The Wild Girl

One of the great untold love stories - how the Grimm brothers discovered their famous fairy tales - filled with drama and passion, and taking place during the Napoleonic Wars.

Growing up next door to the Grimm brothers in Hesse-Cassel, a small German kingdom, Dortchen Wild told Wilhelm some of the most powerful and compelling stories in the famous fairy tale collection. Dortchen first met the Grimm brothers in 1805, when she was twelve.

One of six sisters, Dortchen lived in the medieval quarter of Cassel, a town famous for its grand royal palace, its colossal statue of Herkules, and a fairytale castle of turrets and spires built as a love nest for the Prince-Elector's mistress. Dortchen was the same age as Lotte Grimm, and the two became best friends.

In 1806, Hesse-Cassel was invaded by the French. Napoleon created a new Kingdom of Westphalia, under the rule of his dissolute young brother, Jerôme. The Grimm brothers began collecting fairy tales that year, wanting to save the old stories told in spinning-circles and by the fire from the domination of French culture.

Dortchen's father was cruel and autocratic, and he beat and abused her. He frowned on the friendship between Dortchen and the Grimms, adding to the challenges she faced in sharing her tales with Wilhelm.

The Wild Girl is an enchanting narrative that not only illuminates the historical backdrop of the Brothers Grimm but also the poignant personal struggles and the enduring bond between Dortchen Wild and Wilhelm Grimm.