Liz wrote asking for help with a German Hand Game. Here’s her email:
Hi,
My name is Liz, & I’ve been searching and searching for an old German hand game my dad has done with us since we were tiny – that was done with him when he was little by my grandmother. I’m sure over the years it has fractured, but this is what’s left-maybe you’ve heard of it or something close? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The child sits in front of the one doing the finger game & makes 2 fingers slowly crawl up the others back, at the nape of the neck is the end of it & the fingers gently rustle the neck at the "baaaahhh" part. It sounds like:
"Krable mously Steimen hausley niemen greim steimen elime…baaaahhh."
I’ve looked all over for years & spoken to many from Germany or knowing the culture though I’ve had no luck. I’m so hoping you can help-this little word play means a lot to me. Thank you for taking the time to read this-I appreciate it.
Thanks again,
Liz
If you can help with Liz’s question, please comment below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2013 at 2:41 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, German, German Nursery Rhymes, Germany, Handplays, Languages, Nursery Rhymes, Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
19 Responses to “Can Anyone Help with an Old German Rhyme?”
Leave a Reply
March 1st, 2013 at 11:32 am
Oh I wish someone could answer this!!! I found this because I think we are looking for the same thing. My grandmother was German and my grandfather (who wasn’t) would always mimic some rhyme her family would play with the babies where they would slowly walk their fingers up your side or back then at the end they would start tickling you. It sounded similar to what you posted and in not knowing any German we just substituted some words that made it sound like it was about catching a mouse in a house.
March 29th, 2013 at 1:36 pm
Just reading what you have and trying to figure out what would make sense, from english pronunciation to my very limited German.
“Krabbel Mausli steigen Hausli niemand ??? steigen ???”
“Crawl little mouse climb the little house, no one ??? climbs ???”
It’s possible that different areas or countries have different words used in place of “crawl” (krabbel), like “go” (geht) or “come” (kommt) or “walk” (läuft). Have you tried talking to anyone who is Swiss? The “li” ending makes me think this is Swiss German.
I know that doesn’t answer your question, but I hope it gives you some more information to help in your research! Best of luck!
May 23rd, 2013 at 12:34 am
I only know this one: Kommt die kleine Krabbelmaus, krabbelt dem/der … (Name des Kindes) alle Ecken aus!
July 14th, 2013 at 9:30 am
Hey everyone,
to me this sounds like:
Jetzt kommt die Maus, jetzt kommt die Maus
klingelingeling, klingelingeling
Ist der Herr zu Haus? Nein? Dann geht sie wieder…
Jetzt kommt die Maus, jetzt kommt die Maus…
Klingelingeling, klingelingeling…
Ist der Herr zu Haus? Ja? Dann bleib sie da!
There are a lot of variations of this verse in Germany, due to different dialects.
But in general the meaning would be:
Here comes the mouse, here comes the mouse
(tickle over baby’s arm)
ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling
(picking baby’s earlope)
Is the master at home (man of the house)? No? Then she will leave again…
(tickle back over baby’s arm)
Here comes the mouse, here comes the mouse…
(tickling ober baby’s arm)
ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling
(picking baby’s earlope)
Is the master at home? Yes? Then she will stay…
(tickle baby’s neck)
Greeting from Germany,
Sophie
July 14th, 2013 at 9:45 am
For more german children’s fingergames have a look at:
http://nuetzliches-allerlei.npage.de/themen-rund-ums-baby/fingerspiele.html
January 24th, 2014 at 9:59 pm
Do you know a german song with the words ein sie kommpas wein schlummer komm zu mir in it?
May 16th, 2014 at 3:22 pm
We are looking for the same thing. the fingers go up the chest & ticle at the chin at the end of the song. it goes something like crept a maus-la creeks in haus-la kommts sie suchen apfel kuchen. I would love to know if anyone out there knows the proper version of this.
Another one from by German(Silesian) Grandfather was:
There came a dog in the kitchen and stole the cooks bread, the cook grabbed a frying pay and killed the dog dead. the gathered the dogs together and bought a tombs stone and it it said “There came a dog in the kitchen and stole the cooks bread….”
MY Grandfather recited this in German. does anyone know the German version?
May 16th, 2014 at 5:11 pm
Monique wrote:
There’s one with a dog stealing an egg.
1. Ein Hund kam in die Küche
und stahl dem Koch ein Ei.
Da nahm der Koch den Löffel
und schlug den Hund entzwei.
2. Da kamen viele Hunde
und gruben ihm sein Grab
und setzten drauf ‘nen Grabstein,
darauf geschrieben stand:
3. Ein Hund kam in die Küche
und stahl dem Koch ein Ei.
Da nahm der Koch den Löffel
und schlug den Hund entzwei.
July 15th, 2014 at 1:36 am
I dont know if its still relevant, but the closest I can guess is this (german)
Kommt eine Maus, die baut ein Haus,
kommt eine Mücke, die baut eine Brücke,
kommt ein Floh und der macht so…
(tickle child to make it squeal)
or this one:
Läuft die Maus zu dem Haus (“walk” fingers toward face)
klopft dort an (stroke cheek)
klingelt dann (tug earlobe)
“Guten Tag, Herr/Frau Nasenmann” (touch nosetip)
Hope this is helpful.
January 19th, 2017 at 3:25 pm
come the motil I the hotel and it goes geddy gedddy gedy
September 9th, 2017 at 8:51 pm
My German grandmother used to do a little finger play in German, but we don’t speak German, so my mom’s interpretation was “A Little Mouse goes crawling up and here he stops to rest, (as you crawl 2 fingers up side of body and stop) he crawls a little further up and here he crawls in his nest” (keep crawling, then tickle under chin). I don’t know if this is what you had in mind and my mom’s translation might not be anything close to the original version.
February 24th, 2018 at 5:04 pm
Hello!
Does anyone know :
Soli soli soli meiner liebe droli? I think it translates to: there there little one. Or something like that! My grandmother would pat my head when hurt and to soothe me say this. Has anyone ever heard something like this ?? Thank you!!
October 8th, 2018 at 12:39 am
My Dad used to say something like “ Comme de mousen unde kalve unde Kleine nicke nicke nicke as he crawled his fingers up your arm until he reached your neck, tickling it
October 8th, 2018 at 2:16 pm
We received this question…
“My grandfather use to say something to my mom in german. I’m not sure if it’s a song or nursery rhyme. All she knows is it starts with….. ‘one, two, three’ and something about a mouse. Can u please please help. It would be so great to find it for her.”
January 26th, 2020 at 3:42 am
This almost sounds like the finger play that my great grandma would do but she said it was about how they would pick the lice from the children’s head and kill it on their fingernails.
January 30th, 2020 at 7:39 pm
My mother used to say a story about a mouse as she walked her fingers from your toes or tummy into your neck to tickle you.
I say it to my grandchildren and they love it. Here is what my mother wrote down for me when she was quite old so I cannot vouch for the German. kam a mausla . Grouck eis hausla. Ging eis kamela. Holt a samela. Und Ging da nein. She also wrote that it was Slazish. Comes a mouse, into the house, goes in the cupboard, takes a roll, goes in the mouse house.
August 28th, 2020 at 6:34 pm
Vickie wrote:
“My grandpa used to sing a song about a shoemaker that ended with something like ‘shista boom boom boom’. Do you know the song and its lyrics in english and german.
Also he sang another song that went something like (please forgive me b/c I have know idea how to spell these words):
‘Highly Highly, Boule boule, baby hotchga nobel wetsooey.’
Thanks for your help
Vickie
August 23rd, 2022 at 12:49 am
My Aunt recited a rhyme which sounded like:”Here comes the mouse, that bowed the house, here comes the mick that bowed the brick (with a rolled r) a mock a su”. That’s how it was said as fingers creeped up your back to the neck for a tickle. Might be German or Dutch. Wish I knew the origination too!
March 15th, 2024 at 3:57 am
My Opa used to do this rhyme in German. He would start by circling a finger in my palm and say something like, “Malem malem malem malem,” then squeeze each finger and say, “dem daumen, dem daumen,” to each finger and then at the thumb say, “pops der coppersvech.” Does that sound familiar to anyone?