Once upon a time, there was a journalism student who chose to study abroad in Marburg. Ready to travel again, she packed her bags for the adventure of a lifetime. Not knowing who or what she would encounter along the way, she prepared herself (or tried to anyway) for anything and everything! Little did she know that upon arrival she would be taken down memory lane, reminiscing about fairy tales she hadn’t heard since she was a kid.

Marburg, Germany, is a hot spot on the German Fairy Tale Route. This route, Deutsche Märchenstraße, is a tourist attraction in Germany, originally established in 1975. Covering 370 miles, the route runs from Hanau in central Germany to Bremen in the north. All attractions along the route are focused around the Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm. This includes locations where they lived and worked at various stages in their life, as well as regions that are linked to the fairy tales found in the Grimm collection, such as “The Town Musicians of Bremen.” Marburg, being where I am currently studying, holds a huge history for the Brothers Grimm. They lived and studied at the Philipps University of Marburg. The years between 1802 and 1806 were very influential for the brothers in Marburg, as it was claimed to be “an important sojourn on their way.” It was in Marburg that the idea for collecting children’s and household tales, which later made them famous, was conceived. To this day there is still a lot to discover about the Grimms in the city.

Upon arriving in Marburg, one will begin to notice a particular theme in its public art. Giant metal flies crawl across a couple of buildings. A large red shoe waits for Cinderella on a wall near the castle. The heads of several goats and a lone, hungry wolf jut from another high wall. And, almost unnoticed and slightly overgrown, the Frog Prince sits over a street, holding a book while watching the shoppers pass by. These statues around the city make it a scavenger hunt to find them all! These statues are all on the Brothers Grimm Trail, which starts in the city center and leads up to the castle. The fairy tales don’t just stop with the Brothers Grimm and their history here. Marburg as a whole is a mixture of medieval city, gardens, imposing Castle of the Landgrave and many other historic palaces and castles surrounding the city. With new roads to explore and trails to take that lead to ruins, Marburg is basically a “build your own adventure” city.

… And so that journalism student went about her way to find new adventures daily. Taking each encounter as they came and finding the best way to solve it. As for her trip down memory lane, she used it to escape. Reminding her that even though she is in a new place, there will always be connections to home. And she went on to (continue the semester) happily ever after!