Their situation was aggravated by the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15). Wilhelm passed his law exams and found work as a librarian in the royal library, but Jacob interrupted his studies to serve the Hessian War Commission. And when the French occupied Kassel in 1807, Jacob lost his War Commission position and was hired as a librarian for Napoleon’s brother Jerome, Westphalia’s new ruler.
Jacob (standing) and Wilhelm Grimm, c1850.
Ironically the brothers were inspired by the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). Amid the political and social turbulence, as France conquered Germanic lands, German speakers had to now live under French control. Only then were the Grimms driven to pursue their own national heritage.
The brothers were also inspired by German Romantic authors and philosophers who believed that the purest forms of culture could be found in stories shared between parents and children. Since storytelling expressed the authentic essence of German culture, they had to reach as far back as possible to discover its true origins.
University of Marburg Prof Friedrich Karl von Savigny sparked the Grimms’ interest in German history, literature and philology i.e study of historical language. Savigny introduced the brothers to his scholarly circle of Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim who also wanted to rediscover and preserve Volks poetry.
The Grimms published articles and books on medieval literature, linguistics and librarianship. Trained in historical texts, they also wrote books about mythology. In 1808, Clemens Brentano asked them to collect all types of folk tales, to use them in a book of literary fairy tales. In 1810 they sent him 54 texts which they copied; alas Brentano then lost the manuscript in Alsace’s Ölenberg Monastery.
As industrialisation emerged in Central Europe, local traditions changed. So the brothers decided to publish their own collection, recording whatever tales they could, sometimes embellishing them, but NOT writing them de novo. In 1812 they published the 86 stories in a collection titled Nursery and Household Tales, now Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1812).
The most famous collection of children's stories actually began as an academic study for adults, NOT meant for children. The stories often included sex, incest, violence and other dark elements. And they did not have any illustrations. The early editions, for example, contained a Rapunzel who became pregnant by a prince after a casual fling. In fact the first stories such as The Children of Famine, had nothing to do with happy endings. Rather they were stark narratives about brutal living conditions in the early C19th!
Brentano again asked the Grimms for their help in combing library shelves for folk tales. The brothers found some texts in books, but they also focused on oral traditions, seeking storytellers from their friends. Most of them were women, including Dorothea Wild who later married Wilhelm and had four children.
The Grimm brothers didn’t actually create their own famous stories. There were many different accounts of the same story. Cinderella, for example, appeared in ancient China, ancient Egypt and modern West Indies, although the details changed according to cultural origins. In the Grimm version, the step-sisters reacted very brutally when the prince came to find the dainty foot to fit his slipper.
Modern literature could not express the genuine essence of Volk culture that emanated naturally from German history. So the Grimms intended to trace cultural evolution and to demonstrate how natural language, stemming from the needs, customs and rituals of the common people, helped forge civilised communities. Their resulting Educational Manual recalled the basic values of the Germanic people and bequeathed their oral tales, creating German nationalism.
The brothers were also inspired by German Romantic authors and philosophers who believed that the purest forms of culture could be found in stories shared between parents and children. Since storytelling expressed the authentic essence of German culture, they had to reach as far back as possible to discover its true origins.
University of Marburg Prof Friedrich Karl von Savigny sparked the Grimms’ interest in German history, literature and philology i.e study of historical language. Savigny introduced the brothers to his scholarly circle of Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim who also wanted to rediscover and preserve Volks poetry.
The Grimms published articles and books on medieval literature, linguistics and librarianship. Trained in historical texts, they also wrote books about mythology. In 1808, Clemens Brentano asked them to collect all types of folk tales, to use them in a book of literary fairy tales. In 1810 they sent him 54 texts which they copied; alas Brentano then lost the manuscript in Alsace’s Ölenberg Monastery.
As industrialisation emerged in Central Europe, local traditions changed. So the brothers decided to publish their own collection, recording whatever tales they could, sometimes embellishing them, but NOT writing them de novo. In 1812 they published the 86 stories in a collection titled Nursery and Household Tales, now Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1812).
The most famous collection of children's stories actually began as an academic study for adults, NOT meant for children. The stories often included sex, incest, violence and other dark elements. And they did not have any illustrations. The early editions, for example, contained a Rapunzel who became pregnant by a prince after a casual fling. In fact the first stories such as The Children of Famine, had nothing to do with happy endings. Rather they were stark narratives about brutal living conditions in the early C19th!
Brentano again asked the Grimms for their help in combing library shelves for folk tales. The brothers found some texts in books, but they also focused on oral traditions, seeking storytellers from their friends. Most of them were women, including Dorothea Wild who later married Wilhelm and had four children.
The Grimm brothers didn’t actually create their own famous stories. There were many different accounts of the same story. Cinderella, for example, appeared in ancient China, ancient Egypt and modern West Indies, although the details changed according to cultural origins. In the Grimm version, the step-sisters reacted very brutally when the prince came to find the dainty foot to fit his slipper.
Modern literature could not express the genuine essence of Volk culture that emanated naturally from German history. So the Grimms intended to trace cultural evolution and to demonstrate how natural language, stemming from the needs, customs and rituals of the common people, helped forge civilised communities. Their resulting Educational Manual recalled the basic values of the Germanic people and bequeathed their oral tales, creating German nationalism.
Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm
Certain tales were deleted or downgraded. Death and the Goose Boy was omitted because of its baroque literary quality; The Stepmother, because of its cruelty; Puss in Boots because the story was considered too French to be included in a German collection and Faithful Animals, because it came from a collection of Mongolian tales. The stories in the first edition were therefore closer to Germany’s oral tradition than the later editions.
By 1830 the brothers worked at Göttingen Uni, teaching Germanic Studies. Sadly King Ernest Augustus of Hanover demanded oaths of allegiance from all Gottingen professors. The brothers refused to pledge to the king and, together with five other professors, the Gottingen Seven were made to leave the city, facing deportation and bankruptcy.
In 1840, the brothers decided to settle in Berlin where they became members of the Royal Academy of Science. They soon accepted an ambitious project, a comprehensive dictionary of the German language.
Their collection was reaching its 7th edition in 1859 when Wilhelm died. By that point, the collection had grown to 211 stories and intricate illustrations were now added to the books. Jacob, who had lived with Wilhelm and his wife, was heartbroken after the death of his beloved brother. Jacob died in 1863 and the brothers were buried next to each other in St Matthäus Kirchhof Cemetery in Berlin-Schöneberg. As were two of Wilhem's sons.
Their collection was reaching its 7th edition in 1859 when Wilhelm died. By that point, the collection had grown to 211 stories and intricate illustrations were now added to the books. Jacob, who had lived with Wilhelm and his wife, was heartbroken after the death of his beloved brother. Jacob died in 1863 and the brothers were buried next to each other in St Matthäus Kirchhof Cemetery in Berlin-Schöneberg. As were two of Wilhem's sons.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm lived from 1791-8 in Steinau.
Their former home is now a museum that presents their life and work.
Over 40-years, 7 editions of the folktales were published, the final 1857 edition being the best known. By then they’d expanded the prose and modified the plots to make parts of the tragic stories more accessible to children. Marking the bicentenary in 2012, the special events included the release of The Annotated Brothers Grimm (Maria Tatar ed).
Thanks to National Endowment for the Humanities, 2015
Thanks to National Endowment for the Humanities, 2015
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10 comments:
Good morning Helen. My husband was given Grimm books in the original High German as a child and brought his treasures to Australia. He still had them in retirement.
Sister in law
I was always impressed how German-speaking parents wanted their children to absorb classic German culture, whatever type of work their children would be going into. Not only were the Grimm books classics in their own right... so was the language!
Hello Hels, I love the direction in which the Brothers Grimm took the old fables and children's literature--from the scary old versions to ones actually absorbing and enjoyable for children. So many of the 19th century children's authors took the sappy route, writing about unpleasantly well-behaved children who usually died and went to heaven. Thank heavens, R.L. Stevenson in Britain and Mark Twain in America came along and presented their unique worlds of adventure for young (and not-so-young) readers.
--Jim
Parnassus
you have touched on the two issues that I was uncertain of, as I was writing up the Grimm Brothers post:
1. The brothers said that their early work was written for adults, rather than for children as we would expect from these tales. Of course it might have been the publishers and parents who wanted to modify the violence and sex.... which was exactly what happened in the Grimms' later works. And
2. does it matter that Puss in Boots, Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, The Golden Goose, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella etc may or may not have been original tales? I don't mind...good stories should always been repeated in other times and in other cultures. But I knew nothing about it.
I suppose the originals are still available to read somewhere. I wonder how grim they really were.
It’s interesting to think that, while people assume the Grimm stories are nastier than their French(Perrault) counterparts, that’s not always the case. Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty simply lives happily ever after, while Aschenputtel is much stronger than Cendrillon, taking herself to the ball instead of relying on a fairy godmother. The Perrault Sleeping Beauty has to put up with an ogre - literally - mother in law who wants to eat her and her children while the Prince is off at war!
A few years ago, our very own Kate Forsyth wrote a historical novel about the Grimms and their neighbour who married Wilhelm. Here’s my review of it. https://suebursztynski.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-wild-girl-by-kate-forsyth-sydney.html
Andrew
this topic is way out of my comfort zone. In the first instance, I am not familiar with Volk culture that emanated from German history. Secondly I know a great deal about the Napoleonic Wars from the French perspective, but it never occurred to me to question how German speakers had to survive under French control.
I love the grim pun :) It is interesting that Grimm means wrath in German.
Sue
Many thanks. I am not familiar with Kate Forsyth's historical novel but now would be a perfect time for me to follow up your reference.
This brings many memories back for me.I grew up for part of my childhood in Germany where my grandfather , himself like a character from one of the stories, delighted in telling horrifying stories from his copy of the Grimm brothers which was then a very old book published in the 19 the century.I have it now.Its cloth covered and very battered, written in old German script and totally unreadable to anyone from today who cant even read cursive script.The stories are all blood curdling and pretty graphic but I guess life was pretty tough and they say that children use stories and make believe as a means of rehearing their response to life's hurdles and troubles. the German are a very romantic people who are very into mysteries of the forest , water and landscape .Its very much apart of their culture .
mem
My brother in law was born in Germany in the late 20s and largely agreed with everything you said: scary stories, old German script, battered cloth cover, hidden forests and mysterious landscapes. Since loving parents selected the books, they must have carefully considered sharing that part of their culture with the children.
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