EXPEDITION GRIMM As the Climax to Year of the Grimms 2013, the Federal State of Hessen Will Present the Exhibition EXPEDITION GRIMM, in the Documenta Hall in Kassel
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PRESS RELEASE EXPEDITION GRIMM As the climax to Year of the Grimms 2013, the Federal State of Hessen will present the exhibition EXPEDITION GRIMM, in the documenta Hall in Kassel. This extensive show will examine the exciting life and diverse work of the two brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are famous around the world, especially for their Children's and Household Tales, which have been translated into roughly 160 languages and which, alongside Luther’s Bible, are among the most commonly translated of German books. But the Brothers Grimm were more than just collectors of fairy tales. They have left behind many traces as philologists, legal historians and politicians; with their German Grammar and German Dictionary they laid the foundations for German philology. To celebrate the Grimm brothers’ huge significance for German cultural history, the Federal State of Hessen has launched this exhibition, EXPEDITION GRIMM. Hessen’s Minister of Science and Art, Eva Kühne-Hörmann, explains the purpose of the show, which she herself proposed: “There are many fascinating connections between the life and works of the Brothers Grimm, and their home country of Hessen. We want to use our exhibition to demonstrate that fact and, above all, to make it clear there’s so much more to the Grimms than just fairy tales.” In three showcases in the documenta Hall in Kassel, EXPEDITION GRIMM displays valuable manuscripts and personal memorabilia of the brothers, and places them in the context of the volatile political circumstances of the time. Works by their artist brother, Ludwig Emil, also show how the Grimm family used to live. In another part of the exhibition, starting with some of the Grimms’ more significant works, eight experience trails lead us on a journey through their oeuvre. Interactive and experiential stations along the way present a new and vivid perspective on the brothers’ diverse ventures. Among other things, the exhibition examines questions such as which of the fairy tales were subjected to the Grimms’ own self-censorship due to their brutal or indelicate content, and why, even today, “Grimm’s Law” is still used as a philological term in English, and how Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm might have used the potential of social networks had they been around in the 21st century. EXPEDITION GRIMM Press contacts The Office of the Hessen State Exhibition Mirjam Flender, Silke Günnewig, c/o projekt2508 Gruppe Riesstraße, 10 53113 Bonn, Germany [email protected] www.expedition-grimm.de, www.grimm2013.de The Brothers Grimm had a close relationship with the city of Kassel. While they were born in Hanau and raised in Steinau, it was in Kassel they spent their school years and the years that followed their studies in Marburg. They described these years as the “most industrious and perhaps most fruitful time” of their lives. Not only did Jacob and Wilhelm compile their Children's and Household Tales in this city; they also launched many more of their globally influential works from Kassel, including the German Grammar and German Dictionary. The Hessian exhibition is being organised to mark the bicentenary of the publication of the Children's and Household Tales, the first edition of which appeared on 20 December 1812, as well as the 150th anniversaries of the deaths of both Jacob and Ludwig Emil Grimm, which fall in 2013. As well as the large-scale EXPEDITION GRIMM exhibition in Kassel, throughout the year there will be numerous other events around the Federal State of Hessen and along the German Fairy Tale Route. Starting things off will be the international conference, “Fairy Tales, Myths and Modernity – 200 years of the Grimm Brothers’ Children's and Household Tales”, which tales place from 17 to 20 December 2010, at the University of Kassel. For further information: www.expedition-grimm.de EXPEDITION GRIMM Press contacts The Office of the Hessen State Exhibition Mirjam Flender, Silke Günnewig, c/o projekt2508 Gruppe Riesstraße, 10 53113 Bonn, Germany [email protected] www.expedition-grimm.de, www.grimm2013.de A LOOK AT THE EXHIBITION Showcase Exhibition In three showcases, the exhibition displays around 150 items related to the life and works of the two brothers, placing these in the wider context of the consistently volatile political circumstances of the time. First editions of the Grimms’ works, such as the Children's and Household Tales, the German Grammar and the German Dictionary, form the heart of these exhibits. The books can be seen alongside collections of fairy tales from Italy, France and Germany, and other early dictionaries. Personal items that once belonged to the brothers are also on show, including early childhood drawings, Wilhelm’s wedding ring and the custom-built magnifying glass owned by the gout-suffering Jacob. Works by their artist brother, Ludwig Emil, also document how the Grimm family used to live. High Hall Eight of the works by the Brothers Grimm, the original editions of which can be seen in the showcases, are given much greater immediacy for the visitors by eight corresponding experience trails. These are The Song of Hildebrand, the Children's and Household Tales, the German Grammar, the German Legal Antiquities, Reynard the Fox, German Mythology, Jacob Grimm on his dismissal, and the German Dictionary. When each trail starts, it focuses on the individual work itself. As it progresses, it communicates various aspects of the respective work’s content, interactively. Each of the trails leads from the Grimms’ own time up to the present. The approximately 35 stations along the way make use of traditional materials like wood and cloth, as well as digital media. EXPEDITION GRIMM Press contacts The Office of the Hessen State Exhibition Mirjam Flender, Silke Günnewig, c/o projekt2508 Gruppe Riesstraße, 10 53113 Bonn, Germany [email protected] www.expedition-grimm.de, www.grimm2013.de On the Fairy Tale trail, for instance, in an “X-rated area” visitors can learn about the text passages Wilhelm Grimm altered, expunged or replaced because of their brutal or inappropriate content. At the “Bremen Town Musicians & Friends“, you can test your knowledge of fairy tales using large-scale animal figures: which animals are included among the Town Musicians? And in which order did they stand on one another? The “Shifting” station illustrates a core theme of the German Grammar trail. In that work, Jacob Grimm first described his law on the Germanic and High German consonant shift – known in English as “Grimm’s Law”. A shifting model is used here to explain the second sound shift, which was likewise described by Jacob. It shows how the Low-German SchiPP developed into the New High German SchiFF, and it demonstrates why even today similarities exist between many Low German words and, for example, words in English, Danish and Icelandic. And last but not least, the Mythology trail provides entertainment for Wagner-fans and others too, by using a listening station to show the extent to which Jacob Grimm’s German Mythology influenced Richard Wagner when he was writing his Ring of the Nibelung. 33-D Model of the Brothers’ Apartment The Brothers Grimm lived at their Kassel address, Wilhelmshöher Tor, for about seven years. Using authentic sketches, documents and eye-witness accounts it has been possible to reconstruct their apartment in 3-D. Now, visitors to the exhibition have the chance to take a virtual tour of their living quarters. Photo credits: Short-handled magnifying lens which, according to family tradition, was adapted by Jacob Grimm to suit his gout-ridden fingers. © Kassel, Brüder-Grimm-Platz e. V. Design sketch for the station “Bremen Town Musicians & Friends” Ludwig Emil Grimm, “Lotte in her Room“ in the House at the Wilhelmshöher Tor (Cassel 2 October 1821), Watercolour © Munich, private collection EXPEDITION GRIMM Press contacts The Office of the Hessen State Exhibition Mirjam Flender, Silke Günnewig, c/o projekt2508 Gruppe Riesstraße, 10 53113 Bonn, Germany [email protected] www.expedition-grimm.de, www.grimm2013.de DATES AND DETAILS Duration 27 April to 8 September 2013 Location documenta Halle Du-Ry-Straße 1 / am Friedrichsplatz 34117 Kassel, Germany Organiser Federal State of Hessen, Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, www.hmwk.hessen.de Contact Hessen State Exhibition 2013 Exhibition Office c/o projekt2508 Gruppe Riesstraße 10, 53113 Bonn, Germany [email protected] Exhibition website www.expedition-grimm.de Opening hours Tuesday to Sunday: 10.00 am to 6.00 pm Thursday: 10.00 am to 9.00 pm Admission prices State Combi-ticket Exhibition State Exhibition & Brothers Grimm Museum Standard € 8 € 10 Reduced rate € 6 € 7 Groups, from 10 pers. € 6 € 7 2 adults with children € 18 € 20 of own family School pupils as a € 3 € 3 school group (teacher free) Concept and implementation expo2508 Riesstraße 10, 53113 Bonn, Germany [email protected], www.expo2508.de, www.projekt2508.de EXPEDITION GRIMM Press contacts The Office of the Hessen State Exhibition Mirjam Flender, Silke Günnewig, c/o projekt2508 Gruppe Riesstraße, 10 53113 Bonn, Germany [email protected] www.expedition-grimm.de, www.grimm2013.de SIGNIFICANT WORKS BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM Works by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm The Two Oldest German Poems of the Eighth Century: The Song of Hildebrand and Hadubrand and the Wessobrunn Prayer (Die beiden ältesten deutschen Gedichte aus dem achten Jahrhundert: Das Lied von Hildebrand und Hadubrand und das Weißenbrunner Gebet, 1812) Two of the earliest examples of German poetry provided the content for the first collaborative publication by the Brothers Grimm: The Song of Hildebrand and the Weißenbrunn or Wessobrunn Prayer. The Grimms were the first men to issue a critical edition of these texts, which were aimed primarily at an expert readership.