Open the time capsule and visit the city where fairy tales originated.

Text by Li Xinyi, compiled and reported; Source: MOOK Editorial Department; Images provided by MOOK Editorial Department and German National Tourist Board

The fairy tales that grew up with everyone—when it comes to the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, surely no one is unfamiliar. But do you know where the locations in “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Sleeping Beauty” from Grimm’s Fairy Tales are? The ancient castle standing in the forest—Sababurg—is the setting of “Sleeping Beauty,” and is now an ancient castle hotel; “Little Red Riding Hood” originates from the area between Alsfeld and Schwalmstadt, where unmarried women wore little red hats. The early cartoon “The Story of Lena” is set in Switzerland, and Hans Christian Andersen’s hometown is actually Odense in Denmark. Let’s return to our childhood and immerse ourselves in these sweet stories.

The Hometown of Grimm’s Fairy Tales — Germany

Just as the Book of Songs is a collection of exquisite epics derived from folk sources, Grimm’s Fairy Tales are also legendary tales collected from the countryside by the two brothers Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm. After editing and embellishing, they compiled them into touching stories. During their residence in Kassel from 1805 to 1829, they successively published “Collection of Ancient German Heroic Ballads” and “Children’s and Household Tales,” laying the foundation for the widely spread and internationally renowned Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

The stories are set in the rural areas of northern Germany. At that time, Germany was still a land of many small states during the feudal aristocratic period, with countless legends of city-states and castles, and tales of princes and princesses could be found everywhere. Thus, the poignant and moving stories passed down through the fields and farmlands were collected and organized by the Grimm brothers, who were deeply moved. They continuously compiled the tales circulating in the German countryside into volumes, creating one of the most touching collections of fairy tales in the world.

To promote tourism, the German government connected the birthplaces, upbringing spots, and background locations of the folk tales collected by the Grimm brothers in various towns into a Fairy Tale Road. From Hanau to Kassel and all the way to Bremen, Bremen is the northernmost stop on the Fairy Tale Road. One of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales, “The Bremen Town Musicians” (Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten), tells the story of a donkey, a hunting dog, a cat, and a rooster who, either driven out by their owners due to old age or fearing they would be slaughtered, run away together and decide to form a band in Bremen. Along the way, they drive off a group of robbers and are finally able to live happily ever after.