In the Brothers Grimm tale “Rapunzel,” Rapunzel lowers her hair from the tower window. The witch uses this unusual means of entering the tower, calling the familiar phrase that tells Rapunzel to let down her hair.
The tower has no door or staircase, leaving Rapunzel isolated from the outside world. A prince hears her singing and visits by copying the witch’s call. In the Grimm version, he climbs the hair to reach the tower, though later adaptations often soften or alter the relationship between Rapunzel and the prince.
The hair-ladder image is central to the tale’s identity, but it is not the only major version of the story. Earlier European narratives contain related motifs involving imprisoned maidens, inaccessible towers, and secret visitors. The Grimm brothers published their version in “Kinder- und Hausmärchen.”