Lohr am Main in Main-Spessart, Bavaria, Germany — Central Europe
Schneewittchen....eine Lohrerin / Snow White...a woman of Lohr
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2022
1. Schneewitchen....eine Lohrerin / Snow White...a woman of Lohr Marker
Nach dem Tod von Maria Sophias leiblicher Mutter 1741 heiratete der Vater 1743 Claudia Elisabeth Maria von Venningen, geb. Reichsgräfin von Reichenstein. Diese sei herrschsüchtig gewesen und habe ihre Stellung zum Vorteil ihrer Kinder aus erster Ehe ausgenutzt.
Als wichtigstes Indiz dafür, dass Schneewittchen eine Lohrerin war, gilt der ‘Sprechende Spiegel’ , der im Spessartmuseum im Lohrer Schloss ausgestellt ist. Er ist ein Erzeugnis aus der Kurmainzischen Spiegelmanufaktur in Lohr. Der Spiegel war ein Geschenk von Philipp Christoph an seine zweite Frau Claudia und ‘spricht’ durch seine Sinnsprüche. Die rechte obere Ecke enthält einen
this page online
Der ‘wilde Wald‘, in dem Schneewittchen ausgesetzt wurde, ist natürlich der Spessart. Der Fluchtweg Schneewittchens ‘über die sieben Berge‘ ist ein alter Höhenweg-die sogenannte ‘Wieser Straße’. Auf ihm konnte man von Lohr aus über die Spessartberge zu den Bergwerken bei Bieber gelangen. Die ‘sieben Zwerge, die nach Erz hackten und gruben‘, waren kleinwüchsige Bergleute bzw. Kinder aus den Bergwerken. Der ‘durchsichtige Sarg von Glas‘ und die ‘eisernen Pantoffel‘, in denen die Stiefmutter sich zu Tode tanzte, wurden in den Glashütten bzw. Eisenhammern des Spessarts hergestellt.
Und wer's nicht glaubt...
In 1986, the Lohr pharmacist and historian Dr. Karl Heinz Bartels found out that Snow White was a woman of Lohr. This would be Maria Sophia Margaretha Catharina von Erthal, born in Lohr am Main in 1725, who died shortly before the fairy tale was first written down by the Brothers Grimm. Her father, Philipp Christoph von Erthal, was a senior magistrate in Lohr from 1719 to 1748. In this position he associated with emperors and kings throughout Europe, which made the von Erthals seem like a royal family to the people of Lohr - with their very popular and fairytale-like daughter Maria Sophia. The family seat was the castle in Lohr.
After the death of Maria Sophia's birth mother in 1741, her father in 1743 married Claudia Elisabeth Maria von Venningen, born the Imperial Countess of Reichenstein. She was domineering
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2022
2. Schneewittchen....eine Lohrerin / Snow White...a woman of Lohr Marker - wide view
The writing on the wall reads: "Here the tale begins", in the year 1986, in which in this building it was established that Snow White was from Lohr.
The most important indication that Snow White was a Lohrerin is the 'Talking Mirror', which is exhibited in the Spessart Museum in Lohr Castle. It was a product of the Kurmainzische Mirror Factory in Lohr. The mirror was a gift from Philipp Christoph to his second wife Claudia and 'speaks' through its sayings. The upper right corner of the mirror contains a reference to the stepmother's self-love ("Amour Propre").
The "wild forest" in which Snow White slept in suspended animation is of course the Spessart (the local, regional forest). Snow White's escape route "over the seven mountains" is an old mountain trail - the so-called 'Wieser Straße' (meadow road). On this route you could travel from Lohr over the Spessart mountains to the mines near Bieber. The seven dwarfs "chopping and digging for ore", were short miners or children working in the mines. The "transparent coffin of glass" and the "iron slippers", in which the stepmother danced herself to death were made in the glassworks or forges of the Spessart area.
And whoever doesn't believe this, well...
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Women.
Location. 49° 59.677′ N, 9° 34.525′ E. Marker is in Lohr am Main, Bayern (Bavaria), in Main-Spessart. Marker is on Hauptstraße, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2022
3. Schneewittchen....eine Lohrerin / Snow White...a woman of Lohr Marker - wider view
Showing the pharmacy ("Apotheke" = apothecary).
Other nearby markers. At least 4 other markers are within 18 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Imkeller Haus am Maulaffeneck (within shouting distance of this marker); Dr. Karl Brand (about 210 meters away, measured in a direct line); Herzlich Welkommen in Duttenbrunn / Welcome to Duttenbrunn (approx. 14.4 kilometers away); Alte Schmiede / Former Metal Works (approx. 16.8 kilometers away).
Also see . . .
1. Snow White of Lohr (Stadt Lohr am Main). A nicely produced PDF-format booklet by the town of Lohr ("the fairytale town of Lohr am Main"), presenting the fairy tale, the evidence, and a few (well, more than a few) enticements to get tourists to visit Lohr. (Which, truth be told, is a charming place, actually....) (Submitted on October 20, 2022.)
2. Origin of the Snow White tale (Wikipedia).
Excerpt: ""Snow White" is a German fairy tale known across much of Europe and is today one of the most famous fairy tales worldwide. There has been debate over possible origins of the tale and whether it could be an amalgam of other stories, have mythical roots, or be inspired by a real person. It falls within the classification of Type 709 in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index....The Brothers Grimm published Snow White in 1812 in the first edition of their collection Grimms' Fairy Tales. It was titled in German: Sneewittchen (in modern orthography Schneewittchen) and numbered as Tale 53. They completed(Submitted on October 20, 2022.)their final revision of the story in 1854....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. The Grimms also knew of eight other German variants...."Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 20224. Schneewittchen....eine Lohrerin / Snow White...a woman of Lohr plaqueClose-up of the plaque seen in Photo 2.
Additional commentary.
1. Lohr Schneewittchen
Die „Lohrer Schneewittchen“ Wahrheit ist sehr einfach mit drei Fragen herauszufinden.
1. Im Schneewittchen Märchen starb die Mutter nach der Geburt.
Im Märchen steht: „Und wie das Kind geboren war, starb die Königin.“
--- Im Lohrer Märchen NICHT.
Die Mutter starb 1738, als Maria Sophia von Erthal 13 Jahre alt war.
2. Im Schneewittchen Märchen nahm sich der Vater, 1 Jahr nach der Geburt von Schneewittchen, eine 2. Frau.
Im Märchen steht: „Über ein Jahr nahm sich der König eine andere Gemahlin.“
--- Im Lohrer Märchen NICHT.
Philipp Christoph von Erthal heiratete seine 2. Frau, 18 Jahre nach der Geburt von Maria Sophia, im Jahr 1743 in Augsburg. Er lebte mit ihr und seinen Kindern im Erthaler Hof in Mainz, nicht in Lohr. Die beiden Kinder von Elisabeth aus erster Ehe, Carl Philipp von Venningen und Maria Anna von Venningen, wohnten im Schloss ihres Vormunds Johann Friedrich Freiherrn von Deggenfeld zu Neuhaus, in Eichtersheim bei Sinsheim.
3. Im Schneewittchen Märchen heiratete Schneewittchen einen Königssohn.
Im
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2022
5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, in silhouette...
standing in front of the castle in Lohr, as mentioned on the marker, which is now the Spessart Museum.
--- Im Lohrer Märchen NICHT.
Maria Sophia war infolge einer Pockenerkrankung seit früher Kindheit blind und bis zu Ihrem Lebensende ledig. Sie starb 1796 im Institut der englischen Fräulein in Bamberg.
The "Lohrer Schneewittchen" truth is very easy to find out with three questions.
1. In the Snow White fairy tale, the mother died after childbirth.
The fairy tale says: "And as soon as the child was born, the queen died."
--- NOT in the Lohr fairy tale.
The mother died in 1738 when Maria Sophia von Erthal was 13 years old.
2. In the Snow White fairy tale, 1 year after Snow White was born, the father took a second wife.
The fairy tale says: "For more than a year the king took another wife."
--- NOT in the Lohr fairy tale.
Philipp Christoph von Erthal married his second wife, 18 years after the birth of Maria Sophia, in 1743 in Augsburg. He lived with her and his children in the Erthaler Hof in Mainz, not in Lohr. Elisabeth's two children from her first marriage, Carl Philipp von Venningen and Maria Anna von Venningen, lived in the castle of her guardian, Johann Friedrich Freiherr von Deggenfeld zu Neuhaus, in Eichtersheim near Sinsheim.
3. In the Snow White fairy tale, Snow White married a king's son.
In the fairy tale it says: “I love you more than anything
Eugene Klimsch (courtesy of the New York Public Library), 1895
6. Title page illustration of Snow White for a book of Grimm Fairy tales
--- NOT in the Lohr fairy tale.
As a result of smallpox, Maria Sophia had been blind since early childhood and single until the end of her life. She died in 1796 in the institute of the English ladies in Bamberg.
— Submitted January 31, 2023, by Klaus Weyer of Kreuzwertheim, Bayern.
2. Lohr Schneewittchen Maria Sophia
Die entscheidenden Aussagen in dem Schneewittchen Märchen stehen ganz am Anfang in der 6. und 7. Zeile.
"Und wie das Kind geboren war, starb die Königin."
"Über ein Jahr nahm sich der König eine andere Gemahlin."
Passt das auch für das „Lohrer Schneewittchen Maria Sophia“?
The decisive statements in the Snow White fairy tale are at the very beginning in the 6th and 7th lines.
"And as soon as the child was born, the queen died."
"Over a year the king took another wife."
Does that also apply to the "Lohrer Schneewittchen Maria Sophia"?
— Submitted February 10, 2023, by Klaus Weyer of Kreuzwertheim, Bayern.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 10, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 19, 2022, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 371 times since then and 60 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on October 19, 2022, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on October 20, 2022, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
