Grimm's "Tischleindeckdich": Kassel Germanist Identifies Narrator as Factory Owner's Daughter

Ehrhardt has now published his findings in the specialist journal "Fabula" of the renowned publisher De Gruyter. Until now, the source of the fairy tale was known to researchers only as "Mamsell Storch" - this because of a handwritten note by Wilhelm Grimm. Ehrhardt has now discovered that the "Mamsell" was the sister-in-law of the Kassel entrepreneur Henschel, Eleonore Storch (1750 - 1828), the eldest daughter of the piece founder Johann Friedrich Anton Storch. She remained unmarried throughout her life, but helped raise her nephews and nieces.

Ehrhardt, who holds the research professorship on the work and impact of the Brothers Grimm at the University of Kassel, based his research on a note by Wilhelm Grimm in the hand copies of the "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" from 1812. There he noted to the fairy tale with the then title Von dem Tischgen deck dich, dem Goldesel und dem Knüppel in dem Sack: "Jeannette im Herbst 1812 von einer alten Mamsell Storch b. Henschel". By "Jeanette" was meant Jeanette Hassenpflug, who, on behalf of the Grimms, had stories told to her by the inhabitants of Kassel and delivered them to the fairy tale collectors. Contrary to what has been assumed so far, however, the Mamsell was not a maid, but a "virgin". A comparison with baptismal and birth registers as well as findings in the Henschel family estate in the Henschel archive showed that it could only be Eleonore Storch. A drawing that Ehrhardt discovered in the estate shows the "Mamsell" snorting tobacco. The Germanist also discovered a handwritten entry in a kind of poetry album.

The fairy tale "Tischleindeckdich" tells the story of three brothers who find happiness through magical objects; it goes back to a Neapolitan original version. In the version handed down by Eleonore Storch, a scheming goat is added, which first drives the brothers out of the parental home and is finally driven away itself - actually irrelevant for the plot. The motif is apparently borrowed from another folktale. In addition, the coarse Neapolitan command "arre caucare," upon which the golden ass ducats out, is replaced by the word "bricklebrit" - an enigmatic onomatopoeic expression with no known meaning, but subsequently adopted in numerous translations into other languages.

"Eleonore Storch is an example of a Grimm fairy tale contributor from the upper middle class - it wasn't always the common people who passed down the supposed folk tale," Ehrhardt says. If she had been able to inherit the business as a daughter, she probably would have become a factory owner instead of a fairy tale teller. "In my opinion, she kept the Tischleindeckdich fairy tale in her memory and reproduced it as a narrative for a reason; she herself came from a family of craftsmen, and the departure of her own foster sons - her sister's children - was probably as formative a break for her as it was for their father in the story." Eleonore Storch's affiliation with the Henschel family also links this Grimm storyteller in a certain way to the University of Kassel, which has its main campus on the former Henschel factory site.

The Grimm research professorship in Kassel is the only one in Germany devoted exclusively to linguists and fairy tale collectors. Prof. Ehrhardt recently already uncovered the identity of the "Cinderella" narrator. The recent discovery allowed him to gain extensive insight into the Henschel family estate. "My thanks for this go to the Henschel archive," Ehrhardt emphasizes.

Article: From an old Mamsell Storch b. Henschel." On the origin and textual constitution of KHM 36. In: Fabula 58/3-4 (2017), pp. 207-227.

Figure 1: Autograph of Eleonore Storch from an old family album page from 1802. Signed "M E Storch" (according to the baptismal register Maria Eleonore Storch). Illustration: Henschel archive.

Figure 2: Pencil drawing by August von der Embde, who was married to Eleonore Storch's niece. The picture shows Eleonore Storch (r.) and Christine Juliane Mahne snuffing tobacco. Image: Henschel Archives.

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Holger Ehrhardt
University of Kassel
Research Chair "The Work and Impact of the Brothers Grimm"
Tel.: +49 561 804-7455
E-mail: holger.ehrhardt[at]uni-kassel[dot]de

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