The Grimm Brothers

The Grimm brothers' most famous works, or fairy tales, were not written ultimately for children, but for academic purposes, exploring the culture and folklore of the German countryside. The authors wrote down stories that probably came from young Huguenot middle-class women. They were informants to the authors. ¹⁾

Jacob Grimm gave their works a scientific form, collected compiled studies, and documented the texts. ²⁾

Wilhelm Grimm was in charge of preparing the literary form in each text. ³⁾

The first volume of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales was published in 1812, containing 86 works. It included the most famous works of the genre, including Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding Hood. The second volume of fairy tales was published in 1815 and contained some 156 works. ⁴⁾

The manuscript of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales is available at the brothers' museum in Kassel. The museum was established in 2014 on Weinberg Hill (Kassel, Germany). In addition to the manuscripts, you can also find the writers' notes, photographs, and book images related to the authors. ⁵⁾

In addition to their extensive writing output, the Grimm brothers were also famous for their works on Germanic linguistics. The two of them compiled a dictionary of the German language, while Jacob Grimm had already independently written the first modern grammar of the German language. ⁶⁾

Monuments depicting silhouettes of the Brothers Grimm can be admired in Hanau, Germany (their birthplace). ⁷⁾

A fountain with figures from the Brothers Grimm tales was placed in the Friedrichshain People's Park in Berlin. ⁸⁾

Tales from the first edition do not have endings, and the main characters die, punished. Some of the plots were modified or removed by the creators to reduce content unsuitable for children. ⁹⁾

A translation of the original edition of the tale had blood and cruelty brought back. ¹⁰⁾

Both brothers were lawyers by training and professors at Göttingen University. They worked in the library. ¹¹⁾

The Grimm brothers studied in Hesse in Markburg. They also belonged to the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. ¹²⁾

The Grimm brothers opposed the conduct of King Ernest Augustus by issuing a letter of protest to the monarch. As a result, they were expelled from Göttingen University and exiled from the country. ¹³⁾

In 2005, the Grimm brothers' fairy tales were added to the memorial list by UNESCO. ¹⁴⁾