Happy! - May 11

Subject: Happy! - May 11
From: Abby Sale
Date: 11 May 05 - 08:10 AM


Happy Birthday!

German soldier & tall-tale and folk tale teller

Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Freiherr (Baron) von Münchhausen

Born 5/11/1720
(d2/22/1797)


His name is still a medical synonym for "liar." ("Mythologist" also means liar.) Some of his tales were the basis for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, by Rudolf Erich Raspe. And a great movie.

Copyright © 2005, Abby Sale - all rights reserved

Subject: RE: Happy! - May 11
From: Wolfgang
Date: 13 May 05 - 05:30 AM

For the folksong angle:

One of his offsprings (great..don't know how many)...son) was Börries Freiherr von Münchhausen (1874-1945), a man who has written ballads and several songs which now may pass for traditional German folksongs (Jenseits des Tales, Die Glocken stürmten vom Bernwardsturm, etc).

Wolfgang