[4] Their children were as follows:[5] In 1791, the Grimm family moved to the town of Steinau an der Straße where Philipp had been named as a district magistrate.

[7] Dorothea took care of managing the household and raising their family,[8] employed private tutors to visit the home, and sent their children to school for a classical education once they were of age.

[10] Dorothea encouraged her children to pursue an education and wrote to the government asking for special permission for her sons to be admitted to the University of Marburg, which was subsequently granted.

[2] Scholars and critics including Alistair Hauke have written that Dorothea may have influenced the Brothers Grimm view of the concept of motherhood in high and "sacred" esteem, which influenced their decision to change the maternal villain character to a wicked stepmother instead of a biological mother in their later versions of Snow White and Hansel and Gretel.

[15][16] Dorothea is portrayed by Claire Bloom in the 1962 American fantasy film The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, which received the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.