Information sheet:
The exciting fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm stand apart in the world of fairy tales. Their content is so fascinating that it will not leave any child indifferent.
Where did your favorite fairy tales come from?
They came from German lands. Folk tales, collected and processed by experts in language and folklore - siblings. After several years of recording the best oral tales, the authors were able to improve them so interestingly and beautifully that today we perceive these tales as written directly by them.
The heroes of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are kinder and better than they were in oral folk art, and this is the wonderful meaning of the work that learned linguists have done. In each work they put the idea of the unconditional victory of good over evil, the superiority of courage and love of life, which is what all stories teach.
How they were published
A man whom the brothers considered a friend tried to steal the fairy tales, but did not have time. In 1812, collectors were able to carry out their first publication. The works were not immediately recognized as children's works. But after professional editing, they were distributed throughout the country in large numbers. Over 20 years, it was reprinted 7 times. The list of works increased. Fairy tales from the category of simple folk art have turned into a new literary genre.
The Brothers Grimm made a genuine breakthrough, which was appreciated throughout the world. Today their work is included in the international list of the great heritage of the past created by UNESCO.
What is modern about the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm?
Adults remember the names of many fairy tales from childhood. Because the works of the Brothers Grimm, with their magical storytelling style, variety of plots, preaching love of life and perseverance in any life situations delight and attract extraordinarily.
And today we read them with pleasure with our children, remembering which fairy tales we liked best, comparing with interest with those that are popular today.
Even those who do not like fairy tales are familiar with the plots of Cinderella, Rapunzel and Thumb. All these and hundreds more fairy tales were recorded and revised by two linguist brothers. They are known to the whole world under the names Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
Family Affair
The sons of lawyer Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, were born a year apart. Jacob was born in early January 1785. The second son in the Grimm family, Wilhelm, appeared a year later, on February 24, 1786.
The young men were orphaned early. Already in 1796, they came under the care of their aunt, who did her best to support their desire to study and new knowledge.
The university for lawyers where they entered did not captivate their inquisitive minds. The Brothers Grimm became interested in linguistics, compiling a German dictionary, and from 1807 they began to write down tales they heard during their travels in Hesse and Westphalia. There was so much “fairytale” material that the Brothers Grimm decided to publish the stories they had recorded and revised.
Fairy tales not only made the brothers famous, but also gave one of the linguists family happiness. Thus, Dorothea Wild, from whose words the stories about Hansel and Gretel, Lady Snowstorm and the story about the magic table were written, later became Wilhelm’s wife.
The tales turned out to be interesting to a wide circle readers. During the brothers’ lifetime alone, their collections of fairy tales were translated into more than a hundred languages. The success kept Jacob and Wilhelm interested in their work, and they enthusiastically looked for new storytellers.
How many fairy tales did the Brothers Grimm collect?
The initial publication of the collected material by the Brothers Grimm included 49 fairy tales. In the second edition, which consisted of two volumes, there were already 170 of them. Another Grimm brother, Ludwig, participated in the printing of the second part. However, he was not a collector of fairy tales, but skillfully illustrated what Jacob and Wilhelm revised.
After the first two editions of collections of fairy tales, 5 more editions followed. In the final, 7th edition, the Brothers Grimm chose 210 fairy tales and legends. Today they are called “Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm.”
The abundance of illustrations and closeness to the original source made the fairy tales a subject for discussion and even debate. Some critics accused linguists of being too “childish” in the details of the published fairy tales.
To satisfy young readers' interest in their work, the Brothers Grimm published 50 edited fairy tales for children in 1825. Towards the middle XIX century This collection of fairy tales was reprinted 10 times.
Recognition of posterity and modern criticism
The legacy of the Grimm linguists was not forgotten even years later. They are read to children by parents all over the world, and performances are staged based on them for young spectators. The popularity of fairy tales has grown so much over the course of a century and a half that in 2005 UNESCO included the work of the Brothers Grimm in the Memory of the World list.
Screenwriters are playing with the plots of Grimm's fairy tales for new cartoons, films and even TV series.
However, like any grandiose work, the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are still subject to criticism and various interpretations. Thus, some religions call only a few fairy tales from the brothers’ heritage “useful for children’s souls,” and the Nazis at one time used their stories to promote their inhumane ideas.
Video on the topic
Many years have passed since the Brothers Grimm's "Children's and Household Fairy Tales" were first published. The publication was the most modest both in appearance and in volume: the book contained only 83 fairy tales instead of the 200 currently published. The preface introduced to the collection by the Brothers Grimm was signed on October 18, ever-memorable 1812. The book was appreciated in this era of German self-awareness, in this era of the awakening of ardent nationalist aspirations and the magnificent flowering of romance. Even during the life of the Grimm brothers, their collection, constantly supplemented by them, had already gone through 5 or 6 editions and was translated into almost all European languages.
This collection of fairy tales was almost the first, youthful work of the Grimm brothers, their first attempt on the path of scientific collection and scientific processing of monuments of ancient German literature and nationality. Following this path, the Grimm brothers later achieved great fame as luminaries of European science and, having devoted their entire lives to their enormous, truly immortal works, indirectly had a very strong influence on Russian science and on the study of the Russian language, antiquity and nationality. Their name also enjoys loud, well-deserved fame in Russia, and is pronounced by our scientists with deep respect... In view of this, we recognize that here it would not be superfluous to include a short, concise biographical sketch the life and work of the famous brothers Grimm, whom the Germans rightly call “the fathers and founders of German philology.”
By origin, the Brothers Grimm belonged to the middle class of society. Their father was first a lawyer in Hanau, and then entered the legal service of the Prince of Hanau. The Brothers Grimm were born in Hanau: Jacob - January 4, 1785, Wilhelm - February 24, 1786. From their earliest youth they were bound by the closest bonds of friendship, which did not cease until coffin board. Moreover, both of them, even by their very nature, seemed to complement each other: Jacob, as the eldest, was physically stronger than his brother Wilhelm, who was constantly very sick from a young age and only became stronger in health in old age. Their father died in 1796 and left his family in a very cramped situation, so that only thanks to the generosity of their aunt on their mother’s side, the Grimm brothers were able to complete their studies, for which they had already shown brilliant abilities very early on. They first studied at the Kassel Lyceum, then entered the University of Marburg, with the firm intention of studying legal sciences for practical activities following the example of his father. They actually listened to lectures at the Faculty of Law and studied law, but their natural inclinations began to tell and pulled them in a completely different direction. Even at the university, they began to devote all their leisure time to the study of domestic German and foreign literature, and when in 1803 the famous romantic Tieck published his “Songs of the Minnesingers,” which he prefaced with a passionate, heartfelt preface, the Grimm brothers immediately felt a strong attraction to the study of German antiquity and nationality and decided to familiarize themselves with ancient German handwritten literature in the originals. Having embarked on this path shortly after leaving university, the Grimm brothers never left it until the end of their lives.
In 1805, when Jacob Grimm had to go to Paris for a while for scientific purposes, the brothers, accustomed to living and working together, felt the burden of this separation to such an extent that they decided never to be separated for any purpose - to live together and share everything in half with each other.
Between 1805 and 1809, Jacob Grimm was in the service: for some time he was the librarian of Jerome Bonaparte in Wilhelmsgeg, and then even a state auditor. After the end of the war with France, Jacob Grimm received an order from the Elector of Kassel to go to Paris and return to the Kassel Library those manuscripts that were taken from it by the French. In 1815, he was sent along with a representative of the Electorate of Kassel to the Congress of Vienna, and a profitable diplomatic career even opened up for him. But Jacob Grimm felt complete disgust for her, and in general, in his official activities he saw only an obstacle to the pursuit of science, to which he was devoted with all his soul. That is why in 1816 he left the service, rejected the professorship offered to him in Bonn, refused large salaries and preferred over everything a modest position as a librarian in Kassel, where his brother had already been secretary of the library since 1814. Both brothers maintained this humble position until 1820, diligently indulging in their scientific research, and this period of their lives was most fruitful in relation to their scientific activity. In 1825, Wilhelm Grimm married; but the brothers still did not separate and continued to live and work together.
In 1829, the director of the Kassel Library died; his place, of course, by all rights and justice should have gone to Jacob Grimm; but a stranger who had not declared himself to be of any merit was preferred over him, and both brothers Grimm, offended by this blatant injustice, found themselves forced to resign. It goes without saying that the Brothers Grimm, who at that time had already become very famous for their works, did not remain idle. Jacob Grimm was invited to Göttingen in 1830 as a professor of German literature and senior librarian at the university there. Wilhelm entered the same place as a junior librarian and in 1831 was elevated to extraordinary, and in 1835 to ordinary professor. Both learned brothers had a good life here, especially because here they met a friendly circle, which included the first luminaries of modern German science. But their stay in Gottingen was short-lived. The new King of Hanover, who ascended the throne in 1837, planned with one stroke of the pen to destroy the constitution given to Hanover by his predecessor, which, of course, aroused general displeasure against himself throughout the country; but only seven Göttingen professors had enough civic courage to publicly protest against such an unauthorized violation of the fundamental state law. Among these seven daredevils were the Brothers Grimm. King Ernst August responded to this protest by immediately dismissing all seven professors from their positions and expelling from Hanoverian borders those of them who were not Hanoverian natives. Within three days, the Brothers Grimm had to leave Hanover and temporarily settled in Kassel. But the famous scientists stood up public opinion Germany: a general subscription was opened to provide for the Brothers Grimm from want, and two large German booksellers and publishers (Reimer and Hirtzel) approached them with a proposal to jointly compile a German dictionary on the broadest scientific basis. The Brothers Grimm accepted this offer with the greatest readiness and, after the necessary, rather lengthy preparations, set to work. But they did not have to stay in Kassel for long: their friends took care of them and found them an enlightened patron in the person of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, and when he ascended the throne in 1840, he immediately summoned the learned brothers to Berlin. They were elected members of the Berlin Academy of Sciences and, as academicians, received the right to lecture at the University of Berlin. Soon, both Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm began lecturing at the university and from then on lived in Berlin continuously until their death. Wilhelm died December 16, 1859; Jacob followed him on September 20, 1863, in the 79th year of his arduous and fruitful life.
As for the significance of the scientific activity of the Grimm brothers, it, of course, is not subject to our assessment in this short biographical note. We can limit ourselves here to only listing their most important works, which brought them great fame as European scientists, and point out the differences that existed in the activities of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and to some extent characterized their personal attitude to science.
Our page contains all the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm list - This full meeting all works. This list included fairy tales Brothers Grimm, fairy tales about animals, new fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm. The world of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm is amazing and magical, filled with a plot of good and evil. The best fairy tales The Brothers Grimm can be read on the pages of our website. Reading fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm online is very exciting and comfortable.
Fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm list
- (Der Froschk?nig oder der eiserne Heinrich)
- (Katze und Maus in Gesellschaft)
- Child of Mary (Marienkind)
- The Tale of the One Who Went to Learn from Fear (M?rchen von einem, der auszog das F?rchten zu lernen)
- The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats (Der Wolf und die sieben jungen Gei?lein)
- Faithful Johannes (Der treue Johannes)
- Successful trade / Profitable business (Der gute Handel)
- The Extraordinary Musician / The Eccentric Musician (Der wunderliche Spielmann)
- Twelve Brothers (Die zw?lf Br?der)
- The Ragged Rabble (Das Lumpengesindel)
- Brother and Sister (Br?derchen und Schwesterchen)
- Rapunzel (Bell)
- Three men in the forest / Three little forest men (Die drei M?nnlein im Walde)
- Three spinners (Die drei Spinnerinnen)
- Hansel and Gretel
- Three snake leaves (Die drei Schlangenbl?tter)
- White snake (Die weisse Schlange)
- Straw, coal and bean (Strohhalm, Kohle und Bohne)
- About a fisherman and his wife (Vom Fischer und seiner Frau)
- The Brave Little Tailor (Das tapfere Schneiderlein)
- Cinderella (Aschenputtel)
- Riddle (Das R?tsel)
- About the mouse, the bird and the fried sausage (Von dem M?uschen, V?gelchen und der Bratwurst)
- Mrs. Blizzard (Frau Holle)
- The Seven Ravens (Die sieben Raben)
- Little Red Riding Hood (Rotk?ppchen)
- The Bremen Town Musicians(Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten)
- The Singing Bone (Der singende Knochen)
- The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs (Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren)
- Lice and flea (L?uschen und Fl?hchen)
- The Girl Without Arms (Das M?dchen ohne H?nde)
- Intelligent Hans / Clever Hans (Der gescheite Hans)
- Three languages (Die drei Sprachen)
- Smart Elsa (Die kluge Else)
- The Tailor in Paradise (Der Schneider im Himmel)
- Set yourself a table, a golden donkey and a club from a sack (Tischchen deck dich, Goldesel und Kn?ppel aus dem Sack)
- Thumb Boy (Daumesdick)
- The Wedding of the Lady Fox (Die Hochzeit der Frau F?chsin)
- Brownies (Die Wichtelm?nner)
- The Robber Groom (Der Rüberbrüutigam)
- Mr. Korbes
- Mr Godfather (Der Herr Gevatter)
- Mrs. Trude / Frau Trude
- Death of the godfather / Death in the godfathers (Der Gevatter Tod)
- Thumb Boy's Journey (Daumerlings Wanderschaft)
- Strange Bird (Fitchers Vogel)
- About the Enchanted Tree (Von dem Machandelboom)
- Old Sultan (Der alte Sultan)
- Six swans (Die sechs Schw?ne)
- Briar Rose / Sleeping Beauty (Dornr?schen)
- Foundling / Foundbird (Fundevogel)
- King Thrushbeard (K?nig Drosselbart)
- Snow Maiden / Snow White (Schneewittchen)
- Knapsack, hat and horn (Der Ranzen, das H?tlein und das H?rnlein)
- Junk (Rumpelstilzchen)
- Dear Roland (Der liebste Roland)
- Golden Bird (Der goldene Vogel)
- The Dog and the Sparrow / The Dog and the Sparrow (Der Hund und der Sperling)
- Frieder and Katherlieschen
- Two Brothers (Die zwei Br?der)
- Little Man (Das B?rle)
- Queen Bee / Queen Bee (Die Bienenk?nigin)
- Three feathers (Die drei Federn)
- Golden Goose (Die goldene Gans)
- Speckled Pelt (Allerleirauh)
- Bunny's Bride/Hare's Bride (H?sichenbraut)
- Twelve Hunters (Die zw?lf J?ger)
- The Thief and His Teacher (De Gaudeif un sien Meester)
- Jorinda and Joringel
- Three lucky ones / Three lucky ones
- Six of us will go around the whole world / Six of us, we will go around the whole world (Sechse kommen durch die ganze Welt)
- The Wolf and the Man (Der Wolf und der Mensch)
- The Wolf and the Fox (Der Wolf und der Fuchs)
- The Fox and the Lady Godmother (Der Fuchs und die Frau Gevatterin)
- The Fox and the Cat (Der Fuchs und die Katze)
- Carnation (Die Nelke)
- Resourceful Gretel (Die kluge Gretel)
- Old grandfather and granddaughter (Der alte Gro?vater und der Enkel)
- The Little Mermaid / Ondine (Die Wassernixe)
- About the death of a chicken (Von dem Tode des H?hnchens)
- Brother Veselchak (Bruder Lustig)
- Hansl the Player (De Spielhansl)
- Lucky Hans (Hans im Gl?ck)
- Hans gets married (Hans heiratet)
- Golden Children (Die Goldkinder)
- The Fox and the Geese (Der Fuchs und die G?nse)
- The poor man and the rich man (Der Arme und der Reiche)
- The whining and leaping lion lark (Das singende springende L?weneckerchen)
- Goose house (Die G?nsemagd)
- The Young Giant (Der junge Riese)
- Underground Man (Dat Erdm?nneken)
- The King from the Golden Mountain (Der K?nig vom goldenen Berg)
- Crow (Die Rabe)
- The Clever Daughter of a Peasant (Die kluge Bauerntochter)
- Three birds (De drei V?gelkens)
- Living Water (Das Wasser des Lebens)
- Doctor Allwissend
- The Spirit in a Bottle (Der Geist im Glas)
- The devil's grimy brother (Des Teufels ru?iger Bruder)
- The Bugbear (Der B?renh?uter)
- The Kinglet and the Bear (Der Zaunk?nig und der B?r)
- Smart people (Die klugen Leute)
- Tales of already / M?rchen von der Unke (M?rchen von der Unke)
- The poor farmhand at the mill and the cat (Der arme M?llersbursch und das K?tzchen)
- Two Wanderers (Die beiden Wanderer)
- Hans is my hedgehog (Hans mein Igel)
- Small Shroud (Das Totenhemdchen)
- The Jew in the Thorn Bush (Der Jude im Dorn)
- The learned huntsman (Der gelernte J?ger)
- The Flail from Heaven / The Flail from Heaven (Der Dreschflegel vom Himmel)
- Two Royal Children (De beiden K?nigeskinner)
- About the resourceful little tailor (Vom klugen Schneiderlein)
- The clear sun will reveal the whole truth (Die klare Sonne bringt’s an den Tag)
- Blue candle (Das blaue Licht)
- Three paramedics (Die drei Feldscherer)
- The Seven Brave Men (Die sieben Schwaben)
- Three apprentices (Die drei Handwerksburschen)
- The king's son, who was not afraid of anything (Der K?nigssohn, der sich vor nichts f?rchtete)
- Were-Donkey (Der Krautesel)
- The Old Lady in the Forest (Die Alte im Wald)
- Three Brothers (Die drei Br?der)
- The Devil and His Grandmother (Der Teufel und seine Gro?mutter)
- Ferenand the Faithful and Ferenand the Unfaithful (Ferenand getr? und Ferenand ungetr?)
- Iron stove (Der Eisenofen)
- The lazy spinner (Die faule spinnerin)
- The Four Skillful Brothers (Die vier kunstreichen Br?der)
- One-Eyed, Two-Eyed and Three-Eyed (Ein?uglein, Zwei?uglein und Drei?uglein)
- Beautiful Katrinel and Nif-Nasr-Podtri (Die sch?ne Katrinelje und Pif Paf Poltrie)
- The Fox and the Horse (Der Fuchs und das Pferd)
- Shoes trampled in dancing (Die zertanzten Schuhe)
- Six Servants (Die sechs Diener)
- White and black brides (Die wei?e und die schwarze Braut)
- Iron Hans (Der Eisenhans)
- Three Black Princesses (De drei schwatten Prinzessinnen)
- Lamb and Fish (Das L?mmchen und Fischchen)
- Mount Simeliberg
- On the way (Up Reisen gohn)
- Donkey (Das Eselein)
- The Ungrateful Son (Der undankbare Sohn)
- Turnip (Die R?be)
- The Newly Forged Man (Das junggegl?hte M?nnlein)
- The Rooster Log (Der Hahnenbalken)
- The Old Beggar Woman (Die alte Bettelfrau)
- Three Lazy Men (Die drei Faulen)
- The Twelve Lazy Servants (Die zw?lf faulen Knechte)
- The Shepherd Boy (Das Hirtenb?blein)
- Thaler stars (Die Sterntaler)
- The Hidden Heller (Der gestohlene Heller)
- Bride (Die Brautschau)
- Garbage (Die Schlickerlinge)
- Sparrow and his four children (Der Sperling und seine vier Kinder)
- The Tale of an Unprecedented Land (Das M?rchen vom Schlaraffenland)
- Dietmar's fairy tale (Das dietmarsische L?genm?rchen)
- Tale-riddle (R?tselm?rchen)
- Snow White and Little Red (Schneewei?chen und Rosenrot)
- The Clever Servant (Der kluge Knecht)
- Glass coffin (Der gl?serne Sarg)
- Lazy Heinz (Der faule Heinz)
- Bird vulture (Der Vogel Greif)
- Mighty Hans (Der starke Hans)
- Skinny Lisa (Die hagere Liese)
- Forest House (Das Waldhaus)
- Joy and sorrow in half (Lieb und Leid teilen)
- Kinglet (Der Zaunk?nig)
- Flounder (Die Scholle)
- Bittern and Hoopoe (Rohrdommel und Wiedehopf)
- Owl (Die Eule)
- Lifetime (Die Lebenszeit)
- Harbingers of Death (Die Boten des Todes)
- Goose house at the well (Die G?nsehirtin am Brunnen)
- The Unequal Children of Eve (Die ungleichen Kinder Evas)
- The Mermaid in the Pond (Die Nixe im Teich)
- Gifts from Little People (Die Geschenke des kleinen Volkes)
- The Giant and the Tailor (Der Riese und der Schneider)
- Nail (Der Nagel)
- The poor boy in the grave (Der arme Junge im Grab)
- The Real Bride (Die wahre Braut)
- The Hare and the Hedgehog (Der Hase und der Igel)
- Spindle, weaving shuttle and needle (Spindel, Weberschiffchen und Nadel)
- The Man and the Devil (Der Bauer und der Teufel)
- Guinea pig (Das Meerh?schen)
- The Master Thief (Der Meisterdieb)
- Drummer (Der Trommler)
- Ear of bread (Die Korn?hre)
- Grave Hill (Der Grabh?gel)
- Old Rinkrank
- Crystal ball (Die Kristallkugel)
- Maid Maleen (Jungfrau Maleen)
- Buffalo Boot (Der Stiefel von B?ffelleder)
- The Golden Key (Der goldene Schl?ssel)
The Brothers Grimm were born into the family of an official in the city of Hanau (Hanau). Their father was first a lawyer in Hanau, and then dealt with legal issues for the Prince of Hanau. The elder brother, Jacob Grimm (01/04/1785 - 09/20/1863), was born on January 4, 1785, and the younger brother - Wilhelm Grimm (02/24/1786 - 12/16/1859) - on February 24, 1786. As linguists, they were one of the founders of scientific German studies and compiled the etymological “German Dictionary” (in fact, all-German). The publication of the German Dictionary, which began in 1852, was completed only in 1961, but has since been regularly revised.
From the early childhood The Brothers Grimm were united by a friendship that lasted to the grave. After the death of their father, in 1796, they had to go into the care of their maternal aunt and only thanks to her, they graduated educational institution. Perhaps it was precisely being left without parents early that rallied them into fraternal bonds for the rest of their lives.
The Brothers Grimm were always distinguished by their desire to study, they even entered the University of Marburg to study law, following the example of their father. But fate decreed otherwise and she truly found her calling in the study of literature.
The most famous fairy tales Brothers Grimm's "The Town Musicians of Bremen", "The Little Thumb", "The Brave Tailor", "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm list will provide you with a complete collection of all fairy tales. Each of us worried about the difficult fate of the boys, left alone in the forest, looking for their way home. And “smart Elsa” - all the girls wanted to be like her.