Karl Friedrich May
Born	February 25, 1842(1842-02-25) Ernstthal, Electorate of Saxony
Died	March 30, 1912 (aged 70) Radebeul, Kingdom of Saxony
Occupation	Writer; author
Nationality	German
Genres	Western
Official website

Karl Friedrich May (February 25, 1842 – March 30, 1912) was one of the best selling German writers of all time, noted mainly for books set in the American Old West and similar books set in the Orient and Middle East; in addition, he also wrote stories set in his native Germany, in China and in South America. May also wrote poetry, and several plays. He also composed music, being proficient with several musical instruments. May's musical version of "Ave Maria" became very well known. Karl Ivanovich May (1820—1895) Karl May School is a secondary school in Saint Petersburg, Russia. ... Karl May (19th century photo) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Hohenstein-Ernstthal is a town in the Chemnitzer Land rural district, Saxony, Germany. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... is the 89th day of the year (90th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Vineyard in Radebeul Radebeul is a town (große Kreisstadt) in the Elbe valley, Saxony, Germany, a posh suburb of Dresden. ... The Kingdom of Saxony, lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Germany, finally being absorbed into the Weimar Republic in 1918. ... This article is about work. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... For other uses, see Author (disambiguation). ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or content. ... Cover of a book by Louis LAmour, one of Western fictions most prolific authors. ... is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... is the 89th day of the year (90th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Though anyone who creates a written work may be called a writer, the term is usually reserved for those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... The cowboy, the quintessential symbol of the American Old West, circa 1887. ... The term the Orient - literally meaning sunrise, east - is traditionally used to refer to Near, Middle, and Far Eastern countries. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

Life and career

May was born into a family of poor weavers in Ernstthal, Kingdom of Saxony. According to his autobiography, he suffered from visual impairment and rickets shortly after birth, due to lack of vitamins A and D. He regained his eyesight after treatment at the age of four or five. May finished a Teacher's College and became a teacher in Waldenburg and Plauen. His brief career as a teacher ended abruptly during 1863 when he was accused by his apartment-mate of stealing a pocket watch, a charge which May himself always denied. His licence to teach was revoked permanently and probably as a consequence he suffered a nervous breakdown. During the next several years he was accused of petty misdeeds whilst suffering from what is now diagnosed as Dissociative Identity Disorder, and was twice jailed for small thefts and alleged frauds. Hohenstein-Ernstthal is a town in the Chemnitzer Land rural district, Saxony, Germany. ... The Kingdom of Saxony, lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Germany, finally being absorbed into the Weimar Republic in 1918. ... For writing autobiographies on Wikipedia, see WP:Autobiography. ... Waldenburg is a city in the distict Chemnitzer Land in Saxony/Germany. ... Plauen, old townhall Plauen is a city in Saxony, east-central Germany, located at 50°29′N 12°07′O. The city is situated near the border of Bavaria and the Czech Republic. ... Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), as defined by the American Psychiatric Associations Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), is a mental condition whereby a single individual evidences two or more distinct identities or personalities, each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment. ...

During the years in prison May began writing. In 1875 his first known story was published. Not until 1892, when 'Winnetou I' appeared in a book edition, did he achieve success with his writing, eventually becoming very popular. Many of his books are written as first-person accounts by the narrator-protagonist, and he sometimes claimed that he actually experienced the events he described.

May used many different pseudonyms, including Capitan Ramon Diaz de la Escosura, M. Gisela, Hobble-Frank, Karl Hohenthal, D. Jam, Prinz Muhamel Lautréamont, Ernst von Linden, P. van der Löwen, Franz Langer, and Emma Pollmer (the actual name of his first wife: according to May, she was never aware of the purpose or content of his writing). Nowadays his works are all published under his own name. For other uses, see Alias. ...

He visited North America only in 1908, long after writing the novels set there, never travelling west of Buffalo, New York. He compensated successfully for this lack of direct experience of the Western milieu by an ingenious combination of creativity, imagination, and factual sources including maps, travel accounts and guide books, as well as anthropological and linguistic studies. North American redirects here. ... Nickname: Location of Buffalo in New York State Coordinates: , Country State County Erie First Settled 1789 Founded 1801 Incorporated (City) 1832 Government  - Mayor Byron Brown (D) Area  - City 52. ...

Non-dogmatic Christian feelings and values play an important role, and May's heroes are often described as being of German ancestry. In addition, following the Romantic ideal of the "noble savage", and inspired by the writings of James Fenimore Cooper, his Native Americans are generally portrayed as innocent victims of white law-breakers, and many are presented as heroic characters. In his later works, there is a strong element of mysticism. For other senses of this word, see dogma (disambiguation). ... Topics in Christianity Preaching Prayer Ecumenism Relation to other religions Movements Music Liturgy Calendar Symbols Art Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Romantics redirects here. ... A detail from Benjamin Wests The Death of General Wolfe; Wests idealised depiction of this American Indian is in the tradition of the Noble savage (Fryd, 75) In the eighteenth-century cult of Primitivism the noble savage, uncorrupted by the influences of civilization, was considered more worthy, more... Cooper portrait by John Wesley Jarvis, 1822 James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. ... For other uses, see Native Americans (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

For the novels set in America, May described the characters of Winnetou, the wise chief of the Apache Tribe, and Old Shatterhand, the author's alter ego and Winnetou's white blood brother. Another successful series of novels is set in the Ottoman Empire. Here the narrator-protagonist calls himself Kara Ben Nemsi, i.e., Karl, son of Germany, and travels with his local guide and servant Hadschi Halef Omar through the Sahara desert and the Near East, all the while experiencing many exciting adventures. Both series are linked not only by the common narrator, the author himself as either Old Shatterhand or Kara Ben Nemsi, but also by numerous other references and shared minor characters. Winnetou is the Native-American hero of several novels written by Karl May (one of the best selling German writers of all time), in German including the sequel Winnetou I to Winnetou III. According to Karl Mays story, first-person-narrator Old Shatterhand encounters Winnetou and after initial dramatic... The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view. ... This article is about the Native American tribe, for other uses of the word see Apache (disambiguation). ... Old Shatterhand is a fictional character in over 70 western novels by German writer Karl May (1842-1912). ... Alter Ego has multiple meanings: Alter Ego is a game for the Commodore 64 computer. ... The Norwegian warrior Orvar-Odd bids a last farewell to his blood brother, the Swedish warrior Hjalmar, by MÃ¥rten Eskil Winge (1866). ... Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1683, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–1365) Edirne (1365–1453) Ä°stanbul (1453–1922) Government Monarchy Sultans  - 1281–1326 (first) Osman I  - 1918–22 (last) Mehmed VI Grand Viziers  - 1320... Kara Ben Nemsi (in Arabic Karl the Son of the Germans) is a fictional character in the works of Karl May, best-selling 19th century German writer. ... Hadschi Halef Omar Ben Hadschi Abul Abbas Ibn Hadschi Dawud al Gossarah, literally, Hadschi Halef Omar, son of Hadschi Abul Abbas, son of Hadschi Dawud al Gossarah is one of Karl Mays literary characters. ... Inhabitants of the Near East, late nineteenth century. ...

May's works were extremely successful, particularly in continental Europe, and have been translated into more than thirty different languages including Hebrew, Latin, Volapük, Esperanto, and Ido. More than 200 million copies of May's books have been sold worldwide. Recently his work has become popularized among English-speakers, mainly through the efforts of translators such as Marlies Bugmann from Tasmania, Australia, a widely known artist and writer of children's adventure books, who set as her goal to translate all of May's enormous literary output into the English language within five years; she already is close to finishing all the translations. Several of his novels were made during the 1960s into sixteen films, usually with the scenery of the former Yugoslavia doubling for the Wild West. The word Hebrew most likely means to cross over, referring to the Semitic people crossing over the Euphrates River. ... For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ... Volapük is a constructed language, created in 1879–1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a Roman Catholic priest in Baden, Germany. ... This article is about the language. ... Ido (pronounced ) is a constructed language created with the goal of becoming a universal second language for speakers of different linguistic backgrounds as a language easier to learn than ethnic languages. ... Slogan or Nickname: Island of Inspiration; The Apple Isle; Holiday Isle Motto(s): Ubertas et Fidelitas (Fertility and Faithfulness) Other Australian states and territories Capital Hobart Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Peter Underwood Premier David Bartlett (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 5  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2006-07)  - Product... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Motto Brotherhood and Unity Anthem Hey, Slavs Capital Belgrade Language(s) Serbo-Croatian (spoken throughout the territory), Slovenian, Macedonian, Albanian, Hungarian (all official), and languages of other nationalities. ...

May's works had famous admirers, including Albert Einstein, Hermann Hesse, Heinrich Mann and Bertha von Suttner. Carl Zuckmayer named his daughter after the character "Winnetou". For a long time, literary critics tended to regard May's literature as trivial. The Karl May Society (Karl-May-Gesellschaft) was founded in 1969 to commemorate his life and works. “Einstein” redirects here. ... Hermann Hesse (pronounced ) (2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. ... Grave Stamp Luiz (Ludwig) Heinrich Mann (March 27, 1871 – March 12, 1950) was a German novelist who wrote works with social themes whose attacks on the authoritarian and increasingly militaristic nature of post-Weimar German society led to his exile in 1933. ... Bertha Felicitas Sophie Freifrau von Suttner (Baroness Bertha von Suttner), (9 June 1843 in Prague, [then in Austrian Empire] - 21 June 1914 in Vienna, [then in Austria-Hungary]), born as Gräfin (Countess) Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau, was an Austrian novelist, radical pacifist, and was the first woman to... Carl Zuckmayer (December 27, 1896 – January 18, 1977) was a German writer and playwright. ...

May's house "Villa Shatterhand" in Radebeul near Dresden in Germany has been made a museum devoted to him and his collection of anthropological artifacts of native American Indian origin. It is also the home of "Karl May Foundation" publishing quarterly the "Beobachter an der Elbe" journal. Vineyard in Radebeul Radebeul is a town (große Kreisstadt) in the Elbe valley, Saxony, Germany, a posh suburb of Dresden. ... This article is about the city in Germany. ...

Karl May and his works are deeply rooted in the believe that all mankind should live together peacefully - all his main characters carefully avoid to kill anyone, except when unavoidable to save multiple other lives. Because of this strong advocacy for peace and freedom as well as the outspoken christian faith of Mays main characters his works have been and are currently banned or censored in muslim countries and even Turkey.

Filmed works

Main article: Karl May movies

Between 1912 and 1968 German cinema produced 23 movies made after novels by May, most of them only associated vaguely with the stories of the respective novels. In thirteen of these movies American actor Lex Barker starred either as Old Shatterhand, Kara Ben Nemsi, or Doctor Sternau. Three movies have seen British actor Stewart Granger in the leading role as Old Surehand and one movie starred American actor Rod Cameron as Old Firehand. At the time of writing, May considered the prefix "Old" to the names of several of his heroes as illustrating the great experience of the heroes. Eleven movies featured French actor Pierre Brice as the fictional Apache chief "Winnetou". Karl May movies are movies based on novels and stories by German author Karl May (1842-1912). ... Cinema in Germany can be traced back to the very beginnings of the medium at the end of the 19th Century and German cinema has made major technical and artistic contributions to film. ... Lex Barker (May 8, 1919 - May 11, 1973) was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes. ... Stewart Granger (May 6, 1913 – August 16, 1993) was an English film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. ... Born Nathan Roderick Cox (b. ... Pierre Brice (born 6 February 1929 in Brest, France), birth name Baron Pierre Louis de Bris, is a French actor, mainly known to the audience for his role as fictional Apache-chief Winnetou in German Karl May movies. ... For other uses, see Apache (disambiguation). ... Winnetou is the Native-American hero of several novels written by Karl May (one of the best selling German writers of all time), in German including the sequel Winnetou I to Winnetou III. According to Karl Mays story, first-person-narrator Old Shatterhand encounters Winnetou and after initial dramatic...

The music for the movie Der Schatz im Silbersee (The Treasure of Silver Lake) (1962), composed by German Martin Böttcher, became well known. Music was one reason for the great success of the Karl May movies of the 1960s. The success of these movies made possible the later so called "Spaghetti Western" from Italy (with the famous compositions of Ennio Morricone). The star of some of the Spaghetti Westerns, Terence Hill, began his career in the German Karl May movies. German composer Martin Böttcher - autograph card Martin Böttcher (born June 17, 1927, Berlin) is a German composer and conductor. ... Once Upon a Time in the West, in true Sergio Leone style, ends with an extended shootout scene between Harmonica (Charles Bronson) and Frank (Henry Fonda). ... Ennio Morricone (born November 10, 1928; sometimes also credited as Dan Savio or Leo Nichols) is an Italian composer especially noted for his film scores. ... Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti March 29, 1939) is an Italian-born actor. ...

The 1960s Karl May films are typical popular productions of the time, and have not aged as well as the Italian westerns from the same time period. Most of them were shot in former Yugoslavia, some in Spain, none in America. May himself is the subject of a 1974 film by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg. Once Upon a Time in the West, in true Sergio Leone style, ends with an extended shootout scene between Harmonica (Charles Bronson) and Frank (Henry Fonda). ... General location of the political entities known as Yugoslavia. ... Hans-Jürgen Syberberg (December 8, 1935 - ) is one of the most controversial directors of New German Cinema. ...

• Auf den Trümmern des Paradieses (1920), silent movie
• Die Todeskarawane (1920), silent movie
• Die Teufelsanbeter (1920), silent movie
• Durch die Wüste (1936), first May talkie
• Die Sklavenkarawane (1958), first May color film
• Der Löwe von Babylon (1959)
• Der Schatz im Silbersee (1962)
• Winnetou 1. Teil (1963)
• Old Shatterhand (1964)
• Der Schut (1964)
• Winnetou 2. Teil (1964)
• Unter Geiern (1964)
• Der Schatz der Azteken (1965)
• Die Pyramide des Sonnengottes (1965)
• Der Ölprinz (1965)
• Durchs wilde Kurdistan (1965)
• Winnetou 3. Teil (1965)
• Old Surehand 1. Teil (1965)
• Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen (1965)
• Das Vermächtnis des Inka (1965)
• Winnetou und das Halbblut Apanatschi (1966)
• Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand (1966)
• Winnetou und Shatterhand im Tal der Toten (1968)

This article is about the comedy film. ... This article is about the comedy film. ... This article is about the comedy film. ...

Karl May festivals

The most famous Karl May festivals are the open air festivals held every summer in Bad Segeberg, Schleswig-Holstein, and in Lennestadt-Elspe, North Rhine-Westphalia, where for ten years movie actor Pierre Brice played his Winnetou character in a live version. Another open air Karl May stage is in Rathen, Saxony, near the village of Radebeul, where May lived and died. Bad Segeberg is a town of 15,000 inhabitants, located in the state of Schleswig_Holstein, capital of the district (Kreis) Segeberg. ... Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the 16 Bundesländer in Germany. ... Small town in Westphalia (Germany), Known for its Karl May stage plays. ... Coat of arms Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DEA Capital Düsseldorf Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) Governing parties CDU / FDP Votes in Bundesrat 6 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  34,084 km² (13,160 sq mi) Population 18,033,000... district Oberrathen - view from Bastei Rathen is a little spa town with less than 500 citizens, located on the river Elbe near Pirna which is in the east of Dresden in Saxon Switzerland. ... Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DED Capital Dresden Minister-President Georg Milbradt (CDU) Governing parties CDU / SPD Votes in Bundesrat 4 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  18,416 km² (7,110 sq mi) Population 4,252,000 (11/2006)[1]  - Density 231 /km... Vineyard in Radebeul Radebeul is a town (große Kreisstadt) in the Elbe valley, Saxony, Germany, a posh suburb of Dresden. ...

See also

• Zane Grey
• Rialto Film
• Emilio Salgari
• B. Traven

Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and pulp fiction that presented an idealized image of the rugged Old West. ... Emilio Salgari. ... B. Traven (d. ...

Literature

• Hans Wollschläger: Karl May. Grundriß eines gebrochenen Lebens (1965, 1976, 2004) (German)

Hans Wollschläger (born March 17, 1935) is a German writer, translator, historian, and editor of German literature. ...

External links and references

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Karl May

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Karl May

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Karl May

• Karl May in the German National Library catalogue
• Karl May Verlag, Bamberg-Radebeul
• Karl Friedrich May Papers at Gettysburg College
• Website of the Dutch Karl May society, mainly in Dutch, homepage also in English.

Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ... The German National Library (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) was established in 1990 during the German reunification by merging the Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig (founded 1912, later the national library of East Germany) and the Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt (founded 1947, later the national library of West Germany). ...

Karl May's works in English

• Nemsi Books (Publisher of new unabridged English translations of Karl May's works)
• Works by Karl May at Project Gutenberg
• Karl May Gesellschaft - English Homepage
• Winnetou, The Apache Knight Diggory Press ISBN 978-1846856976
• Winnetou, The Treasure of Nugget Mountain Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1846856976

Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive and distribute cultural works. ...

Other English sites

• Karl May Links
• First English language Karl May forum
• Karl Friedrich May Papers at Gettysburg College

German sites

• Karl May Gesellschaft e.V. (Karl May Society - registered) (free texts)
• Karl-May-Museum in Radebeul
• Karl-May-Wiki

Compositions by Karl May:

• Free scores by Karl May in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Karl May free scores in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)