Wilhelm Grimm
Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl;[a] 24 February
1786 – 16 December 1859) was a German author and Wilhelm Grimm
anthropologist. He was the younger brother of Jacob
Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm.
Life and work
Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, in
Hesse-Kassel. In 1803, he started studying law at the
University of Marburg, one year after his brother Jacob
started there. The two brothers spent their entire lives
close together. In their school days, they had one bed
and one table in common; as students, they had two
beds and two tables in the same room. They always
lived under one roof and had their books and property
in common.[5] Born Wilhelm Carl Grimm
24 February 1786
In 1825, 39-year-old Wilhelm married pharmacist's Hanau, Landgraviate of Hesse-
daughter Henriette Dorothea Wild, also known as Kassel, Holy Roman Empire
Dortchen.[6] Wilhelm's marriage did not change the Died 16 December 1859 (aged 73)
harmony of the brothers.[5] Richard Cleasby visited the Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia,
brothers and observed, "they both live in the same German Confederation
house, and in such harmony and community that one Alma mater University of Marburg
might almost imagine the children were common Children Herman Grimm
property."[5][7] Parents Philipp Grimm (father)
Dorothea Grimm (mother)
Wilhelm's character was a complete contrast to that of
his brother. As a boy, he was strong and healthy, but Relatives Jacob Grimm (brother)
Ludwig Emil Grimm (brother)
while growing up he suffered a long and severe illness
Gisela von Arnim (daughter-in-
which left him weak the rest of his life. He had a less
law)
comprehensive and energetic mind than his brother, Ludwig Hassenpflug (brother-in-
and he had less of the spirit of investigation, preferring law)
to confine himself to some limited and definitely
bounded field of work. He utilized everything that bore
directly on his own studies and ignored the rest. These studies were almost always of a literary nature.[5]
Wilhelm took great delight in music, for which his brother had but a moderate liking, and he had a
remarkable gift of story-telling. Cleasby relates that "Wilhelm read a sort of farce written in the Frankfort
dialect, depicting the 'malheurs' of a rich Frankfort tradesman on a holiday jaunt on Sunday. It was very
droll, and he read it admirably." Cleasby describes him as "an uncommonly animated, jovial fellow." He
was, accordingly, much sought in society, which he frequented much more than his brother.[5]
A collection of fairy tales was first published in 1812 by the
Grimm brothers, known in English as Grimms' Fairy Tales.
From 1837 to 1841, the Grimm brothers joined five of their
colleague professors at the University of Göttingen to form a
group known as the Göttinger Sieben (The Göttingen Seven). They
protested against Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover, whom they
accused of violating the constitution. All seven were fired by the
king. The Grimms' tomb in Berlin
Wilhelm Grimm died in Berlin of an infection at the age of 73 on
December 16, 1859.
Children
Wilhelm and Henriette had four children together:
Jacob (3 April 1826 – 15 December 1826)
Herman Friedrich (6 January 1828 – 16 June 1901), also a noted writer
Rudolf Georg (31 March 1830 – 13 November 1889)
Barbara Auguste Luise Pauline Marie (21 August 1832 – 9 February 1919)
Notes
a. The Neue Deutsche Biographie records their names as "Grimm, Jacob Ludwig Carl"[1] and
"Grimm, Wilhelm Carl".[2] The Deutsches Biographisches Archiv records Wilhelm's name as
"Grimm, Wilhelm Karl".[2] The Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie gives the names as "Grimm:
Jacob (Ludwig Karl)"[3] and "Grimm: Wilhelm (Karl)".[4] The National Union Catalog Pre-
1956 Imprints also gives Wilhelm's name as "Grimm, Wilhelm Karl".[2]
References
1. Deutsche National Bibliothek (http://d-nb.info/gnd/118542257), citing Neue Deutsche
Biographie.
2. Deutsche National Bibliothek (http://d-nb.info/gnd/118542265), citing Neue Deutsche
Biographie, Deutsches Biographisches Archiv and The National Union Catalog Pre-1956
Imprints.
3. Wilhelm Scherer (1879), "Grimm, Jacob (Ludwig Karl)", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in
German), vol. 9, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 678–688
4. Wilhelm Scherer (1879), "Grimm, Wilhelm (Karl)", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in
German), vol. 9, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 690–695
5. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain: Sweet, Henry (1911). "Grimm, Wilhelm Carl". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.).
Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 602.
6. "The Secret History of the Grimm Fairy Tales – #FolkloreThursday" (https://folklorethursday.
com/creative-corner/secret-history-grimm-fairy-tales/). 6 April 2017. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
7. "Life of Cleasby," prefixed to his Icelandic Dictionary, p. lxix.
External links
Works by the Brothers Grimm in eBook form (https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jacob-grim
m_wilhelm-grimm) at Standard Ebooks
Grimm Brothers' Home Page (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html)
Works by Wilhelm Grimm (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/972) at Project
Gutenberg
Works by Wilhelm Carl Grimm (https://fadedpage.com/csearch.php?author=Grimm%2C%20
Wilhelm%20Carl) at Faded Page (Canada)
Works by or about Wilhelm Grimm (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%22Grimm%
2C+Wilhelm%22+OR+%22Wilhelm+Grimm%22%29) at the Internet Archive
Works by Wilhelm Grimm (https://librivox.org/author/1569) at LibriVox (public domain
audiobooks)
Household Tales by the Brothers Grimm, translated by Margaret Hunt (http://www.surlalunef
airytales.com/authors/grimms.html) (This site is the only one to feature all of the Grimms'
notes translated in English along with the tales from Hunt's original edition. Andrew Lang's
introduction is also included.)
Literature by and about Wilhelm Grimm (https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSear
ch&cqlMode=true&query=idn%3D118542265) in the German National Library catalogue
Works by and about Wilhelm Grimm (https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/entity/1185
42265) in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library)
There is literature about Wilhelm Grimm (http://cbsopac.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/DB=2.4/REL?PP
N=127898867) in the Hessian Bibliography
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