Jacob Grimm

Ruth B. Bottigheimer (SUNY, Stony Brook)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 4 Jan 1785
Died 20 Sep 1863
Activity 1808-1863

Places

Born in Germany
Active in Germany

Genres and Modes

Folk Literature

Activities

Primary

Antiquarian/ Collector
Editor
Story-writer

Resources

Grimm's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Childhood and Adolescence 1785-1802

Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was born on 4 January 1785 in Hanau to Dorothea Zimmer Grimm and Philipp Wilhelm Grimm. Both Reformed Protestants (rather than Lutheran), they belonged to the confession that dominated the German principalities, such as the County of Hanau, the Margravate of Kassel, and the Kingdom of Prussia, in which locations Jacob Grimm spent most of his life. Jacob Grimm's great-grandfather and grandfather had both been Reformed pastors, his father a lawyer for the Count of Hanau, first in Hanau and then in Steinau. A precocious youngster, Jacob had learned to read and write at an early age from his father's sister. The family's local prominence, financial comfort, and capacious official residence assured a stable childhood. Jacob had

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2226 words

Citation: Bottigheimer, Ruth B.. "Jacob Grimm". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 August 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1890, accessed 21 November 2024.]