Perkeo of Heidelberg

The dwarf Perkeo, actually Clemens Pankert, according to other sources Giovanni Clementi (* 1702 in Salurn † 1773 /80) was initially court dwarf, then steward and butler in Heidelberg.

Life

He originally came from Salurn in Tyrol (now South Tyrol), where it the Elector Palatine Karl III. Philip had discovered during his time as governor of Tyrol 1716 and taken as a curiosity. The memory of him is shrouded in legends and anecdotes.

First, he had come as a court dwarf at the court, as a curiosity for the amusement of the Prince and of the court. His stage name is said to derive from the fact that he answered the question whether one could not even lift a glass of wine in Italian: " Perché no? " (Why not?).

His job as a tutor and later butler was on the content of the electoral wine cellar and in particular the content of the Great barrel of the Heidelberg Castle to be careful with 221,726 liter capacity filled with the largest wine barrel in the world. ( The biggest barrel in the world is in Bad Durkheim with a capacity of 1,700,000 liters)

Perkeo was known for his distinctive wine consumption, wine was the only drink since childhood, which he had taken to himself. Supposedly he drank 20 to 30 liters of fluid a day. He probably suffered from a congenital ADH deficiency ( see diabetes insipidus ). His " dwarfism " is probably due to Pseudoachondroplasia.

Perkeo was first sick in his eighth decade of life. A doctor advised him urgently of wine enjoyment from and recommended to drink water. Despite great skepticism and fear Perkeo took this advice and died the following day.

Reception

The purr of his life can be found in the Heidelberg Castle on panels struck. Viktor von Scheffel wrote the student song That was the dwarf Perkeo.

Although the figure of the Perkeo is considered specific to Heidelberg, but is handed down from other residences of the time. In Heidelberg he symbolizes the local wine culture. For several years Perkeo celebrates its resurrection in the Palatinate as a tradition figure in the Heidelberg carnival, as in Salurn.

The appointment Perkeos as guard of the barrel reads Reinhard Hoppe as a satire:

" In Heidelberg him the Elector make a colored uniform, put him in a big order and hung him a huge basement key on the side. Perkeo pleased the whole court and the citizens of the city through his jokes. Already during his lifetime a monument to him was erected, which he himself had designed and made. Today it stands at the wall next to the barrel, and depends his mysterious clock. Pull only on the ring, then you can look at the artful work! "

Following Hoppe quotes from the song by Viktor von Scheffel:

"That was the dwarf Perkeo in Heidelberg Castle, and Small and tiny to huge stature of thirst. You called him a fool, he thought, love Leut ' 'd Be ' your like me but all boozy and spared! "

Namesake

According to him, a guest house in the old town of Heidelberg is named: Guest House Perkeo. Perkeo is also the name of a neutron -decay experiment at the University of Heidelberg.

Ingobert Heieck named in 1982 a new Hedera helix variety of Efeusammlung the pin Neuburg in Heidelberg Ziegelhausen with the variety name ' Perkeo '.

After Perkeo a roll film camera series from Voigtlander is named from the 1950s: Perkeo 1, 2 and Perkeo Perkeo E. But before that, there was the Perkeo 4 X 3 in two ( viewfinder ) Variants 1933-35; total were, according to the relevant literature, only 10,000 units built. In addition, until 1906, when one considers the company catalogs of Voigtländer advice, nor an opera-glass with the name " Perkeo " in the program.