Character guide

Heidi

major

Also known as Poor Heidi, little Heidi, Dear Heidi, the vulgar Heidi

Heidi arrives at the Alm-Uncle's hut as a hot, shapeless little person whom the villagers predict will be turned away at the door. Her unshakeable cheer and hunger for the mountain's flowers, goats, and fir-trees slowly thaw her grandfather's bitterness, even as Aunt Deta later trades her to a Frankfurt household. Her homesickness there becomes the story's engine: a child who cannot be taught to stop loving one place and one person above all others.

Peter

supporting

Also known as Peter the goatherd, Goatherd Peter, Poor Peter, little Peter

Peter arrives with the whole herd, Thistlefinch at the front, and treats Heidi as his natural companion on the pasture until she leaves for Frankfurt. When she returns, he sulks that she won't come with him, and his jealousy of her other friendships makes him petty and careless. His goats, his mother's hut, and his wounded pride keep the mountain world grounded in ordinary human want.

Clara Sesemann

major

Also known as Clara, Miss Clara, little Clara

Clara lives in a grand house of streets, tutors, and cod-liver oil, and her mornings stretch endlessly until Heidi arrives to share them. She is kind but sheltered, and her attachment to Heidi grows even as her friend pines visibly for the mountains. Her fragility and her father's absences make her both the reason Heidi is kept in Frankfurt and the person whose happiness depends on Heidi staying.

Mr. Sesemann

supporting

Also known as Sesemann, poor Mr. Sesemann

Mr. Sesemann travels constantly, returns to a household in uproar over kittens and turtle, and settles the matter with a laugh and a glass of fresh water. He is fond of Clara, decisive when it counts, and quick to see that his daughter is happier with Heidi in the house. His two-week stays and Paris business trips leave the children in the hands of servants and his formidable mother, shaping the household Heidi must survive.

The Doctor

supporting

Also known as doctor, the dear doctor, Dr. Classen

He arrives at the hut expecting to be unwelcome, having feared Heidi would not remember him, and is met with gratitude and a thousand thanks. Lonely and worn, he finds the mountain restores him, and he lingers until business calls him back to Frankfurt. His parting with Heidi, and her offer to come to him if he is ever sick and alone, gives the story one of its warmest adult friendships.

Deta

supporting

Also known as Aunt Deta, Miss Deta

Deta has cared for Heidi since her sister died and now sees a splendid position in Frankfurt that the child would only hinder. She brushes aside Barbara's warnings, leaves Heidi at the hut, and later returns to whisk her away to the Sesemann house. Her brisk, practical decisions set the plot in motion twice, and her bow-and-hurry exits leave others to manage the consequences.

Miss Rottenmeier

supporting

Also known as Rottenmeier, VII Miss Rottenmeier

Miss Rottenmeier governs the Frankfurt mansion's routines and takes personal responsibility for importing Heidi as Clara's companion, a decision she immediately regrets. Her dread of disorder—and her comic horror at Heidi's questions, sleepiness, and stray cats—collides with the child's untamable honesty, and she lobbies the tutor to have Heidi sent away. Her fussy opposition gives the middle chapters their friction, making the household feel like a gilded cage Heidi must either survive or escape.

Sebastian

minor

The loyal servant in the Sesemann house who helps Heidi.

Brigida

minor

Peter's mother who lives in the village below the Alm.

Grandmama

supporting

Also known as X A Grandmama, grandmama

Grandmama visits her granddaughter Clara and, almost incidentally, rescues Heidi from loneliness by giving her a picture book, sewing lessons, and unhurried attention. Where Miss Rottenmeier scolds, she listens; when Heidi confesses she has stopped praying because God seems not to hear, Grandmama answers with patient theology rather than reproof. Her presence turns Heidi's stay from pure captivity into something formative, planting the faith and literacy that will matter long after she leaves.

Schwänli

minor

One of the two goats Heidi cares for on the Alm.

Grandmother

supporting

Old, blind, and poor, she lives with Peter and his mother and survives on hard black bread, yet her gratitude when Heidi returns with soft white rolls is overwhelming. She clings to Heidi's voice and hair as her greatest earthly blessing and begs the Alm-Uncle never to take the child away before she dies. Her need gives Heidi's homesickness its moral weight and later draws the grandfather back into the village's human ties.

Mr. Candidate

minor

A young tutor who teaches Clara and Heidi in Frankfurt.

Grandfather

major

Also known as Alm-Uncle

Villagers fear the old man on the mountain, who has withdrawn from church, company, and any explanation of his past, and he initially resents being handed a child to raise. Heidi's trust and cheerfulness work on him until he returns to the village, greets the parson, and mends the grandmother's hut. His transformation is the book's moral spine: a story about how love for one small person can restore a soul to community.

Bärli

minor

One of the two goats Heidi cares for on the Alm.

Snowhopper

minor

Also known as Poor little Snowhopper, Tender little Snowhopper, little Snowhopper

A small goat that Heidi befriends on the Alm.

Barbara

minor

A village woman and friend of Brigida.

Mrs. Sesemann

minor

Clara's late mother, mentioned but not appearing in scenes.

Adelheid

minor

Also known as poor Adelheid

Heidi's late mother, mentioned in backstory.

Thistlefinch

minor

Also known as The bold Thistlefinch, Poor Thistlefinch, the jolly Thistlefinch

A goat owned by Peter, known for its mischievous behavior.

Tinette

minor

Also known as Suddenly Tinette

A maid in the Sesemann household.

John

minor

A servant in the Sesemann household.

Tobias

minor

Heidi's late father, mentioned in backstory.

Papa

minor

Clara's affectionate term for her father Mr. Sesemann.