The Most Beautiful Places in Germany Are Straight Out of a Fairytale (2024)

FAQs

What is the fairy tale town in Germany? ›

A popular stop along the Romantic Road, the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a fairy tale village come to life. It was the inspiration for the village in the 1940 Disney movie "Pinocchio" and was featured in several "Harry Potter" films.

The Grimms thought the stories and their morals emanated naturally from the German people in an oral tradition, and they wanted to preserve them before the tales were lost forever.

''Hansel and Gretel'' is one of the most popular German folk tales, although versions of this story exist in many other cultures as well.

The moss people or moss folk (German: Moosleute, "moss folk", wilde Leute, "wild folk"), also referred to as the wood people or wood folk (Holzleute, "wood folk") or forest folk (Waldleute, "forest-folk"), are a class of fairy folk, variously compared to dwarfs, elves, or spirits, described in German folklore as having ...

The fairytale-like Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria is, with 1.4 million visitors per year, one of the three most visited tourist attractions in Germany. The Disney castle is located in the village of Hohenschwangau in the hills of the green region Allgäu in Bavaria.

In German fairy tales, the stories end with the phrase [Und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind dann leben sie noch heute] which literally means “If they didn't die, then they're living on today.

First published tales

Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm published their first volume of fairy tales in 1812.

Not only does the country contain alpine peaks and mysterious forests, but its major cities and charming small towns are testaments to man-made beauty: think white Rococo churches, streets lined with timbered houses, and castles that seem almost too majestic to be real.

The Bavarian state in Germany is often considered the most beautiful, boasting picturesque landscapes, charming villages, and the stunning Bavarian Alps.

There are so many reasons why Germany is famous, ranging from their iconic festivals like Oktoberfest and Christmas Markets, to their car production in brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz, as well as their sporting success with icons like Michael Schumacher being German.

Why are fairy tales from Germany? ›

It's because some of the earliest philological scholars of fairy tales (the Brothers Grimm) were themselves German and thus focused heavily on German Märchen when they collated their earliest and most popular collections.

But the original versions of these popular fairy tales were much darker in nature. Originating in European folk stories, often designed to be parables with a moral twist, they featured painful punishments, sad*stic parents and children being devoured by wild beasts – hardly the stuff of bedtime stories.

1. Cinderella. Cinderella is one of the most popular fairy tales of all time. Its story remains an all-time classic and will remain the same for future generations as well.

Germelshausen is an 1860 story by Friedrich Gerstäcker concerning a cursed village that sank into the earth long ago and is permitted to appear for only one day every century.

Just an hour and a half drive south of Frankfurt, you will find the town of Baden-Baden. Upon entering Baden-Baden, you'll feel as if you are transported back to what you imagined as the main town of a child's fairy tale. Baden translates to “bath,” and that is what this little gem is known for – healing spas.

The Brothers Grimm spent their formative years in the town of Hanau in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel.

The German Fairy Tale Route (German: Deutsche Märchenstraße) is a tourist attraction in Germany originally established in 1975. With a length of 600 kilometres (370 mi), the route runs from Hanau in central Germany to Bremen in the north.