1842 nián chū shēng yú dé guó sà kè xùn jùn yī gè pín kǔ gōng rén jiā tíng， chū shēng shí shénme yě kàn bù jiàn， mǔ qīn duō fāng qiú yī， zhí dào 6 suì cái dé yǐ fù míng。 zài shī míng jiē duàn， tā bù dé bù píng jiè tīng lì hé chù jué gǎn zhī zhōu wéi de shì jiè， xiǎng xiàng lì yóu cǐ dé dào liǎo chāo cháng de fā zhǎn。
tā de qián bàn shēng chōng mǎn bù xìng -- tóu liù nián huàn ruò shì jǐ chéng xiā zǐ、 dà xué shí yīn jīng jì kùn nán chuò xué、 dāng liǎo xiǎo xué jiào yuán hòu yòu zāo wū xiàn shī qù gōng zuò， yǐ hòu yòu duō cì juǎnrù fǎ lǜ jiū fēn， rán shēng huó de kǎn kě、 xīn líng de tòng kǔ shǐ tā fā fèn dú shū、 lì zhì chéng cái。
1875 nián tā chéng liǎo dāng dì jǐ jiā zá zhì shè de biān ji， zài nà lǐ tā zhǎo dào liǎo zì jǐ de fā zhǎn dào lù。 zài yǐ jù bèi xiě zuò yù wài fēng qíng xiǎo shuō、 dēng shàng chéng gōng xiǎo shuō jiā zhī lù de zhā shí jī chǔ hòu， tā yú 1878 nián yì rán cí qù biān ji gōng zuò， kāi shǐ liǎo zhuān yè chuàng zuò， jǐ nián zhōng yǐ qí “ duì 'ào sī màn dì guó de yóu lì huí yì ” hé“ wēn nèi tú de gù shì” tuō yíng 'ér chū， chéng liǎo dé guó wén tán yī kē yào yǎn de xīn xīng。
1900 nián qián hòu， tā dào dōng fāng zuò liǎo yī cì shí dì yóu lì， cǐ shí tā yǐ chéng wéi 'ōu zhōu zuì chàng xiāo、 huò dú zhě zuì duō de zuò jiā zhī yī， bìng yīn bǎn shuì 'ér chéng liǎo dà fù wēng。 tā de háo huá bié shù lǐ bǎi mǎn liǎo tā shōu jí de gè lèi wén wù hé jì niàn pǐn， qí zhōng yóu yǐ yìn dì 'ān rén wén wù wéi duō， tā de shōu cáng pǐn bèi rén chēng wèishì qí“ wěi dà tàn xiǎn de jì niàn pǐn”。
rú jīn， kǎ 'ěr mài zài dé guó sà kè xùn de gù jū yǐ bèi gǎi chéng yī zuò jì niàn guǎn， kǎ 'ěr mài de bàn shēn tóng xiàng zhuāng diǎn liǎo nà zuò chéng shì de guǎng chǎng； tā zài dé lè sī dēng fù jìn de bié shù yī yī“ lǎo tiě shǒu bié shù” yě yǐ chéng wéi yī zuò bó wù guǎn， lǐ tóu chén liè liǎo dà liàng zhēn guì de měi zhōu yìn dì 'ān wén wù， yǐ jí kǎ 'ěr mài de quán bù zhù zuò hé tā shōu jí de dà liàng jì niàn pǐn； tā de xǔ duō gù shì yǐ bèi gǎi biān chéng diàn yǐng、 xì jù、 lián huán huà。 gēn jù kǎ 'ěr mài de yí yuàn， nà 'ér de léi dí bó 'ěr dà xué yǐ chéng wéi fù zé“ kǎ 'ěr mài cí shàn jī jīn” de zhuān mén jī gòu。
kǎ 'ěr · mài - zhí yè shēng yá
kǎ 'ěr · mài
kǎ 'ěr mài zài měi guó quē fá zhī míng dù， tā de xǔ duō shū jí， sì hū ràng rén men gǎn jué shì bù shì zì xiāng máo dùn。 tā xù shù liǎo yìn dù rén hé niú zǎi cóng lái méi yòu kàn guò rèn hé de； shì shí shàng， tā méi yòu shè zú guò měi guó， zhí dào 1908 nián， tā zǒu guò de zhǐ yòu jù xī ní yà jiā lā dà pù bù zài nà gè shí jiān。 dāng tā fǎng wèn liǎo 'ā lā bó shì jiè de shù nián zhī qián， tā jīng lì liǎo lìng rén shī wàng de， tā bìng méi yòu hěn duō xiāng shìde shì jiè， tā chuàng zào liǎo zài tā de zhù zuò。 kǎ 'ěr mài de zuò pǐn， fǎn yìng mín yì de tài dù， zài dé guó de wén huà， tā de shí jiān， dàn chú cǐ zhī wài， tā men de chéng gōng zài yú zhèng míng liǎo chún cuì de quán lì xiǎng xiàng。
zài lì yù xūn xīn de tóng nián
kǎ 'ěr mài xiǎn shì xiǎng xiàng lì， cóng hěn zǎo jiù nián líng， dàn tā huā liǎo hěn duō nián zhī qián， tā xué huì liǎo zhí jiē dào shè huì kě yǐ jiē shòu de qú dào。 tā chū shēng yú dé guó zhōng bù， zài xiǎo chéng zhèn ernstthal fù jìn kāi mǔ ní cí。 jiā tíng zāo shòu liǎo kě pà de pín qióng zài kě néng de qīng nián zuò wéi dé guó bù mào yì de shòu hài zhě jìng zhēng cóng yīng yǔ de gōng chǎng。 rén zài kǎ 'ěr mài de xún huán， yòu shí méi yòu chī de， dàn tǔ dòu， yǐ jí dāng tā yī suì shí， tā kāi shǐ shòu dào shì lì wèn tí。 tā jìn kuài dào wán quán shī míng， kě néng shì yīn wéi shēng sù A quē fá zhèng。 shù nián kǎ 'ěr mài de jiào xùn， yǐ jiě shì zài shì jiè de hěn dà yī bù fēn tōng guò tóng huà gù shì， gào sù tā de zǔ mǔ。 kě néng shì yóu yú tā wèi lái de chéng gōng， yǐ tā de tóng nián de máng mù xìng。“ duì wǒ lái shuō， dāng shí zhǐ yòu líng hún， zhǐ bù guò shì líng hún”， tā yǐn shù tā de huà shuō： duì 'ào zhōu de péng yǒu kǎ 'ěr kě néng de wǎng zhàn。“ yīn cǐ， liú， shèn zhì hòu， wǒ xué dào kàn dào， cóng wǒ de qīng nián， zhí dào xiàn jīn， zhè zhī jiān de qū bié shì zì jǐ hé tā rén de， zhè shì guān jiàn， wǒ de shū jí”。
kǎ 'ěr · mài
kǎ 'ěr mài de máng mù xìng， zhì yù hòu， tā de mǔ qīn zhǎo péi xùn， yǐ chéng wéi yī gè zhù chǎn shì， bìng xún wèn yī shēng shì shuí zhǐ shǐ tā kàn kàn tā 'ér zǐ de yǎn jīng shì xuě liàng de。 tā shàng guò xué liǎo hǎo jǐ nián， tè bié shì entranced yī tiān yóu yī gè mù 'ǒu jù lái dào tòu guò chéng shì yǎn chū， wèijiā tíng de zhì bù xié huì。 fǎn miàn de xiǎng xiàng lì wéi běn de jiào yù， zhè kě néng qī jiān suǒ jiē huò de tā duō nián de máng mù xìng， lái shí， tā de fù qīn cāo liàn de shì shí hé shù zì， dào tā， zhī chí tā de jiào xùn， yǔ dǎng dǎng biān， kě néng suǒ wèi de yuē hàn ní gāi huà mù。 zài tā fù qīn de yí zhì， kě néng dān rèn gǔ shǒu de nán hái， zài dāng dì mín bīng。 kě néng bèi pò bèi sòng 500 yè de dì lǐ shū， yī yǎn xí méi yòu bāng zhù tā xué xí， bǎo liú liǎo dà liàng de miáo shù xìng de jǐng guān xì jié。
xī fāng gù shì， měi guó zuò jiā kù bǎi liú xíng zài dé yǔ fān yì， bìng yòu kě néng cháng shì tā de shǒu zài xiě zuò de gù shì， yìn dù rén zǎo zài 1858 nián。 jiā tíng de jìhuà， tā zài zhè gè shí hòu， bù guò， tā jiāng cān jiā zài yī gè jiào shī péi xùn xué xiào zài chéng shì de waldenburg。 tā shōu dào liǎo ruò gān jǐng gào， yòu shī zōng jiào huì fú wù hé bèi pāo chū zài 1859 nián dǐ hòu， qiè qǔ liù là zhú， gěi tā réng rán pín qióng de jiā tíng， bǎ tā men de shèng dàn shù。 zhī hòu， gān shè tā de běn táng sī duó， tā bèi yǔn xǔ wán chéng bān jí lìng yī suǒ xué xiào。 tā dé dào yī fèn gōng zuò zài yī suǒ xué xiào， dàn bèi jiě gù hòu， zuò chū liǎo tōng guò zài tā de qī zǐ yè zhù。 lìng yī xiàng jiào xué gōng zuò zhèng míng bù chéng gōng shí， kě néng bèi zhǐ kòng tōu liǎo shì yǒu qí mó guān shǎng； kàng yì， suī rán tā zì jǐ de qīng bái， tā bèi pàn rù yù liù gè xīng qī。 jiān yù yòu yī gè dà xíng tú shū guǎn， bìng yòu kě néng zài guǎng fàn de yuè dú tā de jiān jìn。
zhī jiān de 1862 hé 1864 nián kǎ 'ěr mài sì hū yǐ bèi yǐn yòu lí chéng shì， yǐ chéng shì yǔ zhàn qū zǔ， jìn xíng guān xì yǔ wǔ zhě de yī bù fēn de shí jiān。 tā bèi qiú jìn de liǎng bèi yǐ shàng， cóng 1865 nián chū tōng guò 1868 nián hé 1870 nián tōng guò 1874 nián， zhè liǎng gè shí dài zhī hòu， dī pǐn wèi zhà piàn， qí zhōng tā jiǎ bàn chéng yī míng zhèng fǔ guān yuán huò qí tā zhù guǎn dāng jú de shù zì。 kǎ 'ěr mài sì hū bù tài guān xīn， zài jīng jì shàng de huò yì bǐ zài zūn yán。 dāng tā cóng jiān yù huò shì， tā gào sù guān yuán， tā jìhuà yí mín dào měi guó。 tā suí hòu tōng guò yǔ zhè gè gù shì， zuì zhōng， měi huà tā yòu zhè me duō de xì jié， yòu xiē rén rèn wéi tā lái xiāng xìn zì jǐ。 dàn tā bìng méi yòu lí kāi dé guó zài zhè gè shí hòu， tā dé dào yī fèn gōng zuò zài yī gè tiě jiàng de shāng diàn hé shè zhì gōng zuò， zuò wéi yī gè zuò jiā。 bù jiǔ， tā chǎn shēng liǎo yī gè yǎn yì， méi guī ernstthal。
jiàng luò de biān ji gōng zuò
zài 1875 nián kǎ 'ěr mài， tā chóngxīn rèn shí yǔ chū bǎn shè gǒng münchmeyer， bìng zài kǎo lǜ chū bǎn de méi guī ernstthal， shì tí gōng liǎo jiù yè zuò wéi yī gè biān ji qì。 gāi gōng sī zhuān mén zài shū jí hé zá zhì， dé guó de xīn shí zì de zhōng xià jiē céng， bìng yòu kě néng de xiě zuò jī zhōng tián mì diǎn， wéi münchmeyer。 tā shì lìng rén nán yǐ zhì xìn de shēng chǎn lì， xiě zuò de gù shì， liánzǎi xiǎo shuō， sǎnwén。 wǎn yú 1875 nián tā hái jiè shào liǎo shù zì winnetou， Apache de xíng zhèng， wéi dì yī cì zài hěn duǎn de gù shì。 münchmeyer， liú xià shēn kè de yìn xiàng， shì tú jiàn lì gèng mìqiè de guān xì， zhuān yè yǔ kě néng。 tā de qī zǐ liǎo， kě yī shǒu gāng qín。 jiā tíng zū zhù de fáng jiān zài dé lěi sī dùn fù jìn de xīn liú xíng de zuò zhě， bìng shǐ tā zhòng suǒ zhōu zhī， tā jiāng yán jiū duì liáng xìng rú guǒ tā xiǎng jié hūn， tā men de nǚ 'ér míng nà。 dàn kě néng shì duì tā de fāng shì zài wén xué shì jiè， hū lüè liǎo zhè xiē xù qū。 lí kāi tā de biān ji gōng zuò yī nián hòu， jià gěi yī gè nǚ hái cóng ernstthal， ài mǎ pollmer， yú 1880 nián。
münchmeyer méi yòu ràng tā shī wàng， gān shè liǎo yī gè jī huì， fēn xiǎng zài lì rùn yóu kǎ 'ěr mài de gōng zuò， bù guò， hé gāi gōng sī gōng bù de jǐ gè kě néng de xiǎo shuō zài jīn hòu shí nián zhōng。 tā men zhōng de yī xiē yuán běn chū xiàn zài chuàn xíng（ huò shì jiàn） de xíng shì zài zá zhì shàng suǒ wèi de míng jìng dé yì zhì hausschatz zài mài zhī und tú piàn bào（ dé guó shǒu yè kù wù shǔ de zì hé tú piàn）。 kǎ 'ěr mài de dì yī běn xiǎo shuō jí zài měi guó xī bù shì jí shí tōng xùn fernen xī fāng（ zài yuǎn dōng xī） 1879。 zài 19 shì jì 80 nián dài， tā zhuàn xiě liǎo yī xì liè jù dà de mào xiǎn xiǎo shuō（ yuē 2000 yè） rèn wéi， xiāo shòu qíng kuàng hěn hǎo， yǒng yuǎn dù jué tā yòu bì yào jǔ xíng yī tiān de gōng zuò。 zuì chéng gōng de， tā men fù yòu lìng rén yìn xiàng shēn kè de biāo tí zhī waldröschen 'ào dé sǐ verfolgungrund zhè gè mújù erde： grosserenthüllungsromanüber mújù geheimnisse míng jìng menschlichengesellschaft（ xiǎo sēn lín méi guī， huò zhuī zhú shì jiè gè dì de： yī gè wěi dà qǐ shì xiǎo shuō de mì mì rén lèi shè huì）。
kǎ 'ěr · mài
yě kě yǐ kāi shǐ gōng zuò， liǎng gè dà xíng xì liè xiǎo shuō， yòu shí yǐn rù yǐ jīng wán chéng duǎn piān xiǎo shuō zhuó qíng。 gāi fehsenfeld chū bǎn shè chū bǎn fā xíng de zhè xiē gōng chéng hé yuē shù， tā men yǔ kě guān de shuō míng， bāo kuò ràng yī cháng de mào xiǎn zhōng bāo hán de。 yī gè jiā tíng kě néng méi yòu zì jǐ de dà xíng tú shū guǎn de shū jí， zhè xiē xiǎo shuō yòu xī yǐn lì de jiā tíng cái chǎn。 kǎ 'ěr mài kāi shǐ， zhè liǎng gè xì liè， zài 1892 nián， gēn jù jí tǐ de biāo tí gesammeltereiseromane（ shōu jí lǚ xíng xiǎo shuō） hé bǔ chōng， tā men tōng guò 19 shì jì 90 nián dài jí yǐ hòu de ; yóu shí jiān， tā de sǐ wáng gesammeltereiseromane zǔ chéng de 32 juàn， hé tā men jì xù chū shòu， yǐ jí tōng guò 20 shì jì。
qí zhōng liǎng gè xì liè mí bǔ liǎo gesammeltereiseromane gòu chéng xiǎo shuō de měi guó xī bù， wǎng wǎng jù yòu chū shēng zài dé guó de yīng xióng， suǒ wèi jiù shatterhand。（ yì yì de míng chēng shì xìng gé kě yǐ cuī huǐ duì shǒu zài dǎ jià， yī gè dān yī de lì dù。） kǎ 'ěr mài de zuì chéng gōng de xī fāng xiǎo shuō， hé zuì hǎo de mài fāng zhī jiān de suǒ yòu tā de shū， shì winnetou， míng jìng sǐ jì yìng bèi jūn zǐ（ winnetou， hóng jūn zǐ）， qí zhōng chū xiàn zài 1893 nián， dàn méi yòu fān yì chéng yīng yǔ， zhí dào 1977 nián。 xiǎo shuō jīng xuǎn 1 suì zhī jiān de yǒu yì shatterhand hé winnetou， péi yǎng yìn dù xíng zhèng shuí dǐ zhì bō xuē bái sè qīn lüè zhě。 bù xiàng zài měi guó xī bù， huài rén zài kǎ 'ěr mài de shū jí， tōng cháng shì bái rén ;winnetou dài biǎo liǎo“ gāo shàng de yě mán rén” de shù zì， kě yǐ jìn xíng zì wǒ gǎi shàn yǔ 'ōu zhōu de wén huà。 zài winnetou， yìn dù xíng zhèng bù kěn tòu lù dì diǎn yī gè dà xíng jīn kuàng chuáng， bìng zài yǐ hòu de yù dìng zài yī xì liè tā zhuǎn huàn liǎo jī dū jiào。 zhì yú jiù shatterhand， kǎ 'ěr mài， yòu shí yǐn hán zài yǎn jiǎng zhǐ chū， mào xiǎn de xìng zhì yòu jīng yàn de rén， qí shí tā zì jǐ。 yǔ lì rùn cóng winnetou shū jí， kě néng jiàn qǐ liǎo dà xíng nóng cūn dì chǎn， tā suǒ wèi de bié shù shatterhand。 tā chǔ cún de， tā bāo kuò yī gè dà xíng de jí hé xī fāng de wén wù， tā xiǎn shì liǎo cān guān zhě。
kǎ 'ěr · mài
chuān guò yī sī lán shì jiè
kǎ 'ěr mài de qí tā zhù yào xì liè xiǎo shuō shì jiàn dū fā shēng zài zhōng dōng hé běi fēi。 xiàng winnetou de gù shì， tā men jīng xuǎn yī gè shù zì， kǎ lā běn nemsi（ huò kǎ 'ěr， dé guó） shuí shì qián zài de lì chǎng， zài wéi zì jǐ kě néng ; xiǎo shuō， kě dú xìng jiào qiáng de mào xiǎn shā xiàn de yīn móu， bǔ zhuō， táo páo， hé qī piàn。 kǎ lā běn nemsi liǎo yī běn màn huà sidekick， hadschihalef 'ào mǎ 'ěr。 kě néng jī yú xǔ duō xì jié zài zhè xiē xiǎo shuō zhōng duì tā de jiào xùn， cóng tā de dà tú shū guǎn de shū jí yuē yī sī lán shì jiè， dàn shì， dāng zuò zhě zuì hòu zǒu guò de yī xiē tǔ dì， tā xiě dào yuē tā fā xiàn de jǐng guān jīhū méi yòu xiāng sì xìng， tā fù yòu xiǎng xiàng lì de jiàn shè。 kǎ 'ěr mài journeyed tōng guò zhōng hé dào dōng jù yìn dù ní xī yà zài 1900 nián ; dāng tā fǎn huí， tā de qián jǐng gǎi biàn。
huí dào jiā lǐ， kě néng huì yù dào de wèn tí。 suī rán tā shì lǚ xíng， tā de pī píng zhě fā qǐ yīcháng yùn dòng duì tā zài dé guó bào zhǐ， jiù zhuā zhù liǎo bù fēn de huàn xiǎng， tā jìn shēng， bìng zhǐ chū tā yǐ cǎi qǔ de biāo tí yī shēng méi yòu shòu huì rèn hé yī liáo huò xué shù xué wèi。 hái kě yǐ fèn dǒu， wéi dà bù fēn de xiū xī， tā de shēng huó， fǎn duì dào bǎn de bǎn běn， tā de shū jí。 kǎ 'ěr mài de zuì zhōng chéng gōng de fěi bàng sù sòng， jì zhě lǔ dào fū lebius kuà jù jǐ nián lái， hé tā de hūn yīn pò liè。 tā de qī zǐ zhàn zài tā de duì shǒu zài sù sòng zhōng hé gōng zhòng de zhēng yì。
zài 1903 nián kǎ 'ěr mài zài cì jié hūn， tā de qī zǐ klara shì yí shuāng tā de yī wèi péng yǒu。 tā de zuò pǐn zài guò qù shí nián， tā yī shēng wéi dài biǎo de zhòng dà zhuǎn biàn， zài fāng xiàng， cóng tā de xī shì hé zhōng dōng xiǎo shuō。 ardistanunddschinnistan（ 1909） réng jīng xuǎn kǎ lā běn nemsi zuò wéi yīng xióng， dàn miáo huì liǎo xū gòu de duì dōng bù de jìng jiè， yī gè měi lì de 'ér kāi míng de， qí tā zài zhuā dì lì de wéi wù lùn hé bào lì。 tā de xīn shū jí chōng mǎn liǎo xiàng zhēng hé yù yán， bìng zài jiǎng kè， tā kāi shǐ xuān chēng， tā xiān qián de shū jí， yě yòu xiàng zhēng yì yì； zuò wéi yī gè zhěng tǐ， tā shuō， tā men suǒ dài biǎo de jué qǐ， rén lèi cóng yuán shǐ de mí xìn， yǐ qǐ shì。 tā de mín wàng xià huá， dàn tā yī zhí rú cǐ jù dà， shǒu xiān， tā fā xiàn yī dà xíng shuǐ kù de dú zhě shuí yuàn yì zhuī suí tā de xīn lù jìng。
KarlMay(1974)
zài 1908 nián kǎ 'ěr mài fǎng wèn měi guó， wéi dì yī cì， yě shì wéi yī de shí jiān。 tā jiǎng kè， yǐ dé měi jí tuán， dàn yě xǔ yì shí dào tā de shī wàng， zài zhōng dōng， tā yòu zhǐ jù xī shuǐ niú hé ní yà jiā lā dà pù bù。 tā de xún huí yǎn jiǎng de tí mù shì“ sān gè wèn tí， wéi rén lèi： wǒ men shì shuí？ nǎ lǐ， wǒ men cóng hé 'ér lái？ zài nǎ lǐ， wǒ men jiāng zǒu xiàng hé fāng？” zhè gè shí hòu， kě néng kāi shǐ huàn yòu gè zhǒng jiàn kāng wèn tí， yī shēng quàn tā qǔ xiāo liǎo jīng zhuàng tǐ shàng pí - zhēn zài wéi yě nà， ào dì lì， tí wéi“ yǐn qǐ de jìng jiè， gāi míng nán zǐ de guì zú”。 tā wú lùn rú hé， hé guǎng shòu guān zhòng， qí zhōng bāo kuò nián qīng de xī tè lè（ 1 qīn pèi kě néng， jìn guǎn kǎ 'ěr mài de yīn qiē xī wàng， hé píng zhù yì）。
1912 nián 3 yuè 30 rì kǎ 'ěr mài qù shì hòu。 tā de xiǎo shuō bù duàn fā chū de xīn bǎn běn de yī míng guān yuán kǎ 'ěr mài chū bǎn shè chū bǎn， yǐ jí tā men de bǎn quán hòu， zhōng yú zài 1962 nián jiè mǎn， yī lián chuàn de píng zhuāng shū chū bǎn shāng chóngyìn gōng chéng。 yī gè shì jì zhī hòu， kǎ 'ěr mài de xiǎo shuō réng rán shì yī gè qǐ shì dé guó 'ér tóng shuí yòng tā men de xiǎng xiàng lì hé dǎ bàn chéng niú zǎi hé yìn dì 'ān rén。
kǎ 'ěr · mài - zhù yào zuò pǐn
《 lǎo mǔ tǎ zhī yè》、《 yán zhǎo táo shēng》、《 dòng kū yōu líng》、《 yǎ kù bù de zhū bǎo diàn》、《 xiá gǔ zhuī bǔ》、《 lǎo mǔ tǎ zhī yè》、《 mó guǐ xiá》、《 yìn dì 'ān qiú cháng》、《 huāng yuán zhuī zōng》、《 wēn nèi tú zhī sǐ》、《 kǒng bù de dà mò》、《 āi sī tǎ de lǜ zhōu》、《 lǎo tiě shǒu》、《 shā mò mì jǐng》《 zhì chuǎng xù nú dǎo》、《 kǎi màn chuán cháng》、《 xī gǔ zhuāng yuán》、《 zhēn jiǎ xiǎng tè》、《 hù shēn fú》、《 cáng jīn tán duó bǎo》、《 yín hú bǎozàng》、《 shí yóu wáng zǐ》、《 nú lì shāng duì》 děng。
kǎ 'ěr · mài - wén xué chéng jiù
kǎ 'ěr · mài
kǎ 'ěr · mài gù shì zhōng zuì jīng cǎi de shì běi měi tàn xiǎn gù shì hé zhōng dōng、 bā 'ěr gān tàn xiǎn gù shì。 qián zhě biǎo xiàn liǎo yìn dì 'ān rén hé bái rén yí mín zhī jiān de chōng tū， hòu zhě zé shēng dòng miáo huì liǎo zhèng yì hé xié 'è zhī jiān de dǒu zhēng。 dié qǐ xuán niàn、 shēng dòng de qíng jié、 mí rén de zì rán jǐng guān hé fēng qíng wén huà、 yōu yuǎn de lì shǐ gǎn， yǐ jí róu shén huà、 tàn xiǎn、 yóu jì hé zhé lǐ xiǎo shuō yú yī tǐ de dú tè shǒu fǎ， zhè biàn shì kǎ 'ěr mài shuō de mèi lì suǒ zài。 shū zhōng chù chù shǎn xiàn de zhì huì、 rén dào jīng shén hé zhèng yì gǎn、 duì měi hǎo rén shēng de jiān dìng xìn niàn， shǐ rén zài xīn xǐ rù mí zhī yú， huò dé xǔ duō jiào yì qǐ dí； ér qí zhōng yǒng yǔ zuì 'è、 zāi wéi hé zì shēn ruò diǎn bó dǒu de zhù rén gōng， huì shǐ nǐ jué dé zhè shì zuì shēng dòng、 zuì yǐn rén zhù mùdì wén xué zhù rén gōng liǎo。
chú liǎo jīng rén de fā xíng liàng， kǎ 'ěr · mài de xiǎo shuō hái shòu dào liǎo zhòng duō shì jiè míng rén de zàn yù。 yǐ bèi yì chéng， sān shí liù zhǒng wén zì， zài yī bǎi duō gè guó jiā xíng xiāo yī yì sān qiān wàn cè， què yī zhí méi yòu zhōng wén bǎn。 xiàn zài yǐ jīng dú jiā shòu quán zhōng guó， bìng fān yì chū bǎn zhè tào kuài zhì rén kǒu de xiǎo shuō， shí huì gěi zhōng guó dú zhě dài lái nán dé de xiǎng shòu hé shōu huò ! zài cǐ tào cóng shū de fān yì biān xiào guò chéng zhōng， céng dé dào 'ōu měi tóng xué huì fù huì cháng luó wǎn huá nǚ shì、 ōu měi tóng xué huì fù nǚ fēn huì fù huì cháng zhāng dié lì nǚ shì de dà lì zhī chí， yǐ jí pān hǎi fēng、 wáng tài zhì、 lǐ chāng kē、 yáng jiàn、 lǐ zhāng lín děng xiān shēng zài xiào yì、 zī liào shōu jí děng fāng miàn fèi qǐn wàng shí de nǔ lì。
kǎ 'ěr · mài - míng rén zàn yù
kǎ 'ěr · mài
dé guó zhù míng shī rén shuō jiā、 1946 nián nuò bèi 'ěr wén xué jiǎng huò dé zhě hè màn 'ēn hè sài (Hermannhesse， 1877-1962) shuō：“ tā shū zhōng xiān míng de sè cǎi hé kòu rén xīn xián de xuán niàn xiǎn shì liǎo xū gòu xiǎo shuō de yī zhǒng bù kě huò quē de yǒng héng mèi lì。 tā shì shí xiàn yuàn wàng lèi xiǎo shuō de chuàng shǐ rén hé zuì wěi dà de zuò jiā。”
céng huò 1952 nián nuò bèi 'ěr hé píng jiǎng de fǎ guó zhé xué jiā 'ā 'ěr bó tè shǐ huái zhé (AlbertSchweitzer， 1875-1965) píng lùn tā shuō：“ wǒ zuì xǐ huān tā shū zhōng jīhū tōng piān yǐn hán de wéi zhēng qǔ hé píng hé gòng tóng lǐ jiě 'ér xiǎn shì de yǒng qì。”
1921 nián huò nuò bèi 'ěr wù lǐ jiǎng de měi guó zhù míng wù lǐ xué jiā 'ā 'ěr jiù tè ài yīn sī tǎn (AlbertEinstein， 1879 ～ 1955) shuō：“ zhēn de， wǒ de zhěng gè qīng： shàonián shí dài dū shòu tā yǐng xiǎng， jí shǐ zài jīn tiān， měi dāng wǒ gǎn dào gū jì wú wàng shí， tā réng shì nà me de qīn jìn yú wǒ。”
měi guó xī bā lì (TheSeaburyPress) chū bǎn shè píng lùn shuō：“ kǎ 'ěr mài shū zhī chàng xiāo， zhèng míng tā shì wén xué shǐ shàng zuì wěi dà de xū gòu xiǎo shuō jiā。 zài tā de shí dài chōng chì liǎo dà liàng chàng xiāo tàn xiǎn xiǎo shuō hé rén wù， dàn kǎ 'ěr mài de xiǎo shuō jù yòu wán quán bù tóng de tè sè， tā guān zhù de shì rén lèi de gēn běn wèn tí， yǐ jí xiàn dài rén shī qù de líng hún。”
Karl May was born into a family of poor weavers in Ernstthal, Schönburgische Rezessherrschaften (later part of the Kingdom of Saxony). He was the fifth child out of fourteen, nine of them died within several months. According to his autobiography, he suffered from visual impairment shortly after birth and regained his eyesight after treatment at the age of five. Possibly a lack of vitamin A led to night blindness, which got worse.
During his school time he got private music and composition lessons. 1856 he started his teacher training in Waldenburg, but was excluded 1859, because he embezzled six candles. After a petition he was allowed to continue his education in Plauen. His career as a teacher ended 1861 abruptly after few weeks when he was accused by his roommate of stealing a pocket watch. Therefore he had to be in gaol in Chemnitz for six weeks and his license to teach was revoked permanently.
During the following years he tried to earn a living by giving private education, writing tales, composing and declaiming. But these did not secure his livelihood. As consequence he started thefts and frauds. He was sentenced to four years in a workhouse. From 1865 to 1869 he was in gaol in the workhouse Osterstein Castle (Zwickau). Because of good behaviour he became administrator of the prison’s library and had the chance to read much including travel literature. He planned to become an author and made a list of titles named Repertorium C. May. After his release he failed starting a good existence and continued with thefts and frauds. Compared to the effort the loot was meagre. He got caught, but during judicial investigation, when he was transported to the crime scenes, he freed himself. May fled beyond Saxon boundaries to Bohemia, where he was detained for vagabondage. He was in gaol again in Waldheim from 1870 to 1874. There he met the catholic prison’s catechist Johannes Kochta, who’s influence helped May to find to himself.
After May’s release in May 1874 he went back to his parents in Ernstthal and started writing. The first known publish of a Karl May tale (Die Rose von Ernstthal) was in November 1874. It was a time when the German press was on the move. Industrialisation, increasing literacy and economic freedom lead to many startups of presses (especially in the field of light fiction). Already in the time between his both long imprisonments he had contact with the publisher Heinrich Gotthold Münchmeyer in Dresden. Now he engaged May as editor in his press. For the first time his livelihood was secure. He stewarded several entertainment papers (e. g. Schacht und Hütte) and wrote and edited with or without naming the name numerous articles (e. g. Geographische Predigten, 1875/76). May quit in 1876, because his employer tried to bond him on his company by marriage with Münchmeyer’s sister-in-law and the firm had a bad reputation. After a second engagement as editor in the press of Bruno Radelli, Dresden, in 1878 he became freelance writer and moved to Dresden together with his girlfriend Emma Pollmer, whom he married 1880. But his publications did not result in a regular income yet; there were rent and other arrears.
In 1879 Deutscher Hausschatz, a catholic weekly journal from the press of Friedrich Pustet in Regensburg, published the tale Three carde monte. After some more stories, they made the offer May should present them all of his tales first: In 1880 he started the Orient Cycle, which ran with interruptions until 1888. But at the same time he also wrote for other journals, used pseudonyms and different titles to get multiple payment for his texts. Until his death more than one hundred tales were published in instalments in diverse journals. Another important journal was Der Gute Kamerad of Wilhelm Spemann, Stuttgart, resp. later on Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, which was a magazine for boys in secondary school. There his first tale was published in 1887 (Der Sohn des Bärenjägers) and it printed one of his most famous stories: Der Schatz im Silbersee (1890/91). In 1882 there was new contact with H. G. Münchmeyer and May started the first of five very large colportage novels for his former employer. Das Waldröschen (1882–1884) was many hundred thousandfold reprinted until 1907. But May made just a verbal agreement with his friend Münchmeyer and later on this should become a problem.
Karl May as Old Shatterhand, 1896
In October 1888 May moved to Kötzschenbroda (a part of Radebeul) and 1891 into Villa Agnes in Oberlößnitz (another part of Radebeul). The key breakthrough came in 1891 by contact with Friedrich Ernst Fehsenfeld, who offered to print the Deutsche Hausschatz-stories as books. With the start of the new book series Carl May’s Gesammelte Reiseromane in 1892 (since 1896 Karl May's Gesammelte Reiseerzählungen) for the first time May experienced financial security and glory. But after a short time he had problems to differ between reality and fiction and went as far as to say he had experienced himself as Old Shatterhand resp. Kara Ben Nemsi what he had written. This was the so called "Old-Shatterhand-Legend". A gunsmith in Kötzschenbroda manufactured the legendary guns of the heroes in his novels for him, first the "Bärentöter" (Bear Killer) and the „Silberbüchse“ (The Silver Gun), later on the "Henrystutzen" (Henry rifle). The readers followed the equalisation of author and protagonist and sent numerous letters to him. In the following years he took talk tours in Germany and Austria, let print autograph cards and let take costume photos. In December 1895 he moved into the Villa "Shatterhand" in Alt-Radebeul, which he bought from the Ziller Brothers.
1899/1900 May travelled to the Orient. In the first part he was for nearly three-quarter year alone just accompanied by his servant Sejd Hassan and came from Egypt to Sumatra. In 1900 he met his wife and his friends, the couple Klara and Richard Plöhn. Together they continued the journey and got back to Radebeul in July 1900. During the year and a half May wrote a travel diary, which is extent in fragments and transcription parts. According to his second wife Klara (widowed Plöhn, see below) May had two times a nervous breakdown during the journey, which lasted both times over a week. Hans Wollschläger and Ekkehard Bartsch belief that this was due to an irruption of the reality into May’s dream world. He overcame the crisis without medical benefit.
While May was on his Orient journey, attacks in the press set in, especially pursued by Hermann Cardauns and Rudolf Lebius. They criticised – with different motivations – May’s self promotion and the associated Old-Shatterhand-Legend. Simultaneously they reproached him religious sham (he wrote as protestant for the catholic Deutscher Hausschatz and several Marian calendars), immorality and later on his criminal history. These polemics and several trials about unauthorized book publications lasted until his death. His broken matrimony was dissolved 1903 by May’s endeavour. According to May, Emma, who was a friend of adversary Pauline Münchmeyer (widow of H. G. Münchmeyer), embezzled documents, which could have verified the verbal agreement with Münchmeyer. In the same year he married the widow Klara Plöhn.
Since his first employment as editor May added illegally a doctoral degree to his name. 1902 he got an Doctor honoris causa by the Universitas Germana-Americana in Chicago for his work Im Reiche des Silbernen Löwen. Christian Heermann assumes, this happened on endeavour of May or Klara Plöhn to give the false doctoral degree a legal basis. This university was a known diploma mill, where degrees could be bought for money.
Karl May and Sascha Schneider, 1904
In 1908 Karl and Klara May travelled for six weeks to North America. They visited among others Albany, Buffalo, the Niagara Falls and some friends in Lawrence. But he did not reach the Wild West. May used the journey as inspiration for his book Winnetou IV.
Tomb of Karl and Klara May
Since his Orient journey May wrote in another way. He called his former works "preparation" and started then writing complex, allegoric texts. He was convinced to solve or at least to discuss the "question of mankind". He turned deliberately to pacifism and wrote several books about the raising of humans from "evil" to "good". The friendship to the artist Sascha Schneider lead to new symbolistic covers for the Fehsenfeld edition. An exultant approval May experienced on the March 22, 1912; he was invited by the Academic Society for Literature and Music in Vienna to hold the talk Empor ins Reich der Edelmenschen ("Upward to the realm of noble men"). Thereby he met his friend the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Bertha von Suttner. Karl May died one week later on March 30, 1912. According to the register of deaths, the cause was "cardiac arrest, acute bronchitis, asthma". Today an (unrecognised) lung cancer is not excluded. May was buried on the graveyard Radebeul-East. The tomb was inspired by the Temple of Athena Nike Klara had seen on the Orient travel.
[edit]Works
[edit]Introduction
May used many different pseudonyms, including Capitan Ramon Diaz de la Escosura, D. Jam, Emma Pollmer (name of his first wife), Ernst von Linden, Hobble-Frank (figure of his work), Karl Hohenthal, M. Gisela, P. van der Löwen, Prinz Muhamel Lautréamont and Richard Plöhn (name of his friend). Today most pseudonymously or anonymously published works are identified.
Karl May as Kara Ben Nemsi, 1896
For the novels set in America, May created 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 Germans, and travels with his local guide and servant Hadschi Halef Omar through the Sahara desert and the Near East, experiencing many exciting adventures.
There is a development from an anonymous first-person narrator, who is just observer and reporter (e. g. Der Gitano, 1875), over addition of heroic skills and equipment (e. g. Old Firehand, 1875, later within Winnetou II) to the full formed first-person-narrator-heroes Old Shatterhand (Deadly dust, 1880, later within Winnetou III) and Kara Ben Nemsi (”Giölgeda padiśhanün”, 1881, later within Durch Wüste und Harem). Some first-person-narrator-heroes are called “Charley” (English for Karl) by friends and fellows. For a long time equipment (e. g. Henry rifle and Bear Killer) and skills (e. g. dash struck) were the same for all first-person-narrator-heroes. Then in Die Felsenburg / Krüger Bei (1893/94, later Satan und Ischariot I/II) May let occur the first-person narrator in the American Old West, in the Orient and in Germany. Therefore he identified Old Shatterhand, Kara Ben Nemsi and Charley with Dr. Karl May in Dresden.
With some exceptions later on (Und Friede auf Erden!, 1904, and Winnetou IV, 1910), May had not visited the places he described. He compensated successfully for his lack of direct experience with these places by a combination of creativity, imagination, and factual sources including maps, travel accounts and guide books, as well as anthropological and linguistic studies. Also the work of writers such as James Fenimore Cooper, Gabriel Ferry, Friedrich Gerstäcker, Balduin Möllhausen and Mayne Reid served as models.
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 writers like James Fenimore Cooper or George Catlin, his Native Americans are usually portrayed as innocent victims of white law-breakers, and many are presented as heroic characters. He also wrote about the fate of other suppressed peoples. Karl May and his works are deeply rooted in the belief that all mankind should live together peacefully; all of his main characters try to avoid killing anyone, except when necessary to save other lives.
May deliberately made himself stand out of ethnological prejudices and also wrote against the public opinion (e. g. Winnetou, Durchs wilde Kurdistan, Und Friede auf Erden!). Nevertheless in his work are some phrasings, which today are seen as “racialistic”. These phrasings underlay the paradigms of his time. For example there are broad-brush pejorative statements about Armenians, black people, Chinese people, Irish people, jews and mestizos. Therefore May was not uninfluenced by the nationalism and racism, which were characteristics of Wilhelmine Germany at that time. But in his novels there are also positive depicted Chinese people and mestizos, who contradict the common clichés. In a letter to a young jew, who planned becoming a Christ after he had read May’s books, he advised him first to understand his own religion, which is holy and exalted, until he is experienced enough to choose.
In his late work (since 1900) May turned away from the adventurous style and wrote symbolic novels with religious and pacifistic content. The break is best shown in Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen. Herein the first two parts are adventurous and the last both parts belong to the late work. In the context of this literarily developmental stage the friendship with art nouveau painter and sculptor Sascha Schneider is important, who painted symbolic covers for May’s books. Karl May himself repeatedly enhanced the importance of his late work.
For a long time, literary critics tended to regard May's literature as trivial, but recent research has reversed this assessment, at least partially.
[edit]Early work
In his early work Karl May tried several genres until he show his proficiency with travel stories. During his time as editor he published many of this works within the periodicals, for which he was responsible. The time of the early work lasted until about 1880.
Das Buch der Liebe (1875/76, educational work)
Geographische Predigten (1875/76, educational work)
Der beiden Quitzows letzte Fahrten (1876/77, not finished by Karl May)
Auf hoher See gefangen (1877/78, also entitled as Auf der See gefangen, parts later revised for Old Surehand II)
Scepter und Hammer (1879/80)
Im fernen Westen (1879, revision of Old Firehand (1875), later revised for Winnetou II)
Der Waldläufer (1879, revision for the youth of "Le Coureur de Bois", a novel by Gabriel Ferry)
Die Juweleninsel (1880–82)
Im fernen Westen and Der Waldläufer are the first book editions of Karl May texts known.
Beside these texts there are many shorter stories, which can be divided into categories. There are village stories from the Erzgebirge (e. g. Die Rose von Ernstthal, 1874), novellas (e. g. Wanda, 1875), humoresques (e. g. Die Fastnachtsnarren, 1875) and historical stories such as the series about „the Old Dessauer“ Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (e. g. Ein Stücklein vom alten Dessauer, 1875), as well as the first travel stories. Especially in his early work May used home settings, but there are also exotic scenes. His first non-European tale Inn-nu-woh, der Indianerhäuptling (1875) contains a rough draft of Winnetou. Later some of these tales were published in anthologies, e. g. in Der Karawanenwürger und andere Erzählungen (1894), Humoresken und Erzählungen (1902) and Erzgebirgische Dorfgeschichten (1903).
Also to the early work belong articles such as natural philosophic tractates or popular scientific works about history and technology (e. g. Schätze und Schatzgräber, 1875), published answers to letters send to him as editor as well as poems (e. g. Meine einstige Grabinschrift, 1872).
[edit]Colportage novels
There are five large (many thousands of pages) colportage novels May wrote mostly under the pseudonym Capitan Ramon Diaz de la Escosura for the press of H. G. Münchmeyer from 1882 to 1888. When May's authorship of these works emerged, he was publicly confronted, because contemporaneously the novels were seen as indecent, especially as they were written parallel to the commendable works in Deutscher Hausschatz.
Das Waldröschen (1882–84, a part was later revised for Old Surehand II)
Die Liebe des Ulanen (1883–85)
Der verlorne Sohn (1884–86)
Deutsche Herzen – Deutsche Helden (1885–88, also entitled as Deutsche Herzen, deutsche Helden)
Der Weg zum Glück (1886–88)
From 1900 to 1906 Münchmeyer’s successor Adalbert Fischer published the first book editions. These were revised by third hand and published under May’s real name instead of using the pseudonym. This edition was not authorised by May.
[edit]Travel stories
In the book series Carl May's Gesammelte Reiseromane, later entiteld Karl May’s Gesammelte Reiseerzählungen, 33 volumes were published from 1892 to 1910 in the press of Friedrich Ernst Fehsenfeld. Most of them were published before in Deutscher Hausschatz, but some of them were directly written for this series. The most famous titles are the Orient Cycle (volume 1–6) and the Winnetou-Trilogy (7–9). Generally there is no reading order, because May himself produced unintentionally chronological inconsistencies. Most of them arose, when he revised earlier texts for the book edition (e. g. within the Winnetou-Trilogy).
1. Durch Wüste und Harem (1892, since 1895 entitled as Durch die Wüste)
2. Durchs wilde Kurdistan (1892)
3. Von Bagdad nach Stambul (1892)
4. In den Schluchten des Balkan (1892)
5. Durch das Land der Skipetaren (1892)
6. Der Schut (1892)
7. Winnetou I (1893, temporarily also entitled as Winnetou der Rote Gentleman I)
8. Winnetou II (1893, temporarily also entitled as Winnetou der Rote Gentleman II)
9. Winnetou III (1893, temporarily also entitled as Winnetou der Rote Gentleman III)
10. Orangen und Datteln (1893, an anthology)
11. Am Stillen Ocean (1894, an anthology)
12. Am Rio de la Plata (1894)
13. In den Cordilleren (1894)
14. Old Surehand I (1894)
15. Old Surehand II (1895)
16. Im Lande des Mahdi I (1896)
17. Im Lande des Mahdi II (1896)
18. Im Lande des Mahdi III (1896)
19. Old Surehand III (1897)
20. Satan und Ischariot I (1896)
21. Satan und Ischariot II (1897)
22. Satan und Ischariot III (1897)
23. Auf fremden Pfaden (1897, an anthology)
24. „Weihnacht!“ (1897)
26. Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen I (1898)
27. Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen II (1898)
25. Am Jenseits (1899)
28–33 are travel stories, which belong to the late work
There are some shorter travel stories, which were not published within this series. On this edition (so called “green volumes”) bases the series Karl May’s Illustrierte Reiseerzählungen (illustrated “blue volumes”, since 1907). This edition was revised by May himself and is the definitive edition. It contains just the first thirty volumes which have partly another numbering.
After foundation of the Karl May Press in 1913 in the new series "Karl May's Gesammelte Werke" many volumes were revised (partly radically) and many got new titles. Texts from others than Fehsenfeld Press were added to the new series.
[edit]Stories for the youth
These stories were written from 1887 to 1897 for the magazine Der Gute Kamerad. He intentionally wrote for young readers. Most of the stories are set in the Wild West, but here Old Shatterhand is just a figure and not the first-person narrator as he is in the travel stories. The most famous volume is Der Schatz im Silbersee. In the broadest sense the early works Im fernen Westen and Der Waldläufer belong to these category.
Der Sohn des Bärenjägers (1887, since 1890 within Die Helden des Westens)
Der Geist des Llano estakata (1888, since 1890 correctly entitled as Der Geist des Llano estakado within Die Helden des Westens)
Kong-Kheou, das Ehrenwort (1888/89, since 1892 entitled as Der blaurote Methusalem)
Die Sklavenkarawane (1889/90)
Der Schatz im Silbersee (1890/91)
Das Vermächtnis des Inka (1891/92)
Der Oelprinz (1893/94, since 1905 entitled as Der Ölprinz)
Der schwarze Mustang (1896/97)
Between 1890 and 1899 Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft published them as illustrated book edition.
Parallel to this major work May also published shorter stories and some puzzles anonymously or pseudonymously from 1887 to 1891. These were written mostly to given illustrations. One of the pseudonyms was “Hobble-Frank”, which was a popular character in his stories for the youth with Wild West setting. Also his answers to letters by the readers were published within Der Gute Kamerad.
[edit]Late work
Ardistan und Dschinnistan, 1909, cover by Sascha Schneider showing Marah Durimeh
To the late work belong the publications after May’s Orient travel from 1900 on. Many of them were published in the press of Fehsenfeld. Within the series Karl May’s Gesammelte Reiseerzählungen the volumes 28-33 belong to the late work.
Himmelsgedanken (1900, poem collection)
28. Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen III (1902)
29. Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen IV (1903)
30. Und Friede auf Erden! (1904)
Babel und Bibel (1906, drama)
Drei Menschheitsfragen: Wer sind wir? Woher kommen wir? Wohin gehen wir? (1908, talk)
31. Ardistan und Dschinnistan I (1909)
32. Ardistan und Dschinnistan II (1909)
Sitara, das Land der Menschheitsseele (1909, talk)
33. Winnetou IV (1910)
Mein Leben und Streben (1910, autobiography)
Empor ins Reich der Edelmenschen (1912, talk)
To the late work belong also shorter stories (e. g. Sonnenscheinchen, 1903), essays and articles (e. g. Briefe über Kunst, 1906/07) as well as texts for trials and defence (e. g ”Karl May als Erzieher” und “Die Wahrheit über Karl May” oder Die Gegner Karl Mays in ihrem eigenen Lichte, 1902).
[edit]Other works
Karl May wrote also musical compositions, especially when he was member of the singing society “Lyra” about 1864. Well known is his version of Ave Maria (together with Vergiss mich nicht collected within Ernste Klänge, 1899).
After May’s death there were publishings of his residue: Fragments of stories and dramas, lyrics, musical compositions, his self made library catalogue and mostly letters.
[edit]Reception
[edit]Influence
Karl May had a substantial influence on a number of well-known German-speaking people - and on the German population itself. The popularity of his writing, and indeed, his (practically always German) protagonists, are considered by some as having filled a lack in the German psyche which had few popular heroes until the 19th Century. His readers longed to escape from an industrialised, capitalist society, an escape which May offered them. He was noted as having "helped shape the collective German dream of feats far beyond middle-class bounds" – and criticised as having offered those dreams for later exploitation by the Nazis.
Adolf Hitler was an admirer, who noted that the novels "overwhelmed" him as a boy, going as far as to ensure "a noticeable decline" in his school grades. According to an anonymous friend, Hitler attended the lecture given by May in Vienna in March 1912 and was enthusiastic about the event. Ironically, the lecture was an appeal for peace, also heard by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Bertha von Suttner. Claus Roxin doubts the anonymous description, because Hitler had told much about May, but not that he had seen him. Hitler defended May against critics in the men's hostel where he lived in Vienna, as the evidence of May's earlier time in jail had come to light; although it was true, Hitler confessed, that May had never visited the sites of his American adventure stories, this made him a greater writer in Hitler's view since it showed the author's powers of imagination. May died suddenly only ten days after the lecture, leaving the young Hitler deeply upset. Hitler later recommended the books to his generals and had special editions distributed to soldiers at the front, praising Winnetou as an example of "tactical finesse and circumspection", though some note that the latter claims of using the books as military guidance are not substantiated. However, as told by Albert Speer, "when faced by seemingly hopeless situations, he [Hitler] would still reach for these stories," because "they gave him courage like works of philosophy for others or the Bible for elderly people." This influence on the German 'Fuehrer' was later castigated by Klaus Mann, a German writer who accused May of having been a form of 'mentor' for Hitler. In his admiration Hitler ignored May's Christian and humanitarian approach and views completely, not mentioning his – in some novels – relatively sympathetic description of Jews and persons of non-white race. Several novels of Karl May were re-edited in an antisemitic style during the years of Nazism and led to serious misunderstandings about May's original intentions.
The wider influence on the populace also surprised post-WWII occupation troops from the US, who realised that thanks to Karl May, "Cowboys and Indians" were familiar concepts to local children (though fantastic and removed from reality). The new Eastern Germany was less favouring of his work, and officially considered him a "chauvinist" - though this could not break his popularity, and eventually, even the communist state allowed free publication of his books and created its own Karl May museum.
Famous physicist Albert Einstein was a great fan of Karl May's books and is quoted as having said My whole adolescence stood under his sign. Indeed, even today, he has been dear to me in many a desperate hour….
[edit]Number of copies and translations
It is stated that Karl May is the “most read writer of German tongue”. The total number of copies published is about 200 millions, half of this are German copies.
The first translation of May’s work was the first half of the Orient Cycle into French 1881 (just ten years after the French-German War), which was published in Le Monde. Since that time May’s work has been translated into more than thirty languages including Latin, Esperanto and Volapük. In the 1960s the UNESCO stated May being the most translated German writer. Outside the German-speaking area he is most popular in the Czech language area, Hungary and the Netherlands. In France, Great Britain and the USA he is nearly unknown.
List of languages: Afrikaans, Brazilian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (British), English (American), Esperanto, Finnish, French, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Modern Hebrew, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovakian, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Volapük, Yiddish
There are also braille editions and editions read for visually impaired or blind people.
[edit]Adaptations
After Karl May published the whole poem Ave Maria in 1896 at least 19 other persons wrote musical versions. Other poems, especially from the collection Himmelsgedanken were set into music. As present for May Carl Ball wrote “harp clangs” for the drama Babel und Bibel. The Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck made an opera from Der Schatz im Silbersee in the age of eleven. Others wrote music inspired by May’s works (e. g. around Winnetou’s death).
The first stage adaptation was Winnetou by Hermann Dimmler in 1919. Revisions by him and Ludwig Körner were played in the following years. After the Second World War first adaptations were conducted in Austria. In East Germany they started not before 1984. Different novel revisions are played on outdoor stages since the 1940s. The most famous “Karl May Festivals” are held every summer in Bad Segeberg (since 1952) and in Lennestadt-Elspe (since 1958). At both places movie actor Pierre Brice played Winnetou. Another festival is on the rock stage in Rathen, in the Saxon Switzerland near Radebeul (1940, then since 1984). Many other stages in Austria and Germany show or showed plays after Karl May. In 2006 these were 14 stages. May’s own drama Babel und Bibel has not been played on a bigger stage yet.
Main article: Karl May movies
Karl May’s friends Marie Luise Fritsch and her husband Adolf Droop among others founded in cooperation with the Karl May Press the production company “Ustad-Film” (the name refers to May himself in Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen III/IV) in 1920. They produced three silent movies (Auf den Trümmern des Paradieses, Die Todeskarawane and Die Teufelsanbeter) after the Orientcycle in 1920, which are lost. Due to the low success “Ustad-Film” went bankrupt in the following year. The first sound movie Durch die Wüste was shown in 1936. “Die Sklavenkarawane” (1958) and its sequel “Der Löwe von Babylon” (1959) were the first colour movies. Famous is the Karl May movie wave from 1962–1968, which was the one of the most successful German movie series. While most of the 17 movies were Wild West movies (beginning with “Der Schatz im Silbersee”), three were based on the Orientcycle and two on Das Waldröschen. Most of these movies were made separately by the two competitors Horst Wendlandt and Artur Brauner. Following actors played main characters in several movies of the series: Lex Barker (Old Shatterhand, Kara Ben Nemsi, Karl Sternau), Pierre Brice (Winnetou), Stewart Granger (Old Surehand), Milan Sdorč (Old Wabble) and Ralf Wolter (Sam Hawkens, Hadschi Halef Omar, André Hasenpfeffer). The film score by Martin Böttcher has also become famous and together with the landscape of Yugoslavia, where most movies were shot, it participate to the great success of the series. After the series more movies for cinema (“Die Spur führt zum Silbersee”, 1990) or TV (e. g. “Das Buschgespenst”, 1986) and TV-series (e. g. “Kara Ben Nemsi Effendi”, 1973) were produced. Most Karl May movies are far from the original, some even contain nothing more than May’s main figures.
No other German writer has more audio dramas than Karl May, which have a number of about 300. Günther Bibo wrote the first one (Der Schatz im Silbersee) in 1929. A greater wave was during the 1960s. There are also Czech and Danish audio dramas.
After the ending of the term of copyright and with the success of the Karl May movie series of the 1960s the first German comic wave occurred. A second comic wave came during the 1970s. The first and qualitative best German comic was Winnetou (# 1-8) / Karl May (# 9-52) (1963–1965). It was drawn by Helmut Nickel and Harry Ehrt and published by Walter Lehning Verlag. The most comprehensive comic was published by the press Standaard Uitgeverij. This Flemish comic Karl May was drawn by the studio of Williy Vandersteen in 87 issues from 1862–1987. Also in other countries comics were produced: e. g. Czechoslovakia (often reduced to the wild west plot), Denmark, France, Mexico, Spain and Sweden.
In 1988 Der Schatz im Silbersee was read by Gert Westphal and published as audiobook. “Wann sehe ich dich wieder, du lieber, lieber Winnetou?“ (1995) is a compendium of Karl May texts read by Hermann Wiedenroth. Since 1998 different presses (e. g. Karl May Press) have released an increasing number of about 50 audiobooks. Another famous reader is movie actor Peter Sodann.
Karl May and his life were basis for screen adaptations: Freispruch für Old Shatterhand (1965, dir. Hans Heinrich) and Karl May (1974, dir. Hans-Jürgen Syberberg) as well as a 6-episode TV series Karl May (1992, dir. Klaus Überall). There are also novels with or about Karl May, e. g. “Swallow, mein wackerer Mustang” (1980) by Erich Loest, “Vom Wunsch, Indianer zu werden. Wie Franz Kafka Karl May traf und trotzdem nicht in Amerika landete“ (1994) by Peter Henisch, “Old Shatterhand in Moabit” (1994) by Walter Püschel and “Karl May und der Wettermacher” (2001) by Jürgen Heinzerling. A stage adaptation is “Die Taschenuhr des Anderen“ by Willi Olbrich.
[edit]Copies, parodies, and sequels
Already during May’s lifetime he has been copied or parodied. While some just wrote similar wild west stories to participate on his literarily success (e. g. Franz Treller), others even used May’s name to publish their works. Also today novels with May figures are published. In “Hadschi Halef Omar” (2010) Jörg Kastner describes the first contact of the titular character with Kara Ben Nemsi. Franz Kandolf wrote “In Mekka” (1923) a sequel to Am Jenseits, which is official part of Karl May’s Gesammelte Werke as vol. 50. An alternative to Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen III/IV by Heinz Grill (“Die Schatten des Schah-in-Schah”, 2006) has been written in the adventurous style of the first parts. As sequel to Winnetou IV May had planned Winnetous Testament. A series of eight volumes with this title has been written by Jutta Laroche and Reinhard Marheinecke. Other famous writers of sequels are Friederike Chudoba, Otto Emersleben, Thomas Jeier, Edmund Theil and Iris Wörner (Her pseudonym Nscho-tschi refers to Winnetou’s sister).
The 2001 film Der Schuh des Manitu by Michael Herbig is a parody on the Karl May Films of the 1960s and spoof extensively the characters and motives of May's Winnetou trilogy.
[edit]Karl May institutions
[edit]Karl May Foundation
By will May made his second wife Klara to his sole heiress. He conditioned that after her death all of his property and the following earnings of his work should go to a foundation. This foundation should support poor gifted people for their education and help writers, journalists and editors, who had got into straits through no fault of their own. Klara May established the "Karl May Foundation" ("Karl-May-Stiftung") already one year after May’s death on March 5, 1913. Contributions are made since 1917. With contracts of inheritance and wills of Klara May the whole property of both went to the Karl May Foundation. After her conditions the foundation had to establish a Karl May Museum with the Villa “Shatterhand“, the real estates and the collections (foundation of the museum already took place during Klara May’s lifetime) as well as to maintain the tomb. In 1960 the Karl May Foundation leaved the Karl May Press, which belonged to her by two-thirds. Thereby the press got parts of May’s properties.
[edit]Karl May Press
July 1, 1913 Klara May, Friedrich Ernst Fehsenfeld (May’s main publisher) and the jurist Euchar Albrecht Schmid established the “Foundation Press Fehsenfeld & Co.” (“Stiftungs-Verlag Fehsenfeld & Co.“) in Radebeul. In 1915 the name changed into “Karl May Press“ (”Karl-May-Verlag“ = KMV). They ended the civil disputes (e. g. about the colportage novels) and got the rights of works from others presses (e. g the colportage novels and the stories for the youth). Third hand revisions of these texts were added to the series Karl May’s Gesammelte Reiseerzählungen, which was renamed to Karl May’s Gesammelte Werke (und Briefe). The existing 33 volumes of the original series also were (partly radically) revised. Until 1945 there were 65 volumes. The press nearly only publishes works of Karl May and secondary literature. Beside the Gesammelte Werke (the classical “green volumes”), which have 91 volumes today, the press has a huge reprint programme. Other targets of the young press were rehabilitation of May against literary criticism and support of the Karl May Foundation. Since the contractual quitting of Fehsenfeld in 1921 and the separation from the Karl May Foundation (as Klara May’s heir) in 1960 the press lies in hands of the Schmid family. Due to the attitudes of the authorities of the Soviet occupation zone and East Germany towards May (his works should not be printed) the press moved to Bamberg (West Germany) in 1959. After the German reunification the press has a second place of residence in Radebeul since 1996. When in 1963 the term of copyright ended the press lost its monopoly. The press started a commercialisation of May. The name “Karl May” is registered trade mark of the “Karl May Verwaltungs- und Vertriebs-GmbH”, which belongs to the Karl May Press.
[edit]Museums
[edit]Radebeul
Villa Bärenfett
The “Karl May Museum” in Radebeul started December 1, 1828 in “Villa Bear Fat” (Villa Bärenfett) as museum about history and life of Native Americans. This villa was build as log house in the garden of Villa “Shatterhand” after ideas of the widely travelled artist Patty Frank (Ernst Tobis). Karl May’s collection about Native Americans, which was added by Klara May, and the whole collection of Patty Frank were joined, therefore Frank became the first curator and got life estate in “Villa Bear Fat”. During the time of the GDR the museum was renamed “Native Americans Museum of the Karl May Foundation” in 1956 and Karl May related exhibits were removed in 1962.
After rethinking of the GDR authorities the museum got its former name back and the street even was renamed “Karl May Street” in 1984. While “Villa Bear Fat” further on contains the exhibition about Native Americans, where the fireplace room today is used for events, Villa “Shatterhand” shows an exhibition about Karl May since 1985. Beside the library, which can be used for research, the work room and parlour (so called “Sascha Schneider Room”) are originally arranged. Among others the replicas of the “famous guns” and a bust of Winnetou are shown. Opposite to Villa “Shatterhand” May’s fruit garden has become the “Karl May Grove” (“Karl-May-Hain”).
[edit]Hohenstein-Ernstthal
The “Karl May House” (“Karl-May-Haus”) is the about 300 year old weaver house, where May was born. During the May renaissance in the GDR it has become a memorial and museum since March 12, 1985. Beside the permanent exhibition about May’s life rebuild rooms like a weaver chamber and non-German book editions are shown. The garden has been arranged according to May’s description in his biography. Opposite the house lays the “International Karl May Heritage Center” (“Karl-May-Begegnungsstätte”), which is used for events and special exhibitions. In Hohenstein-Ernstthal, which is called “Karl May Home Town” since 1992, every May related place has a commemorative plaque. These places are connected by a “Karl May Path” (“Karl-May-Wanderweg”). Outside the city lays the “Karl May Cave” (“Karl-May-Höhle”), where May found shelter during his criminal time.
[edit]Societies
Some associations have been founded during Karl May’s lifetime, e. g. “Karl May Clubs” in the 1890s. Today, various work groups, societies, and clubs are devoting their activities to Karl May's life and work, and organize related events. While early associations often understood their role as rendering homage to the writer or defending him against critics, they focus today more on research. Most societies are in German-speaking areas (e. g. booster clubs of the museums), but some can also be found in the Netherlands, Australia and Indonesia. While the societies are responsible for the release of most Karl May-related periodicals (e. g Der Beobachter an der Elbe, Karl-May-Haus Information, Wiener Karl-May-Brief, Karl May in Leipzig), the magazine Karl May & Co. is published independently.
The “Karl May Society” (“Karl May Gesellschaft e.V.” = KMG) is the largest society with approximately 1800 members. The KMG was founded on March 22, 1969. One of its main objectives is to conduct research on Karl May’s life and work and to promote his recognition in the official history of literature and the general public. Among the various publications of the society are the Jahrbuch, the Mitteilungen, the Sonderhefte der Karl-May-Gesellschaft, and the KMG-Nachrichten as well as a huge reprint programmme. Since 2008 and in cooperation with the Karl May Foundation and the Karl May Press, the KMG publishes the critical edition of “Karl Mays Werke”. This project had been initiated by Hans Wollschläger and Hermann Wiedenroth in 1987. After initial disruptions and changes also regarding the printing the project is now conceptualized to more than 99 volumes.