The Grimm brothers’ fairytale collection

Grimm’s fairytales are the common name for a famous collection of fairytales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the years 1812 to 1858.

At the suggestion of the Romantic Clemens Brentano and others, the brothers originally collected fairy tales from their circle of acquaintances and from literary works for Brentano’s folk song collection “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” from 1806.

Since 2005, the fairy tales have been part of the World Heritage List. Listed are 14 books of collected fairytales and 2 books filled with commentaries. They all date back to the years between 1812 and 1857. Those first editions of the personal heritage of the Grimm family have lots of handwritten comments and additional notes made by the Grimm Brothers. The first edition contained 155 fairy tales - by the time the sixth edition was published, there were more than 210 fairy tales. The best known are "Snow White", "Cinderella" and "Hänsel and Gretel".

Along with the Luther Bible the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are the best-known and most widely distributed book in German cultural history worldwide. They are also the first systematic summary and scientific documentation of the European fairytale tradition.