<\/p>\n

So what is a Butzemann<\/strong>, exactly? This is the German word for boogieman <\/strong>(or bogeyman, depending on where you’re from). In fact, the word Butzemann can refer to any kind of D\u00e4mon<\/strong> (demon), Gespenst <\/strong>(ghost\/spirit), Kobold<\/strong> (goblin) etc.<\/p>\n

\"Walking<\/a>

Butzemann – bogeyman\/boogieman. Photo by ssoosay on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

I know what you are thinking. Why on Earth would you write a Kinderlied<\/strong> (kids\u2019 song) about a boogieman coming into someone\u2019s house during the night? Wouldn\u2019t that just terrify children? Well, yes. But that\u2019s kind of the point.<\/p>\n

Many traditional German kids\u2019 stories feature a monster, ghoul or otherwise scary character to scare children into behaving themselves. If you don\u2019t behave<\/em>, the stories say, this is who you\u2019ll see! <\/em>The boogieman creature is prominent in many countries across the world, and often carries a sack to steal naughty children with. So there is the suggestion that the Butzemann <\/strong>in Es Tanzt Ein Bi-Ba-Butzemann<\/em> will bring apples to good children, and take naughty children away with him in his sack!<\/p>\n

But the Butzemann isn\u2019t a one-off; characters like this are quite popular in Germany and Austria, as well as other European countries. There is the Nachtkrapp<\/strong> (‘night raven’)<\/em>, a German mthological bird that leaves its nest during the night to steal children from their beds; if a child sees it (ie. if it’s not asleep), the Nachtkrapp will eat it! The Butzemann is also in good company during Christmas time, when the malevolent characters Knecht Ruprecht<\/strong> (N. Germany) and Krampus <\/strong>(S. Germany\/Austria) come out to join Father Christmas. You can read about Krampus here!<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Krampus\"<\/a>

Krampus! Photo by pixelpoint on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY-ND 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"2007-12-14<\/a>

Knecht Ruprecht with der Weihnachtsmann. Photo by wm_archiv on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you know of any more German mythological creatures or monsters? Do you have any like this in your own country or culture? Leave me a comment and let us all know!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll leave you with the tune to Es Tanzt Ein Bi-Ba-Butzemann.<\/em><\/p>\n