In “Town Musicians of Bremen,” which city do the animals set out to reach? They set out for Bremen. The donkey, dog, cat, and rooster hope to become town musicians there after being discarded or threatened by their former owners.
The Brothers Grimm published the tale in the second edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen in 1819, where it was cataloged as KHM 27. On the journey, the four animals discover a cottage occupied by robbers. By standing on one another and making a combined uproar, they frighten the robbers away and take over the house.
The story’s famous twist is that the animals never actually arrive in Bremen. They settle in the robbers’ cottage instead, making the city their intended destination rather than their final home. The tale belongs to ATU 130, “The Animals in Night Quarters,” and Bremen’s real-world statue by Gerhard Marcks was erected in 1953.