WIZZ MAGAZINE
/
17
T H E B UZ Z
Two hundred years after the
publication of the world’s
most popular fairytales,
Germany celebrates the work
of its two fabled storytellers
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were
storytellers, fairytale weavers
and dream-makers. Last
December marked the 200th
anniversary of
The Children’s
and Household’s Tales
,
their
collection of 86 tales. Better
known as
Grimm’s Fairytales,
the stories continue to be
children’s favourites. Now the
600
km-long Germany Fairytale
Route marks a year of festivities,
based on these magical tales
and the land that inspired them.
Their birthplace Hanau,
near
Frankfurt
,
is worth a visit
between May and June, for
the annual Brothers Grimm
Fairytale Festival at Philippsruhe
Palace. Or you could journey
through the Snow White village
of Bad Wildungen from May
onwards for 5 Auf Einen Streich
(‘
Five in One Blow’). Not as
gruesome as it sounds, this is a
five-week long festival devoted
to legends, myths and fairytales
across five neighbouring towns
on the German Fairytale Route.
Or hike the Schwalm River, the
setting for Little Red Riding
Hood. Though the forest is deep
and the trees towering, the big
bad wolf is nowhere to be seen
and the lovely town of Schwalm
is just round the corner.
Don’t pass up a trip to
Kassel, where the brothers
worked as librarians while
sourcing and rewriting their
stories. As part of the Brothers
Grimm Festival (18 July – 18
August) musical versions of the
fables will be performed on a
floating stage in Schönefeld
Park. Expedition Grimm (27
April – 8 September) indulges
in an extensive display of
memorabilia relating to their
contributions not just to
children’s literature, but to
the political and linguistic
landscape of the nation, in an
interactive display spanning
200
enchanting years. And
spare some time to visit the
Brothers Grimm Museum, which
houses the original annotated
copies of our childhoods.
Grimm 2013 hosts a year of
events (
grimm2013.de
)
on
the Germany Fairytale Route.
germanfairytaleroute.com
The Brothers Grimm
This beautiful book
celebrates 200 years
of the Brothers Grimm’s
fairytales, with new
translations of 27 stories
and vintage illustrations
from the 1820s to 1950s.
The Fairy Tales of the
Brothers Grimm
(
Taschen, £24.99).
A LITTLE
FRIGHT
READING
