sandmann

The Sandmann is a figure in German folklore who visits children at night to bring sleep, traditionally by sprinkling sand into their eyes and guiding dreams. He is typically portrayed as a cloaked male visitor associated with bedtime and nightly routines, and his image varies across regions.

Origins and variations of the Sandmann concept appear throughout German-speaking areas and share parallels with other European bedtime legends. Over time, literary and artistic treatments have shaped the modern perception of the Sandmann as both benevolent and uncanny, depending on the teller and context.

Der Sandmann, a short story by E. T. Hoffmann published in 1816, is a landmark Romantic work that reinterprets the figure as a symbol of perception, fear, and the boundary between dream and reality. The tale helped to anchor the Sandmann in literary symbolism beyond traditional folklore.

In contemporary culture, the term Sandmann appears in titles and as a general reference to the folklore figure. The English-language equivalent is often rendered as “Sandman,” with works such as Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman contributing to the broader mythos. In German-language media, the Sandmann is frequently associated with Hoffmann’s story or with the traditional bedtime character; the popular children’s television program Unser Sandmännchen (Our Little Sandman) embodies a related bedtime ritual in German media.