Editing Brothers Grimm (section)

{{short description|Brother duo of German academics and folklorists}}
{{other uses|Brothers Grimm (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
[[File:Grimm.jpg|thumb|Wilhelm Grimm (left) and Jacob Grimm (right), portrayed by [[Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann]] (1855)]]
The '''Brothers Grimm''' ({{langx|de|die Brüder Grimm}} or {{lang|de|die Gebrüder Grimm}}), [[Jacob Grimm|Jacob]] (1785–1863) and [[Wilhelm Grimm|Wilhelm]] (1786–1859), were [[Germans|German]] academics who together collected and published [[folklore]]. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of [[Oral tradition|folktale]]s, popularizing stories such as "[[Cinderella]]" ("{{lang|de|Aschenputtel}}{{-"}}), "[[The Frog Prince (story)|The Frog Prince]]" ("{{lang|de|Der Froschkönig}}"), "[[Hansel and Gretel]]" ("{{lang|de|Hänsel und Gretel}}{{-"}}), "[[Town Musicians of Bremen]]" ("{{lang|de|Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten}}"), "[[Little Red Riding Hood]]" ("{{lang|de|Rotkäppchen}}"), "[[Rapunzel]]", "[[Rumpelstiltskin]]" ("{{lang|de|Rumpelstilzchen}}"), "[[Sleeping Beauty]]" ("{{lang|de|Dornröschen}}"), and "[[Snow White]]" ("{{lang|de|Schneewittchen}}"). Their first collection of folktales, ''[[Grimms' Fairy Tales|Children's and Household Tales]]'' ({{lang|de|Kinder- und Hausmärchen}}), was first  published in 1812.

The Brothers Grimm spent their formative years in the town of [[Hanau]] in the [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel]]. Their father's death in 1796 (when Jacob was 11 and Wilhelm 10) caused great poverty for the family and affected the brothers many years after. Both brothers attended the [[University of Marburg]], where they developed a curiosity about [[German folklore]], which grew into a lifelong dedication to collecting German folktales.

The rise of [[Romanticism]] in [[History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914)|19th-century Europe]] revived interest in traditional folk stories, which to the Brothers Grimm represented a pure form of national literature and culture. With the goal of researching a scholarly treatise on folktales, they established a methodology for collecting and recording folk stories that became the basis for [[folkloristics|folklore studies]]. Between 1812 and 1857 their first collection was revised and republished many times, growing from 86 stories to more than 200. In addition to writing and modifying folktales, the brothers wrote collections of well-respected [[Germanic mythology|Germanic]] and [[Norse mythology|Scandinavian]] [[Mythology|mythologies]], and in 1838 they began writing a definitive German dictionary ({{lang|de|[[Deutsches Wörterbuch]]}}), which they were unable to finish.

The popularity of the Grimms' collected folktales has endured. They are available in more than 100 translations and have been adapted by renowned filmmakers, including [[Lotte Reiniger]] and [[Walt Disney]], in films such as ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]''. In the mid-20th century, [[Nazi Germany]] weaponized the tales for [[Propaganda in Nazi Germany|propaganda]]; later in the 20th century, psychologists such as [[Bruno Bettelheim]] reaffirmed the work's value despite the sexuality, cruelty, and violence in some of the tales' original versions, which were eventually censored by the Grimms themselves.