Karl-May-Forum

This is very good news! It seems to finally say that all of the dirt thrown on Karl May and his great work by his evil and idiotic enemies has been effectively washed away. After all, primary schools are generally named after upstanding personages of high repute. It will be interesting to see if Karl May’s works will in fact be incorporated in the curriculum. Indeed, I would ask Marlies and others who might know: to what degree, if any, have May’s works been assigned in schools in Germany and Central Europe, during the 20th century (apart from the Karl May ban behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War)? I am of two minds about this. On the one hand, the spread of May’s works, in an increasingly illiterate world, is a good thing; but on the other, force usually leads to resentment. Many young people are soured, often for life, on subjects and books that are forced upon them. Of course, there are clever ways to expose people to culture, inspiring them to follow up on their own........

I can only answer one part of the query:

snip>>>to what degree, if any, have May’s works been assigned in schools in Germany and Central Europe, during the 20th century<<<snap

... when I went to school during the 1960s, in Switzerland May was STILL frowned upon to say the very least, and even 'prohibited' at the extreme end of the scale ... of course that had the opposite effect on me ... ... I didn't believe everything the teacher said <bad girl > - and I eventually made up my own mind. That's one aspect of Karl May's philosophy: getting the reader of his works to think for themself, weighing up things ... at least that's how I see it.

Of interest to readers who understand German is the following compilation of newspaper's comments re. the exhibition on Karl May in Berlin, Germany [Three articles amongst them are in English]:
http://www.freundeskreis-karl-may.de:80/
Most of the articles follow the German traditional view on Karl May's personality and his literary work.

thanks for the link! Interesting indeed - almost 100 years after his death and he still makes headlines. The traditional view will remain the traditional view - historical facts must remain that, however --- and for me it is the single most interesting point --- the question must now be: what keeps the readers (and movie watchers) coming back for more ... despite his 'past'? What is his secret? or better ... what is the secret of his works? What do they contain that books by most other writers do not?

I think that this topic has become transmogrified , but that is O.K. Thanks for that link, Bill. It reminds me of a “clipping service”, a service that would provide cut-out articles, from newspapers and magazines, on subjects specified by subscribers. But this is free and much more convenient!

I note that several of the articles reference the current Karl May exhibit at the Deutsches Historisches Museum, which was mentioned in the rather negative and misleading New York Times article discussed elsewhere on this forum (and listed on the article compilation site). Belatedly, I thought I would take a look at the museum web-site and find out what images were available. I was pleasantly surprised to find that panoramic views of all sections of the exhibit are available to a “click of the mouse”:



(The views work in QuickTime, which may require some users to down-load a driver. The views take a little time to down-load. You can move the viewpoint over the panorama at will by pressing the left-hand mouse button and moving the target-shaped cursor over the picture.) This is quite impressive, although—alas—while the zoom function at the bottom left of the picture frame works very well, it lacks sufficient resolution to enable one to read the text on the wall placards, except in one case. There are some wonderful items on display, including of all things, a wooden portmanteau used by peddlers in the “kolportage” trade (the selling of various forms of literature, particularly “pulp fiction” in this case, by travelling salesmen). In panorama #6 “Nordamerika/Reiseerzählungen”, I found, by scrolling to the left, an absolutely beautiful painting of a sunrise over a wilderness. I wonder if any-one knows something about this painting? I suppose the exhibition catalogue would have details. It is available here—



—for €36.00.

While the exhibit is not intensive in terms of the number of items on display, it is visually attractive.

The question—of what it is about Karl May’s works that has made them popular for well over a hundred years—deserves its own discussion topic, though we have discussed some aspects of this on various threads. There is a fundamental beauty in his stories that is hard to assign to any single element. I have read your (Marlies) superb translations of ‘Old Surehand I & II’. This wonderful work has all that we expect in a Winnetou story, and more. Like ‘Weihnacht!’ (‘Holy Night!’—literally, ‘Christmas!’, and also translated by Marlies), this was a very powerful and deeply-felt work. And as we have discussed before, May bared his soul in works like these. ‘Old Surehand’ is vastly more than a rousing Old West adventure, though it is that, too. This deeper content is likely in great part responsible for the durability of May’s legacy, though his remarkable imagination, his extraordinarily moral sensibility, the high quality of his ideas and stories, and the care May devoted to accuracy—and to his work in general—are also factors.

I had to look up 'transmogrified' ... wow - what a wonderful word - truly! I shall make a mental note of it and use it in an appropriate space - love it!
But you're right ... we got a bit sidetracked there, however, to nicely get back on track with the theme - I think the phenomena 'Karl May' has entered a new era with the new 'Karl-May Grundschule'.

Mr. Ralf Harder has done by bringing into life this undertaking in practical terms more for the cause of Karl May than all the other KM societies in their whole existence. Thank you Ralf!

That is an excellent web-site. While I am a strong critic of formal education, and actually oppose compulsory schooling on moral grounds, I will say that if children must go to school, then those who are attending the Karl-May-Grundschule are very lucky indeed! It looks like a very pleasant and nurturing environment, and it is an absolutely wonderful monument to Karl May (and one that he would have loved). This will be a great boon to his legacy.

Thank you, Bill, for giving credit to the man responsible for this remarkable achievement.

By the way, Marlies, did you notice the beautiful, and most appropriate, colour scheme of the entrance façade?