The Vanishing of Hamelin’s Children

June 26, 1284, one hundred thirty children vanished from Hamelin,

Germany in a single afternoon and were never found again. Town chronicles describe a stranger

in patchwork colors carrying a silver flute who appeared that summer. For weeks he played

haunting melodies while children gathered to listen. On that fateful morning,

he walked through town playing his flute one final time. Every child followed

him in orderly rows past the West Gate toward Koppenberg Mountain. Parents chased after

them but when they reached Calvary Hill the children had disappeared without trace.

No bodies, no clothing, no footprints. Hamelin carved the date into stone