The Grimm tale “Town Musicians of Bremen” is assigned KHM number 27. KHM stands for Kinder- und Hausmärchen, the German title of the Grimms’ Children’s and Household Tales.
The story follows four ageing domestic animals—a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster—whose owners no longer value them. They run away together, hoping to become musicians in Bremen. On the journey, they discover robbers in a cottage and frighten them away by creating a startling animal “concert” while standing on one another’s backs.
The tale was first published in the Grimms’ second edition in 1819. Its source is associated with the storyteller Dorothea Viehmann, and folklorists classify it as ATU 130, “The Animals in Night Quarters.” The animals never actually reach Bremen; they seize the robbers’ house instead.
Readers often confuse KHM 27 with the tale’s publication date, 1819, or assume Bremen is the setting of the entire adventure. The number identifies its position in the Grimm collection, not the year it was published.