Who were the Grimm brothers???

The Grimm brothers are wildly known throughout the land of fairy tales for children and folklore. They are both credited as being German children authors when in truth both of their lives spanned a time when Germany was not even a country but merely an extended area of the now long gone Prussian Empire.
Brothers Jakob and Wilhelm were born within a year of each other. Jakob being born on January 4, 1785 while Wilhelm was born on February 24 of the next year. The brothers barely spent anytime apart and their personalities complemented each other as they worked side by side creating such stories.
A Romantic period rose up through the beginning of the 19th century that brought a popular light on things like nature along with knowing the roots of popular German folklore. Literature of this time period reflects such a movement. Here is when the Grimm Brothers really fell into their stride producing books like Kinder-und Hausmärchen (Tales of Children and the Home) in 1812 followed by Deutsche Sagen (German Legends) a few years later.
The Grimm Brothers are still very much part of our culture's popular literature, even though throughout the decades their stories have been tweaked and changed to seem more appropriate for children of the present; companies like Disney have had a large part to do with this. When the brothers passed away in 1859 and 1863 respectively they most likely did not have any inclination that their stories and legends that they brought to life would ever have such an impact on the world as we see it today.