Where did the real Baron Munchausen serve? Who really was Baron Munchausen?

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Who doesn’t know the famous inventor - Baron Hieronymus von Munchausen. Soviet films, cartoons and books contributed to this. But the book hero had a prototype - the real Baron Munchausen and maybe someone else doesn’t know his story?

The history of the Munchausen family dates back to the 12th century - it was at this time that the family was founded by the knight Heino, who took part in the crusade led by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. All the descendants of the knight fought and died. And one of them survived because he was a monk. It was he who gave the family a new name - Munchausen, which means “house of the monk”. Since then, the family coat of arms of the Munchausen family has featured a monk with a book and a staff.

There are a lot of Munchausens! Since the 12th century, almost 1,300 people have gathered on the family tree, about 50 are alive today. There are a dozen and a half castles scattered throughout Lower Saxony that once belonged or belong today to members of this venerable family. And the family is truly respectable. In the XVIII and 19th centuries he gave eight persons the rank of ministers of different German states. There are also such bright personalities as the famous 16th-century land-sknecht Hilmar von Munchausen, who earned a lot of money with his sword to buy or rebuild half a dozen castles. Here is the founder of the University of Göttingen, Gerlach Adolf von Munchausen, and the botanist and agronomist Otto von Munchausen. There are half a dozen writers, and among them is the “first poet of the Third Reich” Berris von Munchausen, whose poems were chanted by Hitler Youth teenagers as they marched through the streets. And the whole world knows only one thing - Karl Hieronymus Friedrich von Munchausen, according to the genealogical table, number 701. And, probably, he would remain number 701, if during his lifetime two writers - R. E. Raspe and G. A. Burger - were not allowed around the world, either by what they heard from Munchausen, or by what they themselves invented funny stories, which for two centuries have brought a smile to the most different people in all corners of the earth. If we keep in mind the literary hero, then he, in fact, is not German, but rather a citizen of the world; only his name speaks about his nationality.

The very first line in millions of books on which this name appears reads: “I left home for Russia in the middle of winter...” And millions of readers for the third century perceive Russia, according to his stories, as a country where “wolves devour horses as they run.” , where snow covers the ground up to the tops of churches and where a stream of urine freezes right in the air."

Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Baron von Munchausen was born on May 11, 1720 at the Bodenwerder estate near Hanover. His home now houses the mayor's office and a small museum. Karl was the fifth child among eight children in the family.

Two hundred sixty-five years ago the border Russian Empire crossed by a seventeen-year-old boy from Germany. The young man was to serve as a page in the retinue of another noble guest of Russia - Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick. The rest of the pages refused to go to Russia - it was considered a distant, cold and wild country. They said that hungry wolves and bears were running along the streets of the cities. And the cold is such that words freeze, they are brought home in the form of ice, they thaw in the warmth, and then a speech sounds... “It’s better to freeze in Russia than to perish from boredom in the palace of the Duke of Brunswick!” - our hero reasoned. And in February 1738, the young Baron Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Munchausen arrived in St. Petersburg. Jerome had long since outgrown the short pants of a page; he dreamed of the glory of his ancestors. After all, the founder of their family was the knight Heino, who in the 12th century participated in a crusade under the banner of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Another of his ancestors, Hilmar von Munchausen, already in the sixteenth century, was a famous condottiere - commander of an army of mercenaries; The military booty was enough for him to build several castles in the Weser River valley. Well, the young man’s uncle, Gerlach Adolf von Munchausen, is a minister, founder and trustee of the University of Göttingen, the best in Europe...

Cute boy! He did not yet know what awaited him in Russia, he did not imagine that wolves and bears were not the most terrible inhabitants of the area. That words freezing in the cold are not the greatest miracle; he was to see the Ice Palace!.. In those years, Russia was ruled by Empress Anna Ioannovna, the niece of Peter I. She largely continued the work of her great uncle. But Anna despised the descendants of Peter and Catherine - after all, Catherine was from the “vile class”. The descendants of Ivan, Peter’s brother and co-ruler who died early, called Catherine “portomoy”, that is, a laundress, behind her back. This means that power should belong to the “Ivanovichs” and nothing more! But Anna Ioannovna herself did not have children; she was widowed early. Therefore, in order to transfer power along the Ivanovo line, Anna Ioannovna decided to marry her niece Anna Leopoldovna to some European prince and bequeath the throne to their child - her great-nephew. Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick was one of the possible suitors. He was a noble and educated young man, a knowledgeable and brave officer. But his matchmaking dragged on for almost seven years! Because Anton Ulrich, for all his merits, knew nothing about politics, did not know how to hide his feelings and weave intrigues. Well, there was plenty of intrigue: the all-powerful favorite of the Empress Biron, Field Marshal Minich, Chancellor Osterman, many other courtiers, foreign diplomats - everyone played “their own game,” entered into temporary alliances and betrayed yesterday’s friends. In this drama, young Munchausen turned out to be just an extra. He didn't know the "play" as a whole. He saw only a few characters and heard only some of their remarks. But even what he witnessed gave rise to a feeling of anxiety, of imminent disaster.

In 1738, von Munchausen smelled gunpowder for the first time. He accompanied Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick on a campaign against the Turks. At that time they fought only in the summer. In addition, the “theater of military operations” was located far to the south; it was necessary to cross half of Russia. The army marched through the steppes. The Crimean Tatars - allies of the Turks - set fire to the steppe grass; their flying cavalry detachments appeared from smoke and flame, like devils from the underworld, and attacked the columns and convoys of the Russians. There weren't enough troops clean water, food, ammunition... But, despite the hardships and dangers of the campaign, Munchausen decided: his place was in the army. For another six months, the young man performed the duties of a page: he accompanied Prince Anton Ulrich everywhere, attended receptions, balls and maneuvers with him. Once, at a parade in St. Petersburg, a soldier’s gun accidentally went off. And then the ramrod was kept in the barrel. Page Munchausen heard a shot, something whistled right next to his ear. The ramrod pierced the leg of Prince Anton Ulrich's horse like an arrow. The horse and rider fell onto the pavement. Fortunately, the prince was not injured. “You can’t make this up on purpose,” thought Munchausen. “There will be something to talk about at home...” Finally, after long and persistent requests, Prince Anton Ulrich released his page to military service. In 1739, Hieronymus von Munchausen entered the cuirassier regiment as a cornet.

Cuirassier regiments had recently appeared in the Russian cavalry. They could withstand both the light Turkish-Tatar cavalry and the heavy cavalry of the Europeans. Cuirassiers could “pierce” even an infantry square bristling with hundreds of bayonets. Because the cuirassiers wore a metal breastplate - a cuirass; their weapon in battle was a heavy broadsword. Only stout young men were recruited into the cuirassiers, and the horses were a match for them; they were bought abroad. A year later, Munchausen was already a lieutenant, commander of the first, consider it, guards company of the regiment. He turned out to be a smart officer and quickly got up to speed. The “noble and respectable sir lieutenant” takes care of the ordinary cuirassiers and horses, demands money from his superiors for fodder and ammunition, writes reports, compiles reports: “I humbly ask you to send a cornet to assist me, for... to keep men and horses clean alone It’s impossible to cope.” “In connection with the receipt of provisions and fodder for this month of February 741 for people and horses, two statements are attached.” “The fallen horse... was expelled and this messenger was informed about it in the form”... But there was no war for Lieutenant Munchausen. Russia made peace with the Turks, and during the Swedish campaign of 1741-1743 his company did not participate in hostilities. And without war, how can an officer advance in the ranks?

And soon trouble came to the Brunswick family. Events in St. Petersburg developed rapidly. Anton Ulrich and Anna Leopoldovna finally got married and had their first child, named Ivan. Empress Anna Ioannovna, shortly before her death, proclaimed him heir to the throne John III, and her favorite Biron as regent under him. But Biron couldn’t resist even a few months - everyone always hated him. The parents of the baby emperor hatched a conspiracy, Field Marshal Minikh arrested Biron. The emperor's mother Anna Leopoldovna herself became the “ruler of Russia” with her young son, and father Anton Ulrich received the title of generalissimo. Everything would be fine, but... Anna Leopoldovna was a useless ruler, and her husband, under ordinary circumstances, probably would not have risen above a colonel. Power in Russia was weaker than ever. And only those who were in power did not notice this.

And at this time, Tsarevna Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, lived as Cinderella at court. No, not a dirty woman, on the contrary: she was the first beauty and fashionista in Russia. But “Petrov’s daughter”, deprived of power, is a fate, perhaps, worse than an orphan’s lot. Maybe that’s why they loved her in the guards and pitied her among the people. In addition, Elisabeth - as she signed herself - never felt safe. The “Ivanovites” always wanted to get rid of her: to marry her to some foreign duke, for example, or to tonsure her as a nun. Unless they dared to finish him off. The clouds over the crown princess's head were thickening: it became known about her secret negotiations with the French envoy, and through him, with the Swedes. The matter smelled of treason! In the fall of 1741, an order was received for the guard to move out from St. Petersburg. This was not surprising - after all, the war with Sweden had begun. But Elizabeth was afraid that the guards were being taken away on purpose to make it easier to deal with them. The crown princess had no choice, she came to the barracks of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, and then, at the head of a detachment of 300 grenadiers, went to the Winter Palace - for power and the crown. The entire “Brunswick family” and its associates were sent first to the fortress, then into exile... For some time, noble prisoners were kept in Riga Castle. And Lieutenant Munchausen, who guarded Riga and the western borders of the empire, became the involuntary guard of his high patrons. The disgrace did not affect Munchausen (after all, he left his retinue on time), and, nevertheless, the lieutenant lost peace for a long time and became more careful in his words and actions. And he received the next rank - captain - only in 1750, moreover, the last of those presented for promotion. This was a bad sign: his military career was not going well, and there were no more patrons at the top.

But life and service went on as usual and brought many meetings and impressions. In 1744, two royal persons crossed the border of the Russian Empire: Princess Elizabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst and her daughter Sophia Frederica Augusta - the future Empress Catherine the Great. They were met by an honor guard of Russian cuirassiers, commanded by the stately lieutenant Baron von Munchausen. Eh, if the lieutenant had known that the future Empress Catherine the Great waved to him with a lily hand from the carriage window, he would probably have become even more dignified. And the princess mother wrote in her diary: “I very much praised the cuirassier regiment I saw, which is really extremely beautiful.” The young and sociable baron had many friends in St. Petersburg and Riga. One of them, the Baltic nobleman von Dunten, invited Munchausen to his estate for a hunt. The lieutenant shot a lot of game and was completely smitten - he fell in love with the owner's beautiful daughter Jacobina von Dunten. In the same year, 1744, Jerome and Jacobina got married in a local church. Having received the long-awaited rank of captain, Munchausen asked for a year's leave and left with his wife for Germany. He needed to settle inheritance matters with his brothers. The Munchausens had two estates, Rinteln and Bodenwerder, and three brothers - go figure, divide them!.. The Baron extended his vacation for another year, but it expired, and the captain did not turn to the military authorities with a new petition. At this time, one of the brothers was killed in the war. The two remaining heirs simply cast lots - and soon Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Baron von Munchausen took legal possession of the family estate of Bodenwerder near Hanover, on the Weser River. That is, he returned as an owner to where he was born 32 years ago, on May 11, 1720. Returned from Russia as if from the Moon or the North Pole. After all, few returned from Russia: some died, while others remained to live there and became Russian Germans. Moreover, he left as a minor, and returned as a husband - literally and figuratively this word.

And at this time, a roll call took place in the cuirassier regiment. Where is Captain Munchausen? There is no Captain Munchausen. AND good reasons neither is his absence. And therefore, in 1754, Baron Munchausen, aka Minichhausin, aka Menechhausen (as the staff clerks distorted his name), was expelled from the regiment and the Russian army.

It would have been more profitable and honorable to retire, and Munchausen regretted his carelessness, but his belated requests remained unanswered. True, this did not prevent Munchausen from being recommended as a captain in the Russian Imperial Army until the end of his days. And the baron began to live as a master. At first, he put the neglected park in order, built a pavilion in fashionable style"grotto". But pretty soon Munchausen’s economic fervor faded, or maybe the money just ran out. It was impossible to live like a lord on the modest income from the estate. And finally, the baron became bored. After all, from a young age Munchausen was always in the center big company: Among peer pages or fellow officers. And now he found himself alone in his charming but provincial Bodenwerder, far from his former friends and relatives... Jerome and Jacobina von Munchausen loved each other, but God did not give them children. Perhaps the baron flourished only on the hunt - he was a passionate and skillful hunter. And at the halt, the neighboring landowners began to listen: the amazing stories of Munchausen were heard. He would like to tell the truth, and he had something to tell about his experience... But the faces of the listeners immediately became boring - what do they care about the fact that Munchausen spent almost fourteen years in Russia under two empresses and an infant emperor, witnessed rapid rises and crushing falls, conspiracies and coups, he himself barely escaped punishment... No, that’s not what his friends wanted to hear: “Is it true that Russians can live under the snow?” “That’s right,” Munchausen picked up. “One day I tied a horse to a peg and went to sleep right in the snow. In the morning I woke up already on the ground, and my horse was hanging on the cross of the bell tower. It turns out that the entire village was buried under snow, and in the morning it melted!..”

And off we go. Here, by the way, I remembered the ramrod-arrow (only in the baron’s story he pierced a flock of partridges), and many other incredible cases seen, heard, read and invented. The fame of Munchausen's stories quickly spread throughout the area, and then throughout Germany. It would seem, what was special about them? After all, before, various lies and tales were passed from mouth to mouth; some even ended up in magazines and books. And yet Munchausen’s stories were unique. A hero appeared in them, and this hero was created by the narrator from himself. The hero had the same name, the same title, the same biography as the author - a noble nobleman with an unusual fate. All this gave Munchausen’s inventions some credibility, and the narrator seemed to be playing “believe it or not” with the listener. Well, of course, these were funny stories that people laughed at with all their hearts. In addition, the baron turned out to be an excellent narrator and performer of his stories, like today's satirical writers who themselves read their works from the stage. Munchausen knew how, as they say, to capture the attention of the public. And not only his friends at a hunting rest stop, not only guests on his estate; he was not shy about a large audience. A contemporary from Göttingen recalled Munchausen’s performance in the restaurant of the King of Prussia Hotel: “He usually began to talk after dinner, lighting his huge meerschaum pipe with a short mouthpiece and placing a steaming glass of punch in front of him... He gesticulated more and more expressively, twirled his hands on his head his little smart wig, his face became more and more animated and red, and he, usually a very truthful person, at these moments wonderfully acted out his fantasies.” A very truthful person! Yes, it was Hieronymus Karl Friedrich Baron von Munchausen who was a truthful person, a man of word and honor. Besides - proud and hot-tempered. And so, imagine, the offensive, unfair nickname “lugenbaron” - the liar baron - stuck to him. Further - more: both “the king of liars” and “the liar of the lies of all liars”... Munchausen’s reputation especially suffered when his stories appeared in print.

In 1781, the first stories with a transparent signature “ Mister M-h-s-n"appeared in the magazine "Guide for Cheerful People." And a few years later, the German scientist and writer Rudolf Erich Raspe, forced to flee to England, remembered the tales of his fellow countryman and wrote a funny book “The Story of Baron Munchausen about his amazing travels and campaigns in Russia.” At the same time, Raspe remained anonymous, and the hero, on whose behalf the story is told, appeared before readers for the first time as an outright liar and braggart. The collection was published in 1785 and went through five editions in three years! The very next year, a book in German by the famous poet Gottfried August Burger appeared in Germany under the long title, in keeping with the fashion of the time, “Amazing Travels on Land and Sea, Military Campaigns and Merry Adventures of Baron von Munchausen, which he usually talks about over a bottle.” among his friends" (1786, 1788). The burgher returned Munchausen to Germany, supplemented the fantastic adventures with satire, and included new plots (for example, duck hunting with a piece of lard and string, rescue from a swamp, flying on a cannonball). And artistically, Burger’s book is, of course, more perfect. This is how another, fictional Munchausen appeared. This other completely obscured the real one, flesh and blood, and dealt blow after blow to his creator. Hieronymus von Munchausen was furious. He didn’t understand how it was possible to distort the meaning of his fantasies so much? He amused his listeners and amused himself at the same time. Yes, his hero fools the listener, but completely disinterestedly! And with all his exploits he affirms: there are no hopeless situations, just don’t despair, or, as the Russians say, we will live - we will not die!.. Meanwhile, it was popularity that played a cruel joke on the baron.

Munchausen's fantasies were perfectly understood by those for whom he composed them: family and friends, friends and neighbors, familiar writers and scientists - all people, as they say, were in his circle. But the “stories of M-h-z-na” very soon found their way among the burghers, artisans and peasants, and they perceived them a little differently. No, they laughed too, of course. Maybe even louder than the nobles. But, having laughed it off, they shook their heads: what a liar, and also a baron! It is a sin to lie, as both Mutter and Fatter, Mein Gott in heaven, and the pastor in the church taught from childhood. And who is lying and who is making things up - go figure, we have no time for subtleties. Let the barons reason, they have nothing more to do, and our brother from noble gentlemen only receives insults and oppression... To add insult to injury, Munchausen’s wife, Jacobina, with whom he lived in love and harmony for 46 years, died in 1790. The Baron felt completely alone. He was a widower for four years, and suddenly... How often does this word appear in his stories! But there the hero always makes the only right decision. And in life... His friend, retired Major von Brun, with his wife and daughter were visiting Munchausen’s estate. Munchausen really, well, just really liked young Bernardine von Brun. And the von Brun family liked the Munchausen estate more. The estate is small, four acres of land - but what land! On the banks of the “quiet Weser” you stick a stick in the ground and it will bloom. What about the house? It will stand for another three hundred years. (That’s right, it now houses the mayor’s office and a small Munchausen museum.) It’s even better that the owner is of advanced age: how long does he have left to make people laugh? It seems that only the baron himself did not notice - or did not want to notice - what everyone around him saw and understood. It was like an obsession: the boundary between reality and fantasy was erased, and the author imagined himself as the hero of his stories - forever young and indestructible... As one would expect, this marriage brought nothing but troubles to everyone. Bernardina, a true child of the “gallant age,” turned out to be flighty and wasteful. From the very beginning she neglected her marital duties, and the baron himself turned out to be... oh, old age is not a joy! Therefore, when Bernardina became pregnant, Munchausen refused to recognize the child as his own. A scandalous divorce process began, which completely ruined Munchausen.

He was no longer able to recover from the shocks he experienced.

The Baron was dying alone in an empty, cold house. Only his huntsman's widow, Frau Nolte, looked after him. One day she discovered that the baron was missing two toes and screamed in surprise. “Nothing! - the Baron reassured her. “They were bitten off by a Russian bear while hunting.” So, with the last joke - like a farewell sigh - on his lips, Hieronymus Karl Friedrich Baron von Munchausen died. This happened on February 22, 1797. His debts were paid only by the second generation of heirs. But he left behind the immortal Munchausen - a comedy created at the cost of personal drama. This - different - Munchausen, during the lifetime of his creator, set off on an endless journey across borders and centuries: now riding half a horse, now in the belly of a monstrous fish, now riding a cannonball. He also returned to Russia - where the real Baron Munchausen began his journey and without which his amazing stories would not have existed. But that's a completely different story.

The baron was buried in the Munchausen family crypt in the village of Kemnade, near Bodenwerder. In the church book he is called a “retired Russian captain.” Centuries later, the floors and crypt were opened in the church, and they wanted to transfer the remains buried there to the cemetery. An eyewitness (the future writer Karl Hensel), who was then still a boy, described his impressions this way: “When the coffin was opened, the men’s tools fell out of their hands. In the coffin lay not a skeleton, but a sleeping man with hair, skin and a recognizable face: Hieronymus von Munchausen "A wide, round, kind face with a protruding nose and a slightly smiling mouth. No scars, no mustache." A gust of wind swept through the church. And the body instantly disintegrated into dust. “Instead of a face there was a skull, instead of a body there were bones.” The coffin was closed and did not move to another place.

Well, for us, of course, it’s like this:

An intelligent face is not a sign of a gentleman's intelligence. All stupid things on earth are done with this facial expression. Smile gentlemen, smile. (With)

Who is interested? real story artistic characters, I suggest you familiarize yourself with this one -

“The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” is a series of fantasy adventure stories. The German writer Rudolf Raspe (1736-1794) wrote the adventures of Baron Munchausen based on the stories of the German Baron Karl Friedrich Hieronymus von Munchausen (1720-1797), who actually lived in the 18th century.

Munchausen, being a military mercenary, served for some time in Russia and participated in the Turkish campaign. Then he returned to the family estate in Germany, where he soon became known as a witty narrator of his own incredible adventures. It is not known for certain whether he wrote down his stories himself or someone else did it for him, but in 1781-1783 some of them were published in the magazine “Guide for Merry People.”

A few years later, in 1785, Rudolf Raspe made a literary and artistic adaptation of the printed stories, added many others to them and published them anonymously in London, calling the collection “Stories of Baron Munchausen about his amazing travels and campaigns in Russia.” A year later, a German version of the book was published entitled “Amazing Travels on Land and Sea, Military Approaches and Merry Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Which He Usually Talks About Over a Bottle with His Friends,” with additions by Gottfried August Bürger, who divided the publication into two parts – “ The Adventures of Munchausen in Russia" and "Sea Adventures of Munchausen". It was thanks to the last edition that the features of Munchausen as a literary character who gained worldwide fame were finally formed. The series of stories was supplemented twice more. In 1794-1800, the book “Addition to the Adventures of Munchausen” was written, where the narrative unfolds in Germany, and in 1839 an essay by Karl Lebrecht Immermann appeared, where the narrator is the baron’s grandson. In Russia, fame for “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” came after the adaptation of Raspe’s book for children, which was made by Korney Chukovsky.

Munchausen - the main character

Historically appearance Munchausen corresponds to the image of a courageous warrior: strong, proportionally built, with regular facial features. Literary Munchausen is portrayed as a dry little man with a dashing mustache. The main character of the work “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” on the one hand, reflects a romantic view of life, self-confidence, and rejection of the impossible, and on the other hand, he is a typical German baron and landowner, who is characterized by lack of culture, self-confidence, boasting and arrogance . “Munhausens” are usually called people who attribute to themselves qualities that they do not have and constantly lie to others.

The most famous adventures

The most famous adventures include stories describing flying on a cannonball, pulling yourself out of a swamp by your pigtail, hunting ducks and wild pigs, about a deer and a cherry pit, a trip to the moon, and others.

“The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” in Russian cinema and animation

Domestic film adaptations of “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” are characterized by romanticization of the main character. In 1969, the first Soviet puppet cartoon “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” appeared. In 1972, a short film for children “The New Adventures of Munchausen” (dir. A. Kurochkin) was released. The most famous Soviet film “That Same Munchausen” (1979, directed by M. Zakharov) does not seek to show the real baron, but makes him a romantic hero standing above the everyday life of urban inhabitants. The animated series “The Adventures of Munchausen” (1973-1995) shows us a bright and magnificent adventurer who does not stop at any difficulties and dangers, and is able to find a way out of any situation.

German literature

Baron Munchausen

Baron Munchausen is the main liar of world literature. Please note, not a liar, not a malicious deceiver, but a liar - “a talker, a teller, an amusing idle talker, a joker, a buffoon” * or “one who likes to tell absurd, absurd, etc. things, making them up as we go along." This is how young children usually tell “true” stories, having their own ideas about the world order and the place of man in nature and society. As we grow older, the gift of liar dissolves into knowledge. One can only be surprised and admire those exceptional personalities who, throwing aside philosophy, science and everyday knowledge, manage to tell us stories so sincerely, so funny and captivatingly that allow us to leave everyday life, at least for a short time, and plunge into the world of childish spontaneity.
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* V. Dahl. Dictionary. T.I.M.: State Publishing House " Fiction", 1935.
** Dictionary of the Russian language. T.I.M.: Russian language, 1985.

Such people included Rudolf Erich Raspe*, the creator of Baron Munchausen as a literary hero. We'll talk about the prototype of the great liar later.
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* In Russian literature they also write Raspe - both spellings are correct.

Raspe was born in Hanover in 1737 into the impoverished family of a noble official*.
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* One of Raspe's ancestors was the Margrave of Thuringia, and Gerlach von Munchausen founded the famous University of Göttingen.

At the age of eighteen he entered the University of Göttingen, a year later he moved to the University of Leipzig, where he graduated, having studied the history of antiquity, archeology and geology. In those years, among friends and acquaintances, Raspe was known as a lively, cheerful person, who liked to joke, it was not for nothing that he was nicknamed Swift.
Having received his master's degree, he returned to Hanover, where in 1760 he entered the service of the Royal Library. At that time, Hanover was part of the possession of the English royal house.
The variety of interests and breadth of knowledge allowed Raspa to enter into correspondence with many outstanding people of its time. Among them were I.I. Winkelman*, G.E. Lessing**, I.G. Herder***, B. Franklin**** and many others. Seven years later, Raspe was already widely known in scientific and literary circles in Europe and America. By this time, his first works had been published - the poem “Spring Thoughts”, the one-act comedy “The Lost Peasant Woman”, the novel “Hermin and Gunilda, a story from the times of chivalry, which happened in Schaeferberg between Adelepsen and Uslar, accompanied by a prologue about the times of chivalry in the form of allegories” .
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* Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768) - an outstanding German historian of ancient art, archaeologist; founder of the aesthetics of classicism, which revived public interest in culture Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.
** Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) - German philosopher-educator, writer, critic, founder of the national German theater.
*** Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) - an outstanding German cultural historian, founder of the historical understanding of art, critic, poet.
**** Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) - American scientist, prominent statesman.

In 1766, a vacancy opened up in Kassel for a library keeper and professor at Charlemagne College. Landgrave * Frederick II (1720-1785) offered this court post to Rudolf Raspa, and he, having agreed, moved to Kassel - one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. In addition to lectures at the college, Raspe's duties included putting in order the collection of antiquities collected by the Landgrave, which numbered 15 thousand valuable items.
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* Title of the sovereign prince in Germany.

Raspe rose to the rank of Privy Councilor and during this time published a number of valuable scientific works, thanks to which he became a member of the Royal Society of London, a member of the Dutch Society of Sciences in Haarlem, a member of the German and Historical Institutes in Göttingen, an honorary member of the Marburg Literary Society, and secretary of the New Kassel Society for Rural Affairs economics and applied sciences.

However, court life required significant expenses. The frivolous Raspe got into huge debts. And then the unexpected happened - Frederick II set out to hit on the scientist’s young wife and sent him as ambassador to Venice. Raspa was not allowed to take his family with him. And then the jealous husband went on an adventure - he allegedly went to Venice, but in fact went to Berlin, and his wife and children joined him on the way. As soon as they learned about the deception in Kassel, an investigation immediately began. Immediately rumors spread that in order to replenish funds, Raspe stole valuable coins and gems from the collection of antiquities. Upon inspection, a large shortage was discovered. The investigation could not establish whether Raspe really stole the valuables, but since that time, for the third century, the theft has been invariably attributed to him. Even the return of the fugitive, who was immediately offered to return 5 thousand thalers to the treasury, did not help. And Raspe really went on the run.

Four days after the run, on November 19, 1775, he was arrested in Clausthalle. On the way back to Kassel, Raspe told the policeman accompanying him his story. At the end, he silently walked to the window into the garden, opened it wide and left the room.

For some time, Raspe disappeared from the field of view of biographers. He showed up in England and began to earn a living there by translating German books into English language.

In 1781, sixteen anecdotes under the general title “Stories of M-h-z-na” were published in the Berlin humorous almanac “Guide for Merry People.” Two years later, “Two More Fables by M.” appeared in the same magazine.

The author of these stories is still debated to this day. There is even an opinion that Baron Munchausen himself wrote them, but most literary historians do not agree with this point of view. The magazine fell into the hands of Raspe, and in 1785 he published a small book with his author’s transcription of these stories - “Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of His Wonderful Travels and Campaigns in Russia.” The book became popular, but the author of the “Narrative” remained unknown - Raspe chose to publish it anonymously.

The writer's subsequent life was sad: lonely - Raspe's family remained in Germany - he rushed around England, trying to earn capital with his knowledge of geology. Once in Ireland, he fell ill with typhus there in 1794 and died. Raspe's grave has not survived.

In 1786-1788 poet G.A. Burger* translated Raspe's book into German, trying to make it a political satire. Although Bürger’s “The Adventures of Munchausen” was also published anonymously, until 1847 it was he who was considered their author, until the poet’s biographer Heinrich Doring spoke about the authorship of the forgotten Raspe.
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* Gottfried August Burger (1747-1794) - German poet, one of the exponents of the ideas of the Sturm and Drang movement; created a new genre of serious ballads for German literature.

And now about the prototype of the great liar.

Baron Carl Friedrich Hieronymus von Munchausen (1720-1797) belonged to one of the most distinguished aristocratic families in Germany. He was born in the small German town of Bodenwerder.

In his youth, the baron served at the court of Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick*, being a page of whom, in 1733, thirteen-year-old Munchausen came to Russia. It was then that the famous Field Marshal Minich** called young man“neither fish nor fowl” due to its insignificance in all respects.
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* Anton-Ulrich of Brunswick (1714-1774) - father Russian Emperor Ivan VI Antonovich, deposed in infancy by the daughter of Peter I, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna; Generalissimo of the Russian Army; husband of the ruler Anna Leopoldovna, niece and heiress of the Empress Anna Ioannovna. From 1740, after the coup, he was in exile with his family until his death.
** Burchard-Christopher Minich (1683-1767) - count, field marshal, outstanding statesman of Russia.

In 1737, Munchausen left with the Russian army on a campaign against the Turks and took part in the siege of Ochakov. On the day of the decisive assault near Anton Ulrich, next to whom Munchausen was, a horse was killed, one of the duke's associates was seriously wounded, a page was killed, another was wounded.

During the coup d'etat of 1740, Munchausen went into the service of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. In 1744, as the chief of the guard, he participated in the meeting at the border of the bride of the heir to the Russian throne, Peter Petrovich, Princess Sophia of Zerbst (the future Empress Catherine II) and her mother.

In 1750, Munchausen retired with the rank of captain, got married and returned to his homeland.

Then his life proceeded quietly and serenely. Baron was studying agriculture, managed the estate and indulged in his passion - hunting. And in the evenings he told random guests stories full of harmless boasting and fiction about his adventures in Russia.

But 1781 came, stories appeared in the “Guide for Merry People,” and everyone immediately recognized M-h-z-not as a noble baron. The poor fellow was only slightly upset at the time. But when the anonymous German translation of Munchausen was published in 1786 and became incredibly popular, dark times came for the baron. Everyone laughed at him, declared him a liar and a braggart, his relatives said that the old man had disgraced their entire ancient family... And Munchausen didn’t even have anyone to challenge to a duel to get satisfaction. So he died unavenged, but remained in eternity one of the most beloved literary heroes.

We have to admit that both Raspe and Burger tried to declare “The Adventures of Munchausen” a moralizing or even satirical book, following the example of Swift’s “Lemuel Gulliver’s Travels.” Thus, Raspe assured that main idea his books are a punishment for lies, for with his stories about travels, campaigns and funny adventures, the baron denounces the art of lying and puts in the hands of everyone who finds himself in the company of inveterate braggarts a means that he could use on any suitable occasion. “The Punisher of Lies” is how the author defined the moral and educational meaning of his book.

In vain. And it is just as in vain that these days they are trying to squeeze out of “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” a far-fetched philosophy from hackneyed liberal cliches. The great liar Baron Munchausen is great and eternal in that with his very existence he gives each of us the bright world of childhood again.

Munchausen became the unique hero of numerous brilliant engravings by Gustave Doré. This is how we always remember his appearance.

Filmmakers have repeatedly filmed Raspe's book, but each time they tried to extract morality or, even worse, philosophy from it. So all the films were failures.

But it is necessary to note the wonderful Soviet animated series “The Adventures of Munchausen”, which clearly reflected the true essence of the great liar. The directors of the series A.I. Solin* and N.O. Lerner**, artist I.A. Wheat***.
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* Anatoly Ivanovich Solin (b. 1939) - Soviet and Russian animator director and artist. His works “Notes of a Pirate”, “The Adventures of Pig Funtik”, “The Magnificent Gosha”, etc. are widely known.
** Nathan Oziasovich Lerner (1932-1993) - Soviet animator director. The author of such famous cartoons as “Muk-Skorokhod” (based on the fairy tale by V. Gauff), “Plyukh and Plikh” (based on D. Kharms), “The Stolen Sun” (based on the fairy tale by K. Chukovsky), etc.
*** Inna Aleksandrovna Pshenichnaya (b. 1945) - Soviet and Russian animator and artist. Spouse A.I. Solina, together with whom she has produced a number of famous Russian cartoons since 1969.

L. LEVIN (Orel).

Science and life // Illustrations

Portraits of some representatives of the extensive Munchausen family of the 16th-17th centuries.

The extensive Munchausen family had many prominent figures, among them the founder of the University of Göttingen, Gerlach Adolf von Munchausen.

One of the castles still owned by this family in Lower Saxony.

Baroness Anna Maria von Munchausen shows the author of the article a collection of portraits of her ancestors.

Science and life // Illustrations

This is what Bodenwerder looked like in 1654. The Munchausen estate rises in the center. Next to the photo is their coat of arms.

Lifetime portrait of Carl Hieronymus Friedrich von Munchausen (copy from the original, which is lost).

The Ducal Palace in Wolfenbüttel, from which our hero left for Russia in 1737.

Science and life // Illustrations

Gottfried August Bürger (left) and Rudolf Erich Raspe are the founders of publications with the incredible stories of Baron Munchausen.

Munchausen's house in Bodenwerder. He was born in it and spent his life after returning from Russia.

Science and life // Illustrations

Illustrations for lifetime editions of “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”: the hero pulls himself out of the swamp by his hair; he rides a horse through the house; Munchausen, transplanting from one nucleus to another.

In the city where Munchausen was born, there are many sculptural figures dedicated to him.

Here he sits on the core. Munchausen waters the "halved horse".

After the high snowdrifts melted, Munchausen's horse found himself tied to the church cross.

And the whole world knows only one thing - Karl Hieronymus Friedrich von Munchausen, according to the genealogical table, number 701. And, probably, he would remain number 701, if during his lifetime two writers - R. E. Raspe and G. A. Burger - They did not let the funny stories they heard from Munchausen, or the funny stories they themselves invented, which have brought smiles to the faces of a variety of people in all corners of the world for two centuries, into the world. If we keep in mind the literary hero, then he, in fact, is not German, but rather a citizen of the world; only his name speaks about his nationality. The very first line in millions of books on which this name appears reads: “I left home for Russia in the middle of winter...” And millions of readers for the third century perceive Russia, according to his stories, as a country where “wolves devour horses as they run.” , where snow covers the ground up to the tops of churches and where a stream of urine freezes right in the air."

What really connects Munchausen with Russia? How random are the “Russian settings” in the short stories he created? The basic facts of his biography are known, interest in it is caused by that literary glory, which the baron himself, however, considered an indelible shame. Alas, there is still more than one author in both Russia and Germany, when talking about the real-life, as they call it, “historical Munchausen,” who, wittingly or unwittingly, mixes his biography with the adventures of a cheerful adventurer.

This is all the more offensive because many documents have come down to us from the 18th century, on the pages of which this name is written in Russian and German letters; they lie on the shelves of the archives of two countries - Russia and Germany: in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Göttingen, Wolfenbüttel, Hanover, Bodenwerde. By linking them with some published and unpublished research, a biography of the baron can be compiled. It will not be possible to flip through all the pages of his biography within the framework of a magazine article. And among them there are in no way inferior in intensity of passions to those that Raspe and Burger once published on his behalf. Therefore, we will dwell in more detail on just some of them.

Munchausen was born in 1720 in the small town of Bodenwerder, which then lay on an island right in the middle of the Weser River. The Munchausen coat of arms, known since the 13th century, depicts a monk in the robes of the Cistercian order with a staff and a pouch in his hand, in the pouch is a book. Over eight centuries, the spelling of the name - Munchausen - has changed several times. About 80 variants are known. Among them are Monekhusen, Munchhausen, Monichusen, Monigkusen, Minnighusen and many others.

Our hero lost his father early and was brought up at the court of the Prince of Brunswick-Bevern in Bevern Castle, not far from his home. In 1735, the prince became the reigning Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and Münchausen was officially promoted to page. Ahead lay the traditional career for a poor nobleman - military service in the army of Brunswick or neighboring small states. But fate opened a different path for the young man.

Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who has been living in Russia for the fifth year as the fiancé of Anna Leopoldovna, the niece of the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna, urgently needed two pages to replace those who died during the storming of the Turkish fortress of Ochakov. After a long search (few people wanted to go to mysterious Russia), two desperate ones were found, and one of them was Munchausen. He arrived in St. Petersburg in early February 1738. It is very likely (but not yet documented) that he immediately took part in the campaign against the Turks in the retinue of Anton Ulrich. He had to participate, that’s why he was discharged.

In December 1739, Munchausen from the retinue of Anton Ulrich joined the army as a cornet in the Brunswick cuirassier regiment stationed near Riga. In this case, he was provided with protection by the wife of Duke Biron. So the level of connections of the young man at court was high.

In less than a year, there is a change of monarch on the Russian throne. Empress Anna Ioannovna dies suddenly, handing over the reign to Biron before her death, and the crown to two-month-old Ivan Antonovich, the son of Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich, Munchausen's patron. Three weeks later, Biron is already sitting in the casemate of the Shlisselburg fortress, Anna Leopoldovna becomes the ruler, and Anton Ulrich receives the rank of generalissimo. But the Generalissimo did not forget Munchausen: he was promoted from cornet to lieutenant, and, as his mother proudly reports, he beat out 12 other cornets who were awaiting promotion in rank.

Munchausen had something to brag about. He was appointed commander of the first company of the regiment, which was located directly under the commander-in-chief in Riga to perform the guard of honor and other ceremonial actions (for example, in 1744, Munchausen commanded the guard when the Anhalt-Zerbst princess, the future Catherine II, passed through Riga). The military historical archive contains hundreds of documents depicting the hectic life of the company commander Munchausen (the company numbered 90 people). This includes repairing ammunition, accepting new horses, reporting on the sale of skins flayed from the fallen, allowing soldiers to marry, capturing deserters, repairing weapons, purchasing provisions and fodder, grazing horses, correspondence with superiors due to delays in pay, and much more.

All documents were written by a clerk in Russian and only signed “Lieutenant von Munchhausen”. It is difficult to judge how well our hero knew the Russian language. He had no difficulty communicating with officers: two-thirds of them were foreigners, mostly Germans. The document that later nominated Munchausen to the rank of captain notes that he can read and write German, but only speaks Russian.

In the Russian-Swedish war, which began in 1741, Munchausen did not take part, this is documented. In general, the only basis for the assertion of some biographers about the baron’s military past is his letter to his mother in 1741 with a request to send underwear, because “the old ones were lost in the campaign.” Most likely, with the exception of the campaign of 1738, where he presumably could have participated in the retinue of Anton Ulrich, Munchausen still did not go into battle.

On the night of November 24-25, 1741, the daughter of Peter I, Princess Elizabeth Petrovna, personally leading a grenadier company, seized the throne. The entire so-called “Brunswick family” (the young emperor, his parents and two-month-old sister) were arrested and spent many decades in prison. His fate was shared by the courtiers and servants. But Munchausen happily avoids such a fate, for, as if on a whim, two years before the coup he transferred from the ducal retinue to the army. Munchausen was lucky in another way too. At first, the new empress announced that all ranks received by them during the previous reign would be removed from military and civilians, but then she changed her mind, realizing how many people she would offend by this, and Munchausen retained his rank of lieutenant.

In the 24th year of his life, Munchausen marries the daughter of a judge, Jacobina von Dunten (the Dunten house near Riga burned down only recently). By the way, Jacobina’s paternal line “sprouted” to Russia from the same places where Munchausen was born, from what is now Lower Saxony.

It was necessary to arrange a family nest. But the career did not develop further. There was no more war; it was not possible to bypass a long line of lieutenants as easily as a dozen cornets. Finally, in 1750, having waited for the next rank of captain, Munchausen asked for leave for a year “to correct extreme and necessary needs” and left with his wife for his homeland to settle property matters: by this time his mother had long been dead, two of his mothers had died in the war brother

Munchausen twice sent requests from Bodenwerder to Russia to extend his leave and twice received a deferment. But, apparently, the “extreme and necessary needs” dragged on; the baron never returned to Russia and on August 6, 1754 he was expelled from the regiment. From the documents of the Military Collegium it follows that Munchausen asked for his resignation, but received the answer that for this, according to Russian laws, he must personally appear in Russia and submit a petition. Information about his arrival has not yet been found.

Apparently, Munchausen’s long stay in Russia had an effect here: he could not even imagine that someone would stop a retired officer in some hole from throwing several logs over a narrow ditch. Not so! As soon as they had time to drive the piles and lay the beams, the townspeople gathered in the square and, led by some tailor, went to the baron's estate to the sound of bells with crowbars and ropes. In an instant, the piles were pulled out and the beams were thrown into the water. Since a lot of people had gathered, and there wasn’t enough work for everyone, they also tore down the new fence around Munchausen’s yard. Then his pigs are seized for non-payment of some taxes. Then they demand fines for weeding the city meadow...

Soon after Munchausen returned to his homeland, the Seven Years' War broke out, the French invaded Hanoverian lands, requisitioning everything they could from the population. Here Munchausen was lucky: the commander-in-chief of the French corps gave him a security certificate, protecting his estate from extortions and duties. Probably, Munchausen's service in the Russian army, the allies of the French, played a role in this war.

Munchausen's marriage turned out to be childless, and relations with neighbors apparently did not work out. “In... mental turmoil... hunting and war are the way out, always ready for a nobleman,” wrote Goethe, a younger contemporary of Munchausen. However, the 36-year-old retired cuirassier captain, a professional military man, did not go to defend the fatherland, but chose hunting. It is not known how successful a shooter he was, but he soon discovered a brilliant talent as a storyteller in the genre called in Germany “Jagerlatein” - “Hunting anecdotes”.

Not only friends, but also strangers gathered to listen to him when the baron traveled to the neighboring cities of Hamelin, Hanover, Göttingen... Whether he told his stories in Bodenwerder is unknown, but probably not: Munchausen’s relations with the townspeople remained strained. But the people of Göttingen were looking forward to his arrival, usually gathering in the restaurant of the King of Prussia Hotel to have a lot of fun listening to the baron’s funny stories.

A contemporary described his impressions as follows: “He usually began to talk after dinner, lighting his huge meerschaum pipe with a short mouthpiece and placing a steaming glass of punch in front of him... He gesticulated more and more expressively, twisted his small dandy wig on his head with his hands, his face became more and more he became animated and blushed, and he, usually a very truthful person, at these moments wonderfully acted out his fantasies.” (By the way, the wig was really smart; one of the bills for a new wig for 4 thalers has been preserved - quite a lot of money in those days.) The fame of the narrator grew, but the baron’s literary claims never extended beyond oral creativity. So his life would have rolled to a calm end, but in his old age Munchausen faced adventures hotter than flying on a cannonball.

At first his stories began to spread throughout Lower Saxony through oral transmission; then collections of funny, absurd stories began to appear, allegedly told by a certain “M-g-z-n,” and at the end of 1785 the baron’s name was printed in full on the title page of a book published in London. The very next year it was reprinted four times! The first collections were published in England by Rudolf Erich Raspe, who fled there from Kassel (which is not far from Bodenwerder), suffering poverty in exile and hoping for a fee. They were then revised and published by another famous writer, Gottfried August Bürger. True, the first editions were published anonymously, and only since the middle of the 19th century have both of these names - separately or together - appeared on the title pages of all books about Munchausen’s adventures. These books instantly spread throughout Europe. (The first Russian edition was published around 1791, but the translator carefully removed any mention of Russia.)

The Baron perceived his fantastic, but uninvited literary fame as an insulting mockery, considered his good name disgraced, and even planned to sue, but he could not change anything. By the way, the Germans still add the official epithet “Lugenbaron” to his name - liar baron.

But this misfortune was not enough. The last years of the baron's life were a complete scandal.

In 1790, he buried his wife, and three years later, in the seventy-third year of his life, he married the daughter of a major from a neighboring town, a certain Bernardine von Brun (to her family and friends, just Bernie), who, according to some sources, turned 17, according to others - “for 20 years already.” The grief began on the day of the wedding, to which Bernardina, against the wishes of the baron, invited many guests and musicians from Hanover and had fun with them all night, although the newlywed retired to the bedroom at 10 pm! Then it turned out that Bernardina, having gotten married, did not think of breaking off her long-standing relationship with her old friend, a clerk from her hometown, and after six months of marriage it turned out that she was pregnant... The nephews of the childless baron, from whom the inheritance was so clearly eluding, initiated a lawsuit, the baron refused to recognize the unborn child as his, and the judicial machine began to spin, requiring ever greater expenses. There are a lot of documents left from this case; the baron’s lawyer drew up an 86-page statement to the court, attaching witness statements (201 points). Seventeen witnesses of different ages , gender and social status

claimed that Bernardina was shamelessly unfaithful to her husband, and described the smallest details of her walks, trips, meetings with the clerk, recalled her words and gestures, listed her purchases, reported what rumors were circulating about her in Bodenwerder and the surrounding area... But witnesses of the most intimate no connection was ever found, all the testimony contained the words “very likely” and “without a doubt”, all the evidence was circumstantial, and no one saw the clerk in the arms of the baroness. The matter turned out to be difficult. Munchausen in detailed explanations cited the most sublime and noble motives that prompted him to marry a girl from poor family . He supposedly counted on the joy of spiritual communication, but was cruelly deceived. Bernardina, for her part, argued that the future child could only be from the baron and from no one else, and the husband, as it turned out, has a bad character, is pathologically jealous, stingy, denies his wife innocent ladies' pleasures and is generally out of his mind. The legal proceedings reached a dead end and stalled, but demanded everything; the baron had to pay for the services of a doctor and a midwife; the lawyer demanded that attesting witnesses be present during the birth and that the light should be on brightly (in order to avoid any fraud with the baby). A child (girl) was born. Munchausen was forced to pay alimony to his legitimate daughter - the amount was considerable, and he had to borrow money from one of his friends. Out of grief, the baron went to bed, his nephews were beside themselves: their uncle could die, and the inheritance would go away from them irrevocably. But, oh joy! - so in the correspondence - the child died a year later! The baron died a year later, in 1796. He was very weak, his huntsman's wife looked after him. A few days before the Baron's death, she noticed that his toes were missing. “They were chewed off by a polar bear while hunting,” this “king of liars” found the strength to joke.

The baron was buried in the Munchausen family crypt in the village of Kemnade, near Bodenwerder. In the church book he is called a “retired Russian captain.”

Centuries later, the floors and crypt were opened in the church, and they wanted to transfer the remains buried there to the cemetery. An eyewitness (the future writer Karl Hensel), who was then still a boy, described his impressions this way: “When the coffin was opened, the men’s tools fell out of their hands. In the coffin lay not a skeleton, but a sleeping man with hair, skin and a recognizable face: Hieronymus von Munchausen "A wide, round, kind face with a protruding nose and a slightly smiling mouth. No scars, no mustache." A gust of wind swept through the church. And the body instantly disintegrated into dust. “Instead of a face there was a skull, instead of a body there were bones.” The coffin was closed and did not move to another place.

Yuri Kudlach. Photo by Lyudmila Sinitsina

There are many heroes in world literature whose names have become for us the personification of different human qualities: Oblomov - laziness, Plyushkin - stinginess, Salieri - envy, Athos - nobility, Iago - deceit, Don Quixote - disinterested romanticism. The hero of Rudolf Erich Raspe's book “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” is considered a symbol of unbridled fantasy.

Aaron Munchausen. Illustration by Gustave Doré. 1862 Illustration: Wikimedia Commons/PD.

A report from the company commander Baron Munchausen to the regimental chancellery with his own signature, written by a clerk in 1741. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/PD.

The barn, restored by the Society of Friends of Munchausen, is the oldest building on the baron's estate. It houses the museum's collection.

The hunting pavilion, where Baron Munchausen told his friends and neighbors about his extraordinary adventures in Russia.

Monument to Baron Munchausen by A. Yu. Orlov, installed in Moscow...

...and in Bodenwerder.

G. Bruckner. Carl Friedrich Hieronymus von Munchausen in the uniform of a cuirassier. 1752 Illustration: Wikimedia Commons/PD.

Baron Munchausen tells stories. Vintage postcard. By Oscar Herfurth. Illustration: Wikimedia Commons/PD.

Unlike the vast majority of literary characters invented by writers, Carl Friedrich Hieronymus Baron von Munchausen actually existed. He was born on May 11, 1720 in the small town of Bodenwerder next to Hanover. The house where he grew up and spent his time is still preserved. last years life. Now it houses the municipality. Nearby there is a museum where things and documents related to the real Baron Munchausen are collected. And not far from the museum there is a sculpture depicting one of the baron’s adventures, colorfully described by him: Munchausen pulls himself and his horse out of the swamp by the braid of his wig. The inscription on the monument reads: “A gift from the Dialogue of Cultures - One World Foundation.” This work by Moscow sculptor A. Yu. Orlov was donated to the city of Bodenwerder in 2008, and a little earlier, in 2004, the same monument appeared in Moscow, next to the Molodezhnaya metro station.

Why did the Russian sculptor decide to immortalize the German baron? What does Munchausen have to do with our country? Yes, the most direct. This is confirmed by the first lines of the famous book: “I left home for Russia in the middle of winter...” It was from this moment that his incredible adventures began.

But how did the baron from Hanover end up so far from home? Let's turn to history.

Carl Friedrich Hieronymus Baron von Munchausen belonged to a very ancient Saxon family, the founder of which is considered to be the knight Heino - in the 12th century he took part in the crusade of Frederick Barbarossa to Palestine. Almost all of his descendants died in wars. Only one survived - he did not participate in the battles, but lived in a monastery. The monk received permission to leave the monastery, and with him a new branch of the family began, the descendants of which bore the surname Munchausen, which means “House of the monk.” That is why all the coats of arms belonging to the Munchausens depict a monk with a staff and a bag with a book.

In total, 1,300 representatives of the Munchausen family are known, about fifty of them are our contemporaries. Among the descendants of the monk there were many prominent personalities, for example, the Minister of the Hanoverian court Gerlach Adolf von Munchausen (1688-1770), the founder of the University of Göttingen, and Baron Alexander von Munchausen (1813-1886) - the Prime Minister of Hanover.

The father of Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Otto von Munchausen, successfully advanced through military service, as was customary at that time, and rose to the rank of colonel. He died very early, when Karl Friedrich was only four years old. Our hero, following family tradition, was also preparing to become a military man. At the age of fifteen, he entered the service as a page to the sovereign Duke Ferdinand Albrecht II of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. And two years later, Munchausen went to Russia, where he became the page of the young Duke Anton Ulrich.

At this time, the imperial throne in Russia was occupied by Anna Ioannovna, the daughter of Ivan V, the niece of Peter I. She had no children, and she wanted to transfer power to one of her close relatives. The Empress decided to marry off her niece Princess Anna Leopoldovna to a European prince so that the children from this marriage could inherit Russian throne. The choice fell on the young Duke Anton Ulrich, who served in Russia and took part in campaigns against the Turks. During the assault on the Ochakov fortress, he found himself in the thick of battle, the horse under him was killed, the adjutant and two pages were wounded and soon died. We had to find a replacement for them. Munchausen was not afraid that the same fate that befell his predecessors might await him, and volunteered to go to Ulrich’s service. So the baron received a place in his retinue.

At that time, according to the tradition laid down by Peter I, many foreigners were invited to work and military service in Russia. Among them, most were representatives of Germany. They served their new fatherland honestly, and many made brilliant careers. Like, for example, Heinrich Johann Osterman, an outstanding diplomat who learned Russian in a year and became completely Russified. He adopted the Russian name Andrei Ivanovich. The strength of his influence can be judged by the nickname assigned to him - the Oracle. Or Karl Wilhelm Heinrich von der Osten-Driesen, on whose family coat of arms the words were carved: “For the Fatherland and for honor - Everything.” Or Count Burchard von Minich, according to whose design the Ioannovsky and Alekseevsky ravelins of the Peter and Paul Fortress were erected. The Benckendorffs, the Palens, the Korffs, the Livens, the Wrangels... Their contribution to the history of our country can hardly be overestimated.

Munchausen came to Russia in 1737. He was young, full of hope and confidence that fate would work out well. His appearance and very attractive appearance were also of no small importance for career advancement. Karl did not at all resemble the baron we know from the illustrations of Gustav Doré - a thin, funny old man with a dashingly curled mustache. The real Munchausen had no mustache at all. On the contrary, the baron was always clean-shaven and elegantly dressed.

As Anna Ioannovna intended, Anton Ulrich married Anna Leopoldovna. The young people were waiting for an heir and with his appearance they could take the Russian throne... It seemed that in this situation it would be most reasonable for the baron to remain in the service of Anton Ulrich. However, Munchausen makes a completely unexpected, but, as it turned out later, saving decision - to go into military service. The prince did not immediately and reluctantly release such a prominent page from his retinue.

In December 1739, Munchausen enlisted as a cornet in the Brunswick Cuirassier Regiment in Riga. And since Prince Anton Ulrich was listed as the chief of the regiment, the baron’s military career took off. A year later he became a lieutenant, commander of the first company of the regiment. The baron was a good officer and, probably, very soon would have advanced further in his service, received a good pension and returned to his homeland to live out his remaining years in honor and contentment.

But then the unexpected happened. On the night of November 24-25, 1741, Tsarevna Elizabeth - the daughter of Peter I - staged a coup d'état and seized power. Supporters of Anna and Ulrich were arrested. All of them were imprisoned in Riga Castle. Lieutenant Munchausen became the involuntary guard of his high patrons. The disgrace did not affect Munchausen himself, because he was no longer in Ulrich’s retinue. And yet, many high-ranking officials remembered who patronized him. He received the next rank of captain only in 1750, the last of those presented for promotion.

By this time, the baron's personal life had settled down - he married a Baltic German woman, Jacobina von Dunten, the daughter of a Riga judge. By that time, Riga had already become part of the Russian Empire, so Munchausen’s wife became a Russian citizen. This marriage further strengthened the baron's connection with Russia.

Having received the rank of captain, the baron took a year's leave and went home to Germany, to his family Noble Nest in the town of Bodenwerder “to remedy extreme and necessary needs,” as was written in the petition. Munchausen extended his leave twice, realizing that he would not receive a new rank, and in the end, in 1754, he was expelled from the regiment for failure to appear.

After serving in Russia, the baron became bored. In a town with a population of only 1,200 people, the brave captain had nowhere to put his strength and energy. This is probably why he built a hunting pavilion on the estate in the then fashionable park style to receive friends there. After the baron’s death, the grotto was nicknamed the “pavilion of lies,” because it was there that the owner told guests tales about his life in a foreign country.

Fantastic stories - about an enraged fur coat that tears into shreds everything that hangs in the wardrobe, including a ceremonial uniform, about entering St. Petersburg on a wolf harnessed to a sleigh, about a horse cut in half in Ochakovo, about a cherry tree that grew on the head of a deer, and many others - neighbors and visiting guests listened with interest. They believed and did not believe, but they came again and again. This is how Munchausen gained popularity.

It should be noted that the baron did not at all strive for world fame. And he wouldn’t have had it if Rudolf Erich Raspe hadn’t wandered into one of these evenings and was simply captivated by the incredible stories of the owner of the house. And since Raspe himself was no stranger to creativity - an excellent storyteller, writer, historian and archaeologist, author of one of the chivalric novels “Hermyn and Gunilda” - the idea came to him to collect the stories he heard and publish them. It’s hard to say whether he knew that the first notes based on the baron’s stories had already been published. They were first published in 1761 in Hanover under the title “Eccentric”. Three stories - about a dog with a lantern on its tail, about partridges shot with a ramrod, and about a hound that whelped while running in pursuit of a hare - published without indicating the author's last name, were later included in all collections. 20 years later, in 1781, the “Guide for Merry People” was published in Berlin, where 16 stories were told on behalf of the quite recognizable “M-g-z-n”. But the baron gained worldwide fame from Raspe’s book, which he published in 1785 in England. It was a small collection of stories called “False or Fictitious Stories.”

Having learned about the book, Munchausen believed that with this title Raspe publicly presented him as a liar. The baron allegedly flew into a rage and threatened to stab the insolent man who had disgraced his name. Munchausen was not at all indifferent to how his works were received by the English public. The fact is that in 1714, George, the Elector of Hanover, became the king of Great Britain, and this, of course, contributed to the cultural and economic development of both countries. The Hanoverian royal dynasty was renamed Windsor only in the 20th century due to the outbreak of the First World War, in which Great Britain found itself adversary of Germany.

Fortunately for Raspe, he never met Munchausen, and the book brought him money and world fame. The Baron received the title of “king of liars” and “liar of all liars.” In 1786, G. A. Burger translated Raspe's book into German.

The fictional Baron Munchausen won fame throughout Europe, and life real character It turned out to be not easy. In 1790, Munchausen's wife Jacobina died. Four years later, he married again to the very young Bernardine von Brun, who turned out to be frivolous and wasteful. It ended with the baron going broke and dying in poverty in 1797 from an apoplexy.

Summarize. The creators of Munchausen's adventures were three people: the baron himself, Rudolf Erich Raspe, who published the book in England, and Gottfried August Burger, who published the collection in Germany. The books published by Raspe and Burger differ from each other. Each publisher created something, borrowing stories from literature, from folk tales and using his own imagination. But this whole story was started by a resident of the German town of Bodenwerder, captain of the Russian service, Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Baron von Munchausen, whom the whole world now knows.

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