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.) Is a German baron, a descendant of the ancient Lower Saxon family of Munchausen, a captain of the Russian service, a historical person and a literary character. Munchausen's name has become a household name as a designation of 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 participated with the duke in the Turkish campaign. In 1739 he entered the Braunschweig Cuirassier Regiment with the rank of a 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 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 he 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 belonging to Jerome von Munchausen. Museum exposition 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 Hotel in neighboring Göttingen.
Bodenwerder.
One of Munchausen's listeners described his stories as follows:
"He usually started talking 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, in those minutes he was wonderfully playing out his fantasies. "
Fountain. The horse cannot get drunk, since during the assault on Ochakov its hind half was 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) widely dispersed throughout the neighborhood and even penetrated to print, but with decent anonymity.
Museum exposition 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. Mr. Zn, 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 a book in English 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 place servants around the house to drive away the curious.
The last years of 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 the 75-year-old Munchausen did not recognize, considering the father of the clerk Huden. Munchausen started a scandalous and costly divorce proceedings, as a result of which he went broke, 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.
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 surname of the Baron from English "Munchausen" into Russian as "Munchausen". In German it is spelled "Munchhausen" and translated into Russian as "Munchausen".
The most significant development of the image of Baron Munchausen was in 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 \u200b\u200bMunchausen as a man of strong and proportional build, with a round, regular face. 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 a 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 in the 18th century they did not wear beards.
However, it was during Dore's time that 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 subtext of the caricature of the emperor (see portrait of Napoleon III).
And such a monument to Munchausen stands in Sochi near the Seaport.
In the article accompanying this edition, it is said that Svetlana Akatieva in her childhood loved to read a book about the unthinkable exploits of the baron. She even sketched the most exciting episodes. These children's drawings on sheets from school notebooks were kept in an old, almost fairytale chest with a rusty lock. Years passed, the girl grew up, graduated from the Kharkov Academy of Design and Arts and became a professional artist. Once, among the things forgotten in the attic, Svetlana found a chest with her children's pictures for "Munchausen" and decided on their basis to create new illustrations in mixed media: watercolors, colored pencils, ink and gouache.
And now, from the cover of a book of a cozy square format, a fearless traveler and consummate storyteller Munchausen looks at us, squinting slyly. The baron has a long, straight nose and a lush mustache sticking out in different directions. On the back of the cover, the bouquets of his powdered wig transform into a cracked, silvery moon. And the stalk of the Turkish bean, on which Munchausen first reached the moon, is woven into the lace of the collar of his camisole.
The design of the book is thought out to the smallest detail and creates a sense of harmony. The illustrations are designed in a single color scheme: turquoise prevails in all the richness of shades and the color of baked milk. An attentive eye will notice many different rolls. For example, one of the endpapers depicts a cannon with a cannon that just flew out of it, and the other depicts a deer with branchy antlers hung with cherries. Both will meet the reader in illustrations. Svetlana Akatieva also came up with a special typeface Ackat for the design of the titles, for which she received a third degree diploma at the All-Russian competition of student type works.
The book contains quite a few full-page drawings that fit the ironic storytelling style. How do you like a furious fur coat that tries to bite Munchausen on the finger with its toothed sleeve? Or a delightfully gnarled crocodile that swallowed the shaggy head of a lion in front of the tiny baron, cringing with fear? Some illustrations are laid out horizontally or vertically - as a result, whole episodes from the entertaining stories of the brave and resourceful baron literally come to life before the eyes of the reader.
Here Munchausen sits in the snow in red dandy boots, clearly inappropriate in the frosty Russian winter. He settled down for the night, tying his horse to a small post sticking out of a snowdrift. We lay out the picture - and the horse is on the roof of the bell tower, around which the surprised inhabitants of the village thawed out overnight have crowded.
Here, fleeing the Turks, Munchausen was firmly stuck in the swamp along with his horse. He pulls himself up by the skinny pigtail, the horse grabbed the cuff of the master's jacket with his teeth. We unfold the page and see how they ascended over the swamp. The Baron, in a well-cut patterned jacket with a lacy bib - he, as they say, came out dry. And only the leaves of the water lilies, stuck to the sides of the horse, and the frog in his nose remind of what happened.
But the ship with Munchausen on board not far from America ran into an underwater rock. After unfolding the page, we discover that it is not a rock, but "a whale of colossal size, peacefully dozing on the water." Keith frowned, looking with an angry eye - he is clearly terrible in anger. In this state, this giant can really drag the ship by anchor throughout the ocean from morning to night.
Korney Chukovsky (by the way, the author of a brilliant retelling of stories about Munchausen) wrote in his book "From Two to Five" that children are very fond of all sorts of fables. This is an intellectual game for them, helping to consolidate the "correct" ideas about the structure of the world. Little readers find the baron's unparalleled boasting ridiculous, and they rejoice that they were able to "unravel" his intricate fantasies. “Here is their combat duel with Munchausen, a duel from which they invariably emerge victorious every time ... This increases their self-esteem:“ Yeah, you wanted to cheat us, you didn't attack those like that! ”.
How wonderful that in Svetlana Akatieva's house there is an ancient chest with her children's drawings. And therefore, for all her artistic skill, her illustrations for Munchausen are filled with vivid and immediate impressions from childhood. Chukovsky called this funny book "a delicious treat for children," and in this design, which creates many additional opportunities for play, it will bring even more joy to readers.
At the end of the book, we see a self-portrait of the artist: a girl flies over a lake in which outlandish fish swim, and from a bird's eye view she tries to see a small figurine of Munchausen on horseback. She smiles at him like an old acquaintance.
Ksenia Zernina
Photo by Elena Oberemok
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"Ryleev" - Ryleev was educated in the 1st Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg. Ryleev goes over to the position of republicanism. Sentenced to death and hanged on July 13, 1826. They mark the poet's final overcoming of constitutional-monarchical illusions. He retired in 1818 with the rank of second lieutenant. Kondraty Fedorovich Ryleev. 1795-1826.
I really like "Munchausen" Vladimir Lyubarov!
I wonder if such a book came out or the illustrations were printed only in the form of postcards?
E. Raspe. "ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNHAUSIN" Set of postcards.
("Fine Art", 1978, ill. V. Lyubarova)
With all my might I punched myself in the right eye. Sparks fell from his eye, and the gunpowder flashed at the same instant. 
Suddenly - you can imagine my amazement! - the ducks flew into the air and lifted me to the clouds.
Anyone else in my place would have been confused, but I am a brave and resourceful person.
I arranged the steering wheel out of my frock coat and, controlling the ducks, quickly flew to the house. 
I slowly walked over to the fox and began to whip her with a whip.
She was so dazed in pain that - would you believe it? - jumped out of her skin and ran away from me naked. 
Imagine my amazement when a magnificent deer jumped out of the thicket of the forest right at me, with a tall, branchy cherry tree growing between its horns! Oh, believe me, it was very beautiful: a slender deer and a slender tree on its head! 
I directed my horse at the window and, like a whirlwind, flew into the dining room.
The ladies were very scared at first. But I made the stallion jump onto the tea table, and so skillfully poured among the glasses and cups that I did not break a single glass, not a single smallest saucer. 
Now the whole body of my horse has disappeared into the stinking mud, now my head has already begun to sink into the swamp, and only the pigtail of my wig sticks out from there.
What was to be done? We would certainly have perished if not for the amazing strength of my hands. I am a terrible strong man. Grabbing myself by this pigtail, I pulled up with all my strength and without much difficulty pulled myself and my horse out of the swamp, which I squeezed with both legs, like tongs. 
It turned out that the entire rear of my horse was cut off completely, and the water that he drank freely poured out behind, without lingering in his stomach. 
I slid along the rope with one hand, and held the hatchet with the other.
But soon the rope ended, and I hung in the air, between the sky and the earth. 
The lion, rushing at me at the moment when I fell to the ground, flew over me and landed right in the crocodile's mouth! 
Suddenly I see - a huge fish with its mouth wide open is swimming right at me! What was to be done? It is impossible to escape from her, and therefore I cringed into a ball and rushed into her gaping mouth in order to quickly slip past the sharp teeth and immediately find myself in the stomach. 
My dear Munchausen! - exclaimed the sultan. - I'm used to believing your every word, because you are the most truthful person on earth, but I swear that now you are telling a lie: there is no better wine than this! 
Where are you going? I asked him. - And why did you tie these weights to your feet? because they interfere with running!
“Three minutes ago I was in Vienna,” the man replied as he ran, “and now I am going to Constantinople to look for some work. I hung Giri at my feet so as not to run too fast, because I have nowhere to rush. 
Do not be afraid, they will not catch up with us! - he said with a laugh, ran aft and, pointing one nostril against the Turkish fleet and the other against our sails, raised such a terrible wind that in one minute the entire Turkish fleet flew away from us back to the harbor. 
And I need to tell you that it was on this day that the British celebrated my victory over the Spanish army and fired all their cannons in joy.
A gunman approached the cannon in which I was sleeping and fired. 
What was I to do? Another minute - and I will be torn to pieces by fierce predators. And suddenly a brilliant thought struck me. I grabbed a knife, ran up to the dead bear, tore off its skin and pulled it over ourselves. 
Lunar inhabitants have a stomach instead of a suitcase. They can close and open it whenever they want ...
They can take out and insert their eyes ... If the eye deteriorates or is lost, they go to the market and buy themselves a new one. Therefore, there are a lot of people on the moon who trade eyes. Every now and then you read on the signs: "Eyes are sold cheap. Large selection of orange, red, purple and blue." 
