Who were the Brothers Grimm?
Jacob Grimm (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859) were German brothers who compiled a collection of ancient folk tales known as Grimm’s Fairytales. They were librarians, professors, philologists (scholars who study classical literature), and folklorists (scholars who study folk culture). In 1805 Jacob traveled to Paris, France, to conduct research on Roman law and found a German manuscript of old stories. He vowed to keep the stories alive and decided to embark with his brother on a trip through Germany to collect other folk tales before the tales died out. The Grimms were especially interested in children’s stories, which culminated in a book called Kinderhund Hausmarchen (Children’s Household Tales or Grimm’s Fairy Tales). This first publication, in 1812, was so well received that the brothers published several more volumes in 1815. Some of the more famous…
