The Pied Piper of Hamelin (also known as the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is a popular legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), in Lower Saxony, Germany. The fairy tale dates back to the Middle Ages, and is a story about a Piper, dressed in multicolored ("pied") clothing, who was a rat-catcher hired by Hamelin town to lure rats away with his magic pipe. When the Mayor and the town refused to pay for this service as promised, he took revenge by using his pipe's magical power on their children, leading them away as he had the rats. The story became folklore and was made more popular by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the Brothers Grimm, and Robert Browning, among others.