BOOKPATHS

The Fairy Tale Road, Germany

David G. Allan follows Fairy Tale Road in Germany.

Or you could do what I did, accompanied by my wife, Kate, and our 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Alice: drive the Fairy Tale Road in Germany, an official but unmarked route designed by local tourism officials to promote sites, some authentic, some imaginary. The 350-plus-mile route between Frankfurt and Bremen snakes past locations that include the actual homes of the Grimms and the fantasy ones of ;Little Red Riding Hood', 'Sleeping Beauty', and 'Hansel and Gretel', along with a mix of foreboding forests, striking towers and even some genuine castles. – from “On the Trail of Hansel and Gretel in Germany,” by David G. Allan, The New York Times

Germany

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006; first published in 2005)

This beautifully written, heart-wrenching, novel, narrated by “human haunted” Death, introduces readers to young Liesel, her family, friends (who will ever forget Rudy?), and other citizens of Molching, Germany during Hitler’s rise and reign.  One leaves the pages with a sense of their daily lives, the horrors and random joys, along with renewed respect for both the danger and salvation of words.

While Liesel walked the streets of Molching, picking up and delivering washing and ironing, Nazi Party members were accumulating fuel.  A couple of times, Liesel was a witness to men and women knocking on doors, asking people if they had any material that they felt should be done away with or destroyed.  Papa’s copy of the 'Molching Express' announced that there would be a celebratory fire in the town square, which would be attended by all local Hitler Youth divisions.  It would commemorate not only the 'Führer’s' birthday, but victory over his enemies and over the restraints that had held Germany back since the end of World War I.  ‘Any materials,’ it requested, ‘from such times – newspapers, posters, books, flags – and any propaganda of our enemies should be brought forward to the Nazi Party office on Munich Street.’  Even Schiller Strasse – the road of yellow stars – which was still awaiting its renovation, was ransacked one last time, to find something, anything, to burn in the name of the 'Führer’s' glory.  It would have come as no surprise if certain members of the party had gone away and published a thousand or so books or posters of poisonous moral matter simply to incinerate them.

Everything was in place to make April 20 magnificent.  It would be a day full of burning and cheering.

And book thievery. – from The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Related Websites

Markus Zusak Website

Publisher’s Website

National Goethe Museum and Goethe House, Weimar, Germany

At the National Goethe Museum and Goethe House, several houses, including the one where Goethe lived for 47 of the 57 years he lived in Weimar, invite visitors into the life and times of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Exhibits include the desk where Goethe stood to write, writings that illustrate the breadth of his interests, and descriptions of Weimar in the mid-eighteenth century.  The National Goethe Museum and Goethe House is open April through September, Tuesday-Sunday, 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.; and October through March, Tuesday-Sunday, 9:00-4:00 p.m.

(Photograph from the Weimar tourism website.)

Berlin, Germany

Nicholas Kulish explores Berlin’s literary scene.

Wit and wordplay are a native sport, and locals turn out in force at readings big and small, from the stately Literaturhaus in Charlottenburg in the west to the bare concrete and benches at the RAW-tempel — where the Chaussee der Enthusiasten reading took place — in the former railyard where the former Reichsbahn used to fix up its trains in Friedrichshain in the former east. – from “In Berlin, Authors Find Their Voice,” by Nicholas Kulish, The New York Times

The House of the Brothers Grimm, Steinau, Germany

One of several museums in Germany celebrating the Brothers Grimm, The House of the Brothers Grimm is where Jakob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859) lived from 1791-1796. Manuscripts, family portraits, illustrations, and other memorabilia are on display in the charming half-timbered house.  In 2009, The House of the Brothers Grimm will be open daily, noon to 5:00 p.m., from the 2nd of January through the 20th of December.   Nearby, in the center of the Town Square, visitors will find the Fairytale Fountain with scenes depicting some of the tales from the Brothers Grimm.

(Photograph from Germany: the Travel Destination)

Bremen to Hanau, Germany

The “Travel for Kids” website suggests a tour for “the land of the Brother’s Grimm.”

“From Bremen to Hanau is the land of the Brother's Grimm. In the early 19th century, the people in these towns told their stories to Wilhem and Jacob Grimm, who wrote some of the best beloved fairy tales – Little Red Riding Hood, Rumplestiltskin, The Piped Piper of Hamelin, Hansel and Gretel. Younger kids will enjoy these towns and shady forests along the way. And before you go, you'll want to read your favorite tales.” – from the Travel For Kids website

Bookpath: The Goethe House and Goethe Museum, Frankfurt, Germany

The Goethe House, where Johann Wolfgang Goethe was born on August 28, 1749, and the adjoining Goethe Museum celebrate the writer’s life and work. Destroyed by allied bombing during World War II, the house has been meticulously rebuilt. Today, visitors can imagine Goethe’s early years, with many pieces owned by the Goethe family on display. The adjoining museum offers “the only picture gallery dedicated to the Age of Goethe.” The Goethe House and Goethe Museum website offers visitor information.

Bookpath: Forschungsstätte für Frühromantik und Novalis-Museum, Wiederstedt, Germany

The Oberwiederstedt manor where Georg Friedrich von Hardenberg, “known under his pen-name as Novalis,” was born in 1772 houses a museum dedicated to the poet and early German romanticism. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Visitor information:
Schloss Oberwiederstedt
Schäfergasse 6
06333 Wiederstedt
Phone: 03476/852720
Fax: 03476/852727
http://www.schloss-oberwiederstedt.de/museum.shtml (in German, except for one page, more pages to be translated in the near future)

The seat of the soul is where the inner world and the outer world meet. Where they overlap, it is in every point of the overlap. – Novalis

Man is a sun and his senses are the planets. -- Novalis