Ludwig Bechstein

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ludwig Bechstein (1801–1860) was a German writer who collected folk fairy tales. He was born in Weimar as an illegitimate child and grew up very poor after his French father disappeared before he was born. In 1810 his uncle, the naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein, adopted him and they moved to Meiningen. He went to school there and, in 1818, began an apprenticeship as a pharmacist. From 1828 to 1831 he studied philosophy and literature in Leipzig and Munich with help from Duke Bernhard II of Sachsen-Meiningen, who then hired him as a librarian for life. This job gave him a steady income and the freedom to write. He lived in Meiningen until his death. A fountain in the English Garden was built in his honor. Bechstein published many works and became a popular author. His German Fairy Tale Book was especially well known when it appeared in 1845, even more popular than the Brothers Grimm’s collection. He also published several folk tale collections, as well as romances and poems.