EUROPE - GERMANY : THE FAMED FAIRYTALE ROUTE
by Winnie Graham







The scary fairytales of the Brothers Grimm – that invariably include a witch or a wicked stepmother – are attracting a new generation of young fans on Germany's famed fairytale route.

There is hardly a child – in the west at any rate – who isn't familiar with the story of Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel and even Sleeping Beauty. And in most cases there's a witch, a wicked stepmother or even a bad fairy.

Fairytales, we are told, stimulate the imagination – even if women on flying broomsticks and fairies with magic wands often send tiny tots hurtling in the dark to their parents’ beds.

My interest was stimulated on a recent trip to Europe when Beatrice Magnin, a local tour guide, pointed to a tower in the old town of Murten, a French-speaking town in south-western Switzerland, that had once accommodated a witch.

The tower is part of the city wall which encloses a postcard pretty old town centre with cobbled streets, crooked buildings and colourful flower boxes. It looked for all the world like an illustration from a book of the Brothers Grimm's tales.

The story of Murten's witch is particularly sad. Her name was Catherine Respond who, at 68, had fallen on hard times. One day she approached a farmer for help. When he spurned her, she told him to watch out. He was a mean man and would be punished. His cattle would die.

“Unfortunately,” Beatrice added, “her words proved prophetic. One of his cows died. The angry farmer accused her of witchcraft and the poor Catherine was arrested, charged and burned at the stake.” Rough justice, but very prevalent those days.

Apparently some 100 000 “witches” were executed in medieval Europe. But, says Beatrice, efforts are underway in Switzerland to clear the name of Murten’s witch. The cases of countless other witches throughout Europe are also now being reviewed with their reputations posthumously restored.

The Brothers Grimm, it seems, had plenty of real material on which to base their stories – and children round the world remain as fascinated today as they were when the tales were first told.

The question that remains, however, is equally intriguing: Why is it that women were the ones invariably depicted as witches?

Beatrice, a former Swiss Air hostess, believes they were nearly always highly intelligent women and often midwives.

“They seemed to know more about life than ordinary people, with midwives having a particular mystical ability,” she says. “As a result they paid the ultimate price.”

The mystique that surrounded the witches of old continues to fascinate youngsters as is reflected in J K Rowling’s books. Harry Potter’s adventures prove, yet again, that children love the element of magic and the struggle between good and evil.

The Potter movies have focused interest on places associated with the young hero, but just as youngsters want to see Platform 9 and 3/4 at London’s Liverpool Street Station, so children are now asking where the wicked witches of Grimm's fame live.

Where was the home of Snow White and the Seven dwarfs – and the old hag who offered her a poisoned apple? And what of Cinderella? Where did she live with her stepmother and two ugly sisters? And Little Red Riding Hood, the child who encountered a wolf in the woods while taking a basket of goodies to her sick granny?

Then there is the Pied Piper of Hamlyn who not only got rid of the town’s rats but lured the children away as well, plus Rapunzel who let down her hair so that her prince could climb up the tower and rescue her.

The Fairytale Route is particularly attractive because it follows the oldest scenic routes of Germany. The journey stretches from Bremen to Hanau, linking more than 70 towns and villages associated with the fairytales, myths and legends.

A memorial has been erected in Hanau where the Brothers Grimm were born.

The route continues to Sleeping Beauty's palace and Cinderella's castle, and even the quaint little town where the pranksters Max and Moritz got up to their tricks, as well as the enchanted castle at Trendelburg where Rapunzel could look out at the Reinhardswald forest while waiting for the prince to arrive.

If little girls look hard here, they might just spot the prince coming to Rapunzel’s rescue.

Sababurg Castle where Sleeping Beauty was woken by the prince's kiss is a must. So are the woods where Little Red Riding Hood met the wolf at Schwalmstadt, while Mount Hoher Meissner is in the fairytale land of Frau Holle. In fact, visitors can walk the Frau Holle trail between Heiligenstadt and Göttingen. They might even be lucky enough to see her shaking out her featherbeds to "make it snow”.

Who hasn’t been intrigued by the tale of the Pied Piper in Hamlyn – or sympathized with him when the city fathers refused to pay his fee for ridding the town of rats?

Little visitors who want to see where the prince tried the glass slipper on Cinderella’s foot should include the village of Polle on their itinerary.

All the famous fairytale characters including the musicians of Brenen come alive in the quaint villages of Germany with their crooked buildings and cobbled streets so reminiscent of the illustrations in books of fairytales.

While the merits and demerits of fairytales have long been debated, with some psychologists tut tutting about the possible ill effects on children, one professor of psychology has claimed they do more good than harm.

“You can’t protect a child from all the ills in life,” he said. “Fairytales warn children that there are some nasty people out there – and helps prepare them for encounters with traffic cops and tax officials later in life.”

Those thoughts, however, are far from mind when parents take their children on the famous fairytale route through Germany.

The Fairytale Route includes a wealth of art and culture, as well as eight nature reserves, forest, highlands and river scenery. It passes through a host of romantic towns associated with the Brothers Grimm, each following closely on the other.

Medieval towns, haunted castles, fairytale palaces, museums, galleries and theatres are all part of the trip while open-air plays, puppet festivals and fairytale festivals provide young holidaymakers with a feast of fun. Fairytale meals, barn parties, royal banquets are part of the pleasures of the route.

In some places visitors come face to face with "real" fairies – a treat for the small fry.

The journey covers some 600 kilometres from the River Main to the sea with the route running all the way to Bremen's market square and the statue of the Bremen town musicians.

It’s a trip that can be done either by train, car, cycle or on foot, enriching the imagination and keeping mom, dad and kids entertained on what must be the ultimate cultural experience that cuts across the generation divide.

Places not to miss on the German Fairytale Route:

• Hanau – Birthplace of and memorial to the Brothers Grimm

• Steinau – Brothers Grimm House

• Schwalmstadt – Little Red Riding Hood country

• Schauenburg – Märchenwache arts and exhibition centre

• Kassel – Capital of the German Fairytale Route, Brothers Grimm Museum

• Hamlyn – The Pied Piper's town

• Hofgeismar – Sleeping Beauty's castle (Sababurg)

• Trendelburg – Rapunzel

• Polle – Cinderella

• Bremen – Town musicians





Photo: courtesy Winnie Graham




SCRIBBLES ETCETERAS


For information about the old town of Murten in Switzerland visit: www.myswitzerland.com.



For information about the German FairyTale Route visit www.germany-tourism.de and look under the section Destination Germany – Scenic Routes http://www.germany-tourism.de/ENG/destination_germany/master_tlfstrasse-id14.htm
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