Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Heidi
Für wen es gedacht ist
For anyone who loves gentle stories about childhood, mountains, animals and kindness, and for parents who want to know what Heidi really contains.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
Heidi is a Swiss novel by Johanna Spyri, published in two parts in 1880 and 1881. It follows a small orphan girl who is sent to live with her grandfather high in the Alps, and then taken away to a grand house in a city. Spyri wrote it for children, but she wrote it with a grown woman's eye for loneliness, pride and kindness.
The book gives you two worlds set side by side. One is a mountain hut, a herd of goats, a bed of hay and the open sky. The other is a rich house in Frankfurt, with servants, lessons, rules and a sick girl in a wheeled chair. Heidi moves between them, and the story asks what each place gives a child and what it takes away.
In this summary you will meet the people who shape Heidi's life, the scenes that matter most, and the ideas that run under the story. We stop before the end, so you can still enjoy the last chapters. Let us begin where the book begins, on a steep path, with a child who is carrying too many clothes.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A small orphan climbs the mountainFree
- 2The grandfather lets her stay
- 3Days with Peter and the goats
- 4Winter, the village, and a blind grandmother
- 5Dete returns and takes Heidi away
- 6A strange house in Frankfurt
- 7Learning to read, and a grandmother's faith
- 8What the story says about home and healing
- 9How Spyri tells the story
Punkt 1 von 9
A small orphan climbs the mountain
The story opens in a Swiss village called Dörfli, in the valley near Maienfeld. A young woman named Dete is climbing the path toward the high pastures. She leads her little niece Heidi, who is an orphan and about five years old. The day is hot, and Dete has dressed the child in so many layers that she can hardly walk.
We learn at once that Dete is not a cruel person, but she is practical. She has found a good job in Frankfurt and can no longer look after Heidi. So she is taking the girl up to the child's only other relative, her grandfather. The villagers call him the Alm-Uncle. Dete admits on the way that nobody in the village likes him much.
On the path they meet Peter, the eleven-year-old goatherd, who will become Heidi's first friend. A neighbor also stops them and asks Dete what she is doing. The talk gives us the first rumors about the old man. People say he is bitter, that he lives alone, and that he has not been to church for years.
Heidi herself is lively and honest, and she is quick to notice things. When the heat becomes too much, she simply takes off her extra dresses and her shoes and stockings, and she skips up the slope in her lightest clothes. Spyri shows her character in this small act. She does what feels natural, and she does not worry about what others think.
By the time the hut comes into view, the reader has met a child who is open to the world and a grown-up who is in a hurry to leave. Dete hands Heidi over and goes down the hill almost at once, afraid of the old man's temper. This first part sets up the question that drives the early story. Will a rough man who has turned away from people take in a child who needs him?
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Heidi
- Heidi is a cheerful young orphan whose aunt takes her to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps.
- The Alm-Uncle
- The Alm-Uncle is Heidi's solitary, gruff grandfather, who lives in a mountain hut above the village.
- Peter
- Peter is a young goatherd and Heidi's mountain companion, living with his mother and blind grandmother.
- Clara Sesemann
- Clara Sesemann is a lonely girl who uses a wheelchair and welcomes Heidi as her companion in Frankfurt.
- Fräulein Rottenmeier
- Fräulein Rottenmeier is the strict Sesemann housekeeper, whose demands for proper behavior clash with Heidi's unfamiliar mountain ways.
- Dete
- Dete is Heidi's practical aunt, who arranges her care and believes city life offers her better prospects.
- Peter's grandmother
- Peter's grandmother is a poor, blind woman whose mountain home Heidi visits and whose company she enjoys.
- Frau Sesemann
- Frau Sesemann is Clara's kindly grandmother, who encourages Heidi's reading and teaches her about prayer.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 68,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 30 min
- Listening time7 h 30 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Heidi
What is Heidi about?
Heidi is about a young orphan who goes to live with her gruff grandfather in the Swiss Alps. She is later taken to a rich house in Frankfurt as a companion to an invalid girl, and she longs for her mountain home.
Who is the Alm-Uncle in Heidi?
The Alm-Uncle is Heidi's grandfather. Villagers call him this because he lives alone on the Alm, the high pasture. He is gruff and withdrawn at first, but Heidi's trust slowly draws him back toward other people.
When was Heidi written and is it a true story?
Heidi is a work of fiction by Johanna Spyri, published in two parts in 1880 and 1881. The setting is the real Swiss region around Maienfeld, but the characters and events are made up.
Is Heidi a children's book?
Yes, Spyri wrote it for children, and it is easy to read. Its short chapters and clear style suit young readers, but adults also meet themes of faith, class, illness and belonging that give it more depth.
What is the main message of Heidi?
The main message is that people thrive where they belong and that kindness, trust and nature can heal. The book also suggests that wealth and order cannot replace love, freedom and a sense of home.