Philipp Wilhelm Grimm

Silhouette of Philipp Wilhelm Grimm

Philipp Wilhelm Grimm (born September 19, 1751 in Steinau an der Strasse ; † January 10, 1796 ibid) was a German lawyer and official of the Hanau offices of Schlüchtern and Steinau . He was u. a. the father of the Brothers Grimm .

Live and act

parents

His father was the Steinau pastor Friedrich Grimm the Younger (1707–1777), his mother Christine Elisabeth, b. Heilmann (1715-1754).

Career

Former office building in Steinau an der Strasse (today the Brothers Grimm House )

Philipp Wilhelm Grimm studied law at the High School in Hanau, the High School in Herborn and at the Philipps University in Marburg .

In 1778 he was court attorney in Hanau. In 1782 he became the city clerk of the old town of Hanau, where he received the title of city secretary in 1787. Also in 1782 he was also land clerk for the office of Büchertal in the county of Hanau in the imperial principality of Landgraviate Hessen-Kassel .

In 1791 he was appointed bailiff of the Hanau authorities in Schlüchtern and Steinau , which resulted in the family moving to Steinau an der Straße in the local authority building . Philipp Wilhelm Grimm was not only the chief administrative officer, but at the same time also a judge and notary for the offices of Schlüchtern and Steinau, the spatial area of ​​which roughly corresponds to the majority of the later district of Schlüchtern , which existed until 1974 and which then merged into today's Main-Kinzig district .

Five years after starting work, Philipp Wilhelm Grimm - only 44 years old - died of pneumonia in Steinau .

marriage

On March 23, 1783, Philipp Wilhelm Grimm married the daughter of a Hanau chancellery, Dorothea Zimmer (born November 20, 1755 in Kassel ; † May 27, 1808). Nine children were born from this marriage:

• Friedrich Hermann Georg Grimm (December 12, 1783 - March 16, 1784)
• Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm (born January 4, 1785 in Hanau, † September 20, 1863 in Berlin)
• Wilhelm Carl Grimm (* February 24, 1786 in Hanau; † December 16, 1859 in Berlin) ⚭ May 15, 1825 Henriette Dorothea Wild (* May 23, 1795; † August 22, 1867)
• Carl Friedrich Grimm (born April 24, 1787 in Hanau; † May 25, 1852)
• Ferdinand Philipp Grimm (born December 18, 1788 in Hanau; † January 6, 1845)
• Ludwig Emil Grimm (born March 14, 1790 in Hanau; † April 4, 1863)
• Friedrich Grimm (June 15, 1791 - August 20, 1792)
• Charlotte Amalie Grimm (Lotte) (* May 10, 1793; † June 15, 1833) ⚭ July 2, 1822 Hans Daniel Ludwig Friedrich Hassenpflug (* February 26, 1794 in Hanau; † October 10, 1862 in Marburg )
• Georg Eduard Grimm (born July 26, 1794 - † April 19, 1795)

Education of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

During Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's childhood in Hanau (1785–1791), their father Philip Wilhelm Grimm and widowed aunt Juliane Charlotte Friederike Grimm were particularly important for the brothers' cultural education and later professional development. The mother of the brothers, Dorothea Zimmer, on the other hand, was responsible for a regular housekeeping and gave the sons the feeling of warmth, security and human closeness. Philipp Wilhelm Grimm took his son Jacob with him to his official business and professional appointments at an early age. So around the turn of the year 1790/1791 he drove with little Jacob Grimm to a village in the country, where he had work to do. Jacob Grimm later wrote that when he travels in winter he sometimes still thinks that he is sitting with his father and that everything else is a dream.

Jacob Grimm thus got to know from first-hand experience how his father did his official business and performed judicial tasks as a judge and notary. For Jacob Grimm this was a decisive influence on his own decision to study law one day. When he began studying law in Marburg in 1802, he did so because he always felt obliged to his father's professional plans. Philipp Wilhelm Grimm prepared his son Jacob very specifically for the law studies that were planned for his son later. He taught Jacob law, discussed paragraphs with him, and wrote down cases from his own practice for later use.

Jacob Grimm was fascinated by the way his father carried out judicial and administrative duties. Jacob Grimm later wrote: “He was a very hard-working, decent, loving man; his living room, his desk and, above all, his cupboards with their cleanly kept books ... are real before my eyes. "

The basic legal knowledge that Jacob Grimm learned from his father was already put into practice a few years later when, after the death of his father, in his capacity as "male head of the family" , he represented and supported the business interests of aunt Henriette Philippine Zimmer from Kassel Negotiated with people who owed his aunt money.

Philipp Wilhelm Grimm was also a loving and caring father for Wilhelm Grimm. With Wilhelm he took many walks together in the area around Steinau. Wilhelm Grimm later wrote about these childhood days: “There is something pleasant about the Steinau area. We often walked around together in the meadow valleys and on the hills. ”With great empathy and love, he also took on parental care for Wilhelm Grimm. Wilhelm Grimm later wrote about the extended family cohabitation in Steinau: “I still remember the time exactly, as the father said: The children are getting bigger and bigger, we have to have a bowl made where more goes in; a new flashing zinc bowl was bought afterwards and I was happy to see what kind of green peas would go there. "

During the years in Steinau, Philipp Wilhelm Grimm liked to take his sons Jacob and Wilhelm with him into the yard, the stable and the garden. While they helped him with his work, he taught them the basics of botany and zoology . In accordance with family tradition, he raised Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm strictly in the Reformed faith .

Philipp Wilhelm Grimm also awakened a love of Hessian homeland and the fatherland in his sons. In the age of the emerging revolutionary wars , it was not always easy for him to conduct official business prudently. Steinau, located on an army road, was often crossed by opposing troops. Even in times of political upheaval, Philipp Wilhelm Grimm always gave his sons a sense of personal security for the family.

Father and aunt as educators

→ See main article: Juliane Charlotte Friederike Grimm

A childless sister of Philipp Wilhelm Grimm, Juliane Charlotte Friederike Grimm (1735–1796), married Schlemmer, lived in Hanau and later in Steinau with the family in the office building. "Aunt Schlemmer" played an essential role together with the father in the upbringing of Jacob and Wilhelm . She died in the same year as her brother; Until her death she continued the education of the Brothers Grimm and also contributed to the financial security of the Grimm family. For Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm she was an important reference person.

Afterlife

→ See main article: Henriette Philippine Zimmer

The early death of Philipp Wilhelm Grimm also hit his widow Dorothea Grimm, née Zimmer, and her six surviving children hard economically. They had to leave the office and moved to the Huttische Spital in Steinau. From then on, Dorothea's older sister, Henriette Philippine Zimmer (1748–1815), provided financial security for the Grimm family and later enabled Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in particular to attend school and study. In 1798, two years after the death of their father, the Brothers Grimm brought “Aunt Zimmer” into their care in Kassel to enable them to attend the local lyceum.

meaning

The Brothers Grimm (left Wilhelm and right Jacob )

In the meantime, Grimm research attaches great importance to the milieu-specific and family environment of the Brothers Grimm. So z. For example, the correspondence between Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and their older relatives (mother, grandfather Zimmer, aunt Zimmer, father, aunt Schlemmer) has been compiled, edited and published by the Grimm Correspondence Office at Berlin's Humboldt University since 1986 .

This extensive correspondence covers the years 1787 to 1813, during which the Grimm brothers experienced their decisive influence. Even after the early death of their father, the Brothers Grimm dealt repeatedly with his nature and his professional and private work in their correspondence. In addition, Jacob Grimm addressed the father and his relationship with him several times in his autobiographical writings.

The work of Philipp Wilhelm Grimm as bailiff in Steinau is shown in the Steinau Museum, which opened in 2005 ... Museum an der Straße u. a. also shown, which is located in Steinau an der Straße in the former, meanwhile massively expanded Amtshof barn. This museum cooperates with the Brothers Grimm House Museum directly opposite , which is housed in the former administrative building.

literature

• Ruth Michaelis-Jena : The Brothers Grimm . Munster 1980.
• Hermann Gerstner : Brothers Grimm . Reinbek near Hamburg 1994.
• Martin Hoppe: Hanau and the Brothers Grimm . Hanau 2007.
• Sabine Hock : Grimms Hessen. A literary travel guide on the trail of the Brothers Grimm . Frankfurt 2007.
• Hans-Georg Schede: The Brothers Grimm . Munich 2004. Extended new edition. Hanau 2009.
• Peter Gbiorczyk: Work and Effect of the Reformed Theologian Friedrich Grimm (1672-1748) - Religious Traditions in Family History up to the Brothers Grimm , Aachen 2013

Web links

• Internet presence - Museum Steinau… Museum an der Strasse in Steinau an der Strasse

Individual evidence

1. ^ Philipp Wilhelm Grimm family tree
2. ^ Jacob Grimm: Reflections from my life (1814).
3. ↑ Hans-Georg Schede: The Brothers Grimm . Munich 2004, p. 19.
4. ^ ^{A b} Hermann Gerstner: Brothers Grimm . Reinbek near Hamburg 1994, p. 9.
5. ↑ Jacob Grimm. Smaller fonts. Part 1.
6. ↑ Hans-Georg Schede: The Brothers Grimm . Munich 2004, p. 15.
7. ^ Wilhelm Grimm. Smaller writings, quoted from Hermann Gerstner: Brothers Grimm . Reinbek near Hamburg 1994, p. 8
8. ↑ Quoted from Hermann Gerstner: Brothers Grimm . Reinbek near Hamburg 1994, pp. 9/10.
9. ↑ ^{a b} Sabine Hock: Grimms Hessen. A literary travel guide on the trail of the Brothers Grimm . Frankfurt 2007, pp. 30-41
10. ^ Sabine Hock: Grimms Hessen. A literary travel guide on the trail of the Brothers Grimm . Frankfurt 2007, p. 8
11. ↑ Research Center Humboldt University Berlin ( Memento of the original dated November 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.