A Tall Tale

There was anger in Freiherr von Münchhausen's heart when he passed away on February 22, 1797. Rudolf Erich Raspe wrote about him. Münchhausen didn't like his depiction of him, but it was well received all over Europe.

Freiherr von Münchhausen was born in the Hanover region, coming from an aristocratic family. He joined the Russian-Turkish War (1735-1739), after which he lived a freiherr (free lord) in his huge estate in Bodenwerder. He held parties, where he delighted his guests by telling them about his exploits during the war. The details were exaggerrated, but Münchhausen wasn't deceiving his guests. The aim was to make the night unforgettable - and not a few agreed. More guests came, and Raspe was one of them.

Raspe's writing didn't turn him into a literary celebrity. It was rewrote by another writer and so on and so on. The original story was embellished with fantastic details; one version showed the baron traveling to the Moon, where they encountered an inhabitant with a disembodied head. He warned them about the rapid aging of Earthlings, but the baron's companion was too late to figure it out. Another version was about the baron's meeting with Venus in a real-life version of Sandro Botticelli's painting. It was only when there were too many curious readers when Raspe was traced (and the baron found out).

The braggart soldier saved the day

Many readers thought that Münchhausen was a baron of lies, which was why the real Münchhausen was upset. Even though the various adaptations of his tall tales were meant to be a satire, he didn't like the thought that these stories would diminish his heroic efforts in the Russian-Turkish War.

Most versions have an ambiguous stance. The exaggeration could have diverted the public from the toll brought by Europe's conflict with the Ottoman Empire. It could also be seen as a target towards the kingdom's inability to hold off the Turks for good. A brush with history would be required to know which realms struggled to resist the Ottoman invasion. But there was something else. It would be about the truth. Perhaps there was a lack of inspiration. Maybe the public was in dire search of beauty. It would be ridiculous to believe that they were searching for a hero. (If it happened during Rome's glorious days, then the outcome would have been different.)

One can only think of the most obvious reasons, and the tales of Freiherr von Münchhause was the kind of entertainment that everyone wanted to hear. What was remarkable about this gentleman was there were too many adaptations of his story in films, theater, radio, and television. The latter versions were too hard to believe anymore, but this was what made the baron fascinating all these years. Whether or not he was lovable would be another story.