Gisela von Arnim

Who was Gisela von Arnim?

Gisela von Arnim was a German writer, mainly of fairy tales.

Gisela was the youngest child of Achim and Bettina von Arnim. She was not formally educated, being taught only by her sisters. In her youth she read fairy tales and Romantic poetry, especially the works of Wilhelm Hauff, and began to write fairy tales herself. With her sisters she started the "Kaffeter circle", first a group for young women and later a full literary salon also including men. In 1859, she married Germanist and art historian Herman Grimm, a son of Wilhelm Grimm.