The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. What Baron Munchausen is famous for
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"Munchausen" author
The author of "Munchausen" Rudolph Erich Raspe(1737-94), German writer, anonymously published The Adventures of Baron Munchausen in England in 1786. In the book, Baron Munchausen, the famous braggart and inventor, talks about his fabulous adventures and fantastic travels. The prototype of the hero is Baron C.F.I. Munchausen (1720-97), who served in the Russian army for some time.
"The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" summary
Summary of "Munchausen" read in 10-15 minutes
A little old man with a big nose sits by the fireplace and talks about his incredible adventures, convincing listeners that these stories are true.
During the winter in Russia, the Baron fell asleep right in open field tying the horse to a small post. Waking up, M. saw that he was in the middle of the town, and the horse was tied to a cross on the bell tower - overnight the snow that had completely covered the town melted, and the small column turned out to be the snow-covered top of the bell tower. Having shot the bridle in half, the baron lowered his horse. Traveling no longer on horseback, but in a sleigh, the baron met a wolf. From fear M. fell to the bottom of the sleigh and closed his eyes. The wolf jumped over the passenger and ate the back of the horse. Under the blows of the whip, the beast rushed forward, squeezed out the front of the horse and harnessed to the harness. Three hours later, M. rode into St. Petersburg on a sleigh, which was harnessed by a ferocious wolf.
Seeing a flock of wild ducks on the pond near the house, the baron rushed with a gun from the house. M. hit his head on the door - sparks fell from his eyes. Having already aimed at the duck, the baron realized that he had not brought the flint with him, but that did not stop him: he set fire to the gunpowder with sparks from his own eye, hitting it with his fist. M. was not at a loss during another hunt, when he came across a lake full of ducks, when he had no more bullets: the baron strung ducks on a string, luring the birds with a piece of slippery bacon. The duck beads took off and carried the hunter all the way to the house; curling a couple of ducks' necks, the baron descended unharmed into the chimney of his own kitchen. The absence of bullets did not spoil the next hunt: M. loaded the gun with a ramrod and strung 7 partridges on it with one shot, and the birds were immediately fried on a hot rod. In order not to spoil the skin of the magnificent fox, the baron shot at her with a long needle. Having nailed the animal to a tree, M. began to whip it with a whip so hard that the fox jumped out of its fur coat and ran away naked.
And having shot at a pig walking in the woods with his son, the baron shot off the pig's tail. The blind pig could not go further, having lost its guide (it held on to the tail of the cub, which led it along the paths); M. grabbed the tail and took the pig straight to his kitchen. Soon the wild boar also went there: chasing M., the boar got stuck with its fangs in a tree; the baron only had to tie him up and take him home. Another time M. loaded the gun with a cherry bone, not wanting to let the handsome deer go - however, the animal ran away anyway. A year later, our hunter met the same deer, between the antlers of which was a magnificent cherry tree. After killing a deer, M. received both roast and compote at once. When the wolf attacked him again, the baron thrust his fist deeper into the wolf's mouth and turned the predator inside out. The wolf fell down dead; his fur made a great jacket.
The mad dog bit the baron's fur coat; she also got mad and tore all the clothes in the closet. Only after the shot did the fur coat allow itself to be tied up and hung in a separate cabinet.
Another wonderful animal was caught while hunting with a dog: M. chased a hare for 3 days before he could shoot him. It turned out that the animal has 8 legs (4 on the stomach and 4 on the back). After this chase, the dog died. Grieving, the baron ordered a jacket to be sewn from her skin. The new outfit turned out to be not easy: it smells prey and pulls in the direction of a wolf or a hare, which it strives to kill with shooting buttons.
While in Lithuania, the Baron bridled a rabid horse. Wanting to show off in front of the ladies, M. flew into the dining room on it and gently pranced on the table, without breaking anything. For such grace, the baron received a horse as a gift. Perhaps, on this very horse, the baron burst into the Turkish fortress when the Turks were already closing the gates - and cut off the rear half of the horse M. When the horse decided to drink water from the fountain, liquid poured out of it. Having caught the back half in the meadow, the doctor sewed both parts with laurel twigs, from which a gazebo soon grew. And in order to scout the number of Turkish cannons, the baron jumped on the cannonball launched into their camp. The brave man returned to his own on the counter core. Having got into the swamp together with the horse, M. risked drowning, but he grabbed the pigtail of his wig more tightly and pulled them both out.
When the baron was nevertheless captured by the Turks, he was appointed a bee shepherd. Fighting a bee away from 2 bears, M. threw a silver hatchet at the robbers - so hard that he threw it on the moon. Along a long stem of chickpeas grown there and then, the shepherd climbed to the moon and found his weapon on a pile of rotten straw. The sun dried the peas, so I had to go back down the rope, woven from rotten straw, periodically cutting it and tying it to its own end. But 3-4 miles before the Earth, the rope broke and M. fell, breaking through a large hole, from which he climbed the steps dug out with his nails. And the bears got what they deserved: the baron caught the clubfoot on a shaft greased with honey, into which he hammered a nail behind the strung bear. The Sultan laughed until he fell over this idea.
Having gone home from captivity, M. on a narrow path could not miss the oncoming crew. I had to take the carriage on my shoulders, and the horses under my arms, and in two passes carry my belongings through another carriage. The baron's coachman diligently blew the horn, but could not blow out a single sound. In the hotel, the horn thawed out and thawed sounds poured out of it.
When the baron sailed off the coast of India, the hurricane tore out several thousand trees on the island and carried them to the clouds. When the storm was over, the trees fell into place and took root — all but one, from which two peasants were gathering cucumbers (the only food for the natives). Fat peasants tipped the tree and it fell on the king, crushing him. The inhabitants of the island were terribly happy and offered the crown to M., but he refused because he did not like cucumbers. After the storm, the ship arrived in Ceylon. While hunting with the governor's son, the traveler got lost and came across a huge lion. The baron started to run, but a crocodile had already crept up behind. M. fell to the ground; The lion that jumped on him landed right in the mouth of the crocodile. The hunter cut off the lion's head and hammered it into the crocodile's mouth so deeply that he suffocated. The governor's son could only congratulate his friend on the victory.
Then M. went to America. On the way, the ship came across an underwater rock. From a strong blow, one of the sailors flew into the sea, but grabbed the beak of the heron and so stayed on the water until rescued, and the baron's head fell into his own stomach (for several months he got it out of there by the hair). The rock turned out to be a whale that woke up and, in a fit of rage, dragged the ship by the anchor across the sea all day. On the way back, the crew found the corpse of a giant fish and cut off its head. In the hole rotten tooth the sailors found their anchor along with the chain. Suddenly water gushed into the hole, but M. plugged the hole with his own butt and saved everyone from death.
Swimming in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Italy, the baron was swallowed by a fish - or rather, he himself shrank into a ball and rushed straight into the open mouth, so as not to be torn apart. From his stomp and fuss, the fish screamed and stuck its muzzle out of the water. The sailors killed her with a harpoon and hacked her with an ax, freeing the prisoner, who greeted them with a kind bow.
The ship was sailing to Turkey. The Sultan invited M. to dinner and entrusted the business in Egypt. On the way there M. met a small runner with weights on his feet, a man with a keen ear, a well-aimed hunter, a strong man and a hero, who was spinning the blades of a mill with air from his nostrils. The baron took these guys as his servants. A week later, the baron returned to Turkey. During lunch, the Sultan took out a bottle of good wine from the secret cabinet especially for the dear guest, but M. said that the Chinese bogdyhan had better wine. To this the Sultan replied that if, as proof, the baron does not deliver a bottle of this very wine by 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the braggart will be beheaded. As a reward, M. demanded as much gold as 1 person could carry at a time. With the help of new servants, the baron got wine, and the strong man brought out all the Sultan's gold. With full sail M. hastened to go to sea.
The entire military fleet of the Sultan set off in pursuit. A servant with powerful nostrils sent the fleet back to the harbor, and drove his ship all the way to Italy. M. healed as a rich man, but a quiet life was not for him. The baron rushed to the war between the British and the Spaniards, and even made his way into the besieged English fortress of Gibraltar. On M.'s advice, the British directed the muzzle of their cannon exactly towards the muzzle of the Spanish cannon, as a result of which the cannonballs collided and both flew towards the Spaniards, with the Spanish cannonball breaking through the roof of one shack and stuck in the old woman's throat. Her husband brought her a snuff of tobacco, she sneezed and the kernel flew out. In gratitude for useful advice the general wanted to make M. a colonel, but he refused. Disguised as a Spanish priest, the baron crept into the enemy camp and threw the cannons off the coast, and burned wooden vehicles. The Spanish army fled in horror, deciding that they had been visited by an innumerable horde of English that night.
Having settled in London, M. once fell asleep in the mouth of an old cannon, where he hid from the heat. But the gunner fired in honor of the victory over the Spaniards, and the baron hit his head in a haystack. For 3 months he stuck out of a haystack, losing consciousness. in the fall, when the workers were stirring the haystack with a pitchfork, M. woke up, fell on the owner's head and broke his neck, which made everyone happy.
The famous traveler Finne invited the baron on an expedition to the North Pole, where M. was attacked by a polar bear. The baron dodged and cut off 3 toes on the hind leg of the beast, he released him and was shot. Several thousand bears surrounded the traveler, but he pulled on the skin of the killed bear and killed all the bears with a knife to the back of the head. The skins of the killed animals were torn off, and the carcasses were cut into hams.
In England, M. had already given up traveling, but his wealthy relative wanted to see the giants. In search of giants, the expedition sailed across the Southern Ocean, but the storm lifted the ship behind the clouds, where after a long "voyage" the ship moored to the Moon. The travelers were surrounded by huge monsters on three-headed eagles (radish instead of weapons, fly agaric shields; the stomach is like a suitcase, only 1 finger on the hand, the head can be removed, and the eyes can be removed and changed; new inhabitants grow on trees like nuts, and when they get old, they melt into air).
And this voyage was not the last. On a half-wrecked Dutch ship M. sailed on the sea, which suddenly turned white - it was milk. The ship moored to an island of excellent Dutch cheese, on which even grape juice was milk, and the rivers were not only milk, but also beer. The locals were three-legged, and the birds built huge nests. For a lie, travelers were severely punished here, with which M. could not disagree, for he could not stand a lie. As his ship sailed away, the trees bowed twice after him. Wandering the seas without a compass, sailors met various sea monsters. One fish, to quench its thirst, swallowed the ship. Her belly was literally stuffed with ships; when the water subsided, M. together with the captain went for a walk and met many sailors from all over the world. At the suggestion of the baron, the two highest masts were put upright in the mouth of the fish, so the ships were able to swim out - and found themselves in the Caspian Sea. M. hurried to the shore, saying that he had enough adventures.
But as soon as M. got out of the boat, a bear attacked him. The Baron gripped his front paws so tightly that he roared in pain. M. kept the clubfoot for 3 days and 3 nights, until he died of hunger, since he could not suck his paw. Since then, not a single bear dared to attack the resourceful baron.
Baron Munchausen is not a fictional, but a completely 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 Munchausen, captain of the Russian service, historical person and a literary character. Munchausen's name has become a household name as a designation for a person who tells incredible stories.
Jerome Karl Friedrich was the fifth of eight children in the family of Colonel Otto von Munchausen. The father died when the boy was 4 years old, and 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 House in Bodenwerder.
In 1737, as a page, he leaves for Russia to the young Duke Anton Ulrich, the groom and then the husband of Princess Anna Leopoldovna. In 1738 he took part with the Duke in the Turkish campaign. In 1739 he entered the Braunschweig Cuirassier Regiment with the rank of a cornet, the chief of which 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, which overthrew the Brunswick surname, interrupted a career that promised to be brilliant: despite his reputation as an exemplary officer, Munchausen received another rank (captain) only in 1750, after numerous petitions. In 1744, he commanded an honor guard that met in Riga the Tsarevich's bride, Princess Sophia-Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst (future Empress Catherine II). In the same year he married a 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 share the family property with the brothers) and leaves for Bodenwerder, which he gets during the division (1752). He twice extended his leave and finally submitted a letter of resignation to the Military Collegium, conferring the rank of lieutenant colonel for blameless service; received the answer that the petition should be submitted on the spot, but did not go 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 of the Russian service.
Turkish dagger that belonged to Jerome von Munghausen. Exposition of the museum in Bodenwerder.
From 1752 until his death, Munchausen lived in Bodenwerder, communicating mainly with neighbors, to whom he tells amazing stories about his hunting adventures and adventures in Russia. Such stories usually took place in the hunting pavilion built by Munchausen and hung with the heads of wild beasts, known as the "Pavilion of Lies"; another favorite place for Munchausen's stories was the inn of the King of Prussia in neighboring Göttingen.
Bodenwerder
One of Munchausen's listeners described his stories as follows:
"He usually began to talk after dinner, lighting his huge foam pipe with a short mouthpiece and placing a smoking glass of punch in front of him ... He gestured more and more expressively, twisted his little dandy wig on his head, his face became more and more animated and reddened, and he, usually very a truthful person, at these moments he was wonderfully playing out his fantasies. "
The horse cannot get drunk, because during the assault
Ochakov, its posterior half is lost.
The baron's stories (such unconditionally belonging to him subjects as the entry to Petersburg on a wolf harnessed to a sleigh, a horse cut in half in Ochakovo, a horse on a bell tower, furious fur coats or a cherry tree growing on a deer's head) spread widely around the neighborhood and even penetrated to print, but with decent anonymity.
Exposition of the museum in Bodenwerder.
For the first time, three plots of Munchausen appear in the book "Der Sonderling" by Count Rocks Friedrich Linard (1761). In 1781, a collection of such subjects was published in the Berlin almanac "A Guide for Merry People", with an indication that they belong to the well-known for his wit Mr. M-z-n, who lives in Gr (Hanover); in 1783, two more stories of this kind were published in the same almanac.
But the saddest 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, wrote in English a book that forever introduced the baron into literary history, "Tales of Baron Munchausen about his wonderful travels and campaigns in Russia ". During the year, "Stories" went through 4 reprints, and in the third edition Raspe included the first illustrations.
The Baron considered his name dishonored and was going to sue Burger (according to other sources he filed it, but was refused on the grounds that the book was a translation of an English anonymous publication). In addition, the work of Raspe-Burger immediately gained such popularity that onlookers began to flock to Bodenwerder - to look at the "liar baron", and Munchausen had to put servants around the house to drive away the curious.
Last years Munchausen were overshadowed by family troubles. In 1790 his wife Jacobina dies. Four 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 proceedings, 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: to the question of the only servant caring for him how he lost two toes (frostbitten in Russia), Munchausen replied: "They were bitten off by a polar bear while hunting." Jerome Munchausen died on February 22, 1797 in poverty from an apoplectic stroke, alone and abandoned by all. But he remained in literature and in our minds a never discouraged, cheerful person.
Bodenwerder
The first translation (more precisely, a free retelling) of the book about Munchausen into Russian belongs to the pen of NP Osipov and was published in 1791 under the title: "If you don't like it, don't listen, but don't bother 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 name of the Baron from English "Munchausen" into Russian, as "Munchausen". On German it is spelled "Munchhausen" and translated into Russian as "Munchausen".
The most significant development of the image of Baron Munchausen was in the Russian - Soviet cinema, in the film "The Same Munchausen", where the scriptwriter G. Gorin gave the baron bright romantic character traits, while distorting some facts of the personal life of Hieronymus von Munchausen.
In the cartoon "The Adventures of Munchausen," the Baron is endowed with classic features, bright and magnificent.
In 2005, a book by V. Nagowo-Munchausen, "The Adventures of Childhood and Youth of Baron Munchausen" ("Munchhausens Jugend-und Kindheitsаbenteuer"), 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. Photos of this portrait and description give an idea of Munchausen as a person of strong and proportional physique, with a round the right person... The mother of Catherine II especially notes in her diary the "beauty" of the commander of the guard of honor.
The visual image of Munchausen as literary hero represents a dry old man with a dashingly curled mustache and a goatee. This image was created by illustrations by Gustave Dore (1862). It is curious that when supplying his hero with a beard, Dore (generally very accurate in historical details) admitted an obvious anachronism, since they did not wear beards in the 18th century.
However, it was during Dore's time that the beards 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 for "Truth in lies") and the image on the "coat of arms" of three ducks (cf. three bees on the coat of arms of the Bonapartes), had a political the subtext of the caricature of the emperor.
And we have such a monument to Munchausen in Sochi near the Seaport.
Everyone knows, of course, who Baron Munchausen is.
But does everyone know that this hero actually existed in the world? ..
His name was Jerome Karl Friedrich Baron von Munchausen.
The founder of the Munchausen family is considered the knight Heino, who in the 12th century took part in a crusade led by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
Heino's descendants died in wars and civil strife. And only one of them survived, since he was a monk. By special decree he was released from the monastery.
It was with him that a new branch of the family began - Munchausen, which means "monk's house". That is why a monk with a staff and a book is depicted on the coats of arms of all Munchausen.
Among the Munchausen were famous warriors and nobles. So, in the 17th century, the commander Hilmar von Munchausen became famous, in the 18th century - the minister of the Hanoverian court Gerlach Adolf von Munchausen, the founder of the University of Göttingen.
But real glory, of course, went to "the same" Munchausen.
Hieronymus Karl Friedrich Baron von Munchausen was born on May 11, 1720 in the Bodenwerder estate near Hanover.
The Munchausen House in Bodenwerder still stands today - it houses the burgomaster and a small museum. Now the town on the Weser River is decorated with sculptures of the famous compatriot and literary hero.
Hieronymus Karl Friedrich Baron von Munchausen was the fifth child among eight siblings.
His father died early, when Jerome was only four years old. He, like his brothers, most likely faced military career... And he began to serve in 1735 as a page in the retinue of the Duke of Braunschweig.
At this time, the son of the duke, Prince Anton Ulrich of Braunschweig, served in Russia, preparing to take command of the cuirassier regiment. But the prince also had a much more important mission - he was one of the possible suitors of Anna Leopoldovna, the niece of the Russian empress.
In those days, Russia was ruled by Empress Anna Ioannovna, who was widowed early and had no children. She wanted to transfer power along her own, Ivanovskaya line. For this, the empress decided to marry her niece Anna Leopoldovna to some European prince so that the children from this marriage would inherit the Russian throne.
Anton Ulrich's matchmaking dragged on for almost seven years. The prince took part in campaigns against the Turks, in 1737, during the assault on the fortress of Ochakov, he found himself in the thick of the battle, the horse under him was killed, the adjutant and two pages were wounded. The pages later died of their wounds. In Germany, they did not immediately find a replacement for the dead - the pages were frightened by a distant and wild country. Jerome von Munchausen volunteered to go to Russia himself.
It happened in 1738.
In the retinue of Prince Anton Ulrich, the young Munchausen was constantly at the court of the empress, at military parades, he probably took part in a campaign against the Turks in 1738. Finally, in 1739, the magnificent wedding of Anton Ulrich and Anna Leopoldovna took place, the young were treated kindly by their aunt-empress. Everyone was looking forward to the appearance of the heir.
At this time, the young Munchausen makes an at first glance unexpected decision - to leave for military service. The prince did not immediately and reluctantly release the page from the retinue. Gironimus Karl Friedrich von Minyhausin - so it appears in the documents - enters the Braunschweig Cuirassier Regiment, stationed in Riga, on the western frontier of the Russian Empire, as a cornet.
In 1739, Jerome von Munchausen entered the Braunschweig Cuirassier Regiment stationed in Riga as a cornet. Thanks to the patronage of the chief of the regiment, Prince Anton Ulrich, a year later Munchausen became a lieutenant, commander of the first company of the regiment. He quickly got up to speed and was a smart officer.
In 1740, Prince Anton Ulrich and Anna Leopoldovna gave birth to their first-born, named Ivan. Empress Anna Ioannovna, shortly before her death, proclaimed him heir to the throne, John III. Anna Leopolnovna soon became the "ruler of Russia" with her young son, and her father, Anton Ulrich, received the rank of generalissimo.
But in 1741 the crown princess Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, seized power. The entire Braunschweig Family and its supporters were arrested. For some time, noble prisoners were kept in the Riga Castle. And Lieutenant Munchausen, who guarded Riga and the western borders of the empire, became an unwitting guard of his high patrons.
Opal did not affect Munchausen, but he received the next rank of captain only in 1750, the last of those presented for promotion.
In 1744, Lieutenant Munchausen commanded an honor guard that met the bride of the Russian Tsarevich Sophia Frederica Augusta - the future Empress Catherine II. In the same year, Jerome married a Baltic German woman, Jacobina von Dunten, the daughter of a Riga judge.
Having received the rank of captain, Munchausen asked for leave to settle hereditary affairs and left with his young wife to Germany. He twice extended his leave, and finally was expelled from the regiment, but came into legal possession of the Bodenwerder family estate. Thus ended the "Russian odyssey" of Baron Munchausen, without which his amazing stories would not have existed.
Since 1752, Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Munchausen lived on the family estate in Bodenwerder. At the time, Bodenwerder was provincial town with a population of 1200 inhabitants, with whom, moreover, Munchausen did not immediately get along well.
He communicated only with neighboring landowners, hunted in the surrounding forests and fields, occasionally visited neighboring cities - Hanover, Hameln and Göttingen. On the Munchausen estate, he built a pavilion in the then fashionable park style "grotto", especially to receive friends there. After the death of the baron, the grotto was nicknamed "the pavilion of lies", because, they say, it was here that the owner told his guests his fantastic stories.
Most likely, the "Munchausen stories" first appeared at hunting halts. The Russian hunting was especially remembered by Munchausen. It is no coincidence that his stories about hunting exploits in Russia are so vivid. Gradually, Munchausen's merry fantasies about hunting, military adventures and travel became known in Lower Saxony, and after their publication, throughout Germany.
But over time, the insulting, unfair nickname "lugenbaron" - the liar baron - became attached to him. Further - more: both the "king of liars" and "lies are a liar of all lies." The fictional Munchausen completely overshadowed the present and inflicted blow after blow on his creator.
Unfortunately, in 1790, Jacobin's beloved wife died. The Baron finally closed in on himself. He was a widow for four years, but then young Bernardine von Brun turned his head. Predictably, this unequal marriage brought only trouble for everyone. Bernardine, a true child of the "gallant age", turned out to be frivolous and wasteful. A scandalous divorce process began, which finally ruined Munchausen. He could not recover from the shocks he had experienced.
Hieronymus Karl Friedrich Baron von Munchausen died on February 22, 1797 and was buried in the family crypt under the floor of the church in the village of Kemnade in the vicinity of Bodenwerder ...
Book "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen", history of creation.
Prototype of the literary baron Munchausen
J.K.F. von Munchausen and his biographyHieronymus Karl Friedrich von Munchausen (1720-1797), a brave 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, the knight Heino (Heino), participated in the crusade of King Frederick Barbarossa in Palestine. After several centuries, the family of the knight Heino practically disappeared. There remained one of the descendants of the knight, who retired from military affairs and lived in the monastery cell. By special decree, the monk was released from the monastery for the purpose of marrying and having children. The knight-monk continued the dying family, and his children were given the surname "Munchausen" (monk + house; monk from the cell; children of the monk from the cell).Jerome von Munchausen returned to his homeland with the rank of captain (captain), where he died, leaving no heirs behind 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 Braunschweig as a page. Anton Ulrich married Princess Anna Leopoldovna, who ruled a short time The Russian Empire. At their wedding, Baron Munchausen met the young princess Golitsina. The illegitimate child of the baron and the princess was handed over to the family of the Cossack chieftain with 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 the chief of the guard of honor, Baron Munchausen guarded the house in which the princess spent the night on the way to St. Petersburg for several days.
In 1762, the princess will become the Russian empress and will receive the name - Catherine II.
Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Munchausen - Biography
1720 - was born in Germany, the town of Bodenwerder, the fifth child in the family.
1737 - served in Russia as a page for Prince Ulrich of Braunschweig.
1738 - together with the prince 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 Braunschweig in St. Petersburg. Fleeting love and the illegitimate child that gave rise to the Russian branch of the Munchausen, renowned representative which is the writer V. Nagovo-Munchausen.
1739 - winter, due to “ love story"Forced to leave the service in the prince's retinue, he was transferred to serve in the Braunschweig cuirassier regiment, which was stationed near Riga.
1744 - February, as the chief of the guard of honor, he meets the retinue of the German princess Sophia Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst (the future Empress Catherine II), heading for Russia and personally guards her for three days.
1744 - married Jacobina von Dunten, the daughter of a judge who lived near Riga.
1750 - receives the rank of captain (captain). In the same year Munchausen asks for a leave of absence for a period of a year "to correct extreme and necessary needs" and leaves with his wife to Germany to inherit. By this time, Munchausen's mother had died, and his two siblings had died in the war (not in Russia).
1754 - August, Baron Munchausen could not return to Russia and was expelled from the regiment. In the small town of Bodenwerder (then 1200 inhabitants, now 6000) the baron leads humble life a poor landowner, having fun with hunting and talking in a circle of small friends about his amazing adventures in Russia. When signing his letters, documents and papers, JKF von Munchausen always indicates - "Baron Munchausen, officer of the Russian army." The inhabitants of the town are unfriendly to the baron and try in every possible way to annoy the officer of the Russian army.
How the book "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" appeared
1754 - Baron Munchausen likes to visit the neighboring city of Göttingen. In this city, Gerlach Munchausen, his uncle, founded the University of Göttingen, which today remains one of the leading educational centers in Germany. (In 1755, in the image and likeness of the University of Göttingen, the first university in Russia, Moscow University, now known as Moscow State University, will be created.) In the evenings, Baron Munchausen can be met in one of the taverns where university teachers and students 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 as follows: “Baron Munchausen began to tell after supper ... He accompanied his stories with expressive gestures, twisted his dandy wig with his hands on his head, excitement flared up in his eyes, his face brightened and reddened. Munchausen, usually a very truthful person, at these moments played out his fantasies wonderfully. "These amazing stories were fortunate enough to hear Rudolf Erich Raspe and Gottfried August Burger, who became the authors of the famous book about the adventures of Baron Munchausen.
1781 - “Stories M – G – Z – NA”, consisting of 16 short stories, almost all of them connected with Russia, are published in the magazine “Guide for Merry People”. The author of the stories is not listed, but most likely it was Baron Munchausen himself.
1785 - Rudolf Erich Raspe, scientist and writer, publishes in London a small book "Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvelous Travels and Campaigns in Russia", 1785, London). The book is based on "Stories M – G – Z – NA”. Raspe was born in 1737 in Hannover (75 km from Bodenwerder), studied natural sciences and philology at the University of Göttingen. Due to his adventurous character, he was forced to flee to England, where he published a book and spent the last years of his 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 "Adventures of the Sea of Munchausen". This version of the book about the adventures of Munchausen with long title“Amazing travels, hikes and funny adventures of Baron Munchausen on water and on land, which he usually talked about with his friends,” is considered a textbook (classic). Without a doubt, G. Burger, like E. Raspe, was familiar with Baron Munchausen. Gottfried Burger was a student at the University of Göttingen, then taught there as assistant professor and professor.
A stranger among his own
The book about Munchausen's adventures quickly became popular throughout Europe.
Crowds of people come to the house of Baron Munchausen to gaze at the eccentric and dreamer, but such attention is not due to a benevolent attitude, but to a desire to laugh and show their negative attitude. This "dislike" for Baron Munchausen on the part of the German intelligentsia and burghers is understandable. Why are none of his adventures connected to German soil? Why is the baron a patriot of Russia (fighting on her side), and not Germany? The name "Munchausen" becomes synonymous with virtuoso lies. Baron Munchausen was named "Lügen-Baron" or "liar baron", which is still called in Germany Baron Munchausen.
The last years of the life of Baron Munchausen
1790 - Baron becomes a widower and decides to marry 17-year-old Bernardine von Brun, daughter of a retired major. Munchausen is 73 years old. The young beauty's plan is simple - to get married, wait for the death of the baron, and continue a carefree life in the rank of baroness. A few months after their wedding, a child is born. It is believed 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 child of the baron. Paying long trial, Baron Munchausen went into debt and went broke, the child died due to poor health, and Bernandina herself fled. According to contemporaries, Bernandine von Braun was a beautiful, showy woman and quickly married in neighboring Holland.
The last story of Baron Munchausen
On February 22, 1797, in loneliness and poverty, 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 on his leg and shouted in surprise: "How could this have happened, Mr. Baron?" Even on the verge of death, the cheerful Baron Munchausen did not miss the opportunity to tell about this story: “These fingers were bitten off by a polar bear when I traveled to the North Pole! The stupid bear choked on them and died! The skin of a bear is hanging in my office! By my cocked hat! Do not forget to clean it from dust! ".
It was last story Baron Munchausen. The baron was buried in a modest family crypt in a small local village church. A hundred years later, they tried to reburial Baron Munchausen. Three local residents opened the burial and froze in fright. The face and body of Baron Munchausen looked untouched by time. A sudden gust of wind in a small room scattered the body to dust and horrified people who decided to disturb Munchausen. Some of the ashes were blown out by the wind through the open windows and doors and, quite possibly, were carried all over the world. In panic, they closed the tombstone, forgetting to mark it. And now it is not known exactly which slab the remains of the ashes of the cheerful Baron Munchausen lie under.
Gottfried August Burger died in 1794 in severe poverty and loneliness, before he reached 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) dies. The book "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" did not bring any of the three authors any honors, or good fame, or a prosperous life during their lifetime.
Baron Munchausen, R.E. Raspe, G.A. Burgher
and the book "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"
The authorship of E. Raspe and G. Bürger will be established by historians - they did not sign the book with their own 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 evoke in their midst a negative attitude towards them. The book's preface states that “ it comes about Baron Munchausen, who lives near the city of Hanover, that the baron does not tolerate liars. " All "glory and honors" go to the lot of Hieronymus von Munchausen. Almost immediately E. Raspe's book "The Adventures of Munchausen in Russia" is 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 made significant innovations and additions, new episodes and adventures. Usually, the name of only one author of the book is indicated - E. Raspe. In fact, G. Burger is the co-author of the book. So, for example, the famous episodes "flying on the nucleus", "pulling the pigtail out of the swamp", "a 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 Germans are not mentioned in it. The book tells about another country, the authors endow their hero - Baron Munchausen with atypical, alien to the German mentality and way of life traits of behavior and character.
The following can be argued: 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" integral.
The contribution of Russian writers to the development of the image
Baron Munchausen
Some time after the publication of the book, a number of German authors publish various "additions to the adventures of Munchausen." Any significant contribution to development literary image(character) of Baron Munchausen, they do not bring. The book by E. Raspe - G. Burger is being translated into other languages. The content of the book is voluminous, it is difficult for children to read it. VAt the beginning of the 20th century, the writer K.I. Chukovsky makes a translation of the book by Raspe-Burger. Chukovsky shortens the text of the book, separates episodes into separate chapters, 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 make a translation of 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. The cartoon "The Adventures of Munchausen" (1973), written by Roman Sef) and the film "The Same Munchausen" (1979) based on the play by Grigory Gorin, created in Russia during the Soviet era, became a striking contribution to the development of the image. With the appearance of these works, a kind of paradox emerged related to the question of the character's cultural affiliation. On the one hand, there is a book created by German writers, in which all the most famous adventures of the hero 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 is a cartoon and a film based on the scripts of Soviet-Russian writers, in which the same character is perceived as a great dreamer. In terms of copyright magnificent works G. Gorin and R. Sefa, 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 famous baron Munchausen.
V. Nagowo-Munchausen, a descendant of JKF 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-Burger's book, the Russian (Russian) writer V. Nagovo-Munchausen published "The Adventures of Childhood and Youth of Baron Munchausen" - the first book in world literature about the childhood and youth 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, children and teenage years the main world inventor has not been described by anyone. In fact, the missing part of Raspe-Burger's book was created and the gap that interested all readers was filled in - what was the famous Baron Munchausen like in childhood and adolescence. With the advent of the character "Young Baron Munchausen" Russian culture received all the rights to call the famous Baron Munchausen belonging to the Russian, Russian national culture and finally secured her rights to the hero of a literary work,which became a part of Russian culture.
V. Nagovo-Munchausen created not only a completely new image and character, but also retold the book of Raspe-Burger for a children's audience. For the first time, a famous book has become truly adapted for a children's audience. V famous stories and the plots were bright innovations that filled them with new content and meaning, endowed Baron Munchausen with new character traits, the cruel attitude towards animals left the book, new characters and new adventures appeared. In 2014-2015, the writer combined the book about the young Munchausen with the revised book by Raspe-Burger 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. Worldwide famous work was written according to the stories of an officer of the Russian army, 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 a young baron, and readers were given the world's best book about the adventures of the famous Baron Munchausen.
V. Nagowo-Munchausen, writer and descendant of Baron Munchausen
Vladimir Nagovo-Munchausen, a descendant of IKF von Munchausen, graduated from the University, Faculty of Philosophy. He opened the first museum in Russia and a monument to Baron Munchausen. For the first time in world literature, he spoke 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 in the history and plots of the book of Raspe-Burger, in the image of "the adult Baron Munchausen", the author of new adventures. Author of a new book about the adventures of Baron Munchausen, combining 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 tinctures from the Gurken-Puk (cucumber cannon) cannon at the North Pole. A descendant of the Baron claims that “When fired, pickles are scattered into small particles (nano-particles) and fly to the North Pole at the speed of light. Flying up to the pole, under the influence of the cold, they regain their former cucumber appearance and fall into the clutches of polar bears. Polar bears eat cucumbers and ride on their backs along the North Pole with pleasure - rubbing their backs against the earth's axis. The earth turns on its axis faster and the weather changes for the better again. "
TO How to write correctly: Baron Münchhausen in German
or Baron Munchausen in English?
Rudolf Erich Raspe has published a book in English. The name of the hero "Baron Munchausen" is indicated on the cover, and in the foreword of the book it is indicated - "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 this name in English. Almost immediately, GA Burger translates the book into German and introduces a number of the most famous episodes into it. In German, this name is spelled 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 is easier for children to speak Munchausen, not Munchausen (in the first translations K. Chukovsky writes "Munchausen").Chukovsky's translation was published in huge editions and influenced the spelling of this name. Thus, historically, two spellings of the name "Munchausen" have developed, which have insignificant differences associated with language peculiarities... In everyday speech, when they say "Munchausen" or "Munchausen", it does not matter in principle - everyone knows and understands who they are talking about.
It is fair to speak of 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.
L. LEVIN (Oryol).
Science and Life // Illustrations
Science and Life // Illustrations
Portraits of some representatives of the vast Munchausen family of the 16th-17th centuries.
The extensive Münchausen family had many prominent figures, among them the founder of the University of Göttingen Gerlach Adolf von Münchausen.
One of the castles that still belong to this family in Lower Saxony.
Baroness Anna Maria von Munchausen shows the author of the article a collection of portraits of 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 Karl Hieronymus Friedrich von Munchausen (copy from the original, which has been lost).
Ducal palace in Wolfenbüttel, from which our hero left in 1737 for Russia.
Science and Life // Illustrations
Gottfried August Burger (left) and Rudolf Erich Raspe - pioneers of publications with incredible stories Baron Munchausen.
Munchausen House in Bodenwerder. In it he was born 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 the hair; he rides a horse through the house; Munchausen, transplanted from one nucleus to another.
In the city where Munchausen was born, there are many sculptural figures dedicated to him.
Here he sits down on the core. Munchausen gives water to the "half horse".
After the tall snowdrifts melted, Munchausen's horse was tied to the cross of the church.
There are a lot of Munchausen! Since the 12th century, almost 1300 people have gathered on the family tree, about 50 are alive today. Scattered across Lower Saxony are about a dozen castles that once belonged or still belong today to members of this venerable family. And the family is really respectable. In the XVIII and XIX centuries he gave eight persons in the rank of ministers of various Germanic states. There are also such outstanding personalities as the land-sknecht Hilmar von Munchausen, famous in the 16th century, who obtained a lot of money for himself with a sword to buy or rebuild half a dozen castles. Here are 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, among them the "first poet of the Third Reich" Berris von Munchausen, whose poems were chanted by Hitler Youth teenagers marching 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 - They did not let them go around the world either they heard from Munchausen, or funny stories invented by them themselves, which for two centuries have caused a smile from various people in all corners of the earth. If we have in mind the literary hero, then he, in fact, is not a German, but rather a citizen of the world, only his name speaks of his nationality. The very first line in the millions of books on which this name bears reads: "I left home for Russia in the middle of winter ..." And for the third century, millions of readers have perceived Russia, according to his stories, as a country where "wolves devour horses on the run where snow covers the ground to the domes of churches and where the stream of urine freezes right in the air. "
And what actually connects Munchausen with Russia? How random are "Russian decorations" in the novels he created? The main facts of his biography are known, interest in it is caused by that literary glory, which the baron himself, however, considered an indelible disgrace. Alas, there is still more than one author both in Russia and in Germany, talking about what really existed, as he is called, "historical Munchausen", willingly or unwillingly mixes his biography with the adventures of a cheerful adventurer.
This is all the more offensive because from the 18th century many documents have come down to us, on the pages of which this name is written in Russian and German letters; they are on the shelves of archives of two countries - Russia and Germany: in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Göttingen, Wolfenbuettel, Hanover, Bodenwerdere. By linking them to some of the published and unpublished studies, a biography of the Baron can be compiled. Within the framework of a journal article, it will not be possible to turn over all the pages of his biography. And among them there are in no way inferior in intensity of passions to those that Raspe and Burger were once released on his behalf. Therefore, let us dwell in more detail on only some of them.
Munchausen was born in 1720 in the small town of Bodenwerder, then lying 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 attire of the Cistercian order with a staff and a pouch in his hand, and a book in the pouch. For eight centuries, the spelling of the name - Munchausen has changed several times. There are about 80 known variants. 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 Braunschweig-Bevern in the castle of Bevern, not far from home. In 1735, the prince became reigning Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and Munchausen was officially promoted to page. Ahead was a career traditional for a poor nobleman - military service in the army of Braunschweig or neighboring small states. But fate opened another way for the young man.
Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Anton Ulrich, who has been living in Russia for the fifth year as the fiancé of Anna Leopoldovna, niece of the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna, urgently needed two pages to replace those who died during the assault turkish fortress Ochakov. After a long search (few people wanted to go to mysterious Russia), there were still two desperate ones, and one of them was Munchausen. He arrived in St. Petersburg at the beginning of 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 was supposed to participate, for this he was discharged.
In December 1739 Munchausen from Anton Ulrich's retinue transferred to the army as a cornet in the Braunschweig cuirassier regiment, which was stationed near Riga. At the same time, he was protected by the wife of the Duke of Biron. So the level of connections young man at the court was high.
Less than a year later, a change of monarch takes place on the Russian throne. Empress Anna Ioannovna suddenly dies, 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, the patron of Munchausen. 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 either: he was made from cornet to lieutenant, and, as he proudly informs his mother, he bypassed 12 other cornets awaiting promotion.
Munchausen had something to brag about. He was appointed commander of the first company of the regiment, which was directly with the commander-in-chief in Riga to carry 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). Here and the repair of ammunition, and the acceptance of new horses, and reports on the sale of skins ripped from the fallen, allowing soldiers to marry, catching deserters, repairing weapons, purchasing provisions and fodder, grazing horses, correspondence with bosses due to salary delays, and much more.
All documents are written by a clerk in Russian and only signed "Lieutenant von Munchhausen". How well our hero knew Russian is difficult to judge. He did not experience any difficulties in communicating with the officers: two-thirds of them were foreigners, mostly Germans. The document, which later introduced Munchausen to the rank of captain, notes that he can read and write in 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 linen, for "the old disappeared in the campaign." Most likely, with the exception of the campaign of 1738, where he could presumably participate in the retinue of Anton Ulrich, Munchausen still did not appear in battles.
On the night of November 24-25, 1741, the daughter of Peter I, Princess Elizabeth Petrovna, personally leading the grenadier company, seized the throne. All the so-called "Braunschweig family" (the young emperor, his parents and two-month-old sister) were arrested and spent many decades in prisons. His fate was shared by courtiers and servants. But Munchausen happily avoids such a fate, for, as if on a whim, two years before the coup, he moved from the duke's retinue to the army. Lucky Munchausen and in another. At first, the new empress announced that all the ranks received by them in the previous reign were removed from the military and civilians, but then she changed her mind, realizing how many people she would offend by this, and Munchausen retained her rank of lieutenant.
At the age of 24, 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" in Russia from the same places where Munchausen was born, from present-day Lower Saxony. I had to arrange family nest... But the career did not develop further. There was no more war, it was impossible to bypass the long line of lieutenants as easily as a dozen cornettes. Finally, in 1750, having waited for the next rank of captain, Munchausen asked for leave for a period of a year "to correct extreme and necessary needs" and left with his wife to settle property matters: by this time his mother had long been dead, two of him died in the war. brother.
Munchausen twice sent applications to Russia from Bodenwerder to extend the leave and twice received a reprieve. But, apparently, "extreme and necessary needs" dragged on, the baron never returned to Russia, and on August 6, 1754, he was expelled from the regiment. It follows from the documents of the Military Collegium 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 discovered.
The real, and not fictional, adventures of the baron began not in Russia, but in Germany. Almost immediately, he came into conflict with his hometown. There are many documents in the Bodenwerder archive that tell about this. It all started with the fact that the baron wanted to build a bridge five cubits wide, along which he could climb over the narrow Weser arm from his house to his own piece of land on the other side, and not make a big detour across the city bridge. The burgomaster forbade the baron to build a bridge, citing the fact that then one more entrance to the city would have to be guarded.
Apparently, this was the effect of Munchausen's long stay in Russia: he could not even imagine that someone would prevent a retired officer in some hole from throwing several logs over a narrow ditch. It was not so! As soon as they had driven in the piles and laid the beams, the townspeople gathered in the square and led by some tailor, under bell ringing with crowbars and ropes went to the estate of the baron. In an instant, the piles were pulled out, the beams were thrown into the water. Since there were a lot of people gathered, and there was not enough work for everyone, at the same time they broke down a new fence around the Munchausen courtyard. Then, for non-payment of some taxes, pigs are arrested from him. Then they demand fines for damaging the city meadow ...
Soon after the return of Munchausen to his homeland, the Seven Years War broke out, the French invaded the 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 played a role, in this war - the ally of the French.
Munchausen's marriage turned out to be childless, relations with neighbors, apparently, did not work out. "In ... mental confusion ... hunting and war is 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 soldier, did not go to defend the fatherland, but chose to hunt. It is not known how successful a shooter he was, but he soon developed a bright talent for storytelling in a genre called "Jagerlatein" in Germany - "Hunting Jokes".
Not only friends, but also outsiders gathered to listen to him when the baron traveled to the neighboring cities of Hameln, Hanover, Göttingen ... Whether he told his stories in Bodenwerder is unknown, but probably not: Munchausen's relations with the townspeople remained strained. But the Gottingen people were impatiently awaiting his arrival, usually gathering in the restaurant of the King of Prussia Hotel in order to have fun with all the heart, listening to the baron's funny stories.
A contemporary described his impressions as follows: “Usually he began to talk after dinner, lighting his huge foam pipe with a short mouthpiece and placing a smoking glass of punch in front of him ... livened up and blushed, and he, usually a very truthful person, at these moments wonderfully played out his fantasies. " (By the way, the wig was really dandy, one of the invoices for a new wig for 4 thalers was preserved - quite a lot of money at that time.) The fame of the narrator grew, but the literary claims of the baron never extended beyond oral creativity. So his life would have rolled to a calm end, but in old age Munchausen was trapped by adventures hotter than a flight on a cannonball.
At first, his stories began to spread orally throughout Lower Saxony; then collections of funny absurd stories began to appear, allegedly told by a certain "M-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), endured in exile in need and hoping for a fee. They were then revised and published by another famous writer, Gottfried August Burger. True, the first editions were published anonymously, and only with mid XIX centuries, both of these names - separately or together - stand on title pages all books about the adventures of Munchausen. These books instantly spread throughout Europe. (First Russian edition came out around 1791, but the translator diligently removed all references to Russia in it.)
The Baron perceived his fantastic, but unsolicited literary fame as an insulting mockery, considered his good name disgraced, was even going to sue, but he could not change anything. By the way, the Germans still add the official epithet "Lugenbaron" to his name - baron liar.
But this disaster was not enough. The last years of the Baron's life are a complete scandal. In 1790, he buried his wife, and three years later, at the seventy-third year of his life, he married the daughter of a major from a neighboring town, a certain Bernardine von Brun (for family and friends - just Bernie), who, according to some sources, was 17, according to others - "for 20 years already." The chagrin began on the day of the wedding, to which, against the wishes of the baron, Bernardine invited many guests and musicians from Hanover and had fun with them all night, although the newlywed retired to the bedroom at 10 o'clock in the evening! Then it turned out that after getting married, Bernardina did not dream of breaking a long-standing relationship with an 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 own, the judicial machine spun, demanding more and more 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 testimony to it (201 points). Seventeen witnesses of different ages, sex and social status argued that Bernardine shamelessly cheated on her husband, and described smallest details of her walks, trips, meetings with the clerk, they recalled her words and gestures, listed her purchases, reported what rumor was going on about her in Bodenwerder and the surrounding area ... But the witnesses themselves intimate connection was never found, all the testimony contained the words "very likely" and "no doubt", all the evidence was circumstantial, and no one saw the clerk in the arms of the baroness. It turned out to be difficult.
Munchausen in detailed explanations cited the most lofty and noble motives that prompted him to marry a girl from a poor family. He, de, counted on the joy of spiritual communication, but was cruelly deceived. Bernardine, for her part, argued that future child maybe only from the baron and from no one else, but the husband, as it turned out, has a bad character, pathologically jealous, stingy, refuses to his wife innocent ladies' pleasures and generally has gone out of his mind. The legal proceedings were deadlocked and stalled, but they demanded everything more money; the baron had to pay for the services of a doctor and a midwife, the lawyer demanded that witnesses be present at the birth and the lights burn brightly (in order to avoid any fraud with the baby). The 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. From grief, the baron went to bed, the nephews were beside themselves: the uncle could die, and the inheritance would have left 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, the wife of his huntsman looked after him. A few days before the death of the baron, she noticed that he was missing his toes. "The polar bear bit them off 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 the crypt were opened in the church, they wanted to transfer the remains resting there to the cemetery. Eyewitness ( future writer Karl Hensel), who was then still a boy, described his impressions as follows: “When the coffin was opened, the men fell out of their hands. The coffin was not a skeleton, but a sleeping man with hair, skin and a recognizable face: Jerome von Munchausen. a face with a protruding nose and a slightly smiling mouth. No scars, no mustache. " A gust of wind blew through the church. And the body instantly disintegrated into dust. "Instead of a face, there was a skull, instead of a body, bones." The coffin was closed and did not move to another place.