“Rapunzel” is assigned KHM 12 in Grimm’s Fairy Tales. KHM stands for Kinder- und Hausmärchen, the German title commonly translated as Children’s and Household Tales.
The Brothers Grimm published “Rapunzel” in 1812. Their version was not created from nothing: it developed through earlier European literary tales, especially Giambattista Basile’s “Petrosinella” from 1634 and Charlotte-Rose de La Force’s French “Persinette” from 1697. The Grimm story belongs to folktale type ATU 310, “The Maiden in the Tower.”
Modern readers often know the story mainly through Disney’s Tangled, released in 2010, but the Grimm narrative is darker. Rapunzel is confined in a tower by a sorceress, the prince is blinded after falling from it, and Rapunzel’s tears eventually restore his sight. The plant itself refers to rampion or corn salad, not a magical golden flower.