The German state of Hessen is inexorably connected to its most famous sons, the Gebrüder Grimm or Brothers Grimm.
We visited one region near the city of Eschwege called Frau Holle Land or Mrs. Holle Land.
Now I know some Grimm fairy tales like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, but Frau Holle, the winter goddess who sprinkles snow on the world using her featherbed, passed me by. Maybe Disney didn't release it and that's why!
Anyways, the Missus knows it well and was thrilled to go the lake dedicated to her, complete with huge wooden statue.
Is Frau Holle a fairy story you know?
What's your favourite, Grimm or H.C. Anderson or otherwise?
The forest is also full of the wild plant woodruff, which in German is called Waldmeister. Unlike in Blighty, Waldmeister flavours many things in Germany: green jelly, a green drink and most commonplace, bright green ice cream.
It doesn't exist as such in the UK. Do you have woodruff or Waldmeister products?
Besides wolves and boars, the ski-region is also home to the Lynx or in German, Luchs. They are about the size of a family dog and therefore bigger than I thought. I've not seen one in the wild, only stuffed.
Have you seen a Lynx? What's the biggest cat you've seen?
My missus loves this post! She's not familar with Waldmeister. She admires the fact you Northern hemisphere dwellers can travel relatively short distances and be in completely different and distinct countries. As far as big cats go, she hasn't even seen a Penrith Panther!
ReplyDeleteShe was wondering if Disney's Frozen, based on the Snow Queen tale by Hans Christian Anderson, might be derived from Frau Holle.
Glad your Missus liked it. As far asy Missus knows, The Gebrüder Grimm collected their stories. They didn't write them. Hans Christian Anderson wrote his. She's not sure about Frozen Snow Queen Holle Looey.
DeleteFrau Holle is one of the coolest figures from the Fairy Tale World. I used to be obsessed with the German Fairy Tale movies, especially the ones which were imported into the US, and there is a terrific movie adaptation of Frau Holle (called Mother Holly in the US version) by Fritz Genschow, the genius of German Fairy Tale movies. SFZ
ReplyDeleteWow, small world. Well have to look up those films SF. Are you a Disney fan?
Delete