In the Brothers Grimm tale “The Children of Hamelin,” 130 children disappear after the piper leads them away.
The story describes a piper who frees the town of Hamelin from a rat infestation after the townspeople promise to pay him. When they refuse to honor the agreement, he plays his instrument again and leads the town’s children away. The Grimm version states that 130 children vanish.
The children’s fate differs across retellings. In the Grimm account, they enter a mountain and do not return, while a lame child remains behind because he cannot keep up. The famous rat-catching episode and the missing payment are also central to later versions.
The Grimms published the tale as “Die Kinder zu Hameln,” or “The Children of Hamelin.” It draws on a medieval legend associated with Hamelin in Germany. The number is easy to confuse with other retellings, which sometimes alter the count or add different details.