Origin of the Snow White tale

[1] According to Christine Shojaei Kawan, the Grimms' version of the tale combines stories collected from at least three different informants: their friend Marie Hassenpflug and the collectors Ferdinand Siebert and Heinrich Leopold Stein.

[2] Some earlier recorded tales share elements of the Snow White story, such as the Malay Syair Bidasari and the Italian “The Young Slave”.

[4] Folklorist Joseph Jacobs, in Europa's Fairy Book, in his commentaries, considered "Snow White" a later tale influenced or contaminated by these other stories.

[6] Scholar Graham Anderson suggested that the story of Snow White had ancient mythical roots and compared it to the Roman legend of Chione, recorded in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

After hearing a tour guide claim that workers in the mining town of Bergfreiheit had inspired the seven dwarfs, Sander set out to prove that Snow White had originated in that area.

In 1545, she traveled through the Siebengebirge ("seven hills") to live with her mother's brother Johann Cirksena (1506–1572) at Valkenburg Castle, in present-day Limburg, Netherlands.

[12] In 1549, her father sent her to the Brussels court of Mary of Hungary, governor of the Habsburg Netherlands and sister of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

Margaretha's presence at the court was partially meant to improve the relationship of her father with the emperor and help the release of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, who had been imprisoned in Brussels for his role in the Schmalkaldic War.

[10] Karlheinz Bartels, a pharmacist from Lohr am Main in northwestern Bavaria, was part of a "study group" made up of friends who met regularly at a local pub.

In 1992, Bartels' fellow theorist and local museum head Werner Loibl analyzed a surviving letter from the stepmother, Claudia Elisabeth von Reichenstein, which revealed that she answered Philipp Christoph's mail and handled important decisions while he was traveling abroad.

[19] Mirrors made in Lohr were said to always tell the truth due to their high quality and smooth surfaces that were unusually clear for the time.

As stated by Professor Donald Haase, "There have been a couple of attempts to show that the story of Snow White is based on the fate of a historical figure, but they are pure speculation and not at all convincing.

[25] Ruth Bottigheimer also noted that Maria Sophia von Erthal was born too late to have significant influence on the fairy tale, with motifs like the glass coffin already appearing in literature by the 17th century.