The Brothers Grimm and Fairy Tales
German Writers Famous for Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella
Aug 3, 2009
The Brothers Grimm, Jakob and Wilhelm, were eminent German philologists best known for their collection of fairy tales or folklore. Among the famous tales are "Snow White," "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," "Rapunzel," "Hansel and Gretel," "Tom Thumb," and "The Golden Goose."
The brothers, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, made famous what today are some of the best-known fairy tale stories. They collected and published folktales and legends that might have been forgotten and lost forever. Stories such as "Snow White" and "Sleeping Beauty" have been retold countless times and have inspired countless writers. They were first written down by the Brothers Grimm.
The Brothers Grimm Biography in a Nutshell
A year older than Wilhelm, Jakob Ludwig Karl was born on January 4, 1785. He outlived his younger brother by four years. He died at the age of 78, September 20, 1863.
Wilhelm Karl Grimm, the younger brother, was born February 24, 1786, and died at the age of 73, December 16, 1859.
Jakob and Wilhelm were born in the German city of Hanau. Their father died when they were young, and their family struggled financially to pay for their education at Marburg University. The brothers worked in a variety of odd jobs in libraries, universities and government offices.
The Grimm Brothers and their German Identity
The brothers raised extra money by publishing three volumes of folk tales, stories that were to become world famously known as Grimm's Fairy Tales. At that time Germany was not a single country but a collection of independent kingdoms and principalities.
Like many other Germans, the Brothers Grimm wanted Germany to unite into one strong nation. They had studied the history of the German language and folklore to show how all Germans shared a similar culture. Their intense research formed the basis of the Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Strongly influenced by the ideas of romanticism, the brothers retold the tales in a way that emphasized a mystical idea of ancient wisdom and magic living in the land and people. Jakob collected the tales for the German peasants, and Wilhelm arranged them.
The works of the Brothers Grimm fit into the history of the 19th century national German identity. Theirs maybe less heroic or the quieter kind of achievement, but without any doubt, enjoyable and lasting.
Major Works of the Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Collaboration
- Grimm's Fairy Tales, 1812-1813, 3 Volumes
Jakob Grimm
- A Study of the German Langauage, 1818
- German Grammar, 1819-1837, 4 volumes
- German Mythology, 1835
Wilhelm Grimm
- On German Runes, 1826
- The German Heroic Myths, 1829
Sources:
- Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994
- McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2002
- Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997
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