Baron Munchausen in Russian service. Meeting with the future empress

When almost 80 years old Carl Friedrich Hieronymus von Munchausen Once again he began to talk about Russia, and everyone listened and grinned skeptically. History was perceived as nothing other than fiction.
But in vain.

Baron Munchausen in the uniform of the Riga Cuirassier Regiment (1752):

In 1733 to St. Petersburg at the invitation of the Empress Anna Ioannovna arrives Anton Ulrich of Brunswick . After 7 years he marries the Empress's niece Anna Leopoldovna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin , who will go down in Russian history as regent for her son the infant emperor John VI Antonovich .
In the meantime, Anton Ulrich is enrolling in Russian military service and in March 1737 participates in Russian-Turkish War 1735 - 1739 During the assault Turkish fortress Ochakov almost dies, but his pages are less lucky: one falls dead on the battlefield, and the second receives a mortal wound there.
After returning to St. Petersburg, Anton Ulrich turned to his brother, the sovereign duke. Ferdinand Albrecht II of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel with a request to find replacements for out-of-service pages. One of those who came to Anton Ulrich’s “warm place” was a young, 17-year-old Lower Saxon nobleman, who from the age of 15 served as a page for Ferdinand Albrecht II, whose name was Munchausen .

ORIGINAL TREAT

As is known, Russian court under Anna Ioannovna struck with irrepressible and often perverted luxury. In numerous celebrations, of which the empress was a great hunter, before taking the throne, for a long time living as a widow almost forgotten by everyone in Courland, with meager finances, Anton Ulrich's page Munchausen also took part in his duty.
Later one of his favorite stories would be a story about a miracle pate , which was served to the empress during one of the dinners. Its size was impressive. When the lid was removed from the pate, the man underneath marched across the dish and with a bow presented the empress with verses of praise.
His listeners mistook Munchausen's story for another absurd fiction, like the one in which the baron pulled himself and his horse out of the swamp by his own pigtail, or the one in which he fought with furious fur coats. But his incredulous listeners apparently simply did not know about the popularity of special surprises since the days of Peter the Great .
The tsar loved to treat guests (especially foreigners) to strange pies, from which something constantly flew out, ran out, crawled out or came out. Often, not only animals, but also midgets were used as the “filling”, who then entertained the guests with dancing, music and funny antics. Anna Ioannovna fully inherited this passion for eccentricities from her crowned uncle. Who hasn’t heard about the Lilliputian wedding she arranged in a specially built ice palace?

"Ice house"(W. Jacobi, 1878):

In 1738, the war with the Turks resumed again. When the field marshal's army Minikha approached the Dniester to take possession of the Turkish fortress of Bendery, she failed to cross the river, the 60,000-strong army of Veli Pasha and the plague epidemic forced her to retreat. And left without an ally - Austria, which concluded a contract at the very height of the war separate peace with the Turks, Russia was now only thinking about how to end this unsuccessful war with dignity. Minich's army, retreating from Bendery without water and provisions, lost half of its personnel (mainly due to the plague and the inability to organize the fight against the epidemic). Among those who returned alive was Munchausen, who accompanied Anton Ulrich and, together with others, suffered all the hardships of the unsuccessful campaign of 1738. Probably during the days of this campaign, Russian service no longer seemed to the young German nobleman to be the “cushy place” that he had counted on a year earlier.

CUIRASSIER

Back in 1733, the Bevernsky cuirassier regiment was formed especially for Anton Ulrich, which was renamed five years later to the Brunswick regiment. "At-arms" heavy cavalry took part in all military operations until 1920, when, after the capture of Crimea by the Red Army, the cuirassier regiment, which fought on the side of Baron Wrangel, ceased to exist.
In the 18th century, recruits for cuirassier regiments were selected from tall, broad-shouldered and red-haired guys, but officers was initially represented mainly by foreigners. They occupied a privileged position: they received higher salaries, comfortable apartments, and were not subject to standard punishments, including caning, which was business as usual for officers of Russian origin.

In 1739, Munchausen decided to part with the page's service and begin military career as part of Brunswick Cuirassier Regiment . Looking ahead, let's say that his choice saved him from a lot of trouble, although he could hardly have imagined that the star of his patron, Duke Anton Ulrich, which seemed to be on the rise, would soon rapidly slide down.
The rank that Munchausen received after joining the army was not very significant - just cornet - the most junior officer rank according to the Table of Ranks.
The newly minted cornet of the cuirassier regiment is assigned to Riga , where everyday life in the army began for him. Documents have survived in which the baron resolves everyday issues, including uniforms and provisions for soldiers, the arrival of new horses and the discharge of doctors. He gives permission for soldiers' weddings and is involved in the capture of fugitives.
The fact that Munchausen ended up in Riga can be considered another success for him. Because here, away from the court, it was much calmer than in St. Petersburg, which was expecting new political upheavals.
Anna Ioannovna dies, and as a result of another palace coup, accomplished under the guidance Minikha , favorite of the late empress, appointed by her as regent of the 3-month-old Emperor John VI Antonovich, Biron is expelled from Russia, and the Brunswick family comes to power: Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich.
Cornet Munchausen took advantage of the situation by asking his former patron for a promotion. He does not refuse him, and now our baron has already lieutenant . In addition, he is entrusted with command of the most elite company of the regiment - Life-capmania .

The reign of Anna Leopoldovna ended as quickly as it began. November 25, 1741 daughter of Peter the Great Elizabeth , relying on the Russian guards regiments, in which the advantage given to foreigners during the previous reign had long caused quite understandable protest, makes a new coup. As a result of this coup, the entire reigning family - regent Anna Leopoldovna, Anton Ulrich, who almost became generalissimo, and the infant emperor Ivan Antonovich, are not only abdicated from power, but also subjected to repression: exile to the Arkhangelsk province. A similar fate affected many of their close associates in St. Petersburg. But Lieutenant Munchausen is still in Riga, so the repressions did not affect him.

Under Elizaveta Petrovna, Munchausen continues his military service in Russia, although his career is clearly slowing down. Despite his reputation as an impeccable officer, he has not received a promotion for a long time, despite numerous requests. So in captains it was produced only in 1750, which greatly offends him, because he is already 30 years old, and many of his peers have long been lieutenant colonels, or even colonels.
In 1752, he received leave and left for his homeland, from where he never returned, but without forgetting to submit a petition to be awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel for many years of impeccable service. From the Military Collegium they tell him that for this he needs to return to Russia to continue this service. And since Munchausen does not return, he is excluded from the list Russian officers as a deserter who left the army without permission.

It was here that our baron committed the most big mistake in your life. If he had returned to Russia, it is quite possible that he would have been waiting for dizzying career, associated with one episode of his service in Riga.

MEETING WITH THE FUTURE EMPRESS

In 1744, Elizaveta Petrovna, concerned about the issue of succession to the throne, decided to marry the heir Russian throne, his nephew Karl Peter Ulrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (future emperor Peter III Fedorovich ), regarding mental abilities which I had very serious and well-founded doubts. After some searching for a bride (of course, among German princesses, because already at that time Germany began to acquire the ironic name "Romanov breeding stable" ), the choice fell on a certain Sophia Frederik Augusta from the tiny principality of Anhalt-Zerbst.
On the way from Germany, the bride of Pyotr Fedorovich stops in Riga, where she is solemnly greeted by an honor guard of cuirassiers under the command of who do you think? Baron Munchausen, of course. A year later, the Anhalt-Zerbst princess marries the heir to the throne, and after another 17 years she becomes the Empress of Russia, whose name is Catherine II the Great will forever remain in our history.

Catherine's weakness male widely known. In 1744, when she met Lieutenant Munchausen, she was 15 years old, and the handsome officer who met her (also her compatriot was 24). Eh, our baron missed his fate! But he could have become her favorite even before Sergei Saltykov, not to mention Grigory Orlov. And then, perhaps, our entire history would have developed according to a completely different scenario.

It was no coincidence that I said that Baron Munchausen was handsome. The fact is that his textbook images do not refer to the real baron, but to a literary character invented by the writer R. E. Raspe in the 1780s. And his goatee in the style of “Napoleon the Third” is generally a work of art Gustave Dore like a caricature of the French emperor.

May 11 marked the 295th anniversary of the birth of the famous Munchausen. How did it happen that a witty dreamer and handsome man turned into a crazy old man, and what role did he play in history? German baron Russia playing?

Everyone knows the hero of the book by Rudolf Erich Raspe, Baron Munchausen - a tireless inventor and liar. Some people became acquainted with him through Korney Chukovsky’s retelling of “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” others through the cartoon of the same name, and still others learned about him by watching Mark Zakharov’s film “That Same Munchausen.” It's hard to believe, but a real baron existed and fully deserved his posthumous fame. Moreover, as it turned out, all the brightest pages of his life are connected with Russia.

To the land of snow and bears

Despite the many contradictory rumors that accompany every sneeze of the famous baron, Hieronymus Carl Friedrich von Munchausen was actually born in May 1720 in the family of Colonel Otto von Munchausen - in the German town of Bodenwerder, in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Lower Saxony). Residents of the town had no idea that this event would glorify Bodenwerder throughout the world and become an inexhaustible source income for the city treasury.

In 1735, the Russian-Turkish war began. Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick took part in the battles (and later became the generalissimo of the Russian army). When two of his pages died on the battlefield, he asked for replacements to be sent. There were few hunters to go to the land of snow and bears, but still there were some. Two young men became volunteers - von Hoim and von Munchausen. They left in December 1737 for distant Russia.

"Really extremely beautiful"

Having managed to take part in battles with the Turks, Jerome finds himself in the thick of social life: in 1739, the long-awaited marriage of Prince Anton Ulrich with the niece of the Russian Empress, Princess Anna Leopoldovna, is celebrated with extraordinary pomp. Munchausen observes court morals with curiosity, faithfully serves his patron, and his career is rapidly taking off.

In fact: at the age of 18 - a cornet of a cuirassier regiment, at 20 - a lieutenant, at 21 - a lieutenant and commander of the Life Guards. It's clear that he has a bright future ahead of him! But the palace coup that occurred on the night of December 5-6, 1741, crossed out the rosy plans.

Elizaveta Petrovna, daughter of Peter I, ascended the throne. The entire Brunswick family was arrested and imprisoned in the Riga fortress. Ironically, Munchausen, who was serving in Riga at that time, became the unwitting guard of his benefactors. (There were rumors that the lieutenant helped the prisoners have intercourse with outside world, but the usually loquacious baron never mentioned this period.)

In 1744, he became a participant in another fateful event for Russia: he met Russian border next to St. Petersburg is the 15-year-old Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst, the future Empress Catherine II, and her mother Johanna Elisabeth. The latter noted that the regiment of cuirassiers lined up for the ceremonial meeting and the commander of the guard of honor (Munchausen) were “really extremely beautiful.” For three days the guests stopped in Riga, where a lieutenant also commanded the guard, and he also escorted the royal persons towards St. Petersburg.

Munchausen did not forget about personal life. In the same 1744, he married Jacobina von Dunten, the daughter of a judge living on his own estate near Riga. He and his beloved wife spent six years in those parts, serving, hunting and charming their neighbors with their ineradicable love of life. According to the residents of Riga, these were the happiest six years of his life.

Finally, in 1750, he received the long-awaited rank of captain and after some time asked for an annual leave “to correct extreme and necessary needs” - to divide the inheritance left behind by his father with his brothers. Then he leaves with his young wife for his native Bodenwerder. As it turned out - forever.

A very truthful dreamer

What a deja vu. After wars, snows, court intrigues and palace coups, our hero finds himself in the half-asleep provincial town of his childhood. The Baron, better known to us from Gustave Doré’s drawings as a dry, perky old man with a dashingly curled mustache, was in his early 30s at the time. Well, he passionately indulges in hunting, which he became accustomed to on his father-in-law’s estate, and recalls his former stormy life in distant Russia. However, unlike many warriors who torment those around them with endless monotonous tales, he “arranges” and interprets his stories in such a way that the listeners can only gasp in admiration: “Oh, baron!”

The stories, which turned into a whole performance, a local tradition, usually took place in the hunting pavilion of the estate, where trophies hung on the walls (later it would be called the “pavilion of lies”). Another favorite place for “performances” was the tavern of the King of Prussia Hotel in neighboring Göttingen.

One of the listeners described what was happening like this: “He usually began to talk after dinner, lighting his huge meerschaum pipe with a short mouthpiece and placing a steaming glass of punch in front of him... He gesticulated more and more expressively, twisted his little smart wig on his head, his face became more and more animated and blushed, and he, usually very truthful person, at these moments he wonderfully acted out his fantasies.” Have you noticed “a very truthful person”? That was the reputation real baron Munchausen.

Royal morals: dwarfs in a pie

No, he did not exaggerate his exploits at all, but took real case, turned it inside out and laughed at himself along with everyone else. And sometimes there was no need to turn it inside out - the reality looked so absurd. For example, the famous flight on a cannonball: “We were besieging some Turkish city, and our commander needed to find out if there were many cannons in that city... Of course, I turned out to be the bravest of all... When the cannonball flew out of the cannon, I jumped up astride him and dashed forward... Of course, during the flight I carefully counted everything Turkish guns..." Everyone laughs, no one believes, but Munchausen really turned out to be “bravest of all” and carried out successful reconnaissance behind enemy lines - though not at the core.

Pulling yourself out of the swamp by your hair arose based on the rather difficult crossing of the tributaries of the Dniester by the Russian army. Or here's a story about seven partridges shot with a ramrod and immediately fried. Who else could so cheerfully interpret the incident on the parade ground when a ramrod flew out of a soldier’s gun with such force that it crushed the leg of Prince Anton Ulrich’s horse?

But the Russian Empress's sleigh ride with a ballroom full of young officers and court ladies was just a slight exaggeration: Catherine II really traveled in a huge sleigh with an office, bedroom and library. The story about the giant pate that was served to the empress cannot be called fiction: “When the lid was removed from it, a little man dressed in velvet came out and with a bow presented the text of the poem to the empress on a pillow.” There is a documentary description of the wedding of Peter I’s niece Anna Ioannovna, when two huge pies cut by the tsar with his own hands ran out onto the table and danced a minuet. And what is the difference between fiction and truth?

Made out to be a liar!

Life went on. He extended his leave twice and finally submitted his resignation requesting promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel. But he received the answer that the petition must be submitted on the spot, he did not go to Russia and in 1754 he was expelled as having left the service without permission. So the baron remained a captain, and signed himself until the end of his life: “Russian captain von Munchausen.”

The fame of the brilliant storyteller grew, and friends were taken to listen to him. It would have been a sin not to take advantage of such talent. Which I didn’t do good hour who got in his way was Rudolf Erich Raspe, a writer and scientist with a tarnished reputation, who was caught stealing a numismatic collection and escaped from arrest.

An officially recognized Russian heir to Munchausen really exists

Being broke, Raspe decided to turn the baron's verbal fireworks into hard currency. In 1785, the anonymous Narrative of Baron Munchausen about his wonderful travels and campaigns in Russia." The success was enchanting: already in next year the book was reprinted six times. Soon, a publication about the adventures of the baron, supplemented by new stories, was published on German. Also anonymous (the author was the poet and scientist Gottfried August Bürger).

The Baron was furious! His honest name was slandered, he was made out to be a liar! I wanted to challenge him to a duel, to sue, but how to bring an anonymous person to justice? This is how the writers got away with everything. And crowds of onlookers flocked to the house of the “liar baron” and literally started pointing fingers at him! And the letters came with very unflattering content. I had to set up a cordon of servants and live as if under siege.

"This is how Munchausen was avenged"

Next we enter the realm of rumors and speculation. The book “Addition to Amazing Travels...”, a three-volume edition of which was published in 1794, went almost unnoticed. The author is Lutheran priest Ludwig Schnorr. Place of publication: Bodenwerder. The preface states that the stories are written down from the words of von Munchausen himself. Researchers believe that the latter, oddly enough, may be true, and this book is a kind of revenge for the already very elderly baron.

Among others, there is a story about a microscopic planet where “... there was a large swamp. I saw that it was swarming with small animals... I looked closely and found names on their foreheads, like brands - “Munchausen’s liesmiths.” The liars who attributed this vile libel to me - a book in which there are not even ten of my fairy tales... and soon the Voice was heard again: “So Munchausen was avenged.”

In the "Additions" there is a story about the baron's second trip to Russia, although it is believed that Munchausen did not leave Bodenwerder. There is a story about an innkeeper who bewitched him, “who drew out all his juices, so that his wallet looked like an empty shell” and next to it there is a mention that Jerome had no children in a legal marriage.

But the story we already know about a giant pate for the empress, from which a little man emerged, is supplemented by the baron in this way: “Between you and me, this was my little heir, left behind during the first trip and who meanwhile has grown quite a lot. And this trick was a great success for me.” Did the officially childless Jerome Karl really have a son born in Russia, or is this another fiction?

Was there a boy?

Believe it or not, there really is an officially recognized Russian heir to Munchausen. Only his family originates not from the innkeeper, but from Princess Golitsyna, who, having met the handsome lieutenant at the wedding of Prince Anton Ulrik, gave birth to not a boy at all, but a girl. Which was then, in order to avoid a scandal, transferred to be raised by the family of Ataman Nagovitsyn.

So, in any case, says Vladimir Nagova-Munchausen, who in 2004 defended the right to bear the name of a famous ancestor in the Prokhladnensky Court of Kabardino-Balkaria.

The story of finding documents confirming kinship is no less realistic than the baron’s stories. In a dilapidated house in Arkhangelsk, inherited from an aunt, a teddy bear was discovered, in which, in turn, manuscripts in German were discovered, and among them - the diary of Princess Golitsyna, where everything was described in great detail. As a result of the confession, Vladimir created a Munchausen museum in the water tower, published a book about the baron’s childhood and adolescence, and also, to maintain his image, fired a cannon at North Pole pickled cucumbers.

Hieronymus von Munchausen, after the death of his faithful Jacobina at the age of 74, married the 17-year-old daughter of a neighboring landowner (a devil in the rib!). It ended badly: scandalous divorce, ruin and loneliness. But in the memory of the whole world, the baron, thanks to the writers who “glorified” him, remained a cheerful, cheerful fellow, always ready to pull himself out of any swamp by his hair.

When almost 80-year-old Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Baron von Munchausen once again began to talk about Russia, the listeners grinned skeptically. History was perceived as nothing more than fiction. But in vain.

Warm place

In 1733, Anton Ulrich of Brunswick arrived in St. Petersburg at the invitation of Anna Ioannovna. After 7 years, he marries the niece of the Empress Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who will go down in Russian history under the name Anna Leopoldovna. In the meantime, Anton Ulrich entered military service and in March 1737 participated in the Russian-Turkish War. During the attack of the Turkish fortress Ochakov, he almost dies, but his pages are less lucky: one falls dead on the field, the second receives a mortal wound. After returning to St. Petersburg, Anton Ulrich turns to his brother with a request to find a worthy replacement for the out-of-service pages. One of the contenders for a warm place is 17-year-old Munchausen.

Original treat

Jesters in Anna Ioannovna's bedroom (Jacobi V.I., 1872)

As you know, the Russian court under Anna Ioannovna amazed with its irrepressible luxury. Munchausen also took part in numerous celebrations with fireworks and military parades on duty. Later, one of his favorite stories will be the story of the miracle pate that was served to the Empress during one of the dinners. Its size was impressive. When the lid was removed, the man who was there marched along the dish and with a bow presented Anna Ioannovna with verses of praise. The story could be considered just another absurdity if you did not know about the popularity of such surprises since the time of Peter the Great.

The tsar loved to treat guests (especially foreigners) to strange pies from which something flew out, ran out, came out or crawled out.

Often, not only birds or animals were used as the “filling,” but also midgets, who then entertained the guests with dancing, music, and funny antics.

Military failures

In 1738, Russia again participated in the renewed war with the Turks. When Minich's army approached the Dniester to take possession of the Bendery fortress, the Russians were unable to cross the river - Veli Pasha's 60,000-strong army and the plague forced them to retreat. Lack of water and provisions, poor organization, plague - only half of the participants in the 1938 campaign returned to Russia. Among them was Munchausen, who accompanied Anton Ulrich and, together with other campaigners, suffered all the hardships of the unsuccessful campaign.

Cuirassier regiments

In 1733, the Bevernsky cuirassier regiment was formed especially for Anton Ulrich, which five years later was renamed the Brunswick regiment. "At-arms" heavy cavalry took part in all military operations until 1920, when they included White movement The regiment left the Urzhin farm and retreated to Simferopol. Recruits for the cuirassier regiments were selected from broad-shouldered, long-nosed red-haired guys, but the officer corps was initially represented mainly by foreigners. They occupied a privileged position: they received higher salaries, comfortable apartments, and standard punishments, including caning, were not applied to them. In 1740, prospects for service in the army opened up for Munchausen. military army: he says goodbye to the role of page and enters the Brunswick regiment as a cornet.

Riga holidays

As is known, as a result Northern War the Baltic lands went to Russia. Munchausen was assigned to Riga, where everyday military life began for him. Documents have been preserved in which the baron resolves everyday issues, including uniforms and provisions for soldiers, the arrival of new horses and the discharge of doctors. He gives permission for soldiers' weddings and is involved in the capture of fugitives. Meanwhile, life in Russia is not as calm as in Riga. Anna Ioannovna dies and, as a result of a palace coup, Anna Leopoldovna comes to power. One of the consequences of the seized power is the possibility of Anton Ulrich receiving the rank of generalissimo. Munchausen makes a request to former master and, ahead of 12 competitors, receives the rank of lieutenant. Now he commands the regiment's elite company.

Out of work

Anna Leopoldovna's reign ended as quickly as it began. Already in 1741, Peter's daughter Elizabeth, with the help of loyal guards, organized a new coup, as a result of which the entire reigning family - Anna Leopoldovna, and the young Ivan, and Anton Ulrich - were removed from power and exiled to the Arkhangelsk province. An equally harsh fate awaited all their associates, but by the will of fate, our baron is still in Riga, far from his patron.

Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (Artist Ivan Argunov)

By the way, Elizaveta Petrovna was so afraid of the Brunswick family that in 1745 she even removed all coins with the image of John Antonovich, the legal heir, from circulation. People in whom they were found went through terrible torture and were declared state criminals. The new queen even tried to deprive many of the titles and positions received under Anna Leopoldovna, but she still did not take such drastic measures.

So the baron retained his title and served Russia dutifully for 10 years. True, he no longer took part in military campaigns, despite the fact that in 1741 the outbreak of new war– Russian-Swedish, in which the Brunswick regiment was supposed to take part.

Meeting with the future queen

In 1744, Princess Augusta-Frederica-Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst arrived in Russia at the invitation of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. On the way from Prussia, the future Catherine the Great stops in Riga, where Major General von Braun is waiting for her. It is not difficult to guess that the honor guard of the cuirassier, who solemnly greets the princess, is headed by Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Baron von Munchausen. A year later, sixteen-year-old Frederica married Pyotr Fedorovich, and 17 years later ascended the throne to become one of the greatest Russian rulers, whose name will be inextricably linked with the “Golden Age” of Russian history.

Probably any child over seven or eight years old has heard or read stories about how a cheerful joker in a cocked hat and a long mustache pulled himself out of a quagmire by his hair or flew on a cannonball for reconnaissance. A film about Munchausen with Yankovsky in leading role So they basically sorted it out into quotes.
Meanwhile, this extraordinary personality and even a bit of a clown has his prototype in real life. By the way, it was ours who made a clown out of him, domestic literature, in Europe he is revered rather as an interesting and resourceful storyteller.
So who is the real Munchausen?

Carl Friedrich Hieronymus Baron von Munchausen - German Freiherr (baron), captain of the Russian service and storyteller who became a literary character. The name Munchausen has become a household name as a designation for a person who tells incredible stories.
Carl Friedrich Hieronymus von Munchausen belonged to the ancient Lower Saxon family of Munchausens. He was the fifth of eight children in the family of Colonel Otto von Munchausen.
By the way, the Munchausen family is very ancient family, whose founder, Heino, accompanied Frederick II to Palestine. In addition to Karl Friedrich, the outstanding representatives of the family also include Karl-Ludwig-August-Heino f. M. (1759-1836) - writer; visited America as a volunteer, where in the war of liberation the company led by him and the writer Zeime advanced with its courage; later served in Giessen-Kassel. army. In literature he is known for the drama “Sympathie d. Seelen" (1791), a collection of poems written in collaboration with Seime, or Alexander bar. f. M. (1813-1886) - Hanoverian statesman; in 1850 he was appointed first minister, but with the accession to the throne of George V he was dismissed. Together with Bennigsen, Windhorst and others, M. acted in 1855 as a decisive opponent of bills aimed at expanding the prerogatives of the crown, and ultimately brought upon himself the disfavor of the king. In 1866, M., as a deputy, tried in vain to persuade the ministry to neutrality in the upcoming war between Prussia and Austria. After the annexation of Hanover to Prussia, M., however, joined the particularist party and on March 11, 1867, in the North German Reichstag, delivered a sharp speech directed against Prussian policy.

But let's return to Karl Friedrich Hieronymus.
In 1737 he went to Russia as a page to the young Duke Anton Ulrich, the groom and then husband of Princess Anna Leopoldovna. In 1738 he participated with the Duke in the Turkish campaign. In 1739 (according to other sources - in 1737) he entered the Brunswick Cuirassier Regiment, whose chief was the Duke, with the rank of cornet. At the beginning of 1741, immediately after the overthrow of Biron and the appointment of Anna Leopoldovna as ruler and Duke Anton Ulrich as generalissimo, he received the rank of lieutenant and command of the life campaign (the first, elite company of the regiment).

The Elizabethan coup that took place in the same year, which overthrew the Brunswick family, interrupted what had promised to be brilliant career: despite the reputation of an exemplary officer, Munchausen received the next rank (captain) only in 1750, after numerous petitions. In 1744, he commanded the guard of honor that greeted the Tsarevich’s bride, Princess Sophia-Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst (the future Empress Catherine II), in Riga. In the same year he married the Riga noblewoman Jacobina von Dunten.

Having received the rank of captain, Munchausen took a year's leave “to correct extreme and necessary needs” (specifically, to divide the family estates with his brothers) and left for Bodenwerder, which he got during the division (1752). He extended his leave twice and finally submitted his resignation to the Military Collegium, with the assignment of the rank of lieutenant colonel for blameless service; received an answer that the petition should be submitted on the spot, but he never went to Russia, as a result of which in 1754 he was expelled as having left the service without permission. Munchausen for some time did not give up hope of achieving a lucrative retirement (which, in addition to a prestigious rank, gave him the right to a pension), as evidenced by his petition to the Military Collegium cousin- Chancellor of the Principality of Hanover, Baron Gerlach Adolf Munchausen; however, this had no results, and until the end of his life he signed as a captain in the Russian service. This title turned out to be useful to him during Seven Years' War, when Bodenwerder was occupied by the French: the position of an officer in the army allied with France spared Munchausen from standing and other hardships associated with the occupation.

Since 1752, Munchausen lived in Bodenwerder, communicating mainly with his neighbors, to whom he told amazing stories about his hunting adventures and adventures in Russia. Such stories usually took place in a hunting pavilion built by Munchausen and hung with the heads of wild animals and known as the “pavilion of lies”; Another favorite place for Munchausen's stories was the inn of the King of Prussia Hotel in nearby Göttingen. One of Munchausen’s listeners described his stories this way: “He usually began to tell after dinner, lighting his huge meerschaum pipe with a short mouthpiece and placing a steaming glass of punch in front of him...”

The baron's stories (such subjects that undoubtedly belong to him as the entry into St. Petersburg on a wolf harnessed to a sleigh, a horse cut in half in Ochakovo, a horse in a bell tower, fur coats gone wild, or a cherry tree growing on a deer's head) spread widely throughout the surrounding area and even penetrated in print, but maintaining decent anonymity. For the first time, three plots of Munchausen (anonymous, but knowledgeable people it was well known who their author was) appear in the book “Der Sonderling” by Count Rox Friedrich Linard (1761). In 1781, a collection of such stories (16 stories, including stories from Linar, as well as some “wandering” stories) was published in the Berlin almanac “Guide for funny people", indicating that they belong to Mr. M-g-z-n, famous for his wit, living in G-re (Hanover); in 1783, two more stories of this kind were published in the same almanac (it is unclear whether the baron himself played a role in their publication). However, the publication of Raspe's book, or, more precisely, its German version of Burger, published in 1786 near the baron, in Göttingen, infuriated the baron due to the fact that the hero was supplied with his full name. The Baron considered his name dishonored and was going to sue Burger (according to other sources, he did, but was refused on the grounds that the book was a translation of an English anonymous publication). In addition, Raspe-Bürger’s work immediately gained such popularity that onlookers began to flock to Bodenwerder to look at the “liar baron,” and Munchausen had to station servants around the house to ward off the curious.
However, later the baron began to exist as an independent literary character. In 1781, on the pages of the magazine “Guide for Merry People”, published in Berlin, 16 short stories. The narrator's last name was hidden by the abbreviation "M-H-G-N". This was the beginning of the formation artistic image the legendary Baron Munchausen. In 1785 Rudolf Raspe published anonymously in London on English“The Stories of Baron Munchausen of His Marvelous Travels and Campaigns in Russia,” compiled from the stories in the Guide, with the addition of many others. In 1786 appeared German translation books by E. Raspe with additions by Gottfried August Burger - “ Amazing travel on land and sea, military campaigns and funny adventures of Baron Munchausen, which he usually talks about over a bottle with his friends.” G. Burger divided the book into two parts - “The Adventures of Munchausen in Russia” and “The Sea Adventures of Munchausen”. This version of the book by R. E. Raspe is considered to be textbook. The book was a huge success in Europe; It was she who completed the design of the image of Munchausen as a literary character.

There was not a single adventure of the baron associated with Germany in the book, and soon additions appeared - the book “Addition to the Adventures of Munchausen” by Heinrich Schnorr (1794-1800), in which many of the baron’s adventures take place in Germany. Another addition was the work of Karl Lebrecht Immermann (1839), where the grandson (descendant) of the baron acts as the narrator.

The first translation (more precisely, a free retelling) of a book about Munchausen into Russian was written by N.P. Osipov and was published in 1791 under the title: “If you don’t like it, don’t listen, but don’t bother me to lie.”

The literary Baron Munchausen became a well-known character in Russia thanks to K.I. Chukovsky, who adapted the book by E. Raspe for children. K. Chukovsky translated the baron's surname from English “Münchausen” into Russian as “Munchausen”. In German it is written “Münchhausen” and transliterated into Russian as “Munchausen”. Many foreign and Russian authors, both in the past and present, complementing the formed image (character) with new features and adventures. The image of Baron Munchausen received the most significant development in Russian and Soviet cinema, in the film “That Same Munchausen,” where the scriptwriter Grigory Gorin gave the baron bright romantic character traits, while distorting some facts of the personal life of Karl Friedrich Hieronymus von Munchausen. In the cartoon "The Adventures of Munchausen" the baron is endowed with classic features, bright and magnificent.

Bibliographic data taken from Russian Wikipedia.