Johanna Spyri: Heidi

‘Oh dear,’ sighed Grannie. ‘Are they taking Heidi with them? I wish she’d come in, just for a moment. I’d like to hear her voice once more.’ And then the door was flung open and Heidi bounced into the room and threw her arms round the old woman.

‘Grannie, Grannie,’ she cried, ‘what do you think? My bed is coming from Frankfurt for you with three big pillows and a warm quilt! And Grandmamma says it will be here in a few days.’ She expected to see Grannie’s face light up at this news, but saw instead only a sad little smile.

‘She’s very kind. I ought to be glad you’re going with her, but I think I shall die without you.’

‘What’s that I hear?’ cried Mrs Sesemann, coming in and speaking in her usual kind tone. ‘No, there’s no question of that. Heidi’s going to stay here with you. We know what a comfort she is to you. We shall want to see her too, of course, but we shall come to her. We shall come every year to the mountains to give thanks for our child’s wonderful recovery.’

At that Grannie’s face lit up, and she pressed Mrs Sesemann’s hand, quite speechless with gratitude. Heidi hugged her again. ‘Hasn’t everything turned out finely?’ she cried.

‘Oh yes, child, I did not know there were such good people in the world. It renews my faith in God to have them bother about a poor old thing like me.’

‘We are all poor in the sight of God,’ Mrs Sesemann reminded her. ‘We all need His care. And now we must say goodbye for the present but, as I say, we shall be back next year, and you may be sure we shan’t forget to come and see you then.’ She shook hands warmly, while Grannie thanked her again and again and called down blessings on her and her family.

The older Sesemanns then went on to Dörfli while

Uncle took the girls back to the hut.

Clara could not help crying a little next morning when it came to leaving, but Heidi did her best to console her. ‘Summer will soon come round again,’ she told her, ‘and you’ll come back, and then you’ll be walking right from the beginning. That will be much more fun, and we shall be able to go up to the pasture every day and see the flowers.’

Clara dried her eyes at that, and said ‘Say goodbye to Peter and all the goats for me, especially Daisy. I wish I could give her a present in return for all her lovely milk.’

‘Send her some salt then,’ laughed Heidi. ‘You know how she loves that.’

‘I will. I’ll send her a hundred pounds of salt to remember me by.’

Meanwhile Mr Sesemann had arrived, and had been talking to Uncle Alp, but now he said it was time to leave. Grandmamma’s white horse was at the door to carry Clara down, and soon Heidi was left waving goodbye. She ran to the edge of the slope, and stood there watching till they were out of sight.

Only a few days after that, the bed arrived, and when it was put up, Grannie got into it with new pleasure and slept soundly all night. Grandmamma had noted all that Heidi had told her of winter’s coldness in the mountains, too, and with the bed came a big bundle of warm clothes, as well, also from Mrs Sesemann.

Nor was that all, for soon afterwards Dr Classen came back and took up his old quarters at the inn at Dörfli. Then, on the advice of Uncle Alp, he bought the derelict old house there and had it rebuilt so that he could live in one half, and Uncle Alp and Heidi could use the other half during the winter. He had a new goat‐stall built on at the back for Daisy and Dusky too.

The friendship which had begun between the two men the year before grew steadily so that they both looked forward to the day when the house would be ready for them. The doctor thought also, and with pleasure, of having Heidi near him.

One day as they were watching the men at work on the house, the doctor laid a hand on Uncle Alp’s arm and said, ‘I believe we think alike about that dear child, but I want to tell you all the same what she means to me. I have come to love her almost like my own child. I should like to be allowed to share with you in all that concerns her. It would warm my heart if I could know that she would be with me in my old age, as though she were indeed my daughter, and I shall leave everything I have to her at my death. So she’ll be well provided for when we’re no longer here.’

Uncle Alp said nothing, but he took the doctor’s hand, and a look of deep understanding passed between them.

Just about the same time Heidi and Peter were sitting with Grannie, and Heidi was telling them all about what was going on, and recalled much that had happened during that hot, eventful summer. As the eager voice ran on, the three heads got closer together and so Bridget learned for the first time about Peter’s weekly penny, and beamed all over her face.

At length Grannie asked Heidi for a hymn. She said, ‘If I spend every moment, for the rest of my days, thanking God for all His goodness to us, that still would not be enough.’

NAME: Johanna Louise Spyri

BORN: 12 June 1827

DIED: 7 July 1901

NATIONALITY: Swiss ( Heidi was originally written in German)

LIVED: mainly in the city of Zurich, Switzerland

MARRIED: to Johann Bernhard Spyri, in 1852

CHILDREN: one son, Bernhard Diethelm

What was she like?

Johanna is one of the most famous children’s writers in the world but little is known of her life. Once, when she was asked to write her autobiography, she replied with the words: ‘The external path of my life is very simple, and there is nothing special to be mentioned. My inner life was full of storms, but who can describe it?’

Where did she grow up?

Hirzel, a small village with beautiful views in the mountains of Switzerland. Johanna’s parents were quite well‐off, so she and her five brothers and sisters had comfortable lives. There were lots of books and music in their house, and friends and relatives often came to visit. Johanna didn’t leave home properly until she got married when she was twenty‐five, although she went away to school for a while when she was a teenager. One thing Johanna didn’t do when she was young was write much, although she read a lot. Her first book wasn’t published until she was over forty years old.

What did she do apart from writing books?

She gave a lot of her time and money to charities, and loved travelling, music and discussing books, art, music and politics with other people. Johanna often struggled to be happy. Although she lived in Zurich for most of her adult life, like Heidi she sometimes found city life difficult. This is probably one of the ‘storms’ she spoke of, as was her experience of losing and then finding her faith again.

Where did she get the idea for Heidi?

Dörfli isn’t based on Johanna’s home village, but on a different part of Switzerland where she spent many family holidays. Mayenfeld, Ragaz, Prättigau and Domleschg are all real places. Heidi’s homesickness in Frankfurt, however, is probably based on Johanna’s own experiences of leaving her country home.

What did people think of Heidi when it was first published?

Heidi was first published in two parts, the first in 1880 and the second in 1881. Johanna was over fifty, and although her previous books (mainly for adults) had been quite successful, nothing had prepared her for people’s reaction to Heidi . Within five years the book had been translated into English, and it soon became famous all over the world.