Editing Brothers Grimm (section)

== Biography ==

=== Early lives ===
[[File:Steinau Brüder-Grimm-Haus 2016-04-10-12-06-37.jpg|thumb|Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm lived in this house in [[Steinau an der Straße|Steinau]] from 1791 to 1796.]]

[[Jacob Grimm|Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm]] and [[Wilhelm Grimm|Wilhelm Carl Grimm]] were born on 4&nbsp;January 1785 and 24&nbsp;February 1786, respectively, in [[Hanau]] in the [[Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel]], within the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (present-day Germany), to [[Philipp Grimm|Philipp Wilhelm Grimm]], a [[jurist]], and [[Dorothea Grimm]] (née Zimmer), daughter of a [[Kassel]] city councilman.<ref name="Z(1988)2ff" /> They were the second- and third-eldest surviving siblings in a family of nine children, three of whom died in infancy.<ref name="Pitt" />{{efn|Frederick Herman George ({{lang|de|Friedrich Hermann Georg}}; 12 December 1783&nbsp;– 16 March 1784), [[Jacob Grimm|Jacob]], [[Wilhelm Grimm|Wilhelm]], Carl Frederick ({{lang|de|Carl Friedrich}}; 24 April 1787&nbsp;– 25 May 1852), Ferdinand Philip ({{lang|de|Ferdinand Philipp}}; 18 December 1788&nbsp;– 6 January 1845), Louis Emil ({{lang|de|Ludwig Emil}}; 14 March 1790&nbsp;– 4 April 1863), Frederick ({{lang|de|Friedrich}}; 15 June 1791&nbsp;– 20 August 1792), Charlotte "Lotte" Amalie (10 May 1793&nbsp;– 15 June 1833), and George Edward ({{lang|de|Georg Eduard}}; 26 July 1794&nbsp;– 19 April 1795).}}<ref name="Michaelis-Jena-9">{{Harvnb|Michaelis-Jena|1970|p=9}}</ref> In 1791 the family moved to the countryside town of [[Steinau an der Straße|Steinau]] during Philipp's employment there as a district [[magistrate]] ({{lang|de|[[Amtmann]]}}). The family became prominent members of the community, residing in a large home surrounded by fields. Biographer [[Jack Zipes]] writes that the brothers were happy in Steinau and "clearly fond of country life".<ref name="Z(1988)2ff" /> The children were educated at home by private tutors, receiving strict instruction as [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], which instilled in both a lifelong religious faith.<ref>Herbert Scurla: Die Brüder Grimm, Berlin 1985, pp. 14–16</ref> Later, they attended local schools.<ref name="Z(1988)2ff">{{Harvnb|Zipes|1988|pp=2–5}}</ref>

In 1796 Philipp Grimm died of pneumonia, causing great poverty for the large family. Dorothea was forced to relinquish the brothers' servants and large house, depending on financial support from her father and sister, who was then the first [[lady-in-waiting]] at the court of [[William I, Elector of Hesse]]. Jacob was the eldest living son, forced at age 11 to assume adult responsibilities (shared with Wilhelm) for the next two years. The two brothers then followed the advice of their grandfather, who continually exhorted them to be industrious.<ref name="Z(1988)2ff" />

The brothers left Steinau and their family in 1798 to attend the {{lang|de|[[Friedrichsgymnasium Kassel|Friedrichsgymnasium]]}} in [[Kassel]], which had been arranged and paid for by their aunt. By then they were without a male provider (their grandfather died that year), forcing them to rely entirely on each other and become exceptionally close. The two brothers differed in temperament—Jacob was introspective and Wilhelm was outgoing (although he often suffered from ill health)—but shared a strong work ethic and excelled in their studies. In Kassel they became acutely aware of their inferior social status relative to "high-born" students who received more attention. Each brother graduated at the head of his class, Jacob in 1803 and Wilhelm in 1804 (he missed a year of school due to [[scarlet fever]]).<ref name="Z(1988)2ff" /><ref name="Z(1988)31ff">{{Harvnb|Zipes|1988|p=31}}</ref>

=== Marburg ===
[[File:Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm.png|thumb|Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm in an 1843 drawing by younger brother [[Ludwig Emil Grimm]]]]

After graduation from the {{lang|de|Friedrichsgymnasium}}, the brothers attended the [[University of Marburg]]. The university was small with about 200 students, and there they became painfully aware that students of lower social status were not treated equally. They were disqualified from admission because of their social standing and had to request a dispensation to study law. Wealthier students received stipends, but the brothers were excluded even from tuition aid. Their poverty kept them from student activities or university social life, but their outsider status worked in their favor and they pursued their studies with extra vigor.<ref name="Z(1988)31ff" />

Inspired by their law professor, [[Friedrich Carl von Savigny|Friedrich von Savigny]], who awakened in them an interest in history and [[philology]], the brothers studied [[Middle High German literature|medieval German literature]].<ref name="Z(1988)35ff" /> They shared Savigny's desire to see the unification of the 200 German [[Principality|principalities]] into a single state. Through Savigny and his circle of friends—[[German Romanticism|German romantics]] such as [[Clemens Brentano]] and [[Ludwig Achim von Arnim]]—the Grimms were introduced to the ideas of [[Johann Gottfried Herder]], who thought that German literature should revert to simpler forms, which he defined as {{lang|de|Volkspoesie}} (natural poetry)—as opposed to {{lang|de|Kunstpoesie}} (artistic poetry).<ref name="Z(2002)7ff">{{Harvnb|Zipes|2002|pp=7–8}}</ref> The brothers dedicated themselves with great enthusiasm to their studies, of which Wilhelm wrote in his autobiography, "the ardor with which we studied Old German helped us overcome the spiritual depression of those days."<ref name="Z(2002)7">qtd. in {{Harvnb|Zipes|2002|p=7}}</ref>

Jacob was still financially responsible for his mother, brother, and younger siblings in 1805, so he accepted a post in Paris as Savigny's research assistant. On his return to Marburg he was forced to abandon his studies to support the family, whose poverty was so extreme that food was often scarce, and take a job with the Hessian War Commission. In a letter to his aunt from this time, Wilhelm wrote of their circumstances: "We five people eat only three portions and only once a day".<ref name="Z(1988)35ff">qtd. in {{Harvnb|Zipes|1988|p=35}}</ref>

=== Kassel ===
Jacob found full-time employment in 1808 when he was appointed court librarian to the [[Jérôme Bonaparte|King of Westphalia]] and went on to become a librarian in Kassel.<ref name="Pitt">{{cite web |last=Ashliman |first=D.L |title=Grimm Brothers Home Page |author-link=D. L. Ashliman|url=http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html |publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]] |access-date=11 March 2012 }}</ref> After their mother's death that year, he became fully responsible for his younger siblings. He arranged and paid for his brother [[Ludwig Emil Grimm|Ludwig]]'s studies at art school and for Wilhelm's extended visit to [[Halle (Westfalen)|Halle]] to seek treatment for heart and respiratory ailments, after which Wilhelm joined Jacob as librarian in Kassel<ref name="Z(1988)2ff" /> At Brentano's request, the brothers had begun collecting folk tales in a cursory manner in 1807.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zipes|2014|p=xxiv}}</ref> According to Zipes, at this point "the Grimms were unable to devote all their energies to their research and did not have a clear idea about the significance of collecting folk tales in this initial phase."<ref name="Z(1988)2ff" />

During their employment as librarians—which paid little but afforded them ample time for research—the brothers experienced a productive period of scholarship, publishing books between 1812 and 1830.<ref name="Z218ff">{{Harvnb|Zipes|2000|pp=218–219}}</ref> In 1812 they published their first volume of 86 folk tales, {{lang|de|Kinder- und Hausmärchen}}, followed quickly by two volumes of German legends and a volume of early literary history.<ref name="Pitt" /> They went on to publish works about [[Danish folklore|Danish]] and [[Irish mythology|Irish]] folk tales (and also [[Norse mythology]]), while continuing to edit the German folk tale collection. These works became so widely recognized that the brothers received honorary doctorates from universities in [[Marburg]], [[Berlin]], and Breslau (now [[Wrocław]]).<ref name="Z218ff" />

=== Göttingen ===
[[File:Im Kolleg bei Jacob Grimm 1830.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Jacob Grimm lecturing (illustration by [[Ludwig Emil Grimm]], {{circa|1830}})]]
On 15&nbsp;May 1825 Wilhelm married Henriette Dorothea “Dortchen” Wild, a pharmacist's daughter and childhood friend who had given the brothers several tales.<ref>See German (wikipedia.de) page on Wild (Familie) for more of Wilhelm's in-laws.</ref> Jacob never married but continued to live in the household with Wilhelm and Dortchen.<ref name="Z(1988)7ff">{{Harvnb|Zipes|1988|pp=7–9}}</ref> In 1830 both brothers were overlooked when the post of chief librarian came available, which disappointed them greatly.<ref name="Z218ff" /> They moved the household to [[Göttingen]] in the [[Kingdom of Hanover]], where they took employment at the [[University of Göttingen]]—Jacob as a professor and head librarian and Wilhelm as a professor.<ref name="Pitt" />

For the next seven years the brothers continued to research, write, and publish. In 1835 Jacob published the well-regarded ''German Mythology'' ({{lang|de|[[Deutsche Mythologie]]}}); Wilhelm continued to edit and prepare the third edition of {{lang|de|Kinder- und Hausmärchen}} for publication. The two brothers taught [[German studies]] at the university, becoming well-respected in the newly established discipline.<ref name="Z(1988)7ff" />

In 1837 the brothers lost their university posts after joining the rest of the [[Göttingen Seven]] in protest. The 1830s were a period of political upheaval and peasant revolt in Germany, leading to the movement for democratic reform known as [[Young Germany]]. The brothers were not directly aligned with the Young Germans, but they and five of their colleagues reacted against the demands of [[Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover]], who in 1837 dissolved the parliament of [[Hanover]] and demanded oaths of allegiance from civil servants—including professors at the University of Göttingen. For refusing to sign the oath, the seven professors were dismissed and three were deported from Hanover—including Jacob, who went to Kassel. He was later joined there by Wilhelm, Dortchen, and their four children.<ref name="Z(1988)7ff" />

[[File:Göttinger Sieben Brüder Grimm 2.jpg|left|upright=1.2|thumb|Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, {{circa|1837}}]]

The brothers were without income and again in extreme financial difficulty in 1838, so they began what would become a lifelong project—the writing of a definitive dictionary, the ''German Dictionary'' ({{lang|de|[[Deutsches Wörterbuch]]}})—whose first volume was not published until 1854. The brothers again depended on friends and supporters for financial assistance and influence in finding employment.<ref name="Z(1988)7ff" />

=== Berlin and later years ===
[[File:Brothers Grimm Blow.jpg|thumb|upright|Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm in 1847 ([[daguerreotype]])]]
In 1840, Savigny and Bettina von Arnim appealed successfully to [[Frederick William IV of Prussia]] on behalf of the brothers, who were offered posts at the [[Humboldt University of Berlin|University of Berlin]]. In addition to teaching posts, the [[German Academy of Sciences at Berlin|Academy of Sciences]] offered them stipends to continue their research. Once they had established their household in Berlin they directed their efforts towards the work on the German dictionary and continued to publish their research. Jacob turned his attention to researching German legal traditions and the history of the German language, which was published in the late 1840s and early 1850s; Wilhelm began researching [[medieval literature]] while editing new editions of {{lang|de|Hausmärchen}}.<ref name="Z218ff" />

[[File:Graves of the Brothers Grimm at Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof Berlin 2012.jpg|left|thumb|The graves of the Brothers Grimm in [[Schöneberg]], Berlin (St. Matthäus Kirchhof Cemetery)]]

After the [[revolutions of 1848 in the German states]] the brothers were elected to the civil parliament. Jacob became a prominent member of the National Assembly at [[Mainz]].<ref name="Z(1988)7ff" /> But their political activities were short-lived, as their hope for a unified Germany dwindled and their disenchantment grew. In the late 1840s Jacob resigned his university position and published ''The History of the German Language'' ({{lang|de|Geschichte der deutschen Sprache}}). Wilhelm continued at his university post until 1852. After retiring from teaching, the brothers devoted themselves to the ''German Dictionary'' for the rest of their lives.<ref name="Z(1988)7ff" /> Wilhelm died of an infection in Berlin on 16&nbsp;December 1859,<ref name="NG" /> and Jacob, deeply upset by his death, became increasingly reclusive. He continued working on the dictionary until his own death on 20&nbsp;September 1863. Zipes writes of the Grimms' dictionary, and of their very large body of work: "Symbolically the last word was {{lang|de|Frucht}} (fruit)."<ref name="Z(1988)7ff" />