Dorothea Viehmann (November 8, 1755 – November 17, 1816) was a German storyteller. Her stories were an important source for the fairy tales collected by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...

. Most of Dorothea Viehmann's tales were published in the second volume of

Grimms' Fairy Tales ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob and Wilhelm, first publi ...

Life

Dorothea Viehmann was born as Katharina Dorothea Pierson in Rengershausen near

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

as a daughter of a tavern owner. Her paternal ancestors were persecuted

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s who fled from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the L ...

after the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

was revoked. As she grew up, Viehmann picked up numerous stories, legends and fairy tales from the guests of her father's tavern. In 1777 Dorothea Pierson married the tailor Nikolaus Viehmann. From 1787 to 1798 the family lived in Niederzwehren, today part of the city of Kassel. After the death of her husband, she had to provide for herself and her seven children by selling products from her garden at the local market. She became acquainted with the Brothers Grimm in 1813 and told them more than forty tales and variations. Because of Viehmann's Huguenot ancestors, a number of her stories are based on French fairy tales.

Wilhelm Grimm Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm. Life and work Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, i ...

wrote that it was an amazing coincidence that he and his brother had met this woman. The brothers were especially impressed that Viehmann could retell her stories again and again without changing a word. There are, however, several examples of her stories which remained incomplete.

Fairy tales

A number of stories in ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' are likely to trace back to Dorothea Viehmann: *KHM 6: Trusty John or ''Faithful John'' (''Der treue Johannes'') *KHM 9: The Twelve Brothers (''Die zwölf Brüder'') *KHM 29: The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs (''Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren'') *KHM 34: Clever Elsie (''Die kluge Else'') *KHM 61:

The Little Peasant "The Little Peasant" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'', number 61. It is Aarne-Thompson type 1535, The Rich Peasant and the Poor Peasant, and includes an episode of type 1737, Trading Places with ...

(''Das Bürle'') *KHM 63: The Three Feathers (''Die drei Federn'') *KHM 71: How Six Men got on in the World (''Sechse kommen durch die ganze Welt'') *KHM 76:

The Pink "The Pink" or "The Carnation" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in '' Grimm's Fairy Tales'' as tale number 76. It is Aarne-Thompson type 652, the boy whose wishes always come true. Synopsis A childless queen prayed for ...

(''Die Nelke'') *KHM 89: The Goose Girl (''Die Gänsemagd'') *KHM 94: The Peasant's Wise Daughter (''Die kluge Bauerntochter'') *KHM 98: Doctor Know-all (''Doktor Allwissend'') *KHM 100:

The Devil's Sooty Brother ''The Devil's Sooty Brother'' ( German: ''Des Teufels rußiger Bruder'') KHM 100 is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in the second edition of ''Kinder- und Hausmärchen'' (''Grimm's Fairy Tales'') in 1819. It is ...

(''Des Teufels rußiger Bruder'') *KHM 102: The Willow-Wren and the Bear (''Der Zaunkönig und der Bär'') *KHM 106:

The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

(''Der arme Müllersbursch und das Kätzchen'') *KHM 108:

Hans My Hedgehog "Hans My Hedgehog" (german: Hans mein Igel) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 108). The tale was translated as ''Jack My Hedgehog'' by Andrew Lang and published in ''The Green Fairy Book''. It is of Aarne-Thompson typ ...

(''Hans mein Igel'') *KHM 111:

The Skillful Huntsman ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

(''Der gelernte Jäger'') *KHM 115:

The Bright Sun Brings it to Light "The Bright Sun" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German c ...

(''Die klare Sonne bringt's an den Tag'') *KHM 118:

The Three Army Surgeons "The Three Army Surgeons" (KHM 118, ''Die drei Feldscherer'') is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Synopsis Three traveling army surgeons perform surgery on themselves to impress an innkeeper. After removing their own organs, they will put them b ...

(''Die drei Feldscherer'') *KHM 125:

The Devil and His Grandmother "The Devil and his Grandmother" or "The Dragon and His Grandmother" (german: Der Teufel und seine Großmutter) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 125. According to Jack Zipes, the source of the story was Dorothea Viehm ...

(''Der Teufel und seine Großmutter'') *KHM 127: The Iron Stove (''Der Eisenofen'') *KHM 128:

The Lazy Spinner "The Lazy Spinner" or "The Lazy Spinning Woman" is a Germany, German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 128. It is Aarne-Thompson type 1405. Synopsis A lazy woman did not like to spin and when she did, did not wind onto a ...

(''Die faule Spinnerin'') The abbreviation "KHM" refers to the collection's original title ''Kinder- und Hausmärchen''. The Brothers Grimm marked those texts tracing back to Dorothea Viehmann with the comment "''aus Zwehrn''" ("from Zwehrn", short for "Niederzwehren").

Locations and memorials

The historical part of Niederzwehren is today sometimes called ''Märchenviertel'', Fairy Tale Quarter, in honor of the famous storyteller. Memorial signs on two timber-framed houses indicate where Dorothea Viehmann used to live between 1787 and 1798 and from 1798 until her death. Both the Quarter's elementary school and a recently created park bear the name of the storyteller. The tavern and brewery owned by Dorothea Viehmann's father is now run by the local Hütt brewery. It is located next to the

Bundesautobahn 49 is a federal motorway running through north Hesse. It connects Kassel with the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, where it ends in Neuental. The motorway is planned to be extended to Gemünden (Felda) with a connection to A 5. Course A 49 splits ...

near the motorway junction Kassel-West at

Baunatal Baunatal is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is a comparatively young town which arose from fusion of the formerly independent municipalities ''Altenbauna'', ''Altenritte'', ''Großenritte'', ''Guntershausen'', ''Hertingsh ...

-Rengershausen. In 2009, a memorial of Dorothea Viehmann by the artist Berahna Massoum was installed close to the Fairy Tale Quarter.News item released by the city of Kassel
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viehmann, Dorothea 1755 births 1816 deaths Collectors of fairy tales German folklorists Women folklorists Storytellers Women storytellers People from Kassel (district) People from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel

Life

Fairy tales

Locations and memorials

See also

References