A German curator has discovered 500 new fairy tales, myths and legends in Germany gathered by the local historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth (1810–1886) in the Bavarian region of Oberpfalz at about the same time as the Grimm brothers were doing the same.

In 1885, Jacob Grimm said of Von Schönwerth “Nowhere in the whole of Germany is anyone collecting [folklore] so accurately, thoroughly and with such a sensitive ear,” and once said that the only person who could replace the work of the Brothers Grimm was Von Schönwerth.

The Franz Xaver von Schönwerth Society is an interdisciplinary committee devoted to analysing his work and publicising it.  English translations are already underway including stories ranging from a miserly farmer and a money-mill to a turnip princess.

There is an endless stream of stories out there.  Someday we’ll make a funny comic about each one of them.

Stay funny!