Collecting the tales
- When
- 1811–1812
- Where
- Kassel as the brothers' base; collecting also in Westphalia
Before publication, the Grimms gathered folktales from oral informants and written sources, including Wilhelm's 1811 Westphalia contacts.
In the period before publication the brothers collected all the folktales they could find, partly from the mouths of the people and partly from manuscripts and books. Wilhelm collected some tales after befriending August von Haxthausen, whom he visited in 1811 in Westphalia, where he heard stories from von Haxthausen's circle of friends. This collecting formed the basis of the 1812 volume and established a methodology that became foundational for folklore studies.
Sources
- Jacob Grimm Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-02
- Brothers Grimm Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-23
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