Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were born in Hesse in the
state of Hanover in what would later become Germany. Their parents had
nine children, only six of whom survived the first year of life and
Jacob and Wilhelm were left the eldest of five brothers and a sister.
A year apart in age, the brothers lived an astonishingly close life.
They started to collect folk tales around 1807 after an increased
interest in German folklore. Their collection of tales includes the
classics Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel,
Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel.
