Once upon a time, in thickly forested central Germany, there lived two brothers by the name of Grimm. The elder, Jacob Ludwig Carl, was always serious beyond his years; the younger, Wilhelm Carl, although sickly, was personable and friendly.
From early childhood, they both loved tales of enchantment about generous kings and good-hearted queens, golden-haired princesses saved from disaster by princes, castles and cozy cottages, wicked witches and cruel stepmothers.
Jacob was born in 1785, a year before Wilhelm, in Hanau, now a traffic-congested suburb east of Frankfurt.
Jacob was born in 1785, a year before Wilhelm, in Hanau, now a traffic-congested suburb east of Frankfurt.
Their birthplace was destroyed during World War II, but in Neustädter Marktplatz there stands a larger-than-life bronze statue of the dour-faced workaholic brothers--appropriately pondering a large book. This marks the beginning of the Deutsche Märchenstrasse, the German Fairy-Tale Road.
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