The Mirror’s Keeper

The Grimm brothers’ “Schneewittchen” was inspired by a true 16th-century Bavarian countess: Maria Sophia von Erthal. But the story told to children omits the most disturbing part.

Maria’s stepmother, Claudia, was obsessed with reflection. She commissioned one of the first “talking mirrors” — an acoustical device built by glassmakers in Lohr am Main. It was designed to repeat voices… but witnesses said it answered questions whispered in front of it.

After Maria’s sudden illness and “burial,” the mirror’s craftsmen claimed they heard her voice echoing from it weeks later.

“She’s not dead,” it said. “She sleeps.”

Years later, miners found a glass coffin hidden in a forest cave, containing a young woman’s body that hadn’t decayed. Her eyes were open — staring through the lid as if waiting.

The body vanished in transit to Würzburg for examination.

Only the mirror remains, displayed in a museum under guard.

Tourists claim it still whispers if you stand close enough.