German Museum shows off White Snow tombs 'real version'

A museum in the town of Bamberg, Germany, claims to find the tomb of Maria Sophia von Erthal, the woman who is believed to be the source of the White Snow fairy tale.

The Docesan Museum in Bamberg, southern Germany, shows the tomb of Maria Sophia von Erthal, the woman who is believed to be the inspiration behind Snow White . The story is in the collection of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales (Jakob and Wilhem) printed in 1812.

Erthal was born in Lohr am Main, meaning "snowy city" , and was the sister of the archbishop of Mainz, according to Sky News. Erthal orphaned her mother as a child. Her father married his second wife and she was estranged by her stepmother.

The father is the owner of a mirror factory. Lohr am Main at that time was also famous for making glass. These elements are thought to inspire details such as White Snow's glass mirror and coffin in the Grimm fairy tale.

The museum in Bamberg claimed that Erthal had a special social position at the time, carved with a stone tomb.(Photo: Sky News).

Unlike the Disney version or fairy tale, Erthal is not "happy ever after". She was not married, moved to Bamberg and was blind and died at the age of 71.

Tombstones were lost in 1804 after the church where Erthal was buried.

Bamberg region is famous for 7 hills. The mines in the area at that time often used child labor or people with "dwarves" syndrome to work in narrow tunnels.

The people of Lohr am Main town said that brothers Jakob and Wilhem Grimm borrowed the story of Erthal, adding folk tales, to build Snow White's character in the Grimm fairy tale collection.

According to Holger Kempkens museum director, after the local church was destroyed in 1804, Erthal's tombstone was transferred to a regional hospital founded by his brother. This place was newly built into a clinic in the 1970s. A family in the area retained the tomb and gave it back to the museum.