Jacob Grimm (b. 1785 Hanau – d. 1863 Berlin)

Linguist, literary scholar and collector of fairy tales

After studying law at the University of Marburg, Jacob Grimm began his career as chief librarian to the King of Westphalia, Jérôme Bonaparte. When the Electorate of Hesse was restored in 1813, Elector William I of Hesse-Kassel appointed him a member of his diplomatic service. He then served as Hesse-Kassel’s Secretary of Legation at the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15 and later travelled to Paris to negotiate the return of looted art treasures.

Jacob Grimm was appointed Professor of German Language and Grammar at the University of Göttingen in 1830. Seven years later he and six of his colleagues protested against the repeal of the constitution by King Augustus II of Hanover, whereupon he was summarily dismissed and banished from the kingdom. Not until 1841 did Frederick William IV, the new King of Prussia, appoint him to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin.

Jacob Grimm already knew Frankfurt in part from the Congress of German Scholars held there in 1846. Many of those present at that event were now among the deputies to the National Assembly. Jacob Grimm also belonged to the ‘Pre-Parliament’ that was in session at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt from 31st March to 4th April 1848. It was this body, made up of 574 men, that prepared the election of the National Assembly.

Jacob Grimm was elected deputy for the district of Duisburg (the 29th ward) and did not belong to any party. He was nevertheless affiliated with the National Assembly’s largest grouping. Known as the ‘Casino Faction’, this was a liberal, centre-right “club” that came into being on 25th June 1848. Like most of the factions in the National Assembly, it derived its name from its favourite meeting place. Having initially met at the Grosse Hirschgraben, its members soon decided that they preferred the premises of the Frankfurt Casino Society on the Rossmarkt.

Jacob Grimm was accorded a place of honour in the National Assembly. Dissatisfied with the slow pace of its deliberations, however, he resigned his mandate as early as October 1848.