becomes the giant lotus blossom.
So has from the little German village canton up to that of the Javanese primal forest every form on earth buried its physiognomic seal in the writings of German geographers, travellers and poets in one century. Therefore the title of this book is more than a happy formulation: a discovery, and each reader will find fulfilled in it the hope of its editor, which is âto introduceâ a portion of âlost German intellectual greatsâ.
â
Translated by Esther Leslie and Sebastian Truskolaski .
First published in the Frankfurter Zeitung , 3 February 1928; Gesammelte Schriften III , 88â94.
CHAPTER 32
Review: Collection of
Frankfurt Childrenâs Rhymes
Bust of a Child (Kopf eines Kindes) , 1939.
T he cultural effect that childrenâs lives and activities exert on the ethnic and linguistic communities in which they take place has been, to this day, a largely unexplored chapter of cultural history, and yet it is one of the most relevant. As contribution to this, the highest value should be accorded to a comprehensive collection of verses and sayings of children from Frankfurt, of which I am about to convey something. Its creator is the locally based Rector Wehrhan, though incidentally he isnot a child of Frankfurt but, rather, a native of Lippe. In 1908, he laid the foundations for a large archive, which has grown over the course of time to include well over a thousand pieces and fragments, thanks not only to his tireless efforts, but also to a well-organised support system. Everything â all manner of verses, turns of phrase, jokes and puzzles â that accompanies the lives of Frankfurt schoolchildren, from their earliest babyhood to the threshold of puberty, can be found here, no matter whether these are the childâs own idioms or whether they have their origin in stereotypical phrases from their parentsâ tongue.
What is found in Wehrhanâs collection, however, is partly an ancient good; in only a few cases was it created by children. And the judicious user of these documents will not focus on âoriginalsâ. Rather, here he can trace how the child âmodelsâ, how he or she âtinkersâ, how â in the intellectual realm as well as in the sensuous one â he or she never adopts the established form as such, and how the whole richness of his or her mental world occupies the narrow track of variation. The children return the oldest fragments and phrases of verse to the adults in variegated forms; their work lies not so much in the gist of these pieces, as in the unpredictably appealing play of transformation. The material encompasses around a hundred folders, organised according to keywords. There are âthe first jokesâ, âbaking cakesâ, ârhymes told on the lapâ, âgoing to bed and getting upâ, âthe dumb and clumsy childâ, âthe weatherâ, âanimal namesâ, âplantsâ, âweekdaysâ, âZeppelinâ, âworld warâ, ânicknamesâ, âJewish rhymesâ, âbanter and teasingâ, âtongue twistersâ, âpopular songsâ, to name but a few. This is to say nothing of the great collection of playground rhymes and the impressive codex of hopscotch games, including the copious schemes that have been drawn in chalk onto the pavements of Frankfurt, where, over the years, playing children have hopped on one leg.
Some rhymes from the World War with their scathing satirical power:
My mother became a soldier
She got some trousers for that
With red edging
Tara zing da
My mother became a soldier.
My mother became a soldier
She received a coat for that
With shiny buttons on it
Tara zing da
My mother became a soldier.
My mother became a soldier
She got some boots for that
With high legs on them
Tara zing da
My mother became a soldier.
My mother became a soldier
She received a helmet for that
With
So has from the little German village canton up to that of the Javanese primal forest every form on earth buried its physiognomic seal in the writings of German geographers, travellers and poets in one century. Therefore the title of this book is more than a happy formulation: a discovery, and each reader will find fulfilled in it the hope of its editor, which is âto introduceâ a portion of âlost German intellectual greatsâ.
â
Translated by Esther Leslie and Sebastian Truskolaski .
First published in the Frankfurter Zeitung , 3 February 1928; Gesammelte Schriften III , 88â94.
CHAPTER 32
Review: Collection of
Frankfurt Childrenâs Rhymes
Bust of a Child (Kopf eines Kindes) , 1939.
T he cultural effect that childrenâs lives and activities exert on the ethnic and linguistic communities in which they take place has been, to this day, a largely unexplored chapter of cultural history, and yet it is one of the most relevant. As contribution to this, the highest value should be accorded to a comprehensive collection of verses and sayings of children from Frankfurt, of which I am about to convey something. Its creator is the locally based Rector Wehrhan, though incidentally he isnot a child of Frankfurt but, rather, a native of Lippe. In 1908, he laid the foundations for a large archive, which has grown over the course of time to include well over a thousand pieces and fragments, thanks not only to his tireless efforts, but also to a well-organised support system. Everything â all manner of verses, turns of phrase, jokes and puzzles â that accompanies the lives of Frankfurt schoolchildren, from their earliest babyhood to the threshold of puberty, can be found here, no matter whether these are the childâs own idioms or whether they have their origin in stereotypical phrases from their parentsâ tongue.
What is found in Wehrhanâs collection, however, is partly an ancient good; in only a few cases was it created by children. And the judicious user of these documents will not focus on âoriginalsâ. Rather, here he can trace how the child âmodelsâ, how he or she âtinkersâ, how â in the intellectual realm as well as in the sensuous one â he or she never adopts the established form as such, and how the whole richness of his or her mental world occupies the narrow track of variation. The children return the oldest fragments and phrases of verse to the adults in variegated forms; their work lies not so much in the gist of these pieces, as in the unpredictably appealing play of transformation. The material encompasses around a hundred folders, organised according to keywords. There are âthe first jokesâ, âbaking cakesâ, ârhymes told on the lapâ, âgoing to bed and getting upâ, âthe dumb and clumsy childâ, âthe weatherâ, âanimal namesâ, âplantsâ, âweekdaysâ, âZeppelinâ, âworld warâ, ânicknamesâ, âJewish rhymesâ, âbanter and teasingâ, âtongue twistersâ, âpopular songsâ, to name but a few. This is to say nothing of the great collection of playground rhymes and the impressive codex of hopscotch games, including the copious schemes that have been drawn in chalk onto the pavements of Frankfurt, where, over the years, playing children have hopped on one leg.
Some rhymes from the World War with their scathing satirical power:
My mother became a soldier
She got some trousers for that
With red edging
Tara zing da
My mother became a soldier.
My mother became a soldier
She received a coat for that
With shiny buttons on it
Tara zing da
My mother became a soldier.
My mother became a soldier
She got some boots for that
With high legs on them
Tara zing da
My mother became a soldier.
My mother became a soldier
She received a helmet for that
With
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