Thursday 3 January 2013

Visiting the Storybook Museum

I love fairytales. They remind me of my childhood, of long gone times, of what-ifs and of the sheer believe that everything will end well in some weird and twisted sort of way. I can get lost in stories about witches, dwarfs and magic, even though I am almost 22 years old now. The origins of fairytales fascinate me, too, I love to learn about how they have changed over time. 

When I heard the local storybook museum had an art exhibition on the Grimm Brothers my little Countess of Fairytales heart jumped a bit. Now, my dear friend Vivi and I finally had the time to go visit the museum and believe me, we had the best of times! The exhibition featured only pictures, almost no texts with information were given as th museum wants to make sure it directs its exhibitions at all ages but the shown art was amazing and inspiring! 
I do not think that I have ever seen so many different versions of princesses and bad wolfs (Doctor Who reference ftw!) and they had books with the most common and the most strange fairytales lying around for everyone to read them. On the second floor the museum has a huge room full of children's books from fairytales to Pippi Longstockings and the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I didn't take any photos of the books and pictures because I wasn't sure if that was allowed but here is evidence of what happens to you when you read fairytales for too long:

The Countess of Fairytales on her throne




I call it The Bat


"To my consternation I have heard that there are people who have never seen a leprechaun. I am sure something is wrong with their eyesight."



Stories for children and those who love children
Do you like fairtales? Which is your personal favourite?

Have a great day,
The Countess

6 comments:

  1. I love fairytales too! I did my Personal Interest Project in high school on why they should not be too sanitised. The horrible punishment of evil people is strangely reassuring. I grew up on the magic of fairytales!

    I love the cape and walking stick!

    My favourite fairytale is the little known The Stone Heart by Wilhelm Hauff. A charcoal burner sells his heart to a demon so he can no longer feel pain. He can also no longer feel love or joy. He also wrote another amazing one about a ghost ship that Pirates of the Carribean rather suspiciously resembles.

    I find mythic fiction (modern stories based on fairytales) really fascinating, too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always had a fascination for curel and terrible things in literature, even as a child so I have always loved the original fairytales.

      Oh, I know Hauff! I have a book with his stories! http://ahandfulloffairydust.blogspot.de/2012/02/one-persons-trash-is-another-persons.html

      Delete
    2. Oh, and I forgot:
      The walking stick was lying around so we used it for the photos but the cape is mine, I made it :)

      Delete
  2. Oh and the musical Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim! Love it so much! But it's nearly impossible to find, I haven't seen it since I was a kid!

    ReplyDelete
  3. A storybook museum sounds like a wonderful place! If I saw one somewhere, I'd absolutely walk right in!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It IS a wonderful place and the castle which holds the museum is really great too. You can even marry there, my parents did :)

      Unfortunately, you can only see a storybook museum somewhere when you are here in Troisdorf, germany as it is the only one in Europe.

      Delete