Margarete von Waldeck - Real-Life Snow White?

Researcher Eckhard Sander, in his 1994 book, Schneewittchen: Marchen oder Wahrheit? (Snow White: Is It a Fairy Tale?), put forth the idea that the Snow White story was actually based upon the life of a beautiful 16th century German countess, Margarete von Waldeck (1533-1554).

Sander discovered numerous similarities between the young Margaretha of Waldeck and the Grimm Brothers' heroine.

• Margarete had an antagonistic relationship with her stepmother.
• At the age of 16, the girl was forced to leave her home in Germany and live in Brussels.
• Her father, Philipp IV of Waldeck-Wildungen, owned copper mines worked mainly by children. Because of poor working conditions, many died young, but those who lived suffered from malnutrition and stunted growth. They were scornfully referred to as “poor dwarfs”.
• Margarete had a love affair with a prince (Philip II-- the future King of Spain). The relationship was frowned upon by his relatives since no political benefit would have been gained through marriage.
• To do away with Margarete, it is thought that she might have been poisoned at the age of 21.

Princess Elisabeth of Hesse

This bronze frieze is part of the memorial to Princess Elisabeth of Hesse, in the Herrengarten in Darmstadt, Germany. It depicts the dead princess as Snow White in the glass coffin, surrounded by the grieving dwarfs. The inscription below reads "for our little princess, from the children of Darmstadt" ("unserem Prinzesschen die Kinder Darmstadts"). Sadly, one of the dwarfs was damaged when Darmstadt was bombed during World War Two.

Princess Elisabeth of Hesse (11 March 1895 - 6 November 1903), was the only daughter of Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his first wife, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her early death was rumored to be a result of poison meant for her uncle, Tsar Nicholas II, but the court physician said she died of virulent typhoid.

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