'Snow White actually existed and she is buried in Brussels'

The Brothers Grimm are said to have based the fairytale of Snow White on the life of Margaretha von Waldeck. Her life story also included the stepmother, the poisoning, the prince, and even the seven dwarfs.

The Belgian comic series 'Spike and Suzy' dedicates its latest album to Snow White. And 'The Real White', published in honour of the duo's 80th anniversary, is not completely unfounded. There is indeed historical evidence that Snow White truly existed; she was called Margaretha von Waldeck and is buried under the stock exchange building in Brussels. That forms the basis of the story in the comic, but the reality would also align with this.

And the timeline would also match. The history of Margaretha von Waldeck in Hesse had already been passed down for nearly two centuries before the Brothers Grimm, who were from that region, first recorded it in their 1812 collection of folk tales and fairytales.

Kurt Deswert, a Brussels resident and Germanist, conducted intensive research on the real Snow White following the Disney remake currently in cinemas. "The best substantiated theory is that Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm based her on Margaretha von Waldeck, a young 16th-century countess from Hesse, not far from where the Grimms grew up. She led a tragic life and – this is where my fascination truly began – she lived for years in Brussels, she died there and was buried there", the researcher confidently states in Het Nieuwsblad.

But what about the strict stepmother and the poisoned apple?

The element of the stepmother from the Great Brothers Grimm's fairytale would also come from the real life of Margaretha von Waldeck . She lost her mother when she was still a child and acquired a strict stepmother. Margaretha's mother is also said to have been poisoned with arsenic.

And what about the seven dwarfs?

The presence of these figures also seems to be based on the real life of Margaretha. In the region she came from, there is the Kellerwald, a large dark forest. Mining was also done in that area, often by children as they could move more easily through the narrow mine passages. "Due to harsh working conditions, these children often developed dwarfism and often lived together with six, seven, or eight, in small miner's cottages", explains researcher Deswert in Het Nieuwsblad.

Definitive evidence for this well-supported theory is yet to be found. Do you believe in this fairytale?

(FVDV - Source: Het Nieuwsblad/Bruzz - Image: ©Unsplash)