Kassel is part of the German Fairy Tale Route and is best known for being where the Brother’s Grimm went to university and lived. The museum itself is dedicated more to the work that the brothers did on documenting the German language and creating the definitive German dictionary than on the fairy tales that made them legendary. The tales themselves were collected by the brothers by visiting the owners of inns on the heavily traveled roads in the area. The owners of the inns would recount stories told by travelers as they passed through the region, which provided the brothers with a rich collection of folklore to work with.

Over time, the brothers wrote down and printed over 200 stories, which are still popular to this day. Cinderella, The Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, and Rapunzel are just a few of the folklore stories that the brothers published during their illustrious careers.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were born in Hanau, Germany, which is now the starting point of the fairy tale route. They moved to Kassel to attend the University of Marburg, which only had about 200 students. Jacob became the court librarian to the King of Westphalia and later became librarian in Kassel. Although the museum isn’t solely focused on the fairy tales, it is still very interesting and worth visiting. Children will definitely have fun seeing the various exhibits, but the museum is perfect for people of all ages. If you travel the German Fairy Tale Route or plan a trip to Kassel, you should definitely take a few hours to visit this fascinating museum.