The Brothers Grimm: Jacob (1785 - 1863) and Wilhelm (1786 - 1859) are famous German philologists and researchers of German folklore. They gained worldwide fame as the authors of the collection of fairy tales "Children's and Family Tales", currently the collection is known as "Tales of the Brothers Grimm".

The German folklorists, the Brothers Grimm, are known throughout the world for their collections of fairy tales. The magical stories of the peoples of Germany captivated readers from different countries with unusual plots and a wide variety of characters. Resourceful and courageous heroes became favorites of kids who found role models in their faces. Thanks to Grimm's tales, children will gain personal experiences that can help them later in life.

Jacob and Wilhelm have done a great job traveling the country for the amazing stories created by the people. The indefatigable brothers managed to collect unique samples of folklore, the plots of which are not found anywhere else. The best fairy tales reflect the surrounding reality, helping the child to correctly perceive the actions of other people. You can get acquainted with these works on the site - it is better to read them online with adults, since a number of works have too harsh moments along the way. Parents will make sure that sensitive children avoid overly dramatic episodes.

Read the Brothers Grimm fairy tales online

A collection of unique pieces of German folk art collected from all over Germany. Authors-storytellers gave a literary look to folk works, added magic and mystics, thanks to which they won universal love and respect.

The main characters of the collection are not only people, but also talking animals. An important moral is hidden in each work, which a person of any age will understand. Going through trials with Snow White, Rapunzel or Cinderella, children will understand that the main thing in life is never to give up or lose heart. You can read the amazing fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm both alone and in a friendly company, while getting additional pleasure. The world of fairy tales will awaken the imagination of the child, contributing to the creative development of the baby and expanding his horizons.

The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales is a collection of the best fairy tales by world famous authors.

For the first time, the collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm was published in 1812 and it was called "Children's and Family Tales". All works were collected in German lands and processed to give literary and some miraculous magic that the children liked. It makes no sense to read all the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm at the same age. The list of them is long, but not all are good, besides, not every one will be useful for young children.

Publication of the first book by the Brothers Grimm

In order to publish their book, the brothers Grimm had to endure many hardships, events unfolded from a completely unimaginable side. Having printed the manuscript for the first time, they passed it on to their friend. However, it turned out that Clemens Brentano was not their friend at all. Having considered a gold mine in the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, he simply disappeared from the sight of his friends and, as they later began to suspect, decided to publish fairy tales on his own behalf. The manuscript was found many years after the death of the authors. It contained 49 fairy tales, unique in their kind, heard from the narrator Gessen.

Having survived the betrayal of their best friend, the Brothers Grimm woke up and decided to publish the book without any excesses and expenses: illustrations and decorations. So on December 20, 1812, the first book of the authors was published, the first volume already contained 86 works - this is how ordinary people read the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm for the first time. After 2 years, the list of fairy tales has increased by another 70 fairy tales for children.

Everyone began to read fairy tales!

Absolutely everyone began to read the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, stories were passed from mouth to mouth and gradually the storytellers became widely known persons, respect and love for whom grew by leaps and bounds. People came to them, helped them with whatever they could, and thanked them for a piece of joy that they bring to their beloved children. Inspired by the idea to collect as many folk works as possible, to add a little magic and educational nuances useful to children, the brothers worked tirelessly until the end of their lives. So for more than 20 more years, the brothers released not many 7 editions, moreover, with abundant illustrations and a high-quality cover for those times.

At all times, both children and adults loved to read the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, although some people did not consider them suitable for small children. Too adult stories and sometimes profound reasoning frightened the parents. Therefore, the brothers Grimm were not too lazy and edited some of the tales, reorienting them to the youngest children. In this form, they have come down to us. On our site, we tried to add fairy tales in the original children's version only in the best translations into Russian.

And it also happens ...

The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm seriously influenced the attitude towards fabulous creativity, if before them fairy tales were often too simple, then the stories of the brothers can be called a literary innovation, a breakthrough. Subsequently, many people were inspired by the search for wonderful folk tales and their publication. Including the authors of the site decided to contribute to the development and entertainment of modern children.

Among other things, let's not forget that the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm figure no less, but in the UNESCO international fund in the section dedicated to memorable, great works. And such a recognition says a lot and a lot of things cost two kind storytellers Grimm.

Nearly seventy percent of all adults on Earth love to read fairy tales. Reading fairy tales, you seem to be immersed in another magical world, moving away from real realities. Each storyteller had his own way of writing fairy tales: Charles Perrault wrote in a romantic style, Andersen wrote about the life of ordinary people in life, and the Brothers Grimm had a slight mysticism in their fairy tales, and some of their fairy tales can be confidently called frightening. Let's talk today about the Brothers Grimm: folklorists, linguists, researchers of German folk culture, and then storytellers from Germany Jacob and Wilhelm.

So, before you the most famous fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm according to the website:

Briefly about the life and career choice of the Brothers Grimm

Brothers Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859) Grimm were born eight years apart into an ordinary family in the German city of Hanau. The storytellers' brothers showed their love for folklore even in childhood, when their mother told them old legends and tales, and in adolescence their interest grew first into a hobby, and then into the meaning of their life. Strange brothers traveled across the country in search of surviving witnesses of ancient folklore, collecting eyewitnesses, writing down information valuable to them from their words. Throughout their life and creative activity, Jacob and Wilhelm created and published several collections called "Tales of the Brothers Grimm", which very quickly became popular and reached our ears. And now let's remember the most famous, most interesting and scary tales of the Brothers Grimm.

"The Tale of the Frog King, or Iron Henry"

This tale is the very first story in the first volume of their collection of fairy tales and legends. The story of an ungrateful princess and a kind frog, who took pity on a crying girl and believed her promises of eternal friendship, took her golden ball from the bottom of a deep well. But as soon as the princess got her ball back, she immediately forgot her promise. The frog turned out to be a real enchanted prince, but this will be revealed much later.

"White and Rosette"

I wanted to put this fairy tale at the very beginning of our list, since it is my favorite. The tale of two sisters Belyanochka and Rosochka with kind hearts who fell in love with a bear and a falcon, not knowing that they are the prince and his friend bewitched by a formidable forest sorcerer-bearded man.

Thrushbeard King

One of the Brothers Grimm's most instructive tales is that pride and arrogance are bad allies and friends. The proud princess could not choose her betrothed in any way and only ridiculed all the applicants. And once a real king came to the palace to ask her hand in marriage, and in response he heard offensive speeches. And then the wise king decided to teach the cruel princess a lesson by pretending to be a poor musician.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The most famous and popular fairy tale of brothers storytellers who knew how to tell life stories in a fairy-tale manner. The beautiful princess, nicknamed Snow White for her snow-white skin, was born too beautiful, which crossed the path of an evil stepmother and a sorceress, who wants to be the most beautiful in the whole kingdom. The father, the king, could not destroy his daughter, but also leave her in the palace, too, so he left her in the forest, but here the kind heart of Snow White found refuge and comfort among the little gnomes - the inhabitants of this wonderful forest.

The Bremen Town Musicians

This fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm can be called the most beloved and popular not only in the post-Soviet space, but throughout the world. Wandering animal musicians, heading to the city of Bremen, travel the world, singing songs and performing in the open air for curious spectators and onlookers. But one day a donkey, a rooster, a cat and a dog stumble upon the hut of the bandits and, with their singing, force them to leave their home and go wherever they look, and the cunning friends, the musicians, have forever remained masters in their house.

And about the best, read the site on our website by clicking on the link.

A fairy tale about a king and his curious servant, who poked his nose into everything. After a long meal, the king always ordered another meal to be brought. No one could know what this dish was, not even the servant. But one day curiosity overcame the guy so much that he could not resist and opened the lid of the dish. From what he saw, he was very surprised, a white snake was lying on a platter. The servant could not resist trying such a tidbit. As soon as he put it in his mouth, he heard not ordinary singing outside the window, but thin voices like a ray of sunshine. He realized that the meat of the snake was magical and now he can hear the voices of beasts. From that day on, the servant no longer wanted to serve the king, he decided to wander the world in search of a better life. And as happens in fairy tales, after many dangerous (and not so) adventures, he found his princess, married her and became a king.

A very instructive tale about the wanderings and dangerous adventures of a brother and sister, who were betrayed by their parents, leaving them to die in the forest. What helped two small children survive in terrible impassable places, where there are many wild animals and evil robbers? This, of course, is friendship, trust. And also the fearlessness of Hansel's older brother, whose goal and great desire was to protect his sister Gretel from the terrible hands of an evil sorceress. The fairy tale was created for children, but we, parents, should read it and rethink a lot and learn a lot from these persistent and not childishly sensible children, and most importantly, to understand that there is no greater happiness and wealth than our own children in the world. And no sorrows and misfortunes should force us to abandon them in trouble.

By the way, on our website there is an interesting article about which should be on the shelf of every child.

From the first lines of the tale, we learn about the difficult fate of the little stepdaughter, about the evil stepmother and the lazy daughter, whom we cherished and pitied when the stepdaughter got all the dirty and hard work. Once the stepdaughter dropped a spindle into the well, confessing this to her stepmother, she heard an angry answer: "I dropped it myself and get it out." The poor girl had no choice but to jump into the well. When she touched the bottom with her feet, a magical land appeared to her eyes. Passing the windows of a beautiful house, the stepdaughter saw Madame Blizzard. She liked the girl so much, and she invited her to serve with her.

The stepdaughter remained, she was hardworking and did her job conscientiously. When the time came to return home, Mrs. Metelitsa generously presented the girl with gifts. Seeing this, the stepmother burst into anger, envy overcame her heart. She sent her daughter to the well and ordered to bring even more gifts. But the lazy and clumsy daughter deserved only a cauldron of resin, which overturned on her. So the stepmother could not wash her from her daughter. Laziness and envy are bad fellow travelers, it is better to be kind and hardworking - this is the moral of this tale.

Goose maker

The tale of a beautiful princess who, by the will of fate, had to graze geese. By deceit and slander by the evil servant who took her place, the princess was left in the castle out of pity and allowed to help the goopas. Over time, they began to call her - Gusyatnitsa. But the girl was so beautiful, sophisticated and aristocratic that everyone who saw her did not believe that she was a commoner. The princess had a talking horse named Falada. The maid, who was pretending to be the queen, was very afraid that Falada would expose her and ordered to kill the horse.

The princess was very upset, but there was nowhere to go, she asked the flayer to nail the horse's head under the gate leading from the castle. So he did, and every morning the princess spoke to the head of a horse as she drove the geese to the pasture. Time passed, and for a long time the princess would have tended the geese, but the old king found out about it, and everything became clear to him. He took a real princess by the hand and led her to the prince, and ordered the maid to be executed. Good always triumphs over evil, even if not in life, but at least in a fairy tale.

The worst fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm

Once Lucifer himself came to the miller and demanded for all the wealth that he once gave him, now give him what he had behind the mill, and at that time the miller's daughter was sitting there and spinning yarn. When the miller's daughter refused to go with Satan, he ordered her father to cut off her hands and drive her out of the house. So, the poor girl wandered through the forest for a long time until the king met her and fell in love despite her injuries.

The shortest fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm

"Three Spinners"

The plot of this tale is really quite laconic and short. One day, driving past a village, the queen heard a girl crying and stopped to ask about the reasons. The girl's mother could not tell the queen that her daughter did not know how to spin and lied that she could not tear her daughter away from the spinning wheel so much she spins, and since she cannot do what she loves, she cries bitterly. Then the queen wished to take the girl with her, because she has enough yarn for the whole kingdom and if she spins all the flax in a short time, then the queen will marry her off to her son. Three spinners came to the aid of the girl who did not know how to spin ...

Finally

Each storyteller has his own style and manner of writing fairy tales. For Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm from old Germany, all their legends and retellings for some reason turned out to be rather gloomy, mystical, and sometimes even scary, but no less intriguing and interesting. Today we recalled the most beloved and famous fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, each of their fairy tales, as you have already noticed, has its own morality and science. TopCafe editors are waiting for your answer, what are your favorite Brothers Grimm fairy tales for a long time in your memory?

😉 Hello, my dear readers! In the article "The Brothers Grimm: Biography, Interesting Facts" - the story of the life of famous brothers - storytellers. You will learn a lot of interesting things.

Each of us is familiar with the Brothers Grimm and their fairy tales that go with us through life: first in our childhood, then in the childhood of our children and our grandchildren.

The appearance of such a seemingly "frivolous" book - a collection of fairy tales by these brothers - made a revolution in philology. It doesn't even make sense to list the heroes of fairy tales, just as it is impossible to remember all the films, performances, collections, research works related to the work of the Brothers Grimm.

They lived, as for that time, long enough. They created to their last breath and left a huge creative legacy.

But one cannot fail to say why few of the researchers of their work pay attention to the fantastic, inseparable, sometimes even obscure fraternal friendship, to which they have remained faithful throughout their lives.

The origins of this friendship, apparently, as always, must be sought in childhood. And it was not very funny, although the Grimm family belonged to the so-called middle class. My father was a lawyer in the city of Hanau (Germany). Then he worked in the position of, as they would say today, the prince's legal consultant.

Biography of the Brothers Grimm

The boys were born one by one. Elder - Jacob - January 4, 1785 (Capricorn), Wilhelm - February 24 (Pisces) of the next year. The brothers grew up together, loved to walk in nature, observe animals, draw them, collect herbariums. This is how love for the native land was laid.

For a long time, there have been discussions about what exactly unites these or other peoples: the similarity of the economic structure, the common army, the shape of the skull (as someone imagined), or, perhaps, language?

It turns out that folk myths, tales, parables, collected under one cover and edited in a new way, but taking into account all the traditional signs of German grammar, which did not exist yet, can play a significant role in all this.

With regard to the Brothers Grimm, we are dealing with an amazing phenomenon: fairy tales gave birth to grammar! Germany, as a matter of fact, did not exist then. Scattered across the European expanses, the principalities had little in common, except that the similarity of orthoepic designs.

When the brothers were 10 and 11 years old, respectively, their father died. Then for the family it was literally a collapse of hopes, which still did not have time to form! In addition to Jacob and Wilhelm, the family also had a younger brother and three very little sisters - children like peas!

But they were lucky. A rather wealthy aunt - relatives by her mother - took upon herself both the costs and care of the further arrangement of the children in everyday life and education. The boys were sent first to the Kassel Lyceum, and since both turned out to be capable of studying, they entered the University of Marburg without much difficulty.

They chose, of course, following the example of their late father - jurisprudence. What else? By the way, it was here that fraternal relations have gone through strength tests. Jacob entered the university six months earlier than Wilhelm, and they had to part for a while.

It turned out to be too hard to live separately! So they never parted for a long time again.