Between 18 their first collection was revised and republished many times, growing from 86 stories to more than 200. With the goal of researching a scholarly treatise on folk tales, they established a methodology for collecting and recording folk stories that became the basis for folklore studies. The rise of Romanticism in 19th-century Europe revived interest in traditional folk stories, which to the Brothers Grimm represented a pure form of national literature and culture. Both brothers attended the University of Marburg, where they developed a curiosity about German folklore, which grew into a lifelong dedication to collecting German folk tales. Their father's death in 1796 (when Jacob was eleven and Wilhelm was ten) caused great poverty for the family and affected the brothers many years after. The Brothers Grimm spent their formative years in the town of Hanau in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel. Their first collection of folk tales, Children's and Household Tales ( Kinder- und Hausmärchen), began publication in 1812. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of folk tales, popularizing stories such as ' Cinderella' (' Aschenputtel '), ' The Frog Prince' (' Der Froschkönig'), ' Hansel and Gretel' (' Hänsel und Gretel '), ' Little Red Riding Hood' (' Rotkäppchen'), ' Rapunzel', ' Rumpelstiltskin' (' Rumpelstilzchen'), ' Sleeping Beauty' (' Dornröschen'), and ' Snow White' (' Schneewittchen'). The Brothers Grimm ( die Brüder Grimm or die Gebrüder Grimm), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. Wilhelm Grimm (left) and Jacob Grimm (right), portrayed by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann (1855) For other uses, see Brothers Grimm (disambiguation).

Easy cool grim reaper drawing