them famous (a common misconception) the brothers did do a huge
amount of research, sourcing folk tales from far and wide. The roots
for Little Red Riding Hood can apparently be found in the local
Schwalm region, where unmarried girls in the 18th century wore red
caps, but many others came from further afield. Some sources were
from Huguenot families (French Protestants), who fled persecution
in the 18th century, and brought stories like Cinderella and Sleeping
Beauty with them. I could browse here all day, but the road is waiting.
EVEN
AT MID AFTERNOON, the shadows were thick
among the trees. And was that a wolf, howling in
the distance? Just as she started to doubt her sanity, she saw a light.
After a long day’s drive, I would have settled for a house made of
straw, so arriving at Dornröschenschloss (Sleeping Beauty’s Castle;
sababurg.de
)
was magical. Buried deep in the Reinhard forest, it’s
located within the highwalls of the world’s oldest animal park (hence
the wolves). Once a hunting lodge of the local count, it’s now half
ruin, half boutique hotel with two chunky turrets and oodles of
charm. Staying here makes my inner child dance with joy.
Returning to a turret room after a ‘Brothers Grimm meal’,
featuring dishes from the stories, including truffled bread soup with
sherry and rose Champagne sorbet, some kind elves must have crept
in, as the sheets are turned down and tiny lights twinkle in the
canopy of the four-poster bed. There’s even a little copy of
Sleeping
Beauty
for some nighttime reading.
It doesn’t last quite 100 years but there’s nothing like a doze in a
turret to restore any princess, so I’m in good humour for breakfast
and a meeting with owner, Günther Koseck. His family has owned
the castle since 1957 and it still gets thousands of visitors, including a
huge number of Japanese and, last year, even Brad Pitt.
He says fairy tales are still so popular because: “They go right to the
very roots of life. To what is good, what is bad, what is truth.” As I
thank him for his hospitality, he’s keen to explain that women of high
status were often given the rooms high in the turrets. “They weren’t
allowed outside the castle walls because of enemies and wild animals,
so those windows gave them the best view of the outside world.”
Women kept in a tower? This seems like timely information as
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