The history of Snow White

(The information and images below have been extracted from https://elgiva.com/snow-white-history/)

Snow White is one of the most famous fairy tales, and of course, was the subject of the very first Disney feature film in 1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. We take a look at the intriguing past of this most beloved story…

Snow White through the years

The original tale is in a 19th-century collection of fairy tales written in German by the Brothers Grimm, who also wrote Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Rumplestiltskin.

The Brothers Grimm published their book in 1812, featuring the story of Sneewittchen (Snow White). The tale contained many of the elements we know and love today, such as the magic mirror, the poisoned apple, the glass coffin, and the characters of the Evil Queen and the Seven Dwarfs.

However the dwarfs did not have names until the story was brought to Broadway in 1912 and then they were called Blick, Flick, Glick, Snick, Plick, Whick and Quee.

Is Snow White a true story?

Research has suggested that the origins of Snow White could actually lie in history and may have been inspired by the countess Margaretha von Waldeck and her alleged lover, Philip II of Spain. The countess, who died in 1554, was famed for her beauty.

Her strict stepmother and father sent her first to her uncle’s house, and then to the court of Mary of Hungary, where she was pursued by Philip. Alas, their relationship was doomed, as Philip was a Catholic and Margaretha a Lutheran.

Margaretha’s letters to her father before her death speak of failing health and the Waldeck chronicles suggested that she had been poisoned, dying at the age of 21.

However, the Seven Dwarfs are also involved in this real-life story – well, sort of.

Margaretha’s father owned a series of copper mines and the majority of workers were children. Due to malnutrition and poor working conditions, the children were allegedly called “poor dwarfs” – could these be the dwarfs of the fairy tale? Just like the dwarfs, the children lived in small groups, all sharing a single room house.

So convinced are the residents of the mine’s location – the village of Bergfreiheit – that they now call the village Schneewittchendorf (Snow White village).