GRIMM, Brothers

GRIMM, Jacob (Ludwig Karl) . Nationality: German. Born: Hanau, 4 January 1785. Education: Cassel lyceum, 1798-1802; University of Marburg, studied law, 1802-05. Career: Researcher for Friedrich Karl von Savigny in Paris, 1805; civil servant, secretariat of the War Office, Cassel, 1806; librarian for King Jérôme Bonaparte's private library, Wilhelmshöhe, 1808-14, 1815; co-editor with Wilhelm Grimm, Altdeutsche Wälder, 1813-16; legation secretary for the Hessian delegation at the Congress of Vienna, 1814-15; librarian, Cassel, 1816; chair, Archaeology and librarianship, University of Göttingen, Hanover, 1830-37, dismissed from the university for political reasons by Ernst August in 1837. Lived in Cassel, 1837-41. Member: Academy of Science, Berlin, 1841; president, Conferences of Germanists, Frankfurt am Main, 1846, Lubeck, 1847; elected to the Frankfurt parliament, 1848. Awards: Order of merit, 1842. Honorary degrees: University of Marburg, 1819; Berlin University, 1828; Berslau University, 1829. Died: 20 September 1863.

GRIMM, Wilhelm (Karl). Nationality: German. Born: Hanau, 24 February 1786. Education: Cassel lyceum, 1798-1803; University of Marburg, 1803-06; graduated in law 1806. Family: Married Henriette Dorothea Wild in 1825; one daughter and three sons. Career: Coeditor with Jacob Grimm, Altdeutsche Wälder, 1813-16; assistant librarian, electoral library, Cassel, 1814-29; professor, University of Göttingen, 1830, dismissed from the university for political reasons by Ernst August in 1837; lived in Cassel, 1837-41. Member: Prussian Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin, 1841. Honorary degree: Marburg University, 1819. Died: 16 December 1859.

Publications

Collections

Complete Works. 62 vols., 1974—.

Die älteste Märchensammlung der Brüder Grimm, edited by HeinzRölleke. 1975.

Grimm's Tales for Young and Old: The Complete Stories. 1977.

Short Stories

Kinder-und Hausmärchen. 1812-15; revised editions, 1819 and1837 (includes Anmerkungen zu den einzelnen Märchen), 1840, 1843, 1850, 1857; as German Popular Stories, 1823-26; revised edition as Gammer Grethel; or, German Fairy Tales and Popular Stories, 1839; as Home Stories, 1855; Grimm's Popular Stories, 1868; as Grimm's Fairy Tales, 1872; Grimm's Goblins, 1876; as The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales, 1944; as Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, edited by Jack Zipes, 2 vols., 1987.

Altdeutsche Wälder. 1813-16.

Deutsche Sagen. 1816-18; as The German Legends of the Brothers Grimm, edited by Donald Ward, 1981.

Other

Deutsches Wörterbuch, with others. 32 vols., 1854-1961.

Freundesbriefe von Wilhelm und Jacob Grimm: Mit Anmerkungen, edited by Alexander Reifferscheid. 1878.

Briefwechsel des Freihern K.H.G. von Meusebach mit Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm. 1880.

Briefwechsel zwischen Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm aus der Jegenszeit, edited by Herman Grimm and Gustav Hinrichs. 1881; revised edition, 1963.

Briefwechsel der Gebrüder Grimm mit nordischen Gelehrten, edited by Ernst Schmidt. 1885.

Briefwechsel zwischen Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, Dahlmann und Gervinus, edited by Eduard Ippel. 2 vols., 1885-86.

Briefe der Brüder Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm an Georg Friedrich Benecke aus den Jahren 1808-1829, edited by Wilhelm Müller. 1889.

Briefwechsel F. Lückes mit den Brüdern Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm. 1891.

Briefe der Brüder Grimm an Paul Wigand, edited by EdmundStengel. 1910.

Briefwechsel Johann Kaspar Bluntschlis mit Jacob Grimm. 1915.

Briefe der Brüder Grimm, edited by Albert Leitzmann and HansGürtler. 1923.

Briefwechsel der Brüder Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm mit Karl Lachmann, edited by Albert Leitzmann. 2 vols., 1927.

Briefwechsel zwischen Jacob Grimm und Karl Goedeke, edited by Johannes Bolte. 1927.

Briefe der Brüder Grimm au Savigny, edited by Wilhelm Schoof. 1953.

Unbekannte Briefe der Brüder Grimm, edited by Wilhelm Schoof. 1960.

John Mitchell Kemble and Jacob Grimm: A Correspondence 1832-1852. 1971.

Briefwechsel der Bruder Grimm mit Hans Georg von Hammerstein, edited by Carola Gottzmann. 1985.

Editors, Die beiden ältesten deutschen Gedichte aus dem achten Jahrundert: Das Lied von Hildebrand und Hadubrand und das Weissenbrunner Gebet. 1812.

Editors, Lieder der alten Edda. 1815.

Editors, Der arme Heinrich, by Hartmann von Aue. 1815.

Editors and translators, Irische Elfenmärchen, by C. Croker. 1826.

Publications by Jacob Grimm

Collections

Auswahl aus den kleineren Schriften. 1871.

Über die deutsche Sprache. 1914.

Reden und Aufsätze, edited by Wilhelm Schoof. 1966.

Fiction

Irmenstrasse und Irmensäule: Eine mythologische Abhandlung. 1815.

Deutsche Mythologie. 1835; as Teutonic Mythology, 4 vols., 1883-88.

Frau Aventiure klopft an Beneckes Thür. 1842.

Der Fundevogel: Ein Märlein. 1845.

Other

Über den altdeutschen Meistergesang. 1811.

Deutsche Grammatik. 4 vols., 1819-37.

Zur Recension der deutschen Grammatik. 1826.

Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer. 1828.

Hymnorum veteris ecclesiae XXVI interpretatio Theodisca nunc primum edita. 1830.

Bericht … an die Hannoversche Regierung. 1833.

Reinhart Fuchs. 1834.

Über seine Entlassung (pamphlet). 1838.

Sendschrieben an Karl Lachmann über Reinhart Fuchs. 1840.

Über zwei entdeckte Gedichte aus der Zeit des deutschen Heidenthums. 1842.

Grammatik der Hochdeutschen Sprache unserer Zeit. 1843.

Deutsche Grenzalterthümer. 1844.

Über Diphthonge nach weggefallnen Consonanten. 1845.

Über Iornandes und die Geten: Eine in der Akademie der Wissenschaften am 5. März 1846 von Jacob Grimm gehaltene Vorlesung (lecture). 1846.

Geschichte der deutschen Sprache. 2 vols., 1848.

Über Marcellus Burdingalensis. 1849.

Das Wort des Besitzes: Eine linguistische Abhandlung. 1850.

Über den Liebesgott: Gelesen in der Akademie am 6. Januar 1851(lecture). 1851.

Über den Ursprung der Sprache. 1851.

Über Frauennamen aus Blumen. 1852.

Über die Namen des Donners. 1855.

Über die Marcellischen Formeln, with Adolf Pictet. 1855.

Über den Personenwechsel in der Rede. 1856.

Über einige Fälle der Attraction. 1858.

Von Vertretug männlicher durch weibliche Namensformen. 1858.

Über Schule, Universität, Academie. 1859.

Über das Verbrennen der Leichen: Eine in der Academie der Wissenschaften am 29 November 1849… (lecture). 1859.

Rede auf Schiller, gehalten in der feierlichen Sitzung der König. 1859.

Rede auf Wilhelm Grimm gehalten in der König und … Rede über das Alter, edited by Herman Grimm. 1863.

Kleinere Schriften (autobiography), edited by Karl Victor Müllenhoff and Eduard Ippel. 8 vols., 1864-90.

Briefwechsel zwischen Jacob Grimm und Friedrich David Graeter aus dem Jahren 1810-1813, edited by Hermann Fischer. 1877.

Briefe an Hendrik Willem Tydeman: Mit einem Anhange und Anmerkungen, edited by Alexander Reifferscheid. 1883.

Briefwechsel von Jacob Grimm und Hoffmann von Fallersleben mit Henrik van Wyn: Nebst anderen Briefen zur deutschen Literatur, edited by Karl Theodor Gaedertz. 1888.

Kopitars Briefwechsel mit Jakob Grimm, edited by Max Vasmer. 1938.

Editor, Silva de romances viejos. 1815.

Editor, Zur Recension der deutschen Grammatik. 1826.

Editor, Taciti Germania edidit et qua as res Germanorum pertinere videntur e reliquo Tacitino oere excerpsit. 1835.

Editor, with Andreas Schmeller, Lateinische Gedichte des X. und XI. Jahrhunderts. 1838.

Editor, Andreas und Elene. 1840.

Editor, Gedichte des Mittelalters aus König Greidrich I., den Staufer, und aus seiner, sowie der nächstfolgenden Zeit. 1844.

Translator, Kleine serbische Grammatik, by Vuk StefanovicKaradzic. 1824.

Publications by Wilhelm Grimm

Other

Über deutsche Runen. 1821.

Grâve Ruodolf: Ein Altdeutsches Gedicht. 1828.

Zur Literatur der Runen. 1828.

Bruchstücke aus einem Gedichte von Assundin, 1829.

Die deutsche Heldensage. 1829.

Die Hildebrando antiquissimi carminis teutonici fragmentum. 1830.

Die sage vom ursprung der Christusbilder. 1843.

Exhoratatio ad plebem christianam Glossae Cassellanae: Über die Bedeutung der deutschen Fingernamen. 1848.

Über Freidank: Zwei Nachträge. 1850.

Altdeutsche Gespräche: Nachtrag. 1851.

Zur Geschichte des Reims. 1852.

Nachtrag zu den Casseler glossen. 1855.

Thierfabeln bei den Meistersängern. 1855.

Die Sage von Polyphem. 1857.

Kleinere Schriften (autobiography), edited by Gustav Hinrichs. 4 vols., 1881-87.

Unsere Sprachlaute als Stimmbildner. 1897.

Editor, Vrídankes Bescheidenheit. 1834.

Editor, Der Rosengarten. 1836.

Editor, Ruolandes liet. 1838.

Editor, with Bettina von Arnim and Karl August Varnhagen vonEnse, Sämmtliche Werke, by Ludwig Achim von Arnim. 22 vols., 1853-56; revised edition, 21 vols., 1857; reprinted, 1982.

Editor, Wernher vom Niederrhein. 1839.

Editor, Goldene Schmiede, by Konrad von Würzburg. 1840.

Editor, Silvester, by Konrad von Würzburg. 1841.

Editor, Athis und Prophilias: Mit Nachtrag. 2 vols., 1846-52.

Editor, Altdeutsche Gespräche: Mit Nachtrag. 2 vols., 1851.

Editor, Bruchstücke aus einem unbekann ten Gedicht vom Rosengarten. 1860.

Editor and translator, Drei altschottische Lieder. 1813.

Translator, Altdänische Heldenlieder, Balladen und Märchen. 1811.

Translator, Trische Land—und Seemärchen: Gesammelt, by Thomas Crofton Croker, edited by Werner Moritz and Charlotte Oberfeld. 1986.

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Critical Studies:

The Brothers Grimm by Ruth Michaelis-Jena, 1970; Paths Through the Forest: A Biography of the Brothers Grimm by Murray B. Peppard, 1971; Jacob Grimm's Conception of German Studies by Peter F. Ganz, 1973; The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettelheim, 1977; The German Legends of the Brothers Grimm, edited and translated by Donald Ward, 1981; One Fairy Story Too Many: The Brothers Grimm and Their Tales by John M. Ellis, 1983; Grimms' Bad Girls and Bold Boys: The Moral and Social Vision of the Tales by Ruth B. Bottigheimer, 1987; The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales by Maria M. Tatar, 1987; The Brothers Grimm and the Folktale edited by James M. McGlathery, 1988, and Fairy Tale Romance. The Grimms, Basile, and Perrault by McGlathery, 1991; The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World by Jack Zipes, 1988; The Grimm Brothers and the Germanic Past: International Bicentenary Symposium on the Brothers Grimm, 1990; The Brothers Grimm and Their Critics: Folktales and the Quest for Meaning by Christa Kamenetsky, 1992; Grimms' Fairy Tales: A History of Criticism on a Popular Classic by James M. McGlathery, 1993; The Reception of Grimms' Fairy Tales: Responses, Reactions, Revisions, 1993.

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The intellectual collaboration of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm is one of the most celebrated in history and led to their honorary title "Fathers of German Studies." They gained worldwide fame through their Kinder-und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales), which they continually expanded and revised in seven major editions between 1812 and 1857. They consist not only of magic fairy tales but also of legends, anecdotes, jokes, and religious tales. The bulk of the 210 tales and 32 omitted tales came from the oral tradition, but their collective project also included more than 20 literary sources from various ages and cultures. In the twentieth century the collection has been second only to the Bible as a best-seller in Germany. On an international scale it is considered the second-most widely read book by a German-speaking author, following closely Karl Marx's Das Kapital. With their collection of tales and many significant scholarly publications, the Grimms contributed to the areas of folklore, myth, history, ethnology, religion, jurisprudence, lexicography, German and world literature, as well as literary criticism. As joint authors, they produced eight books, and as individuals, they produced 35 books between the two of them, eleven volumes of essays and notes, and thousands of letters. Their German Dictionary, begun in 1838 and extended only to the letter F in their lifetimes, was completed in 1960 and 1961 after generations of Germanists contributed to the project.

The Grimms' Kinder-und Hausmärchen collection must be seen against the background of the romantic movement at the end of the eighteenth century with its national reaction of the people toward French hegemony in the Napoleonic era and Germans' emphasis on the discovery of folk art. The Grimm brothers' major intent was to uncover distinctive features expressed in German culture, customs, heritage, and history and thus aid the cause of uniting the German people. Both brothers believed that they could reconstitute oral folk tales from the past by using stories that were being told in the present and in this manner recreate major elements of Germany's collective memory of its past. Critics have been eager to show how the Grimms assumed editorial authority and twisted parts of their tales to fit their nationalistic political program and appeal to the taste and moral teachings of the bourgeois class. Since Germany was divided in many different principalities when the Grimms wrote and edited their tales, one form of common identity was provided by the family. Child abuse and neglect, sexual abuse, and domestic violence were common social problems of the time. These problems are frequently not treated in a straightforward manner in the Grimms' collection, because the Grimms had a tendency to suppress sexual depictions. Puberty, pregnancy, and secret sexual desires are rarely alluded to, indicating the Grimms' difficulties with representations of human sexuality and their strong commitment to moral teachings.

After 1919, when most of the additions to the tales came from literary sources, Wilhelm Grimm assumed primary responsibilities for the stylistic, formal, and thematic changes. A major concern of Wilhelm Grimm's was to make the tales more acceptable for children, since they had mostly aimed for a reading public of adult and serious people. Furthermore, they needed to make the collections more proper and sellable for the growing middle-class readership.

Contrary to popular myths, the Grimms did not collect the oral tales as itinerant folklorists wandering the landscapes of their native Hesse and talking to peasants, but by inviting storytellers from the area to their home in Kassel. As most storytellers in the early nineteenth century, the predominantly female storytellers acquainted with the Grimms came from educated members of the middle and aristocratic classes. The majority of the Grimm informants around Kassel were women from the Wild and Hassenpflug families (the latter was of Huguenot ancestry and spoke French at home). These women met with the Grimms regularly to tell stories they had heard from their governesses, nursemaids, and servants. But one of the most important contributors (35 tales) was Dorothea Viehmann, an impoverished widow of a tailor and daughter of an immigrant Huguenot from Zwehrn, who came to nearby Kassel to sell fruit and died in poverty in 1815. Outside of the principality of Hesse (Hessia) the Bökendorfer Circle in Westphalia, a circle of young men and women founded by the aristocrat Wilhelm von Haxthausen (among them the famous nineteenth century poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff and her sister Jenny), contributed 66 tales. Gradually the social class of the Grimms' informants changed and included oral sources from the lower classes. As was common and acceptable in the nineteenth century, the Grimms appropriated anonymous women's work in their collections. Feminist critics have drawn attention to the fact that materials on the Grimms' actual informants became part of scholarly records long after the brothers' death.

The Grimms' personal struggle to overcome social prejudice and poverty after their parents' early deaths and the example of staunch Protestant ethic, set for them by their father and grandfather, influenced their methods of editing, adapting, and reconstructing. Readers encounter the representation of the Grimms' nineteenth-century patriarchal society as well as the Grimms' personal ideals, desires, and beliefs in the emphasis on industriousness, order, family, and tradition. With each of their revisions the Grimms included more sources directly from journals and books. Of great interest to them were sixteenth-century tale collections, particularly the folktales and books ("Volksbücher") by Hans Sachs and Johannes Pauli. Wilhelm Grimm began to enter them in adapted form into their 1815 edition and continued to include them until their last edition in 1857. The sixteenth-century tale collections depicted an urban world and needed many adaptations by the Grimms to fit the nineteenth-century context in the area of social, economic, gender, and confessional roles. The brothers changed all references to open female sexuality, increased male violence and abuse to reflect the social problems of their time, and ignored whatever conflicted with nineteenth-century values.

Since the early 1970s feminist critics have particularly focused on the passive, silent, and pretty heroines in the Grimms' tales. Partnership between the sexes is rarely present. Instead, women are portrayed as the weaker sex and have to act patient, obedient, industrious, clean, and quiet if they want to fulfill their one goal in life: to meet a worthy man and to get married. Even Cinderella is only a heroine after shedding her dirty rags and dressing properly and cleaning herself up. Males function as rescuers and are portrayed as cunning, resourceful, and courageous, and they can win their chosen bride as a "prize" only after much hard work. The archetype of female evil is the witch or sorceress, as in "Rapunzel," where the sorceress demands to be handed over a child. Rapunzel's patience and naiveté as a prisoner in a tower in the forest (where the sorceress locked her at the age of twelve, the onset of puberty one can assume) and the prince's endurance are rewarded in the end. The societal ideal of a happy family is achieved and justice has been restored. The fairy-tale paradigm of weak, submissive femininity and strong masculinity is also upheld in the popular tale of "Hansel and Gretel." Each time the children hear their parents talking about abandoning them in the forest because of their poverty, Hansel finds comforting words: "Hush, Gretel, don't cry. God will help us." In the end they prevail together and illustrate the Protestant work ethic with Hansel's resourcefulness and Gretel's hard work in the house of the witch.

Many different types of critical approaches have been applied to the Grimms' fairy-tale collections. Significant contributions to the scholarship on the tales have been made by folklorists, literary historians, educators, Jungian and Freudian scholars and psychologists, Marxists, structuralists, and literary critics with various other orientations. For some critics the magic of the fairy tales may have faded altogether, but for children and adults in many different cultures, dreams of conquering oppressors, winning out over evil, being rewarded for hard work, finding a prince or princes, and living happily ever after continue to hold fascination and a utopian dimension. Unquestionably, the Grimms' tales will offer rich sources for enjoyment, social-historical analysis, and imaginative identification for generations to come.

—Barbara Mabee

See the essays on "Bluebeard" and "Little Red Riding Hood."