The directory «Plots»

Schmid-Germann Susanna
(b. 1954)
«Muggestutz, the Hasli Dwarf, Adventure on the Dwarf Trail»
«Muggestutz der Haslizwerg, Abenteuer auf dem Zwergenweg»

The waving dwarf with his bright red pointy hat, white beard and twinkling eyes is eye-catching, has been delighting young and old for many years and has already brought a smile to many a grim face, despite the fact that – until about 15 years ago – the dwarf had no identity and no face of his own. At that time, the tourist destination “Haslital Berner Oberland” approached Susanna Schmid-Germann about helping it to design a dwarf-themed adventure trail, and she agreed without a moment’s hesitation.“I suggested combining the trail with a story,” explains the former nursery teacher who first moved to Meiringen to work in 1974. A keen artist, she got out her paper and coloured pencils and gave “Muggestutz”, one-time King of the Dwarves, and his many helpers a face and personality. Her book “Muggestutz der Haslizwerg, Abenteuer auf dem Zwer- genweg” (Muggestutz, the Hasli Dwarf, Adventure on the Dwarf Trail) was then published even before the first trail on the Hasliberg (from Mдgisalp to Bidmi) was opened.

As Susanna Schmid-Germann remembers with a grin, no sooner was the book out than it triggered a positive Muggestutz boom. The names of the dwarves were taken from an old book, while the story and the characters were the product of her imagination. When this mother of three grown sons sits down at the table with her paints and pencils to draw her dwarves, she sometimes becomes oblivious to all else. “It’s such a peaceful world that I get completely immersed in it and almost be- come a child again myself”, she chuck- les. In the meantime, Susanna Schmid-Germann has written and illustrated four Muggestutz books, and every time a book was published, the adventure trails – after the success of the first trail, a second trail was opened between Hasliberg Kaserstatt and Lischen – were extended. In summer, the “Muggestutz Mama” is out on the trails almost every day, setting the tables in the little playhouses with crockery and flowers, seeing that everything is in order and helping to organize the regular dwarf parties. “For me, it’s important for the trails and books to dovetail because many children take the book with them on their walk”, she explains. The one-time nursery teacher attaches great importance to the recognition factor, so she makes sure that the dwarves always look the same in her books too. However, she slipped up in her second book and drew the “Gaulihexe” (Gauli Witch) with two left feet. “Not long after the book came out, a child tackled me about it,” the amused author reports. Quick as a flash, she came up with the excuse that witches don’t need shoes – just slippers – and that there’s room for two left feet in slippers.

“Muggestutz” – the oldest Hasli dwarf – is a little Bernese Oberland dwarf that has conquered hearts in Switzerland and beyond. Susanna Schmid-Germann proudly recounts that she even has a Hamburg fan club. Or is it the dwarf himself that has so many friends? In any event, the new special stamp will spread the fame and popularity of this amiable little figure even further afield.

Switzerland, 2011, Muggestutz

Switzerland, 2011.09.09, Meiringen. Muggestutz