Write your own Heidi story

Heidi (Adelaide)

An orphaned girl, about five years old at the story's start, sent by her aunt to live with her grandfather on the Alm. She wears layers of clothing and thick nailed mountain-shoes when first introduced, sleeps on a hay mattress by choice even when offered a proper bed, and later teaches the illiterate goatherd Peter to read using an ABC book sent from Frankfurt. She is taken to Frankfurt to be a companion to the invalid Clara Sesemann, sleepwalks there due to homesickness for the mountains, and eventually returns home, bringing gifts and rolls for Peter's grandmother.

Dete

Heidi's aunt, who carries the child up the mountain to her grandfather at the start of the story so she can take a lucrative position as a lady's maid in Frankfurt. She had been caring for Heidi since her sister (Heidi's mother, Adelaide) died, and later returns to fetch Heidi to become a companion to Clara Sesemann. She is defensive about leaving Heidi with her grandfather and avoids the villagers' reproaches by running off.

Alm-Uncle (Heidi's Grandfather)

A reclusive old man living alone in a hut high on the Alm, feared and gossiped about by the villagers of Dorfli for his bushy grey eyebrows, huge beard, and refusal to attend church. He owns goats, builds furniture such as a three-legged stool and a hand-sleigh with his own hands, and keeps an old cat in a ruined tower during winter. Over the course of the story he becomes devoted to Heidi, reconciles with the village pastor and community, and moves into a ruined castle/chapel building in Dorfli for the winters so Heidi can attend school.

Peter

A goatherd boy who leads the village goats up the Alm to pasture each day, including grandfather's goats Little Swan and Little Bear. He is illiterate and resistant to schooling until Heidi drills him with a rhyming ABC book, after which he learns to read (though he skips words he finds too long when reading hymns aloud to his grandmother). Jealous of Clara Sesemann's visit and fearing Heidi will be taken from him, he secretly pushes Clara's wheelchair down the mountainside, destroying it.

Peter's Grandmother

A blind old woman who lives with her daughter Brigitta and son Peter in a small, dilapidated, wind-battered hut halfway up the Alm. She treasures Heidi's visits and her reading of hymns aloud, and lives in constant quiet fear that Heidi will be taken away to Frankfurt permanently. She receives gifts of a warm shawl, soft cakes, and a huge sausage sent from the Sesemann household via Heidi.

Brigitta

Peter's mother, who does spinning work for hire and lives with her blind mother and son in their small hut on the Alm. She is astonished by the gifts Heidi brings from Frankfurt, particularly a large sausage, and by her son's unexpected success in learning to read.

Barbel

A stout, gossiping goatherd's-wife acquaintance of Dete's in Dorfli, who has spinning done for her in winter by Peter's grandmother. She is horrified to learn Dete is leaving Heidi with the feared Alm-Uncle and warns that the old man wants nothing to do with anybody.

Clara Sesemann

The invalid daughter of the wealthy Frankfurt merchant Herr Sesemann, confined to a wheelchair and in delicate health, who becomes Heidi's close companion and pupil. She sends Heidi home with gifts of clothes, cakes, a shawl, and a sausage, later visits the Alm herself, and eventually regains the ability to walk after weeks of mountain air, goat's milk, and exercise.

Herr Sesemann

Clara's wealthy father, a Frankfurt merchant frequently away on business trips. He is startled by reports of a 'ghost' haunting his house and by tales of animals Heidi has brought inside, and eventually arranges for a doctor and for Heidi's safe return to the mountain, later visiting the Alm himself with his mother.

Fraulein Rottenmeier

The strict, elaborately coiffed housekeeper who manages the Sesemann household in Frankfurt and lays down rigid rules of conduct for Heidi, including how to address the servants and behave at table. She is thrown into panic by incidents involving a tortoise, kittens hidden by Heidi in the house, and later by the nightly 'ghost' that turns out to be Heidi sleepwalking.

Sebastian

A footman in the Sesemann household who is secretly kind to Heidi despite Fraulein Rottenmeier's rules against speaking to servants informally. He is terrified by the nightly 'ghost' (Heidi's sleepwalking), and later learns the truth when Herr Sesemann explains Heidi's sleepwalking to him.

Tinette

A housemaid in the Sesemann household in Frankfurt, mentioned alongside Sebastian as one of the servants Heidi is forbidden to address familiarly.

The Family Doctor

A kind physician attending the Sesemann household who discovers Heidi sleepwalking at night and calms her rather than punishing her, later visits Heidi and her grandfather on the Alm at Clara's request bearing gifts, and eventually settles near Dorfli himself, becoming a beloved friend to Heidi and her grandfather.

Grandmamma (Frau Sesemann)

Clara's warm-hearted grandmother, who visits the Frankfurt household, teaches Heidi to turn to prayer when troubled, and comforts her when she is homesick. She has beautiful white hair and lace cap-ends, and Heidi is instructed to call her 'grandmamma.'

The Pastor of Dorfli

The village pastor who visits Alm-Uncle to insist that Heidi be sent to school, and who later warmly welcomes the old man back into the church and community when he moves down to Dorfli for the winter, promising Heidi will have friends her own age.

The Miller

A minor Dorfli acquaintance who questions Heidi on her sudden return from Frankfurt, doubting she would prefer the mountain to a comfortable city home.

Mayenfeld

An old, pleasantly situated village in the valley from which a footpath winds up through meadows toward the mountains, serving as the starting point of the journey up to the Alm.

Dorfli

A hamlet situated halfway up the mountain from Mayenfeld, home to a scattered community of villagers, a school, a church, and the ruined castle building where Alm-Uncle and Heidi spend their winters.

The Alm (Grandfather's Hut)

The high mountain pasture and the small hut where Alm-Uncle lives with Heidi, complete with a goat-shed, a well-shed, and a loft reached by ladder where Heidi sleeps on a hay mattress. From here one can see two great snow-covered peaks and watch the sunset turn the snow-fields rosy-red, an effect the grandfather explains as the sun bidding the mountains good-night.

Peter's Hut

A small, dark-brown, badly dilapidated hut belonging to Peter's family, set in a hollow halfway up the Alm for some shelter from the wind; doors and windows rattle and beams creak whenever a storm blows through.

Ruined Castle/Chapel in Dorfli

A part-ruined old building in Dorfli with ivy-covered arches, a domed roof partly collapsed, and long open passages, where Alm-Uncle sets up a goat-shed in the old hall and moves into one intact room with a huge tiled stove for the winter, building Heidi a bed of hay between the stove and the wall.

The Sesemann House, Frankfurt

The large townhouse of the wealthy Sesemann family in Frankfurt where Heidi lives for a time as a companion to Clara, run under the strict management of Fraulein Rottenmeier, and site of the mysterious nightly 'ghost' scare caused by Heidi's sleepwalking.

The Hand-Sleigh

A large hand-sleigh built and owned by Alm-Uncle, featuring a low seat and a guiding pole, used to carry Heidi rapidly down the snowy mountainside to visit Peter's family in winter.

The Rhyming ABC Book

An alphabet book with rhyming lines, sent to Heidi as a gift by Clara Sesemann, which Heidi uses to successfully teach the reluctant Peter to read by threatening him (in the book's rhymes) with having to appear before a judge if he fails to learn his letters.

Clara's Wheelchair

An invalid chair used to transport Clara Sesemann around during her visit to the Alm; Peter secretly pushes it over the mountainside out of jealousy, smashing it to pieces and forcing Clara to attempt walking on her own.

Gifts from Frankfurt

A bundle of presents sent down the mountain via Heidi and later Clara's visit, including a thick warm shawl and soft cakes for Peter's grandmother, and an enormous sausage for the family, all objects of wonder to the mountain household unused to such luxuries.

The Sunset on the Snow-Peaks

A recurring natural phenomenon on the Alm in which the high snow-fields catch fire with rosy and golden color at evening before fading pale again; Alm-Uncle explains this to Heidi as the sun 'saying good-night' to the mountains so they will not forget him before he returns the next day.

The Frankfurt 'Ghost'

A mysterious nightly disturbance in the Sesemann house in which doors are heard opening and a white figure is glimpsed on the stairs, terrifying the servants and prompting an armed night watch; it is eventually revealed to be Heidi sleepwalking out of homesickness for the mountains, resolved by locking her door and sending her home.

Prayer and Providence

A recurring theme in which characters, especially Heidi and Clara's grandmother, discuss turning troubles over to God in prayer, trusting that unanswered prayers (such as Heidi's wish to return home immediately) are ultimately part of a better plan, exemplified by Heidi's ability to read to Peter's grandmother once she has learned in Frankfurt.

Grandfather's Goats

A herd of goats pastured on the Alm each day by Peter, including grandfather's own two goats, the graceful and well-behaved Little Swan and Little Bear, along with the orphaned young goat Snowflake, the lively Greenfinch, and the proud, domineering billy-goat called the Great Turk. Heidi learns their individual names, personalities, and favorite grazing spots over the course of a summer.