What was the name of the Grimm brothers? Their literary and scientific activities

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The names of the Grimm brothers, their talent were noticed in the literary world immediately after the publication of the first works. Over the years, the tales of these wonderful writers have not lost their popularity. And their linguistic research is still relevant today.

In this article we will tell you the names of the Grimm brothers and what success they achieved in literary and scientific activities.

Short Biographical Information

The famous storytelling brothers spent most of their lives in the German town of Hanau. It is located in the county of Hesse-Kassel. This corner of Germany is the birthplace of the brothers. From here began their journey into literature and science. Do you know the names of the Brothers Grimm? Their names are Wilhelm and Jacob.

Jacob is the eldest of the Grimm brothers. He was born in 1785. Wilhelm was born in 1786. Throughout their lives, the brothers were closely linked not only by work, but also by strong friendship. Thanks to this, serious scientific works, brilliant literary works appeared.

Even in early childhood, the brothers discovered extraordinary abilities in the sciences,they showed great interest in learning. Young people received a good education thanks to the efforts of their mother relative.

To the legal sciences, which the brothers were supposed to study at the university, they gradually cooled off. They were captured by literature, philology, students were keenly interested in folklore, the culture of their country. It was this area of knowledge that became the meaning of the whole life of the brothers.

Wilhelm and Jacob were very different in character. Their contemporaries agree that the brothers incredibly complemented each other. Working together, they were able to translate the ideas of each into their work and achieve tremendous success in science and literature.

In 1840 the brothers were awarded the right to lecture at the University of Berlin. At the same time they became members of the Academy of Sciences. Their last years of life passed in Berlin. Jacob outlived Wilhelm by four years. He devoted all this time to the work that he and his brother started with.

Fairy tales in the works of writers

Jacob and Wilhelm, as the Grimm brothers were called, received a philological education. Even during their studies, they showed great interest in the oral art of their people.

Already at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the literary treasury of writers contained about two hundred fairy tales, legends, beliefs heard and written down by them. After the author's processing of the works of oral folk art, the storytellers were ready to publish their first collection. It was called "Children's and Household Tales".

Laterother books were published, the authors of which were the brothers Grimm. The writers recorded all the variants of the fairy tales they heard. This made it possible to compare oral works, find more interesting interpretations, make changes and give new life to fairy tales.

Philological research

The names of the Grimm brothers are known not only to lovers of folklore. Their scientific research work in the field of linguistics is unparalleled. Jakob and Wilhelm became the authors of an etymological dictionary of the German language, the material of which was published in 33 volumes. Scientists worked on it all the last years of his life. After the death of his younger brother, Jacob continued his research work, but he also did not have time to finish the dictionary.

The publication of it began in 1852 during the lifetime of the authors. The dictionary was published in full only in 1962 after its completion by other linguists. Modern philologists, students, schoolchildren to this day use this work in the study of the German language. The dictionary is constantly supplemented, revised, republished.

The second life of the works of the Brothers Grimm

Fairy tales were written down by brothers and presented to readers more than 150 years ago. Since then, the works have been repeatedly reprinted in different languages in many countries of the world. Based on the fairy tales, feature and animated films, serials have been created, which are a huge success among the audience. The most valuable is the film production, where the creators carefully treat the source material.

The works of the Brothers Grimm, facts from their personal lives encourage modern directors, journalists, writers to create documentaries, where the authors try to explain the gift that storytellers were endowed with, to reveal the secrets of mastery.

Memory of descendants

In the city of Kassel, in the homeland of Wilhelm and Jacob, a museum was created in memory of the writers. Here are stored books published in different years. There are copies with the writers' own notes. Some editions feature drawings by the authors.

In addition to books, you can see letters, manuscripts, and documents at thematic exhibitions. Their study allows you to more vividly imagine the life and creative research of writers. The museum management organizes exhibitions of the fund's materials not only in German cities, but also in different countries of the world.

Now you know the names of the Brothers Grimm. Their works are rightfully included in the treasury of world classical literature.