What do you think?
Rate this book
Die Regentrude und andere Märchen
Book by Theodor Storm
79 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1863
44 people want to read
About the author
Theodor Storm
1,049 books75 followersHans Theodor Woldsen Storm (1817 – 1888) was a German poet and author.
He was born in Husum ("the grey town by the grey sea") on the west coast of Schleswig of well-to-do parents. While still a student of law, he published a first volume of verse together with the brothers Tycho and Theodor Mommsen.
He worked as a lawyer in Schleswig-Holstein, but emigrated to Thuringia in 1851, leaving his mother's household, and did not return until 1864 to become a writer leaving his homeland in Denmark.
He wrote a number of stories, poems and novellas. His two most well-known works are the novellas Immensee ("Bees' Lake", 1849) and Der Schimmelreiter ("The Rider on the White Horse"), first published in April 1888 in the Deutsche Rundschau. Other published works include a volume of his poems (1852), the novella Pole Poppenspäler (1874) and the novella Aquis submersus (1877).
He was born in Husum ("the grey town by the grey sea") on the west coast of Schleswig of well-to-do parents. While still a student of law, he published a first volume of verse together with the brothers Tycho and Theodor Mommsen.
He worked as a lawyer in Schleswig-Holstein, but emigrated to Thuringia in 1851, leaving his mother's household, and did not return until 1864 to become a writer leaving his homeland in Denmark.
He wrote a number of stories, poems and novellas. His two most well-known works are the novellas Immensee ("Bees' Lake", 1849) and Der Schimmelreiter ("The Rider on the White Horse"), first published in April 1888 in the Deutsche Rundschau. Other published works include a volume of his poems (1852), the novella Pole Poppenspäler (1874) and the novella Aquis submersus (1877).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 14, 2025
3,5 Sterne
December 14, 2025
Ok Rumpelstilzchen wenn er heiß wäre ok ok
November 2, 2024
Märchenhaftes von Theodor Storm
April 24, 2017
Die Regentrude is a fairy tale from a time past, best left there. Storm wrote this short story for his niece. It's a period piece firmly stuck in the 19th century. The messages: don't follow progress blindly, listen to the old ones and their myths, believe in more than you can see. All will be good if you do so.
Andrees and Maren do. To end the year-long drought, they descend into another world, the world of the Regentrude. A virgin (sic!) has to wake her up with the right words. Been there, done that. Clouds rise, it rains. Andrees and Maren marry. All live happily everafter.
Andrees and Maren do. To end the year-long drought, they descend into another world, the world of the Regentrude. A virgin (sic!) has to wake her up with the right words. Been there, done that. Clouds rise, it rains. Andrees and Maren marry. All live happily everafter.
November 29, 2022
Storm is perhaps my favorite German author of the 19th Century. This fairy tale is about the illusory value of modern ideas of abundance as personal and a more equitable world tied to the common good of the community.
FYI reading this further involves spoilers, which I'm not going to hide from readers since this is a fairy tale, but if you don't want to know stop here.
At the outset an indebted woman visits her creditor, a farmer with productive bottom land that has been highly productive after years of drought. The farmer agrees to delay the repayment of the loan with her land that has been badly affected by the drought as collateral. She accepts wondering what has happened to the Rainmaiden who used to insure there was enough water. She also notes that the rich farmer's daughter is in love with her son Andreas. The rich farmer scoffs saying his daughter can do better than him, but agrees to let them marry if they can manage to awaken the Rainmaiden. This delights the young couple, and they go off to find the Rainmaiden after rediscovering the poem that creates the portal to the Rainmaiden's world, even though as the daughter realizes that if the rain comes it will spoil the rich hay her father has drying on the principle that the benefit of all is better than the benefit of one. It is a difficult path, and eventually having heard from the Fire Sprite that the Rainmaiden can only be awakened by a pure maiden, the farmer's daughter leaves her beloved and continues the journey eventually finding the dead-looking Rainmaiden and awakening her just in time before she would have perished. The girl and the Rainmaiden get the raincloud loom working again and rain pours forth. The girl then leaves to go home, rouses her beloved and they return to the village where everyone is happy, and even the daughter's father sees the value of a more balanced relationship among different people in the village.
FYI reading this further involves spoilers, which I'm not going to hide from readers since this is a fairy tale, but if you don't want to know stop here.
At the outset an indebted woman visits her creditor, a farmer with productive bottom land that has been highly productive after years of drought. The farmer agrees to delay the repayment of the loan with her land that has been badly affected by the drought as collateral. She accepts wondering what has happened to the Rainmaiden who used to insure there was enough water. She also notes that the rich farmer's daughter is in love with her son Andreas. The rich farmer scoffs saying his daughter can do better than him, but agrees to let them marry if they can manage to awaken the Rainmaiden. This delights the young couple, and they go off to find the Rainmaiden after rediscovering the poem that creates the portal to the Rainmaiden's world, even though as the daughter realizes that if the rain comes it will spoil the rich hay her father has drying on the principle that the benefit of all is better than the benefit of one. It is a difficult path, and eventually having heard from the Fire Sprite that the Rainmaiden can only be awakened by a pure maiden, the farmer's daughter leaves her beloved and continues the journey eventually finding the dead-looking Rainmaiden and awakening her just in time before she would have perished. The girl and the Rainmaiden get the raincloud loom working again and rain pours forth. The girl then leaves to go home, rouses her beloved and they return to the village where everyone is happy, and even the daughter's father sees the value of a more balanced relationship among different people in the village.
May 24, 2022
Theodor Storm kann nicht nur tragische Novellen, sondern auch Märchen – und das sogar sehr gut. Viele Märchen gibt es von Storm zwar nicht, mit dem sehr kurzen Häwelmann und der Regentrude finden sich in dieser Ausgabe der Hamburger Lesehefte allerdings zwei sehr schöne Märchen, die sogar ein Happy End haben. (Wobei ich mir beim Häwelmann da nicht so sicher bin, ob man es als ein solches bezeichnen kann).
Die Regentrude ist jedenfalls eine Art Fee, die für das nötige Nass auf Erden zuständig ist. Da der Regen allerdings seit einigen Jahren ausbleibt, verdorrt das Heu, vertrocknen die Feldfrüchte und verdurstet das Vieh. Ein Szenario wird beschrieben, dass auch heute aktuell ist, wenn gleich nicht so einfach zu lösen (oder doch?). Die Regentrude muss jedenfalls eingeschlafen sein und durch unsere Heldin und den richtigen Spruch aufgeweckt werden. Als Belohnung winkt auch eine Hochzeit. Ist das schon feministisch, was Storm hier zu Papier gebracht hat? Jedenfalls sind alle drei Schlüsselfiguren weiblich. Das Ende ist jedenfalls eines Märchens würdig, was an dieser Stelle als Beschreibung reichen muss. Für Storm-Fans ein Muss, für alle anderen eine kurzweilige Unterhaltung und meiner Meinung nach auch für Kinder geeignet (im Gegensatz zu anderen Storm-Texten).
Die Regentrude ist jedenfalls eine Art Fee, die für das nötige Nass auf Erden zuständig ist. Da der Regen allerdings seit einigen Jahren ausbleibt, verdorrt das Heu, vertrocknen die Feldfrüchte und verdurstet das Vieh. Ein Szenario wird beschrieben, dass auch heute aktuell ist, wenn gleich nicht so einfach zu lösen (oder doch?). Die Regentrude muss jedenfalls eingeschlafen sein und durch unsere Heldin und den richtigen Spruch aufgeweckt werden. Als Belohnung winkt auch eine Hochzeit. Ist das schon feministisch, was Storm hier zu Papier gebracht hat? Jedenfalls sind alle drei Schlüsselfiguren weiblich. Das Ende ist jedenfalls eines Märchens würdig, was an dieser Stelle als Beschreibung reichen muss. Für Storm-Fans ein Muss, für alle anderen eine kurzweilige Unterhaltung und meiner Meinung nach auch für Kinder geeignet (im Gegensatz zu anderen Storm-Texten).
December 26, 2019
Die Regentrude mochte ich lieber als den Häwelmann, der Häwelmann ist einfach unerzogen und die Trude ist lieb und in einer schönen kreaitven Welt unterwegs. Vielleicht ist sie etwas eiversüchtig, aber jeder braucht eine Marotte ^^
September 22, 2025
3,5⭐⭐⭐
January 11, 2026
Ojalá que la Regentrude esté muchos años con nosotros para cuidarnos de este calentamiento global :)
May 12, 2013
Usually, this is one of the books, German kids read in school. I don't know why I never did. Maybe I was lucky because I changed school a couple of times. ;-) I loved the DEFA film enough to decide it was high time I did read this story after all. I did not regret my decision.
The story is clearly in the style of a fairy tale. Andres and his love Mary have to wake the Regentrude in 24 hours so it will rain or they cannot marry. Like in any good fairy tale, they've got to overcome a couple of obstacles. A fire-sprite causes havoc (I love its name: Ekenekepen) and tries to stop them. The funny thing is that, although he does evil deeds, he's kind of cute and funny which counteracts the purpose a little.
While reading this, I had a multitude of ideas for my current project which, surprising enough, has a similar theme as this book. Can you be inspired by a story you've never read? Well, if I publish my WIP some day, I'll make sure to include "Die Regentrude" as a bonus.
One last thing, the language is rather old fashioned. Young readers of today might have problems to adjust, but if you are prepared to go with the old way of story-telling, this story is a masterpiece.
The story is clearly in the style of a fairy tale. Andres and his love Mary have to wake the Regentrude in 24 hours so it will rain or they cannot marry. Like in any good fairy tale, they've got to overcome a couple of obstacles. A fire-sprite causes havoc (I love its name: Ekenekepen) and tries to stop them. The funny thing is that, although he does evil deeds, he's kind of cute and funny which counteracts the purpose a little.
While reading this, I had a multitude of ideas for my current project which, surprising enough, has a similar theme as this book. Can you be inspired by a story you've never read? Well, if I publish my WIP some day, I'll make sure to include "Die Regentrude" as a bonus.
One last thing, the language is rather old fashioned. Young readers of today might have problems to adjust, but if you are prepared to go with the old way of story-telling, this story is a masterpiece.
May 26, 2013
I had a audioplay version of this as a kid and I know the story by heart but I never read it.
After reading it I must say I missed the fun parts of the audioplay (the heron speaking in funny voices or the cackling remarks of the fire demon)
but it's a lovely little fairytale.
After reading it I must say I missed the fun parts of the audioplay (the heron speaking in funny voices or the cackling remarks of the fire demon)
but it's a lovely little fairytale.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews