The Political Influence of the Brothers Grimm: Revolution, Nationalism, and Civil Courage

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Written by press service on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, 12:03 a.m. | 0 comments

by Uwe Blass

“Once upon a time….” People around the world associate these words with fairy tales. They were collected more than 200 years ago by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the world-famous “Children’s and Household Tales”, which also went down in history themselves. But the Brothers Grimm were much more than just collectors of fairy tales. Politically and scientifically, they had a lasting influence on the development of German politics and language. Prof. Dr. Ewald Grothe **), historian at the University of Bergen, deals with the two founders of German studies, who represented their political opinions with courage and civil courage throughout their lives. “They were German scholars, but had originally also studied law in Marburg,” explains Grothe. But all of this took a while, because after their studies they initially worked as librarians in the state capital Kassel. In 1830 the brothers were appointed professors at the University of Göttingen. However, they achieved fame through their publications of children’s and household fairy tales (1812/15) and the “German Dictionary” (1838 ff.).

Politics had a strong influence on Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm even as children. “They were born in 1785 and 1786 and were therefore born shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolution. The revolution was followed by Napoleon and through the turmoil of the revolutionary events and Napoleon’s subsequent wars, including the occupation of Germany, they were shaped by politics very early on,” says the historian, giving a clear example. “In 1797, as teenagers, they made a drawing together depicting the execution of the French King Louis XVI. shows. This is very remarkable, but it has to do with the fact that in the family, all of whom were lawyers and priests, there was certainly a lot of talk about politics, so that this child’s drawing basically expresses the mood of the time with which they were confronted. If a child of 10 or 11 came home today with a drawing of an execution, the parents would certainly be extremely alarmed.”

Collection of fairy tales is intended to awaken historical and national awareness

Politics also had a decisive influence on the fairy tale collection, explains Grothe, because “the first volume of the fairy tale collection appeared in 1812 and the second volume in 1815 and was created from a compilation of fairy tales told by the Brothers Grimm. So they didn’t write them themselves, but some of them come from French and Italian models and sources that then came to Germany via the Huguenots, for example.” The collection was created at a time when there was a lot in the brothers’ environment German and European traditions were collected in order to explore the respective “national spirit”. “This also includes German folk songs. This collecting activity was intended to awaken a historical consciousness and a national consciousness in the Romantic era, when Germany was occupied by the French.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and their Stuttgart publisher had already had the plan to create the first German dictionary around 1830. However, the implementation was due to a certain financial need, reports Grothe, because the following happened in 1837. “The Grimms were now working as professors in Göttingen and the new Hanoverian king, Ernst August I, a British prince – Hanover was in personal union with Great Britain – suspended Hanover’s fairly liberal constitution from 1833. The Grimms protest against this with five other professors, the famous Göttingen Seven, who were all fired as a result. Two of them, namely the historian Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann and Jacob Grimm as the ringleader, were then also expelled from the country. As a result, the Grimms and the other five professors were initially unemployed. That’s why the plan was implemented to create a ‘German Dictionary’, which would then simply serve as a source of income.” The creation of the “German Dictionary” and the dismissal of the Göttingen Seven are evidence of the direct connections between political events and the Creation of a scientific product.

Not politicians, but politically minded contemporaries

“The Grimms were never actually politicians, but they were politically minded contemporaries. This applies to both brothers, although Wilhelm limited his political expressions to private correspondence and a few newspaper articles,” reports Grothe. The situation is completely different with Jacob Grimm, because at the end of the 1800s he was already a librarian in the service of King Jérômes, a brother of Napoleon, who was then King of Westphalia. This gave him direct contact with politics. But Jérôme had to flee in 1813, Napoleon’s rule fell and the former elector, Wilhelm I, returned to Kassel. “He then sends Jacob to the Hessian embassy in Vienna. So Jacob becomes secretary of the embassy and is present in Vienna in the run-up to and around the Congress of Vienna, planning the restoration of Germany, a possible German Empire.” Jacob Grimm also worked academically during this time. Among other things, he evaluated manuscripts in the Vienna library, created a list in Paris of the art objects kidnapped from Kassel and ensured that they were returned. “His attitude towards the elector was very critical because he complained about his outdated regime and Jacob Grimm, who was open to reforms, also clashed over questions with his brother-in-law, Ludwig Hassenpflug, who became minister of the interior and justice in Hesse as a conservative in the 1830s Constitution and fundamental rights are quite at odds with each other.” In 1840, both brothers were employed again by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who appointed them as professors at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. In 1848 Jacob was finally elected to the Frankfurt National Assembly.

In 1848, the Kölner Zeitung called for the election of Jacob Grimm to the National Assembly

Jacob Grimm had made a name for himself in political and scientific circles over the years. “By 1837 at the latest, he had become so politically exposed that he was considered a liberal star, as people said at the time,” says Grothe. What’s more, some even saw him as a martyr who even accepted his dismissal for his convictions. “When he was elected to the National Assembly in 1848, a Cologne newspaper finally called for Jacob Grimm to be elected because he was such a famous man, such an important scientist who had already stood up for the German nation. And, strangely enough, he is then elected in a constituency in Mülheim an der Ruhr. That didn’t depend on where he lived, because he was living in Berlin at the time, but he was then able to move into the Paulskirche in Frankfurt.” Grimm presented a draft for the first article of fundamental rights to the National Assembly, which read: “The German people are one Free people and German soil do not tolerate servitude. He frees foreign unfree people who stay on him.” However, his suggestion for improvement was rejected by a narrow majority and he soon withdrew into private life, especially since he was already 63 years old at the time.

“Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are still useful as role models today,” Grothe concludes, “because with their courage in 1837 to stand up for a constitution that had been deliberately repealed, they showed civil courage that we can use at all times it is about essential human rights, fundamental or constitutional rights and democracy.”

Scientific research and development, the acquisition of knowledge and the newly generated knowledge are not an end in themselves, but rather serve the further development of our society. The transfer of the results to the public, business, politics and social institutions is of central importance. With the “Bergische Transfer Stories” the Bergische Universität shows examples of how researchers contribute to the region with their work, network with other partners and thus actively shape society.
**) Prof. Dr. Ewald Grothe studied history, public law and legal history in Marburg. He completed his habilitation in Wuppertal in 2003 and teaches modern and contemporary history at the Bergische University. He has been an adjunct professor since 2009. Since 2011 he has headed the liberalism archive of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Gummersbach. Since 2017 he has been chairman of the Brothers Grimm Society in Kassel.