Who really was Baron Munchausen? Who wrote "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"? Biography and career of Rudolf Erich Raspe In what city did Baron Munchausen live?

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

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

There are a lot of Munchausens! Since the 12th century, almost 1,300 people have gathered on the family tree, about 50 are alive today. There are a dozen and a half castles scattered throughout Lower Saxony that once belonged or belong today to members of this venerable family. And the family is truly respectable. In the 18th and 19th centuries, he gave eight persons the rank of ministers of different German states. There are also such bright personalities as the famous 16th-century land-sknecht Hilmar von Munchausen, who earned a lot of money with his sword to buy or rebuild half a dozen castles. Here is the founder of the University of Göttingen, Gerlach Adolf von Munchausen, and the botanist and agronomist Otto von Munchausen. There are half a dozen writers, and among them is the “first poet of the Third Reich” Berris von Munchausen, whose poems were chanted by Hitler Youth teenagers as they marched through the streets. And the whole world knows only one thing - Karl Hieronymus Friedrich von Munchausen, according to the genealogical table, number 701. And, probably, he would remain number 701, if during his lifetime two writers - R. E. Raspe and G. A. Burger - They did not let the funny stories they heard from Munchausen, or the funny stories they themselves invented, which have brought smiles to the faces of a variety of people in all corners of the world for two centuries, into the world. If we keep in mind the literary hero, then he, in fact, is not German, but rather a citizen of the world; only his name speaks about his nationality.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And at this time, a roll call took place in the cuirassier regiment. Where is Captain Munchausen? There is no Captain Munchausen. And there are no good reasons for his absence either. And therefore, in 1754, Baron Munchausen, aka Minichhausin, aka Menechhausen (as the staff clerks distorted his name), was expelled from the regiment and the Russian army.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hieronymus Carl Friedrich von Munchausen. Artist G. Bruckner. 1752

Munchausen Karl Friedrich Hieronymus (11.5.1720-22.2.1797), baron, landowner (owned the estates of Schwobber, Rinteln and Bodenwerder). He came from a Lower Saxon, Hanoverian and Brunswick family known since 1183. According to the pedigree, his ancestor Heino accompanied Frederick II of Hohenstaufen during the Crusade to Palestine (1228). In order to prevent the end of the clan, its last representative, a monk, was released from the monastery in order to continue the fading clan. He received the surname Munchausen (from the combination of the words “Monch” - “monk” and “Hausen” - “house”). The Munchausen family split in the 15th century. into two lines - “white” and “black” - according to the color of the clothes of the Cistercian monk with a staff, depicted on their coats of arms. The coat of arms of the “white line” of the clan depicts a monk on a golden field, in white clothes with a black stripe, and a black and gold mantle. The “black line” has a monk in black clothes with a white stripe.

Coat of arms of the Munchausens of Lower Saxony

In the XII-XX centuries. There were a total of about 1,300 bearers of this surname. In 1433-1618, the Munchausens (then Monckhusen bei Loccum - “Munchausens of the monastery”) were hereditary marshals of the Principality of Minden. They received the baronial title in the 18th century. Ancestor K.F.I. von Munchausen, Hilmar von Munchausen, was in the 16th century. one of the condottieri and served Philip II of Spain, Ferdinand Alvarez of Toledo and the Duke of Alba. Gerlach Adolf von Munchausen (1688-1770) was a Prussian prime minister and one of the founders of the University of Göttingen. Belonged to the “white line” of the family. In 1735 he became the Duke's page Anton-Ulrich of Brunswick (1714-1775), groom and later husband of the “ruler” of Russia Anna Leopoldovna. In the Duke's retinue, Munchausen arrived in St. Petersburg and was enlisted in the 1st company of the Brunswick Cuirassier Regiment as a cornet, which was in excess of the set. According to some evidence, in 1737 the 17-year-old cornet Munchausen took part in the Russian-Turkish War of 1735-1739 and in the campaign of the Russian army led by Field Marshal B.K. von Minich near Ochakov. In 1740 Munchausen received the rank of lieutenant. After the accession of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Munchausen was assigned to Riga. On February 2, 1744, Munchausen married Jacobina von Dunten from Pernil, in Livonia. In February 1744, Munchausen was appointed chief of the honor guard at the meeting in Riga of Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst, the future empress, on her way to St. Petersburg Catherine II , and her mother, Princess Joanna Elizabeth. In 1744 Munchausen received leave and visited his estates. On February 20, 1750 he was promoted to captain of the cuirassier regiment. That same year, he left the service and returned with his wife to his hometown of Bodenwerder. He was engaged in farming and hunting on his estate. Among his friends, Munchausen often talked about his amazing adventures in Russia, military exploits and funny incidents while hunting. The stories of Munchausen, who had an undoubted gift for improvisation, enjoyed great success among visitors to his parties. In January 1794, at the age of 73, Munchausen married for the second time Bernardine von Brunn, the daughter of a retired major, according to contemporaries, “a flighty and absurd intriguer who brought him shame and grief.” In 1781, in the 8th edition of the Berlin almanac “Guide for Merry People” (“Vademecum fur liistige Leute”), an anonymous author published 16 short anecdotes with a preface stating that “the witty Mr. M-h-z-ne , who lives in G-r (Hanover), tells entertaining stories known as "M-g-sen stories", although not all of them are probably invented by him. These stories are full of incredible exaggerations, but at the same time they are so comical and inventive that, although it is difficult to believe in their verisimilitude, you laugh with all your heart.” The first publication included stories about a horse on a bell tower, a wolf harnessed to a sleigh, a deer with a cherry tree on its head, half a horse, and a fur coat gone wild, which were included in all subsequent editions. In 1783, in the 9th issue of the same almanac, 2 more stories were published. There is an opinion that among the guests who gathered at Munchausen’s house could have been R.E. Raspe, a scholar and man of letters who recorded the Baron's stories and contributed to their first publication. Munchausen himself, who became a literary hero during his lifetime, was very sensitive about his somewhat dubious popularity. However, Munchausen's worldwide fame was created by German writers R.E. Raspe (1737-1794) and G.A. Burger (1747-1794). Raspe, hiding from prosecution and living in England, translated into English and creatively revised the anecdotes and incredible stories published in the Guide. He wrote a number of new stories and published them anonymously, as if on behalf of the baron himself, under the title “Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of His Wonderful Travels and Campaigns in Russia” (1785). In Russia, the first editions (from 1791) were published in a free version under the title “Don’t like it, don’t listen, but don’t bother me to lie.”

How did the real Baron Munchausen, captain of the Russian army, live?

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 the other 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 of the 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 Kiev 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. Minich's army was in winter quarters in Kyiv, where, 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 same 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. You must understand 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 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 “Baron Munchausen's Stories of His Amazing Travels and Campaigns in Russia,” after which the baron, to his displeasure, became widely famous.

(1720-1797) German aristocrat

In the history of culture there were many people who remained in the memory of many only because they became heroes of literary works. One of them is the famous Baron Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Munchausen. He belonged to an ancient German aristocratic family, the founder of which, then bearing the surname Heino, was a courtier of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

Together with the Emperor, Heino took part in wars and also went on a crusade to Palestine. Apparently, he was wounded there, since he was forced to stay for treatment in one of the monasteries built by the crusaders. At this time, Heino adopted the surname Munchausen (from the German “Munch” - monk).

Karl von Munchausen was one of the last descendants of Heino. He was born in the small German town of Bodenwerder. Like all representatives of his family, Charles began his court career from childhood - at the age of twelve he became a page of the Duke of Brunswick.

Karl Friedrich Munchausen served at the duke's court for more than ten years, and then went to Russia as part of the German embassy. Like many foreigners, the baron switched to Russian service. At the age of 18, Munchausen, by imperial decree, was promoted to cornet of the Russian Brunswick Cuirassier Regiment, where strong-bodied, tall young men were selected.

Apparently, the successful service was helped not only by the baron’s personal courage, but also by his brilliant linguistic abilities. He easily remembered words of a foreign language, and after just a few months of being in Russia he was able to speak fluently in Russian. A distinguished, language-savvy, intelligent young man quickly advanced through the ranks. He was appointed commander of the honorary escort that welcomed the German princess Joanna Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst and her daughter Sophia Augusta Friederike, who later became Russian Empress Catherine II, to Riga. Munchausen accompanied the future monarch to St. Petersburg and from then on considered her his mistress.

During the reign of Catherine, Karl Friedrich Munchausen was in the army under the command of Alexander Suvorov and took part in the war with the Turks, from where he brought a captured Turkish saber. During the second campaign he was wounded.

However, already at the age of 30, the baron bitterly admitted that his career, which had begun so successfully in Russia, had failed. After recovery, he submits his resignation and along with it receives the rank of captain in the Russian army. After leaving Russian service, Munchausen returns to Germany and again settles on his estate in Bodenwerder. It was a provincial town, where Karl Munchausen lacked the noisy society to which he was accustomed in the Russian capital.

He often gathered friends on his estate and at a friendly party and talked about his adventures. Usually his stories were listened to with great interest, since Munchausen turned out to be one of the few foreigners at that time who had the opportunity to live in Russia for several years. True, unlike his literary character, the real Baron Munchausen never lied and only told what he saw with his own eyes.

One day, among the guests in his house, a young German writer and scientist R. Raspe appeared. It was he who managed to write down the baron's stories, although at that time he had no intention of publishing them. However, soon circumstances developed such that Raspa had to leave his homeland and flee to London. There he was forced to look for income, so he decided to publish a recording he made several years ago. But this book was not a great success, and Raspe never translated it into German.

The writer quarreled with one of the baron's close relatives, Gerlach Adolf von Munchausen, who is known as the founder of the University of Göttingen. In retaliation, Raspe collected stories circulating throughout Germany about the adventures of a certain adventurer from Hanover, where he himself was from, added them to the stories of Karl Munchausen, processed them and published them. So the name Munchausen became synonymous with a first-class liar.

World fame came to the stories of Karl Friedrich Munchausen after Raspe's book fell into the hands of the German writer Gottfried August Burger. Like Raspe, Burger was in exile. He also knew Munchausen personally, so he understood perfectly well what he actually saw, what he added on his own, and what Raspe added.

Burger not only translated Raspe's book, but also significantly revised it. He turned scattered stories into a cohesive publication. In addition, having met with Munchausen, Burger supplemented the manuscript with a story about the life of her character.

From a shameless liar and adventurer, Karl Friedrich Munchausen turned into an intelligent, ironic person who has seen a lot. Now he tries not only to surprise his interlocutors, but wants to tell them something new, to expand their horizons.

In turn, Burger also added something of his own to Munchausen’s stories, completing completely fantastic stories for the baron. Thus, he included the story of the baron's flight to the moon (taking it from a German folk story - Schwank) and a flight on a cannonball into an enemy fortress.

However, the first edition of Bürger's book, published in Germany, went unnoticed. And only the second version of the book, in which he reworked the narrator’s language, making it more vivid and figurative, brought it incredible popularity.

Five editions of the book are published one after another, and people begin to read about the adventures of Baron Karl Munchausen not only in Germany, but throughout almost all of Europe. Already in 1790, Burger's book was translated into Russian and has since been reprinted more than a dozen times.

It is curious that none of the foreign publishers have ever reworked these stories for children. Only in 1883, the publishing house of Ivan Sytin published a children's edition of the adventures of Munchausen. The author of the adaptation was the famous translator O. Schmidt-Moskvitinova. She arranged all the baron's stories in the form of a cycle of twelve evenings. Every day was devoted to one topic: hunting, war, being in captivity, traveling around Russia.

From this time on, a new story of the adventures of Baron Karl Friedrich Munchausen begins. The book immediately became a favorite children's reading and took its place alongside the works of Francois Rabelais and Jonathan Swift.

Little is known about the last years of the baron’s life. True, there is information that he had a positive attitude towards the use of his name in Burger’s books, and the growing fame even flattered him. The baron quietly lived out his life in the town of Bodenwerder near Hamelin, located on the Weser River. There is still a large family estate there today, in which the descendants of Baron Munchausen set up a small museum.

Munchausen Karl Friedrich(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.

Biography

The founder of the Munchausen family is considered to be the knight Heino, who took part in the crusade led by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the 12th century.
Heino's descendants died in wars and civil strife. And only the only one of them survived, for 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 building”. That is why the coats of arms of all Munchausens depict a recluse with a staff and a book.

Among the Munchausens there were famous warriors and nobles. Thus, in the 17th century, the commander Hilmar von Munchausen became famous, in the 18th - the Minister of the Hanoverian Court, Gerlach Adolf von Munchausen, the founder of the University of Göttingen.

But real fame, an understandable occupation, went to “that same” Munchausen.

Hieronymus Karl Friedrich Baron von Munchausen was born on May 11, 1720 on 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 fellow countryman and literary hero.

Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Baron von Munchausen was the fifth child among eight brothers and sisters.

His father died prematurely, when Jerome was only four years old. He, like his brothers, was most likely destined for a military career. And he began serving in 1735 as a page in the retinue of the Duke of Brunswick.

At this time, the Duke's son, Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick, served in Russia and was preparing to take command of a cuirassier regiment. But the prince 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 before her term and had no children. She wanted to pass the top along her own, Ivanovskaya line. To do 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.

The matchmaking of Anton Ulrich dragged on for almost seven years. The prince took part in campaigns against the Turks; in 1737, during the assault on the Ochakov fortress, he found himself in the thick of battle, the gelding under him was killed, the adjutant and two pages were wounded. The pages later died from their wounds. In Germany, they did not immediately find a replacement for the dead - the pages were afraid of a distant and wild power. Hieronymus von Munchausen himself volunteered to go to Russia.

This happened in 1738.

In the retinue of Prince Anton Ulrich, young Munchausen always visited the court of the Empress, at military parades, and apparently took part in the campaign against the Turks in 1738. Finally, in 1739, the magnificent wedding of Anton Ulrich and Anna Leopoldovna took place, the young people were treated kindly by their aunt-empress. Everyone was looking forward to the appearance of the heir.

At this time, young Munchausen accepts an unexpected and fundamental conclusion - to leave for military service. The prince did not immediately and reluctantly release the page from his retinue. Gironimus Karl Friedrich von Minihausin - as it appears in the documents - enters the Brunswick Cuirassier Regiment, stationed in Riga, on the western border of the Russian Empire, as a cornet.

In 1739, Hieronymus von Munchausen became a cornet in the Brunswick Cuirassier Regiment, stationed in Riga. Thanks to the patronage of the regiment's chief, Prince Anton Ulrich, within a year Munchausen became a lieutenant and commander of the first company of the regiment. He quickly entered into the direction of the case and was a smart officer.

In 1740, Prince Anton Ulrich and Anna Leopoldovna had their first child, 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 dad Anton Ulrich received the title of generalissimo.

But in 1741, Tsarevna Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, took over. The entire “Brunswick family” and its supporters were arrested. For some time, noble prisoners were kept in Riga Castle. And Lieutenant Munchausen, who guarded Riga and the western borders of the empire, became the involuntary guard of his high patrons.

The disgrace did not affect Munchausen, but he received the next rank of captain only in 1750, the last of those presented for promotion.

In 1744, Lieutenant Munchausen commanded the guard of honor that greeted 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 inheritance matters and left with his young wife for Germany. He extended his leave twice, and was eventually expelled from the regiment, but took legal possession of the family estate of Bodenwerder. Thus ended the “Russian odyssey” of Baron Munchausen, without which his amazing stories would not have existed.

Since 1752, Hieronymus Carl Friedrich von Munchausen lived on the family estate in Bodenwerder. At that time, Bodenwerder was a provincial town with a population of 1,200 inhabitants, with whom, moreover, Munchausen immediately did not get along well.

He communicated only with neighboring landowners, hunted in the surrounding forests and fields, and rarely visited the neighboring cities of Hanover, Hamelin and Göttingen. On the estate, Munchausen built a pavilion in the then fashionable “grotto” park style, specifically to receive friends there. Even after the death of the baron, the grotto was nicknamed the “pavilion of lies”, due to the fact that, supposedly, it was here that the owner told his fantastic stories to the guests.

Most likely, "Munchausen's stories" first appeared at hunting stops. Munchausen especially remembered Russian hunting. It is no coincidence that his stories about heroic hunting deeds in Russia are so vivid. Gradually, Munchausen's cheerful fantasies about hunting, military adventures and travel became known in Lower Saxony, and after their publication - throughout Germany.

But over time, the offensive, unfair nickname “lugenbaron” - liar baron - stuck to him. Further - more: both “king of liars” and “lies of the liar of all liars.” The fictional Munchausen completely overshadowed the real one and inflicted blow after blow on its creator.

To all misfortunes, Jacobin’s beloved lifelong friend died in 1790. The Baron completely withdrawn into himself. He was a widower for four years, but then young Bernardine von Brun turned his head. As expected, that same unequal marriage brought nothing but trouble for everyone. Bernardina, a true child of the “gallant age,” turned out to be frivolous and wasteful. A scandalous divorce proceeding began, which decisively ruined Munchausen. He was no longer able to recover from the shocks he experienced.

Hieronymus Carl 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...