The Baron of the Lies

Lower Saxony is home to at least three World famous literary figures: Till Eulenspiegel, the Pied Piper of Hamelin and Baron Munchhausen. While all three most likely have real historic roots, we know it for sure only for the last one. As his historic model would have turned 300 this year, let's discover the life of Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Münchhausen, the man behind the fantastic tall tales. 

Baron Munchhausen was born on 11th May 1720 in the small town of Bodenwerder. In his youth he went to Wolfenbüttel and became the page of Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, who later was generalissimus of the Army of Russia and husband of Anna Leopoldovna, who reigned as regent of Russia for one year. In 1738 he followed his master to Russia, where he most likely fought in the Russo-Turkish War and the Russo-Swedish War. His troops were stationed in Riga and it is said that in the small Latvian town of Dunte he first told his tall tales. In Dunte he also met his first wife. In 1750 they returned to Bodenwerder. There he lived the life of a country gentleman and told his stories to his visitors. However he never wrote them down and was actually even terrified when Rudolf Erich Raspe and Gottfried August Bürger published them anonymously, as he was so much exaggerated that he went down in history as Baron of the Lies. Furthermore his last years were also overshadowed by the death of his first wife in 1790, his unfortunate second marriage and the financial ruin after the following divorce. Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Münchhausen died on 22nd February 1797. Both in Bodenwerder and Dunte there are museums about his life. 

Over the years Baron Munchhausen appeared on some international stamps. To commemorate this year's birthday a new German stamp was issued on 7th May 2020. You can see the new stamp on my new blog about Childhood Heroes on Stamps. Using the label "**Literary Figures from Lower Saxony" you can also find stamps of Eulenspiegel and the Pied Piper. 

German Stamp from 1970

Latvian Stamp from 2005

Liechtenstein Stamp from 2012
from a set about Figures of Classic Literature