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I liked the German version of Cinderella because it still had the basic plot and similar ideas, but some of the details were very different and intersting.  When the father was going to the fair he asked each of the three girls what they would like for him to bring back for them.  I found it very interesting and intruiging that Cinderella asked him for the first branch that knocks him off his horse.  The branch that her father brought back, she theb planted next to her mother's grave.  This tree then became magical and gave Cinderalla her wishes.  In the original Cinderella that I read in childhood, Cinderella's wishes came from her fairy god-mother.  I find it interesting that the German version chose to use a magical tree, which is an inanimate instead of a person or creature.  Uusally in childrens fairytales, the stories are cute, fun and have intertaining magic.  However, in this version,  the story is gruesome.  The evil step-sisters cut off their toe or heel.  At the end of the story I found myself confused because this fairytale was so different from the one that I heard as a kid, that it made me realize that all around the world there are different versions as each have their own unique details with the same underlying theme.