The Brothers Grimm

Brothers Grimm

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, German philologists, writers, and university professors. Jacob, the older, lived 1785-1863. Wilhelm lived 1786-1859. Throughout their lives they were inseparable, and are spoken of as the Brothers Grimm. Wil¬helm was married. Jacob remained single and lived with his brother. With five other professors they were expelled from the faculty of the university of Gottingen in 1837 for teaching that the elector of Hanover was exceeding his constitutional authority. The brothers united in making a popular collection of fairy tales known as Kinder-und Hausmärchen. Wilhelm was a cheery, social man; Jacob was a renowned student of the German language. He left a German grammar and a Ger¬man dictionary incomplete. The rule relative to consonant changes, known as Grimm's Law, was published by him.