Who doesn’t know the world-famous fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm? Many places in Berlin commemorate them, most notably the Fairy Tale Fountain in Volkspark Friedrichshain. But did you know that the linguists lived and worked in Berlin from 1841 until their deaths?
At the invitation of King Frederick William IV, they came to the Prussian capital to give lectures and work on their monumental life’s work, the “Deutsches Wörterbuch.”(If you ’re in the mood for more fairy tales, why not check out this great concert!)
The Grimm brothers’ home: Today’s Linkstraße at Potsdamer Platz
Their shared home was located at Alte Potsdamer Straße 5, just a stone’s throw from Potsdamer Platz. Here they spent years of hard work and shaped the German language as few before or since have done.
Although their original home was destroyed during World War II, if you look closely near the Berlinale Palast (on Marlene-Dietrich-Platz) today, you’ll discover a commemorative plaque embedded in the ground that marks the site where the brothers once lived.
An underappreciated century-long project: The “German Dictionary”
During their years in Berlin, the brothers devoted themselves tirelessly to their dictionary, though they completely underestimated the effort it would require. Initially, the ambitious project was planned to consist of only 6 to 7 volumes and take about ten years to complete .
They divided the work between them: Wilhelm Grimm devoted himself to the letter D, while Jacob Grimm worked on the entire letters A, B, C, and E. But the undertaking became too much for them, and they would not outlive their project.
Their final resting place: the historic cemetery in Schöneberg
Wilhelm (died 1859) and Jacob Grimm (died 1863) found their final resting place at the historic Old St. Matthew’s Cemetery in the Schöneberg district. Jacob passed away while working on the entry for “Frucht.”
The simple headstones in the row of honorary graves are idyllically situated in the beautiful old cemetery and invite you to take a peaceful stroll— in memory of the people who have so enriched our lives.
And the “German Dictionary”? Ultimately, entire generations of scholars continued the work until, in 1961—after more than 120 years of work — , it was completed with a total of 33 volumes.
A true Berlin tribute: A temple to scholarship
The academic legacy of the two scholars lives on not far from the Friedrichstraße train station. The Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Center at Humboldt University in Berlin, which opened in 2009 , is the university’s impressive central library.
Even though they never studied here themselves, the architectural masterpiece named after them is a wonderful reminder of their profound significance for German scholarship and fully honors their legacy.
