February 24th: Birth of Wilhelm Grimm

The younger of the Brothers Grimm was born on this date in 1786. So here are 10 things you may not know about the Brothers Grimm:

1. The first names of the Brothers Grimm were Jacob and Wilhelm.
2. Jacob was just 13 months older than Wilhelm, born in January 1785.
3. The brothers were always close, attending the same schools and universities and working together as librarians in Kassel. When both were passed over for promotion there, they both left and got jobs at Gottingen University.
4. Originally, they both intended to become lawyers, like their father, but their interest in folklore and literature grew and led them to a different career.
5. Their first book was called Children's and Household Tales, published in 1812.This collection included Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel and The Frog King.
6. Wilhelm married Henriette Wild, a family friend. Jacob never married, and continued to live with his brother and sister in law.
7. They were political activists - they lost their jobs in Gottingen because they protested about the new king's policies.
8. When writing their tales, Jacob would write the first draft and Wilhelm would edit and re-write so that all the tales had a consistent style.
9. The stories were not originally written for children, but were intended to preserve Germanic folk tales. Many of the tales were quite gruesome in their original form. However, young people liked them, and over the years they were gradually sanitised in order to be suitable for younger children.
10. As well as the tales, in their later years, the brothers collaborated on a dictionary of the German language.