Spessart Roots - A History of the People of a German Forest
  • Home
  • Author
  • Buy Book
  • Map
  • Excerpts
    • Earliest Villages
    • Life as a Serf
    • Occupation Hazards
    • Customs and Practices
    • Folklore
    • Murder and Mayhem
    • Witch Trials
    • Thirty Years War
    • Mass Emigration
    • Fix Emigrant to Greece
  • Contact
  • Related Articles
    • Unexpected Bonanza
    • Wuest - Deep Ancestry
  • Genealogy
    • Andrew Wuest
    • Johann K. Fix
    • Hans (Johann) Fix
    • Maria Magdalena Gessner
    • Anna Maria Pistner

Spessart Roots - A History of the People of a German Forest
The Spessart is a magic land of castles and tales. It teems with old tales. One of the most enduring fairy tales form the forest is the story of Snow White.
​

Spessart Forest and the story of Snow White​

Magic Mirror of the type in Snow White - made in Spessart Forest
Magic Mirror of the type in Snow White - made in Spessart Forest.
Boyhood Home of the Grimm Brothers, tellers of the Snow White tale; the home is in the northern Spessart woods. Northern Spessart Woods.
Boyhood Home of the Grimm Brothers, tellers of the Snow White tale; the home is in the northern Spessart woods.

This is an excerpt from from the chapter on castles and forest tales in Spessart Roots.

The Spessart especially influenced the story of Snow White.
​

  One of the most important elements in the story of Snow White is the magic mirror. Glass production, as we’ve seen, was a major industry in the Spessart. By the 18th century, glassmakers in the Spessart, specifically in Lohr, were also producing glass panes and mirrors., for which the Spessart was famous. Mirrors became highly decorative, and after the French fashion, contained embellishments with mottoes inscribed within. … People started calling such mirrors Sprechende Spiegel (talking mirrors). These “talking mirrors” acquired the reputation of “always speaking the truth,” and were undoubtedly the inspiration for the stepmother’s talking mirror. Other elements in the story of Snow White include the dwarves…
The Grimm Brothers grew up on the northern edge of Spessart Forest.

Spessart roots - A History of the People of a German Forest