What was Baron Munchausen's full name? For everyone and about everything

A little old man sitting by the fireplace, telling stories, absurd and incredibly interesting, very funny and “true”... It seems that a little time will pass, and the reader himself will decide that it is possible to pull himself out of the swamp, grabbing his hair, turning the wolf inside out , discover half of the horse, which drinks tons of water and cannot quench its thirst.

Familiar stories, isn't it? Everyone has heard about Baron Munchausen. Even people who are not very good with elegant letters, thanks to cinema, will be able to list a couple of fantastic stories about him. Another question: “Who wrote the fairy tale “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”?” Alas, the name of Rudolf Raspe is not known to everyone. And is he the true creator of the character? Literary scholars still find the strength to argue on this topic. However, first things first.

Who wrote the book "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"?

The year of birth of the future writer is 1736. His father was an official and part-time miner, as well as an avid lover of minerals. This explained why early years Raspe spent time near the mines. Soon he received basic education, which he continued at the University of Göttingen. At first he was occupied by law, and then natural sciences took over. Thus, nothing indicated his future hobby - philology, and did not foretell that he would be the one who wrote "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen."

Later years

Upon returning to his hometown, he chooses to become a clerk, and then works as a secretary in a library. Raspe made his debut as a publisher in 1764, offering the world the works of Leibniz, which, by the way, were dedicated to the future prototype of the Adventures. Around the same time, he wrote the novel “Hermyn and Gunilda”, became a professor and received the position of caretaker of an antique cabinet. Travels around Westphalia in search of ancient manuscripts, and then rare things for a collection (alas, not his own). The latter was entrusted to Raspa taking into account his solid authority and experience. And, as it turned out, in vain! The one who wrote “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” was not a very wealthy man, even poor, which forced him to commit a crime and sell off part of the collection. However, Raspa managed to escape punishment, but how this happened is difficult to say. They say that those who came to arrest the man listened and, fascinated by his gift as a storyteller, allowed him to escape. This is not surprising, because they encountered Raspe himself - the one who wrote “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”! How could it be otherwise?

The appearance of a fairy tale

The stories and twists and turns associated with the publication of this fairy tale actually turn out to be no less interesting than the adventures of its main character. In 1781, in the “Guide for Merry People” the first stories with a cheerful and all-powerful old man are found. It was unknown who wrote The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. The author considered it necessary to remain in the shadows. It was these stories that Raspe took as the basis for own work, which was united by the figure of the narrator, had integrity and completeness (unlike the previous version). Fairy tales were written in English language, and the situations in which he acted main character, had a purely English flavor and were associated with the sea. The book itself was conceived as a kind of edification directed against lies.

Then the fairy tale was translated into German (this was done by the poet Gottfried Burger), adding and changing the previous text. Moreover, the edits were so significant that in serious academic publications the list of those who wrote “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” includes two names - Raspe and Burger.

Prototype

The resilient baron had a real-life prototype. His name, like the literary character, was Munchausen. By the way, the problem of this transmission remains unresolved. introduced the variant “Munhausen” into use, but in modern publications the letter “g” was added to the hero’s surname.

The real baron, already at an advanced age, loved to talk about his hunting adventures in Russia. Listeners recalled that at such moments the narrator’s face became animated, he himself began to gesticulate, after which incredible stories could be heard from this truthful person. They began to gain popularity and even went into print. Of course, the necessary degree of anonymity was observed, but people who knew the baron closely understood who the prototype of these sweet stories was.

Last years and death

In 1794, the writer tried to start a mine in Ireland, but death prevented these plans from coming true. Raspe's meaning for further development literature is great. In addition to inventing the character, who had already become a classic, almost anew (taking into account all the details of the creation of the fairy tale, which were mentioned above), Raspe drew the attention of his contemporaries to ancient German poetry. He was also one of the first to feel that the Songs of Ossian were a fake, although he did not deny their cultural significance.

The book “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”, history of creation.

Prototype of the literary Baron Munchausen J. C. F. von Munchausen and his biography

Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Munchausen (1720–1797), a gallant and resourceful officer of the Russian army, served in Russia for more than 10 years, belonged to an ancient family whose history is known that its founder, knight Heino (Heino), participated in the crusade of King Frederick Barbarossa in Palestine. After several centuries, the family of the knight Heino practically disappeared. One of the knight's descendants remained, who retired from military affairs and lived in a monastery cell. By special decree, the monk was released from the monastery for the purpose of getting married and having children. The knight-monk continued the fading family, and his children were given the surname “Munchausen” (monk + house; monk from a cell; children of a monk from a cell).Hieronymus von Munchausen returned to his homeland with the rank of captain (captain), where he died, leaving no heirs on German soil.It is known about the life of Baron Munchausen in Russia that he participated in the Russian-Turkish War, accompanying Duke Anton Ulrich of Brunswick as a page. Anton Ulrich married Princess Anna Leopoldovna, who reigned for a short time Russian Empire. At their wedding, Baron Munchausen met the young Princess Golitsina. The illegitimate child of the baron and princess was transferred to be raised in the family of a Cossack chieftain, whom Munchausen met during the Russian-Turkish war. Thanks to this, the Russian line of Baron Munchausen was preserved.The most famous meeting of Baron Munchausen with Princess Sophia Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst. As head of the honor guard, Baron Munchausen guarded the house for several days where the princess stopped for the night on her way to St. Petersburg.

In 1762, the princess would become the Russian Empress and receive the name Catherine the Second.

Hieronymus Carl Friedrich von Munchausen - biography

1720 - born in Germany, the town of Bodenwerder, the fifth child in the family.

1737 - as a page of Prince Ulrich of Brunswick he went to serve in Russia.

1738 - together with the prince he took part in the Russian-Turkish war.

1739 – summer, meeting of Baron Munchausen with the young Princess Golitsina at the wedding of Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich of Brunswick in St. Petersburg. Fleeting love and an illegitimate child, which gave rise to the Russian branch of the Munchausens, well-known representative which is the writer V. Nagovo-Munchausen.

1739 – winter, due to “ love story“forced to leave his service in the prince’s retinue, he is transferred to serve in the Brunswick cuirassier regiment stationed near Riga.

1744 - February, as the head of the honor guard, he meets the retinue of the German princess Sophia Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst (the future Empress Catherine II), heading to Russia and personally guards her for three days.

1744 - married Jacobina von Dunten, daughter of a judge who lived near Riga.

1750 – receives the rank of captain (captain). In the same year, Munchausen asks for leave for a year “to correct extreme and necessary needs” and leaves with his wife for Germany to take over the inheritance. By this time, Munchausen’s mother had died, and two of his siblings had died in the war (not in Russia).

1754 - August, Baron Munchausen cannot return to Russia and he is expelled from the regiment. In the small town of Bodenwerder (then 1,200 inhabitants, now 6,000) the baron leads the modest life of a poor landowner, entertaining himself by hunting and telling his small circle of friends about his amazing adventures in Russia. When signing his letters, documents and papers, I. K. F. von Munchausen must indicate “Baron Munchausen, officer of the Russian army.” Residents of the town are unfriendly towards the baron and try in every possible way to annoy the officer of the Russian army.

How did the book “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” appear?

1754 - Baron Munchausen likes to visit the neighboring city of Göttingen. In this city, Gerlach Munchausen, his uncle, founded the University of Göttingen, which now remains one of the leading educational centers Germany. (In 1755, in the image and likeness of the University of Göttingen, the first university in Russia would be created - Moscow University, currently known as Moscow State University.) In the evenings, Baron Munchausen can be found in one of the taverns where teachers and students of the university gather. Baron Munchausen comes to have dinner and at the same time talk about his amazing adventures in Russia with his friends and acquaintances. One of the listeners described his impressions in his diary: “Baron Munchausen began to talk after dinner... He accompanied his stories with expressive gestures, twisted his smart wig with his hands on his head, excitement flared up in his eyes, his face became animated and red. Munchausen, usually a very truthful person, at these moments wonderfully acted out his fantasies.”These amazing stories Rudolf Erich Raspe and Gottfried August Burger, who became the authors of the famous book about the adventures of Baron Munchausen, were lucky enough to hear it.

1781 - “The Stories of M-G-Z-NA” are published in the magazine “Guide for Merry People”, consisting of 16 short stories, almost all of them related to Russia. The author of the stories is not specified, but it is very likely that it was Baron Munchausen himself.

1785 - Rudolf Erich Raspe, a scientist and writer, publishes in London a small book “Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia”, 1785, London. The book is based on “The Stories of M-G-Z-NA”. Raspe was born in 1737 in the city of Hanover (75 km from Bodenwerder), studied natural sciences and philology at the University of Göttingen. Because of his adventurous character, he was forced to flee to England, where he published a book and spent last years life.

1786 - almost immediately the German poet and scientist Gottfried August Burger (1747-1794) translates E. Raspe's book into German and introduces a number of new episodes and adventures into the work. Burger divides the book into two parts: “The Adventures of Munchausen in Russia” and “The Sea Adventures of Munchausen.” This version of the book about the adventures of Munchausen with the long title “The Amazing Travels, Hikes and Fun Adventures of Baron Munchausen on Water and on Land, Which He Usually Told About Among His Friends,” is considered a textbook (classic). Without a doubt, G. Burger, like E. Raspe, was familiar with Baron Munchausen. Gottfried Bürger was a student at the University of Göttingen, then taught there as a privatdozent and professor.

A stranger among his own

The book about the adventures of Munchausen quickly became popular throughout Europe.

Crowds of people come to the house of Baron Munchausen to gawk at the eccentric and dreamer, but such attention is not associated with a friendly attitude, but with a desire to laugh and show their negative attitude. This “dislike” for Baron Munchausen on the part of the German intelligentsia and burghers is quite understandable. Why are none of his adventures connected with German soil? Why is the baron a patriot of Russia (he fights on its side), and not of Germany? The name "Munchausen" becomes synonymous with masterly lies. Baron Munchausen was given the name "Lügen-Baron" or "Liar Baron", which is still called Baron Munchausen in Germany.

The last years of Baron Munchausen's life

1790 - the baron becomes a widower and decides to marry 17-year-old Bernardine von Brun, the daughter of a retired major. Munchausen is 73 years old. The young beauty's plan is simple - get married, wait for the baron to die, and continue her carefree life with the rank of baroness. A few months after their wedding, a child is born. It is generally accepted that this was the child of Bernardina and her secret boyfriend from a neighboring town. The Baron refuses to recognize the child as his own and files for divorce. Bernandina claims that this is the Baron's child. While paying for the long trial, Baron Munchausen fell into debt and went bankrupt, the child died due to poor health, and Bernandina herself fled. According to contemporaries, Bernandina von Braun was a beautiful, spectacular woman and quickly got married in neighboring Holland.

The last story of Baron Munchausen

On February 22, 1797, alone and poor, at the age of 77, Hieronymus von Munchausen dies.

A few days before his death, a woman caring for him discovered that two fingers were missing from his foot and screamed in surprise: “How could this happen, Monsieur Baron?” Even on the verge of death, the resilient Baron Munchausen did not miss the opportunity to tell about this story: “These fingers were bitten off by a polar bear when I was traveling to the North Pole! The stupid bear choked on them and died! The bear skin hangs in my office! I swear by my cocked hat! Don’t forget to clean it from dust!”

This was Baron Munchausen's last story. The baron was buried in a modest family crypt in a small local village church. A hundred years later they tried to rebury Baron Munchausen. Three local residents opened the burial and froze in fear. Baron Munchausen's face and body looked untouched by time. A sudden gust of wind small room scattered the body into dust and horrified the people who decided to disturb Munchausen. Some of the ashes were blown away by the wind open windows and doors and, quite possibly, was blown all over the world. In a panic, they closed the tombstone, forgetting to mark it. And now it is unknown under which slab the remains of the ashes of the resilient Baron Munchausen rest.

Gottfried August Burger died in 1794 in severe poverty and loneliness, before reaching the age of 47. In the same year, Rudolf Erich Raspe (57 years old) also died in complete poverty. Three years later, Baron Munchausen (77 years old) passed away. During his lifetime, the book “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” did not bring any honors, good fame, or a prosperous life to any of the three authors.

Baron Munchausen, R.E. Raspe, G.A. Burgher

and the book “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”

The authorship of E. Raspe and G. Burger will be established by historians - they did not sign the book with their names and preferred to remain anonymous. These were very serious and educated scientists, writers, who spoke several languages, and such a “frivolous book” could only cause a negative attitude towards them among them. The book's preface states that " we're talking about about Baron Munchausen, who lives near the city of Hanover, that the baron does not tolerate liars.” All the “glory and honors” go to Hieronymus von Munchausen. Almost immediately, E. Raspe’s book “The Adventures of Munchausen in Russia” was translated into German. The author of the translation is G. A. Burger. But he cannot be called a “translator” in the usual sense of the word. Gottfried Burger significantly improved the book; he introduced significant innovations and additions, new episodes and adventures. Usually the name of only one author of the book is indicated - E. Raspe. In fact, the co-author of the book is G. Burger. For example, the famous episodes “flying on a cannonball”, “pulling a pigtail out of a swamp”, “piece of bacon”, “flying on ducks”, “eight-legged hare” and some others were written by Burger. All editions of the book, which bear the name of E. Raspe, include episodes and stories belonging to the talent of G. Burger. The book about the adventures of Munchausen is paradoxical for German literature - Germany and the Germans are not mentioned in it. The book tells about another country; the authors endow their hero, Baron Munchausen, with atypical behavior and character traits that are alien to the German mentality and way of life.

We can say the following: E. Raspe is the creator of a book of stories based on the stories of Baron I.K.F. von Munchausen. G. Burger – filled the book with adventures that made the literary image and character “Baron Munchausen” whole.

The contribution of Russian writers to the development of the image

Baron Munchausen

Some time after the book was published, a number of German authors published various “additions to the adventures of Munchausen.” They do not make any noticeable contribution to the development of the literary image (character) of Baron Munchausen. The book by E. Raspe - G. Burger is translated into other languages. The content of the book is voluminous and difficult for children to read. INAt the beginning of the 20th century, the writer K.I. Chukovsky translated Raspe-Burger’s book. Chukovsky shortens the text of the book and separates the episodes into separate chapter-stories.The retelling of the book by K. Chukovsky can hardly be called adapted for children, since hunting stories remained unchanged in it, which describe an inhumane, by modern standards, attitude towards animals. The undoubted merit of K. Chukovsky is that he was the first to translate the famous book, aimed at a children's audience. The hero of the book, Baron Munchausen, becomes a famous and popular character in our country. A striking contribution to the development of the image was the cartoon “The Adventures of Munchausen” (1973), based on the script by Roman Sef) and the film “That Same Munchausen” (1979) based on the play by Grigory Gorin, created in Russia during the USSR. With the appearance of these works, a peculiar paradox emerged related to the question of the character’s cultural identity. On the one hand, there is a book created by German writers, in which all the hero’s most famous adventures take place in Russia, and the hero of the book is perceived in the writers’ homeland as a great liar. On the other hand, there are cartoons and films created according to scripts by Soviet-Russian writers, in which the same character is perceived as a great dreamer. From the point of view of copyright, the magnificent works of G. Gorin and R. Sef, for all their novelty and originality, did not allow Baron Munchausen to be considered completely belonging to Russian culture. They talk about a character already known and created by writers from another country.

Young Baron Munchausen - new image the famous Baron Munchausen.

V. Nagovo-Munchausen, a descendant of J. K. F. von Munchausen, managed to create a truly new work. At the beginning of the 21st century, in 2005, 220 years after the appearance of Raspe-Bürger’s book, the Russian (Russian) writer V. Nagovo-Munchausen published “The Adventures of the Childhood and Youth of Baron Munchausen” - the first book in world literature about the childhood and youthful adventures of the famous Baron Munchausen. A new image and character “young Munchausen” has appeared in literature. This image and character did not exist before; the childhood and teenage years of the world's main inventor were not described by anyone. In fact, the missing part of Raspe-Burger's book was created and the gap that interested all readers was filled - what the famous Baron Munchausen was like in childhood and youth. With the appearance of the character "Young Baron Munchausen" Russian culture received all the rights to call the famous Baron Munchausen belonging to Russian, Russian national culture and finally secured its rights to the hero of a literary work,has become part of Russian culture.

V. Nagovo-Munchausen not only created a completely new image and character, but also retold the book of Raspe-Bürger for a children's audience. For the first time, the famous book has been truly adapted for a children's audience. Bright innovations were introduced into famous stories and plots, filling them with new content and meaning, giving Baron Munchausen new character traits, cruelty to animals was removed from the book, new characters and new adventures appeared. In 2014-2015, the writer combined a book about young Munchausen with a revised book by Raspe-Bürger into a single, integral work of literature, consisting of two parts - the adventures of the young and adult Baron Munchausen. The book was published under the titles “Baron Munchausen” and “The Adventures of Munchausen” (The Adventures of the Young and Adult Baron Munchausen).

This is probably a kind of historical justice. The world-famous work was written based on the stories of Russian army officer Baron Munchausen, but his name was never indicated on the cover of the book. Several centuries later, the writers E. Raspe and G. Burger received a talented co-author in the person of a descendant of Baron Munchausen, Russian culture had undeniable rights to the image of the young baron, and readers received the best book in the world about the adventures of the famous Baron Munchausen.

V. Nagovo-Munchausen, writer and descendant of Baron Munchausen

Vladimir Nagovo-Munchausen, a descendant of J.K.F. von Munchausen, graduated from the university, Faculty of Philosophy. He opened the first museum and monument to Baron Munchausen in Russia. For the first time in world literature, he told about the adventures of the young Baron Munchausen. Author of the book “The Adventures of the Young Baron Munchausen”, author of the image and character “Young Baron Munchausen”. The author of significant, striking innovations and additions to the stories and plots of the Raspe-Bürger book, in the image of the “adult Baron Munchausen”, the author of new adventures. The author of a new book about the adventures of Baron Munchausen, which combines the adventures of the young and adult Baron Munchausen into one work of literature. Author of the play "Young Baron Munchausen".

At the end of winter, he likes to shoot pickled cucumbers soaked in special liqueurs from the Gurken-Puk cannon (cucumber cannon) at the North Pole. A descendant of the baron claims that “Pickles, when shot, scatter into small particles (nanoparticles) and fly to the North Pole at the speed of light. Flying up to the pole, under the influence of cold they regain their former cucumber appearance and fall into the clutches of polar bears. Polar bears eat cucumbers and enjoy riding on their backs around the North Pole - rubbing their backs against the earth's axis. The earth is spinning around its axis faster and the weather is changing for the better again.”

TO How to write correctly: Baron Munchausen (Münchhausen) in German

or Baron Munchausen in English?

Rudolf Erich Raspe published the book in English. The name of the hero “Baron Munchausen” is indicated on the cover, and in the preface of the book it is stated - “Baron Munchhausen (Munchausen) or Munchausen (Munchausen), belongs to a noble family and lives in Germany.” In the main text and on the cover of the book, the writer uses the name "Munchausen", which is related to the spelling of the name in English. Almost immediately, G. A. Burger translated the book into German and introduced a number of the most famous episodes into it. In German, this name is written only as Munchhausen. At the beginning of the 20th century, the children's writer K. I. Chukovsky retold the book for children and indicated the name of the hero as “Munchausen”, considering that it was easier for children to say Munchausen rather than Munchausen (in the first translations K. Chukovsky writes “Munchausen”).Chukovsky's translation was published in huge numbers and influenced the spelling of this name. Thus, historically there have been two spellings of the name “Munchausen”, with minor differences associated with linguistic features. In everyday speech, when they say “Munchausen” or “Munchausen”, this does not have any fundamental meaning - everyone knows and understands who they are talking about.

It is fair to talk about the correct spelling of this name as “Munchausen” and not “Munchausen”, especially when it comes to the prototype of the hero and translations into Russian of the work of G. A. Burger, remember that all translations of Raspe’s book contain stories added by Burger. It is obviously not worth recognizing the spelling of this name as “Munchausen” and not “Munchausen” as an obvious mistake.

Baron Munchausen is not a fictional, but a very real person.

Karl Friedrich Munchausen (German: Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, May 11, 1720, Bodenwerder - February 22, 1797, ibid.) - German baron, descendant of the ancient Lower Saxon family of Munchausens, captain of the Russian service, historical figure and literary character. The name Munchausen has become a household name as a designation for a person who tells incredible stories.

Hieronymus Karl Friedrich was the fifth of eight children in the family of Colonel Otto von Munchausen. His father died when the boy was 4 years old, and he was raised by his mother. In 1735, 15-year-old Munchausen entered the service of the sovereign Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Ferdinand Albrecht II as a page.

Munchausen's house in Bodenwerder.

In 1737, as a page, he went to Russia to visit the young Duke Anton Ulrich, the groom and then the husband of Princess Anna Leopoldovna. In 1738 he participated with the Duke in the Turkish campaign. In 1739 he entered the Brunswick Cuirassier Regiment with the rank of cornet, whose chief was the Duke. At the beginning of 1741, immediately after the overthrow of Biron and the appointment of Anna Leopoldovna as ruler and Duke Anton Ulrich as generalissimo, he received the rank of lieutenant and command of the life campaign (the first, elite company of the regiment).

The Elizabethan coup that took place in the same year, overthrowing the Brunswick family, interrupted what promised to be a brilliant career: despite the reputation of an exemplary officer, Munchausen received the next rank (captain) only in 1750, after numerous petitions. In 1744, he commanded the guard of honor that greeted the Tsarevich's bride, Princess Sophia-Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst (the future Empress Catherine II), in Riga. In the same year he married the Riga noblewoman Jacobina von Dunten.

Having received the rank of captain, Munchausen takes a year’s leave “to correct extreme and necessary needs” (specifically, to divide the family estates with his brothers) and leaves for Bodenwerder, which he received during the division (1752). He extended his leave twice and finally submitted his resignation to the Military Collegium, with the assignment of the rank of lieutenant colonel for blameless service; received an answer that the petition should be submitted on the spot, but he never went to Russia, as a result of which in 1754 he was expelled as having left the service without permission, but until the end of his life he signed as a captain in the Russian service.

Turkish dagger that belonged to Hieronymus von Munhausen. Museum exposition in Bodenwerder.

From 1752 until his death, Munchausen lived in Bodenwerder, communicating mainly with his neighbors, to whom he told amazing stories about his hunting adventures and adventures in Russia. Such stories usually took place in a hunting pavilion built by Munchausen and hung with the heads of wild animals and known as the “pavilion of lies”; Another favorite place for Munchausen's stories was the inn of the King of Prussia Hotel in nearby Göttingen.

Bodenwerder

One of Munchausen’s listeners described his stories this way:
“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 little smart wig on his head, his face became more and more animated and red, and he, usually very a truthful man, at these moments he wonderfully acted out his fantasies.”

The horse cannot get drunk, because during the assault
Ochakov's back half is lost.

The baron's stories (such plots that undoubtedly belong to him, such as the entry into St. Petersburg on a wolf harnessed to a sleigh, a horse cut in half in Ochakovo, a horse in a bell tower, furious fur coats or Cherry tree, which grew on the head of a deer) spread widely throughout the surrounding area and even made it into the press, but while maintaining decent anonymity.

Museum exposition in Bodenwerder.

For the first time, three Munchausen plots appear in the book “Der Sonderling” by Count Rox Friedrich Lienar (1761). In 1781, a collection of such stories was published in the Berlin almanac “Guide for Merry People”, indicating that they belong to Mr. M-z-n, famous for his wit, living in G-re (Hanover); in 1783, two more stories of this kind were published in the same almanac.

But the saddest thing was ahead: at the beginning of 1786, the historian Erich Raspe, convicted of stealing a numismatic collection, fled to England and there, in order to get some money, he wrote a book in English that forever introduced the baron into the history of literature, “Baron Munchausen’s Stories about His wonderful travels and campaigns in Russia." Over the course of a year, “Stories” went through 4 reprints, and Raspe included the first illustrations in the third edition.

The Baron considered his name dishonored and was going to sue Burger (according to other sources, he filed, but was refused on the grounds that the book was a translation of an English anonymous publication). In addition, Raspe-Bürger’s work immediately gained such popularity that onlookers began to flock to Bodenwerder to look at the “liar baron,” and Munchausen had to station servants around the house to drive away the curious.

Munchausen's last years were overshadowed by family troubles. In 1790, his wife Jacobina died. 4 years later, Munchausen married 17-year-old Bernardine von Brun, who led an extremely wasteful and frivolous lifestyle and soon gave birth to a daughter, whom 75-year-old Munchausen did not recognize, considering the father of the clerk Huden. Munchausen started a scandalous and expensive divorce case, as a result of which he went bankrupt and his wife fled abroad.

Now the city administration is located in the Munchausen house.
The burgomaster's office is located in the bedroom of the previous owner.

Before his death, he made his last characteristic joke: when asked by the only maid caring for him how he lost two toes (frostbitten in Russia), Munchausen replied: “they were bitten off by a polar bear while hunting.” Hieronymus Munchausen died on February 22, 1797, in poverty from an apoplexy, alone and abandoned by everyone. But he remained in literature and in our minds as a never despondent, cheerful person.

Bodenwerder

The first translation (more precisely, a free retelling) of the book about Munchausen into Russian belongs to the pen of N.P. Osipov and was published in 1791 under the title: “If you don’t like it, don’t listen, but don’t interfere with lying.” The literary baron Munchausen became a well-known character in Russia thanks to K.I. Chukovsky, who adapted the book by E. Raspe for children. K. Chukovsky translated the Baron's surname from English “Munchausen” into Russian as “Munchausen”. In German it is written “Munchhausen” and translated into Russian as “Munchhausen”.

The image of Baron Munchausen received the most significant development in Russian and Soviet cinema, in the film “That Same Munchausen,” where the scriptwriter G. Gorin gave the baron bright romantic character traits, while distorting some facts of Hieronymus von Munchausen’s personal life.

In the cartoon "The Adventures of Munchausen" the Baron is endowed with classic features, bright and magnificent.

In 2005, Nagovo-Munchausen V.’s book “The Adventures of the Childhood and Youth of Baron Munchausen” (“Munchhausens Jugend-und Kindheitsabenteuer”) was published in Russia. The book became the first book in world literature about the childhood and youthful adventures of Baron Munchausen, from the birth of the baron to his departure to Russia.

The only portrait of Munchausen by G. Bruckner (1752), depicting him in the uniform of a cuirassier, was destroyed during the Second World War. Photographs of this portrait and descriptions give an idea of ​​Munchausen as a man of a strong and proportionate physique, with a round, regular face. The mother of Catherine II especially notes in her diary the “beauty” of the commander of the honor guard.

The visual image of Munchausen as a literary hero represents a dry old man with a dashingly curled mustache and a goatee. This image was created by the illustrations of Gustave Doré (1862). It is curious that, by giving his hero a beard, Doré (generally very accurate in historical details) allowed an obvious anachronism, since in the 18th century they did not wear beards.

However, it was during Doré's time that goatees were reintroduced into fashion by Napoleon III. This gives rise to the assumption that the famous “bust” of Munchausen, with the motto “Mendace veritas” (Latin: “Truth in lies”) and the image of three ducks on the “coat of arms” (cf. three bees on the Bonaparte coat of arms), had a political meaning that was understandable to contemporaries subtext of the caricature of the emperor.

And we have such a monument to Munchausen in Sochi near the Seaport.

“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 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.

How the real Baron Munchausen lived - captain Russian army?

When it comes to d'Artagnan or Munchausen, for some reason everyone thinks that these are completely fictional characters. In fact, both are completely real people, who left behind a lot of documents. For example, Baron Munchausen served for more than ten years in Russia, visited Kyiv and Warsaw, becoming in many ways a victim of numerous political conspiracies both in Russia, Germany and England, both during his life and after death. Baron von Munchausen belonged to the ancient Lower Saxon family of Munchausens. Carl Friedrich Hieronymus von Munchausen was born on May 11, 1720, the fifth of eight children in the family of Colonel Otto von Munchausen, the baron had three brothers and four sisters.

In 1735, 15-year-old Munchausen entered the service of the sovereign Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Ferdinand Albrecht II as a page. A page is something between an adjutant, a messenger and an orderly; essentially a servant, but with a nobleman. In the summer of 1736, Anna Ioannovna declared war on Turkey, Field Marshal Minikh captured the khan's capital, Bakhchisarai. The son of the Duke of Brunswick, Prince Anton Ulrich, took part in the assault on Ochakov with the rank of Russian general. The prince's horse was killed, one of his pages died on the spot, and another was seriously wounded. The Prince of Brunswick immediately wrote to his native Brunswick asking for a couple of new pages to be sent to him - to replace those “spoiled” in the war. In 1737, the baron went to Russia as a page to the young Duke Anton Ulrich, the groom and then husband of Princess Anna Leopoldovna. He was only 17 years old!

In the summer of 1738, the young page took part in the only unsuccessful campaign Russian-Turkish war. If the baron had gone to the battlefields a year earlier, he would have been caught up in the lightning assault on Ochakov, and a year later, in 1739, he would have participated in the capture of Khotin, a powerful fortress on the Dniester. The Russian army captured it after a victorious battle near Stavuchany, where it defeated 100 thousand Turks. The summer campaign of 1738, in which the baron was noted, turned out to be a complete misunderstanding: for three months they marched across the steppes from Kyiv to the Dniester, stood under the walls of the Bendery fortress on the Dniester and returned back to Kyiv, having lost half of the 60,000-strong army from dysentery and plague. On winter apartments Minich's army was stationed in Kyiv, there, apparently having heard enough of the local talkative and virtuoso talkers, the baron began to embellish military tales, since there was nothing to tell about the inglorious campaign, and the abundance of vodka and maidens required vivid stories.

On December 5, 1739, the baron entered the Brunswick Cuirassier Regiment, whose chief was the Duke, with the rank of cornet. While Prince Anton Ulrich was in power, at the same time commanding the Brunswick Cuirassier Regiment, where his former page served, the baron quickly rose in rank, in just a year he became a second lieutenant and a lieutenant from a cornet. But, despite the reputation of an exemplary officer, Munchausen received the next rank (captain) only in 1750, after numerous petitions. In 1744, the baron commanded the guard of honor that greeted the Tsarevich's bride, Princess Sophia-Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst (the future Empress Catherine II), in Riga. In the same year he married the Riga noblewoman Jacobina von Dunten. The baron's service in Russia left many documents while commanding a squadron in that very Brunswick Cuirassier Regiment.

What did the baron look like? Munchausen is portrayed as a skinny elderly man with a rakishly curled mustache and goatee beard. There is a lifetime portrait of Baron Munchausen in a Russian cuirassier uniform by G. Bruckner (1752); the portrait was destroyed during the Second World War, but photographs have survived. It must be understood that at the time of painting the portrait, the baron was 32 years old, and all his Turkish adventures dated back to the age of 19, so the canonical image of a gray-haired tall and thin old man is nothing more than a fiction; only young, tall and strong horsemen (170-180 cm) were recruited into the cuirassiers height) capable of supporting a “light” cuirass weighing 12 kg.

Having received the rank of captain, Munchausen took a year's leave to divide the family estates with his brothers and went to Bodenwerder, which he got during the division in 1752. In Bodenwerder, the baron told his neighbors amazing stories about his hunting exploits and adventures in Russia. Such stories usually took place in a hunting pavilion built by Munchausen and hung with the heads of wild animals and known as the “pavilion of lies”; Another favorite place for Munchausen's stories was the inn of the King of Prussia Hotel in nearby Göttingen. In London, the swindler and thief Raspe decided to take revenge on Munchausen's uncle and anonymously published in 1785, according to the then tradition, a libel book about his nephew. The book was called “Stories of Baron Munchausen about his amazing travels and campaigns in Russia,” after which the baron, to his displeasure, became widely famous.