Real inspiration behind snow-white and seven dwarfs
There were also not one, but two, real women that might have inspired the story as well. According to Eckhard Sander in his book “ Schneewittchen: Marchen oder Wahrheit?” (Snow White: Is It a Fairy Tale? ) The inspiration for Grimms’ version was Margarete von Waldeck , a German countess born to Philip IV in 1533.
At the age of 16, Margarete was forced by her stepmother, Katharina of Hatzfeld to move away to Wildungen in Brussels. There, Margarete fell in love with a prince who would later become Phillip II of Spain. However, her father and stepmother disapproved of her relationship as it was ‘politically inconvenient’ and the girl mysteriously died at the age of 21, apparently having been poisoned. Historical accounts point to the King of Spain, who opposing the romance, may have dispatched Spanish agents to murder Margarete.
Where did the imagery of dwarfs come in? Margarete’s father owned several copper mines that employed children as quasi-slaves. The poor conditions caused many to die at a young age, but those that survived had severely stunted growth and deformed limbs from malnutrition and the hard, physical labor. As a result, they were often referred to as ‘poor dwarfs’.
Another possibility according to a study group in Lohr, Bavaria, is that Snow White is based on Maria Sophia von Erthal , born on June 15, 1729 in Lohr am Main, Bavaria. She was the daughter of an 18th century landowner, Prince Philipp Christoph von Erthal and his wife, Baroness von Bettendorff.
After the death of the Baroness, Prince Philipp went on to marry Claudia Elisabeth Maria von Venningen, Countess of Reichenstein, who was said to dislike her stepchildren. The castle where they lived, now a museum, was home to a ‘talking mirror’, an acoustical toy that could speak (now housed in the Spessart Museum). The mirror, constructed in 1720 by the Mirror Manufacture of the Electorate of Mainz in Lohr, had been in the house during the time that Maria’s stepmother lived there. The dwarfs in Maria’s story are also linked to a mining town, Bieber, located just west of Lohr and set among seven mountains.
Another possibility according to a study group in Lohr, Bavaria, is that Snow White is based on Maria Sophia von Erthal , born on June 15, 1729 in Lohr am Main, Bavaria. She was the daughter of an 18th century landowner, Prince Philipp Christoph von Erthal and his wife, Baroness von Bettendorff.
After the death of the Baroness, Prince Philipp went on to marry Claudia Elisabeth Maria von Venningen, Countess of Reichenstein, who was said to dislike her stepchildren. The castle where they lived, now a museum, was home to a ‘talking mirror’, an acoustical toy that could speak (now housed in the Spessart Museum). The mirror, constructed in 1720 by the Mirror Manufacture of the Electorate of Mainz in Lohr, had been in the house during the time that Maria’s stepmother lived there. The dwarfs in Maria’s story are also linked to a mining town, Bieber, located just west of Lohr and set among seven mountains.
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