The yarn was a good match for the fairytale-themed masked ball hosted by the Jung-München artists’ association during the 1862 Carnival. The invited milieu, including the Bavarian Court, future “fairy tale king” Ludwig II, and the crème of the Munich art scene, was a far cry from the Hedgehog and the Hare’s recent, rustic origins. But fairytales and folklore — as collected by the Brothers Grimm, Ludwig Bechstein (who adapted the Hare and the Hedgehog in his 1853 Deutsches Märchenbuch), and others — were all the rage, and Munich was in the midst of a mask festival craze. Albert photographed dozens of guests in lavish costumes depicting medieval royalty, mermaids, and several swaggering animals: the hare, arm around the hedgehog (carrying a bottle of brandy, the reward for his bad-faith victory), and the “gestiefelter Kater”, or Puss in Boots. The cat, bowing theatrically in his knee-highs, is listed in the “festival newspaper” alongside a golden goose, implying at least one more uncanny animal, whose photograph is perhaps lost.
