Till Eulenspiegel is the protagonist of a European narrative tradition. A German chapbook published around 1510 is the oldest known extant publication about the folk hero, but a background in earlier Middle Low German folklore is likely. The character may have been based on a historical person.
The prankster Till Eulenspiegel, depicted with owl and mirror (title page of the Strasbourg edition of 1515)
Eulenspiegel Memorial in Kneitlingen
Kneitlingen, the place of birth of Till Eulenspiegel
Owl-and-mirror rebus from the depiction of Eulenspiegel's tombstone and epitaph in the 1515 edition (fol. 130).
German folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Germany over a number of centuries. Seeing as Germany was divided into numerous polities for most of its history, this term might both refer to the folklore of Germany proper and of all German-speaking countries, this wider definition including folklore of Austria and Liechtenstein as well as the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Italy.
Illustration of Hansel and Gretel, a well-known German folktale from the Brothers Grimm, by Arthur Rackham, 1909