"Little Herr Friedemann" (orig. German Der Kleine Herr Friedemann) is a short story by Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...

. Initially appeared in 1896 in Neue Deutsche Rundschau. Appeared in 1898 in an anthology of Mann's short stories entitled collectively as Der kleine Herr Friedemann.

Plot

Johannes Friedemann was dropped on his head as at birth. "It was the nurse's fault" is the opening line of the story. The nurse had been unable to overcome her daily glass of red wine, stout and methylated spirits intended for the coffee machine.

He grows up deformed and hunchbacked. He falls in love as a young boy with a girl, only to find her kissing another behind a hedge. He then swears off love dedicating himself to self-improvement.

He grows into a man who has taste in music, clothes, and literature. He is successful in his career and seemingly content. A military commander for Herr Friedemann's town moves in along with his dashing wife. Frau Commandant von Rinnlingen destroys Herr Friedemann's content. He falls in love with her on sight despite her lack of classic beauty.

Herr Friedemannn and Frau von Rinnglingen make a deep connection, despite the brevity of their encounters and social restraints imposed on them. Herr Friedemann admits to Frau von Rinnglingen that after meeting her he has realized his life so far has been a lie. That he was only trying to be happy, never succeeding.

She tells him that this was brave and admits often knowning of similar sadness. He then confesses his love to her, she pauses then breaks away from him laughing. He immediately drowns himself in a lake.

Some characters and locations in this story reappear in changed contexts in Mann's novel Buddenbrooks. The theme of the story is recast with a very different leading character and a less dramatic conclusion in Mann's short story "The Dilettante".