Bremen Town Musicians

You are now looking at the statue that made Bremen famous throughout the world. It might be particularly fun for children, who have recently read tales of Grimm brothers.
Although numerous monuments have been created in honour of the donkey, dog, cat and rooster animal quartet, the most famous monument is without a doubt is located here at the West-Side of the old Bremen Rathaus (city hall). As you can see, tourists from all over the world enthusiastically take pictures of the stacked animal assembly made of bronze, which has been created by the sculptor Gerhard Marcks.
Probably everyone knows that the fairy tale dates back to the medieval age. There are many versions of this story, but the general layout is always similar. The weak prevail over the strong through mutual cooperation. The background to the Bremen Town Musicians’ story, which was documented by the Brothers Grimm at the beginning of the 19th century is as follows: The “Stadt- und Raths-Musici” (band) were famous in Bremen since the 14th century and often played at celebrations, including high above on Bremen’s church towers. As in the story, these so-called town musicians often were travelling musicians. In the Brothers Grimm version, the animal quartet is no longer of value to its owner and is chased away from the farm. The donkey, dog, cat and rooster are desperately hoping to find a new home in Bremen, which unfortunately fails to materialise. Finally, the quartet finds a permanent haven in the forest.

Photo Bremen - Músicos de Bremen (Stadtmusikanten) e Altestadt by Ivana Ebel is licensed under CC BY 3.0