Pumuckl
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Pumuckl is a kobold from a German radio play series for children. He's a descendant of the klabautermänner. He is invisible for the people around him except for the master carpenter Eder where he lives.
Pumuckl was invented by Ellis Kaut for a radio play series of the Bavarian Radio in 1961. Later on it was turned into a very successful TV series. Three movies and a musical also deal with the adventures of the little kobold.
The Pumuckl is one of the most popular characters of children's entertainment in Germany and several generations have now grown up with the cheeky but funny little pest.
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[edit] How Pumuckl and Master Eder met
Being a Klabautermann, Pumuckl likes big steaming ships. However he got lost in Bavaria, where no ships are to be found. He doesn‘t like neat and clean places, so he takes refuge in a woodworker‘s untidy workshop. The workshop belongs to Master Eder, an elderly loner. His profession is given as „Schreinermeister“ in the original German, which means that he mainly makes and repairs furniture, which is also shown on the show (and mentioned in the stories/ radio plays). However, the fact that the workshop is untidy seals Pumuckl‘s fate. He gets stuck to an overflowing pot of glue. And whenever someone of his kind gets stuck to something manmade, he or she‘ ll be visible. On the show and in the books, Pumuckl is always visible, if nobody other than Master Eder is present. The radio plays state that he is always visible if Eder is present, so that he sometimes has to hide him in his pocket.
[edit] Pumuckl's character
Pumuckl‘s character is usually childishly immature and mischievous. Since the Pumuckl stories are aimed at children, we may presume that he was written this way so that children can identify themselves with him. Note: Pumuckl‘s age is never mentioned. He had a life before he became visible, but it was much different. He didn‘t have to eat (not to mention defecation) and was immune to cold and heat. Maybe we are to presume that his „sticking to the glue pot“ was a kind of re-birth, and that he in fact is a child. Master Eder sees Pumuckl as a child and usually appears as his guardian. He often tries to teach him some morals, not always with the desired result. For example he never really subdued Pumuckl‘s urge to steal things. But that, on the other hand, could be a hereditary trait of his kind. Pumuckl is occasionally very selfish, and sometimes this lead him to actual wrong doing. But if Pumuckl notices he has done somebody wrong (usually a child or a lonely woman), then he feels genuine remorse and does everything he can to help that person.
[edit] Master Eder
He appears to be the exact opposite of Pumuckl. The little kobold likes to get in trouble, but the elderly joiner prefers to stay out of trouble. Sometimes it seems that he prefers to stay out of society, too, as he spends lots of time with Pumuckl. But that‘s not always true. He has a couple of friends, elderly artisans like himself, which he regularly meets at his „Stammtisch“ to have a beer with them. Master Eder, whose Christian name is given as „Franz“ on the TV show, has a sister and a young nephew. There seems to be a little conflict between him and his sister (concerning his way of life) and the nephew appears as a rival to Pumuckl in one story. Other family members aren‘t mentioned. Although his workshop is often in disorder, Master Eder likes a clean house, this is why he has a cleaning woman, who serves as a supporting character in several stories. Being Pumuckl‘s opposite, Master Eder is presented as a law-abiding citizen, who is meticulous on the job and who is always polite. He also completely fails to have sympathy with Pumuckl when he steals things. If the little kobold plays minor practical joke, his behavior is sometimes condoned by Eder, because it made him laugh or think.
[edit] A typical Pumuckl story
There are several ways for a Pumuckl story to begin. These include:
- Pumuckl feels bored in the workshop, so Master Eder tells him to go out to explore nature, go to school...
- Pumuckl is bored and sneaks out of the workshop. He meets the people in the neighborhood, eavesdrops on them and occasionally plays a practical joke on them.
- A client enters the workshop who has something, Pumuckl fancies.
- A client enters the workshop and discovers a belonging of Pumuckls, he/she wants to purchase at all cost.
- A conflict between Master Eder and his sister or his cleaning woman is shown.
- Master Eder and Pumuckl go for a holiday trip.
- Master Eder is ridiculed by somebody, and Pumuckl tries to help him.
- Master Eder presents Pumuckl with a gift (e.g. on the anniversary of the „glue pot sticking“)
Note: Usually this ends with the gift being withdrawn.
- Pumuckl discovers something in Master Eder‘s household (e.g. matches) and plays with it.
At the end of each episode, Pumuckl and Master Eder usually reconcile. However, some episodes end with Pumuckl being punished. At the end of one episode, Eder confines Pumuckl to the balcony and eats the spoilt pudding alone. Other episodes end with Eder‘s withdrawal of something he gave to the little kobold. The two-part story „Der große Krach“ (aka „The Big Fight“) has the first part ending with Eder throwing Pumuckl and his bed out of the workshop. But by the end of the second part the two have reconciled.
