The enigma of the old poet: did the child Wienke in Theodor Storm's novella "Der Schimmelreiter" (1888) have phenylketonuria?

Abstract

We report a probable case of phenylketonuria in a figure from "Der Schimmelreiter", a novella by German author Theodor Storm (1817-1888), published in 1888. The child Wienke, daughter of the story's protagonist, Hauke Haien, displays symptoms of phenylketonuria. Storm's description of this child, its physiognomy, and increasing mental retardation, lead us to believe that Storm in fact described a case of phenylketonuria, a condition not reported until Følling's description in 1934.