Heinzelmännchen

The Heinzelmännchen (German pronunciation: [ˈhaɪntsl̩ˌmɛnçɛn] ^ⓘ) are helpful household spirits or kobolds associated with the city of Cologne in Germany, akin to brownies of Scotland.

It has become traditional to tell their story during Christmas-tide. The creatures are also loosely referred to as "elves", rather in the sense of "The Elves and the Shoemaker".

The little house gnomes are said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne during the night, so that the inhabitants of Cologne could be very lazy during the day. According to the legend, this went on until a tailor's wife got so curious to see the gnomes that she scattered peas onto the floor of the workshop to make the gnomes slip and fall. This infuriated the gnomes, who disappeared and never returned. From that time on, the citizens of Cologne had to do all their work by themselves.