Grimm, Wilhelm Karl

LINGUIST (GERMANY)
BORN 24 Feb 1786, Hanau, Hesse-Kassel - DIED 16 Dec 1859, Berlin
CAUSE OF DEATH infection
GRAVE LOCATION Berlin: Alter St. Matthäus Friedhof, Grossgörschenstrasse 12 (F-s-1/14)

Youngest of the Grimm Brothers. He and his brother Jacob Ludwig Grimm were educated at the lyceum in Kassel and at Marburg University. They lived in the same room and shared their books. In 1814 he became secretary of the library in Kassel. In 1825 he married Henriette Dorothea Wild, the daughter of a pharmacist. In 1829 he published his best known work, "Die Deutsche Heldensage" (1829).

In 1830 he joined his brother in Göttingen where he became a professor in 1835. In 1837 he was and his brother were among the Göttinger Seven who protested against the cancellation of the constitution. They were all fired by King Ernst August of Hanover. They went to Berlin in 1841. In that year they both became members of the Prussian Academy of Science. He worked until his death at the University of Berlin where he compiled a dictionary together with his brother. He died in 1859 in Berlin.

Family
• Son: Grimm, Herman Friedrich

Related persons
• was visited by Ampère, Jean Jacques
• is brother/sister of Grimm, Jacob Ludwig Karl
• is brother/sister of Grimm, Ludwig Emil

Images

The graves of the brothers Grimm and two of their sons at the Alter St. Matthäusfriedhof, Berlin.
Picture by Androom (21 Aug 1996)

 

Statue of Wilhelm Grimm and Jakob Grimm in Kassel.
Picture by Androom (26 Aug 2017)

 

Sources
Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (editie 1909), 1909
Wilhelm Grimm - Wikipedia


Grimshaw, John Atkinson

Published: 08 Oct 2016
Last update: 25 Apr 2022