What day, according to the film “That Same Munchausen,” did the title character give to his hometown? Wernigerode Castle. The historical residence where “That Same Munchausen” was filmed

Thanks to the man who always speaks only the pure truth, my dearly beloved Baron Munchausen, today is May 32! Before I met him, I celebrated my birthday on the last day of spring, and the next day summer began. But now everything is different - the baron gave us the VERY last day of spring... Another “sunrise and sunset... An extra afternoon... Thousands of new seconds...”
This is one of his greatest discoveries, and maybe the most... Remember: “How many days are there in a year?.. Three hundred sixty-five!.. Exactly?.. No, not exactly... There are three hundred sixty-five days and six hours in a year. These hours are added up, and then every fourth year becomes a leap year.. . But I thought: is there really three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, six hours?! It turned out, no! In a normal year, there are three hundred and sixty-five days, six hours and three more seconds... Any astronomer, even not as authoritative as I. You just need to go up to the stars with a chronometer and from there follow the rotation of the Earth. I have done this more than once... So - three seconds of unaccounted time. Over the years, these seconds add up to minutes, over centuries - into hours. In short, my dears, "During the existence of our city, we have an extra day! It's the thirty-second of May!"
So many works have been written, drawn, staged, filmed and acted about Munchausen that it is simply surprising how such different faces can belong to one hero. In the Bookcase, the barons are even given a whole shelf next to the Alices. But when I close my eyes and try to imagine the real Munchausen, my imagination always pictures him like this:

Because this is "The Same Munchausen".
Gorin's brilliant film was shot in 1979 based on the works of Raspe about the adventures of the baron, brilliantly played by Oleg Yankovsky. I have seen this film countless times, I know it by heart, I can quote it at any time of the day or night, and I rewatch it with great pleasure, especially if someone is watching it with me for the first time (The same Munchausen, DVD film on OZON.ru).
A countless number of books about the adventures of Munchausen have been published, in different translations, retellings, “based on”, and with different illustrations, for every taste. Today, my two favorite publications retold by Chukovsky are the “book with history” from IDM with illustrations by Wilhelm Zimmler and the adventures of the baron from childhood with drawings by Gustave Doré.

















Last year was a fruitful year for good editions of the Munchausens. But they didn’t stay in the stores for long. I consider the most interesting of those available for sale today to be “The Amazing Stories and Merry Adventures of Baron Munchausen” from Moscow Textbooks, retold by Razumikhin with illustrations by Anatoly Eliseev.
Well, if we take a different price category, then I dream of purchasing an “adult” Munchausen by August Bürger in Waldman’s translation with engravings by Gustave Doré for the Cabinet, since my Doré from childhood is not at all distinguished by good print quality.

Well, congratulations to everyone on the very last day of spring! "Smile, gentlemen. Smile!"

Thomas (to pastor): Mister Baron has been expecting you since the morning. He’s been working in his office since the morning, locked himself and asks: “Thomas, he says, Mr. Pastor hasn’t arrived yet?” - No, I say, not yet. - He says: Well, thank God. It's waiting for you.

Thomas (to pastor): Do you mind being a little out of the way? Would you like a fugue, a sonata or something stronger?

Thomas: Frau Martha , I didn’t hear: what time is it?
Martha : The clock struck 3, the baron struck 2, so it was 5 in total.

Martha : Forgive us for God’s sake, Mr. Pastor, we didn’t notice you.
Pastor: Uh-huh.

Baron Munchausen:Got it. Duck. With apples. It looks like it's cooked well.
Pastor : It seems like she doused herself with sauce on the way.
Baron Munchausen: Yes? How sweet of her!

Baron Munchausen: My wife ran away from me two years ago.
Pastor: To be honest, if I were her, I would do the same.
Baron Munchausen: That's why I'm not marrying you, but Martha.

Pastor: ...Because if your wife is alive, you cannot remarry.
Baron Munchausen: You say “alive”?
Pastor: Alive.
Baron Munchausen: Are you proposing to kill her?

Baron Munchausen: You allow kings to get divorced, right?
Pastor: Well, for kings, in special cases, as an exception, when it is necessary, say, for procreation...
Baron Munchausen: To procreate, something completely different is needed.

Baron Munchausen: All love is legitimate if it is love.

Martha: Maybe you shouldn't have started with Sophocles? And this time you were too clever with the duck too.
Baron Munchausen: I wanted to cheer him up.... They told me: he’s a smart man.
Martha: Well, you never know what they say about a person!

Henry Ramkopf: No reason? The man destroyed his family, drove his wife and child out onto the street!
Theophilus: With what child?! I'm an officer!
Henry : Kicked my wife out with the officer!

Henry: Let's clarify: if you have a mistress, good luck; Nowadays everyone has mistresses. But you can’t allow them to marry - it’s immoral!

Burgomaster : They say his wife caught him with some lady-in-waiting. It was terrible! Being somewhat nervously overexcited, the Duke suddenly grabbed and signed several petitions for divorce with the words: “Freedom, everyone free!”

Duke: Do you want a cut off sleeve? Please! Do you want a pleated skirt with darts? I accept this too! But I won’t let you lower your waistline!

Henry (reading): "From 8 to 10 in the morning is a feat."
Burgomaster : I serve myself, madam. Every day by 9 am I have to go to the magistrate. I won’t say that this is a feat, but in general there is something heroic in it!

Duke: What? To me?! In that?! Single breasted? Do you know that no one fights in a single-breasted suit anymore? War is at our doorstep, but we are not ready! No, we are not ready for war!

Duke: Gentlemen, officers, let's synchronize our watches! How many now?
- 15:00!
- 15 and a quarter!
Duke: Or rather?
Commander (looking at the barometer): Plus 22!

Duke : Waist 10 cm lower than in peacetime.
Commander: Below?!
Duke: That is, higher!
Commander: And the chest?
Duke: What breasts?
Commanding : Should we leave it in place?
Duke: No, we take it with us!

Baron Munchausen: Who should use force - you or me?
Officer: Don’t understand?...
Baron Munchausen: So. Maybe send a messenger to ask again?
Officer: That's impossible.
Baron Munchausen: That's right - we will both carry out the order. Logical?
Officer: Uh...
Baron Munchausen: And this is good.

Commanding: Baron Munchausen will be arrested any minute! He asked me to tell you not to disperse.

Commanding: First there were celebrations planned. Then the arrests. Then they decided to combine.

Duke (to the commander):Why does the war continue? Don’t they read your newspapers?

Baroness Jacobina:Divorce is disgusting not only because it separates spouses, but also because it calls the man free and the woman abandoned.

Baron Munchausen: Jacobina has not loved me since childhood and, to give her credit, she managed to evoke reciprocal feelings in me.

Burgomaster: Let’s be honest: I’m also not happy with a lot of things, I also don’t agree with a lot of things! Yes Yes! In particular, I am not delighted with our calendar - and not for the first year. But I don’t allow myself to have breakdowns!

Duke : So what is June like today?!

Burgomaster: The city will stop laughing at you.
Baron Munchausen: It's a pity. I wasn't afraid to seem funny; not everyone can afford that.

Henry: But the spring flows.
Baroness: Sometimes it hits, and sometimes it flows. In this case, it is better for it to flow.

Duke: Let's not pour water out of Munchausen! He is just as dear to us as Karl Hieronymus... And whether his horse drinks or doesn’t drink is of no concern to us.

Pastor: We were sincere in our misconceptions!

Thomas: I didn't believe that you died. Even when they reported in the newspapers, I didn’t believe it....

Thomas : Humor is useful. The joke is that it prolongs life...
Baron Munchausen: Not everyone. For those who laugh, it prolongs it, and for those who joke, it shortens it.

Baron Munchausen: The boy is born. 12 kilograms.
Thomas: Running?
Baron Munchausen: For what? Walking.
Thomas: Talking?
Baron Munchausen: Silent.
Thomas: Smart boy, he will go far.
Baroness: Tomorrow is the anniversary of your death. Do you want to ruin our holiday?!
Burgomaster: He already remembered his face.
- Who will win?
Burgomaster: Duke. Boar!

Burgomaster: Do what you want, but so that in half an hour the forest will be light, dry and there will be a bear! ...We're done! But they were, they were literally the birthplace of bears!
(to the bear) Go away. They multiplied.

Henry : Taking advantage of his external resemblance to the baron; insidiously taking over his gait, voice and even fingerprints...

Burgomaster: How could it not be, when there is already a decision that there was?!

Baron Munchausen: When I return, let it be six o'clock!
Thomas: Six in the morning or evening?
Baron Munchausen: Six in the afternoon.

April 17th, 2015

Carl Friedrich Hieronymus Baron von Munchausen is a German Freiherr, a captain in the Russian service and a storyteller who became a literary character. The name Munchausen has become a household name as a designation for a person who tells incredible stories...

Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Baron von Munchausen, in Russian documents Minichgouzin or Minihausin, was born on May 11, 1720 in Bodenwerder, now the federal state of Lower Saxony, - a German nobleman who was in Russian military service in 1739-1754; then a landowner known as a teller of tall tales.

His hunting tales were supplemented by three different authors - Burger, Raspe, Immermann - with their own fantasies and old anecdotes. Thanks to the writers, Munchausen received the nickname “liar baron” during his lifetime, and this greatly poisoned his life.

Origin and childhood of Hieronymus von Munchausen

The Munchausen family has been known since the 12th century. Jerome's ancestors were landsknechts who collected mercenaries to participate in numerous wars of the 16th and 17th centuries, and accumulated a significant fortune. About a dozen Munchausen castles are located in the Weser Valley, within a radius of 30 km from the city of Hameln, Lower Saxony.

The half-timbered medieval house of the Munchausens, where the famous baron was born, lived and died, this estate is the main attraction of the city of Bodenwerder. Now it houses the town hall and a museum, and the city also has many monuments to the famous baron.

The baron's father, Otto von Munchausen, in his youth served as a page for Duke Christian in Hanover, then entered the army of the Holy Roman Emperor, then into the Hanoverian cavalry, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In 1711 he married Sibylle Wilhelmina von Rehden from Hastenbeck (a small town 15 km from Bodenwerder). May 13, 1720 in Bodenwerder, as evidenced by the entry in the church book, " His Eminence Lieutenant Colonel von Munchausen baptized his son. He was given three names: Jerome, Karl, Friedrich". Jerome grew up on an estate, the main house of which was built back in 1603.

In 1724, the father died, leaving 7 children (a brother and 2 sisters younger than Jerome). No later than 1735, Jerome was sent to Bevern Castle to the Duke of Brunswick (Wolfenbüttel).

Munchausen’s autograph is preserved in the book of Bevern’s pages: “ April 4, 1735 His Serene Highness Ferdinand Albrecht graciously enrolled me as a page" Duke Ferdinand Albrecht II ruled for six months, then died, passing the reign to his eldest son Charles.

Anton Ulrich of Brunswick, portrait by an unknown artist. Oil, 1740. Museum in the castle of Marienburg bei Nordstemmen.

Karl's younger brother Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick came from Wolfenbüttel to Russia back in 1733. He was invited to Russian service by Minich to organize heavy cavalry in the Russian army.

In the summer of 1737, Anton Ulrich took part in the assault on Ochakov, one of his pages was mortally wounded, and the other died of illness. The prince asked his elder brother to find him pages.

Advisor Eben, together with 2 young men (von Hoym and von Munchausen) left Wolfenbüttel on December 2, 1737. The secretary of the Brunswick embassy in St. Petersburg reported in a letter dated February 8, 1738: “ Count von Eben arrived here the other day with two pages».

At the end of February, Anton Ulrich went on the Bendery campaign with his retinue (including pages) as part of Minich’s army; his detachment of 3 regiments took part in the battle on August 28 (14), 1738 on the river. Biloch, repelling the attack of the Turkish cavalry.

Returning from a fruitless campaign, Anton Ulrich married the Mecklenburg princess Anna Leopoldovna on July 25, 1739 (Munchausen was supposed to be in his retinue). At the request of Duchess Biron, page Munchausen was accepted into the cornets of the Brunswick cuirassier regiment.

Munchausen's track record:

November 2, 1750 - released with his wife to his native Bodenwerder to arrange personal property affairs

He had no comments or awards, and did not take part in hostilities. Hieronymus von Munchausen did not join any of the European armies after his retirement. He was proud of his service in the Russian cuirassier regiment and was buried in the everyday uniform of his regiment.

The only reliable portrait of Baron von Munchausen. Attributed to G. Bruckner, 1752. The baron is depicted in the ceremonial uniform of the captain of the Cuirassier regiment, E. I. V. Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, with a black cuirass on the chest.

Promising start to career

After the death of Anna Ioannovna on October 28, 1740, the throne was inherited by the two-month-old son of Anton Ulrich and Anna Leopoldovna, the great-nephew of Peter I, Ivan Antonovich. But the dying empress appointed not her mother or father as regent, but her favorite Biron.

Less than a month later, on November 20, Commander-in-Chief Minich arrested the regent. Anna Leopoldovna proclaimed herself ruler, and her husband Anton Ulrich found himself in the highest government position.

2 weeks after the coup, Munchausen congratulated his patron Anton Ulrich, adding that natural modesty did not allow him to congratulate the prince in a timely manner. Then they remembered the former page. To please the ruler, Field Marshal General P.P. Lassi promoted Munchausen to lieutenant just three days later.

So he beat out 12 other cornets, and even received command of the first company of the regiment - a life company. The company was stationed in Riga, while the regiment itself was stationed in Wenden.

Extraordinary luck

Soon there was a new change in power, which could cost Munchausen very dearly. On the night of November 24-25, 1741, Elizaveta Petrovna arrested the Brunswick family and seized the throne. The entire family with their retinue and servants, according to the highest manifesto, was taken “to the fatherland.” But the empress changed her mind. The motorcade was stopped in Riga, right at the border, and arrested.

Ivan Argunov. Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna

Prince Heimburg's adjutant spent 20 years in prison, and Anton Ulrich himself, after imprisonment in the fortress, died in exile in Kholmogory after 32 years of captivity. If Munchausen, who was in Riga, had been remembered, a similar fate would have awaited him.

But the baron still left the prince’s retinue 2 years ago. Elizabeth showed mercy, confirmed his rank of lieutenant by personal decree and left him to serve in the first company. But now one could forget about quick promotion.

The daily life of the lieutenant of the first, ostentatious company was sheer trouble. In the surviving daily correspondence, Munchausen begged for weapon brackets, mouthpieces, saddles, sent cuirassier Vasily Perdunov into retirement, and sold old cuirassier saddles at auction.

Three times a year he submitted reports on “ gun, uniform and amnitia, what is fit, unfit, and in place of the lost and rejected demand in addition, a report card", as well as about people and provisions. In addition, he was in charge of purchasing horses" from across the sea"- powerful cuirassiers required thoroughbred powerful horses.

The company commander sent people into retirement, certifying them for non-commissioned officer positions in dragoon regiments; reported to the commandant of Riga, Lieutenant General Eropkin, about the escape of two cuirassiers with weapons and uniforms, etc.

Report from the company commander Munchhausen to the regimental chancellery (written by a clerk, hand-signed Lieutenant v. Munchhausen). 02/26/1741

Meeting with the future Empress Catherine II

The most striking episode of the baron's service was the meeting at the Russian border of the 15-year-old Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst Sophia Augusta Frederica, the future Empress Catherine II, accompanied by her mother, in February 1744.

They followed incognito, but a most solemn meeting was arranged at the border. The life cuirassier regiment built for this occasion, as Catherine II’s mother Johanna Elisabeth noted, was “really extremely beautiful.”

For three days the princesses stopped in Riga, where they lived in the house of Councilor Becker on Zunderstrasse. An honor guard of 20 cuirassiers with a trumpeter was commanded by Munchausen, who also escorted the Anhaltin sleigh from the city towards St. Petersburg.

"Released for his needs"

Immediately after the successful meeting, on February 2, 1744, Munchausen married Jacobina von Dunten, the daughter of a Riga judge. The marriage was happy, but childless.

Munchausen did not have promising prospects in Russia. He had no special merits or sins; without a patron, his career advancement stopped, and by 1750 he was already older than all the lieutenants of his regiment.

Decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna on the promotion of Hieronymus von Munchausen to captain. Munchausen Museum in Bodenwerder. 1750.

Then Jerome submitted a petition addressed to Elizabeth Petrovna with the words that “I am the oldest member of that corps.” On February 20, 1750, he was promoted to captain, and on November 2 of the same year, the empress released the “baron” along with his wife to Hanover “for his needs.”

Landowner Munchausen

The captain of the cuirassier regiment, Munchausen, had his leave extended twice so that he could divide the property left after the death of his older brother Hilmar and his mother, as well as the death of one of his younger brothers, Georg Wilhelm Otto, on the battlefield in 1747 in a battle on the territory of modern Belgium. Finally, Wilhelm Werner Heinrich received all the buildings in Rinteln, and Jerome received the estate and lands in Bodenwerder.

The estate was located on one bank of the Weser River branch, and the family forests and fields were on the other. The distance in a straight line was approximately 25 meters, and in a detour through the only bridge - 1 km. Munchausen was tired of crossing on a barge, he ordered his workers to build a bridge.

Now the city administration is located in the Munchausen house. The burgomaster's office is located in the bedroom of the previous owner. The real Hieronymus von Munchausen called his burgomaster “a nasty brawler,” and this was the mildest epithet.

This caused indignation among the townspeople: tramps could enter the city over the new bridge, but the city did not have money for a new post and additional guards. A certain tailor outraged the people, a crowd with axes tore off the bridge decking and knocked out the piles. Since the bridge was small and did not correspond to the scale of the meeting, the new fence of the estate was also broken down.

Quarrels with the burgomaster filled Munchausen's life. Either his workers grazed cattle on the city pasture, then the city council took pigs as a deposit for non-payment of taxes, then they divided the meadow beyond the Weser. Jerome's closest neighbors only caused irritation.

Stories in a Göttingen inn and at court

Together with other landowners, Munchausen sought refuge from scandals by hunting and traveling around the country. The good thing about the hunt was that it lasted for several weeks, a huge company gathered and you could rest your soul, sitting in the evening with a bottle of good wine. Munchausen's favorite place was Ruhlender's tavern in Göttingen at Judenstrasse 12.

In life, a straightforward and truthful person, the “baron” had a special property - when he began to tell a story, he would make things up, lose his head, and he himself would be convinced of the truthfulness of everything he said. In modern psychology, this property of a storyteller is called “Munchausen syndrome.”

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, “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, twirled his little dandy wig on his head with his hands, his face became more and more animated and red, and he, usually a very truthful person, at these moments wonderfully acted out his fantasies.”

To those who tried to pull him back and catch him in a lie, other listeners explained that the narrator was not himself and asked not to disturb him. Munchausen felt inspired in the presence of an audience and spoke in such a way that his drinking companions could personally imagine everything he was talking about, even if it was impossible to believe.

One day, young officers - guests of the tavern - began to brag about their successes with the ladies. Munchausen sat modestly on the sidelines, but still could not resist and said: “Whether it’s my sleigh ride, which I had the honor to make at the invitation of the Russian Empress...” and then he told about a giant sleigh with chambers, a ballroom and rooms where young officers frolicked with the ladies of the court.

At some point general laughter broke out, but Munchausen continued quite calmly, and when he finished, he silently finished his lunch.

Meanwhile, the story was always based on a true incident. Catherine II actually traveled in a huge sleigh with an office, bedroom and library.

Road carriage of Catherine II. Engraving by Hoppe. End of the 18th century

We remember the incidents at the review in August 1739.

One soldier’s gun went off, the ramrod hammered into the barrel flew out with force and crushed the leg of Prince Anton Ulrich’s horse. Horse and rider fell to the ground, but the prince was not injured. We know about this case from the words of the British ambassador; there is no reason to doubt the authenticity of his official report.

Munchausen became such a celebrity that he was invited to the Elector's court. “The Baron” was encouraged to tell something, and as soon as he began, everyone immediately fell silent so as not to frighten off his inspiration.

Literary fame

The Baron did not remember what he said, and therefore was furious when he saw his stories published.

The first book was published anonymously in Hanover in 1761 under the title “Sonderling” (Eccentric). Anonymous, Count Rochus Friedrich Lynar, lived in Russia at the same time as the baron. Three of his stories - about a dog with a lantern on his tail, about partridges shot with a ramrod, and about a hound that whelped while running in pursuit of a hare - were later included in all collections.

20 years later, in 1781, the “Guide for Merry People” was published in Berlin, where 18 stories were told on behalf of the quite recognizable “M-n-h-z-n”. The already elderly baron immediately recognized himself and understood who could have written it - he shouted at every corner that “university professors Burger and Lichtenberg disgraced him throughout Europe.” This publication already greatly enriched the booksellers of Göttingen.

But the saddest thing was ahead: at the beginning of 1786, the historian Erich Raspe, convicted of stealing a numismatic collection, fled to England and there, in order to get some money, he wrote a book in English that forever introduced the baron into the history of literature, “Baron Munchausen’s Stories about His wonderful travels and campaigns in Russia." Over the course of a year, “Stories” went through 4 reprints, and Raspe included the first illustrations in the third edition.

While the “baron” was still alive, a Russian edition was published. In 1791 the collection “ Don’t listen if you don’t like it, but don’t bother lying"without the baron's name. For censorship reasons, short stories describing the morals of the Russian military and courtiers were omitted.

When they ask me the question: “What is my favorite Russian film?”, I answer without hesitation - “The same Munchausen.” Why? I won't even say for sure. I like everything about it. Great plot by Grigory Gorin, in which there is a lot of subtle, kind, sincere and sharp humor. Almost every phrase is a diamond! Brilliant acting. And what actors! Constellation! And of course, a wonderful production by Mark Zakharov.

The story of this film begins with a theatrical production - the play “The Most Truthful”, for the creation of which plots from the works of the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe about the adventures of the legendary Baron Munchausen were used. Grigory Gorin wrote at the request of actor Vladimir Zeldin, who really wanted to play the role of Baron Munchausen. The performance was staged at the Soviet Army Theater and was an incredible success among the audience. Mark Zakharov watched this performance and decided to transfer it to the big screen.

Here is how the director himself talks about how he came up with the idea of ​​making a television version of the play: “That Same Munchausen” began for me with a wonderful play by Grigory Gorin, when I saw the premiere performance of it at the Soviet Army Theater. Munchausen is a wise and skillful jester who instills in people a joyful belief that miracles can become reality. But it is met with misunderstanding by the majority. And people who don’t fit into the majority have always interested me personally.”

However, members of the artistic council also had doubts about the correctness of the choice of director. Zakharov was told that Yankovsky was not suitable in age and was fit to be the baron’s son. Screenwriter Grigory Gorin also had doubts about Yankovsky, writing in his memoirs: “Before that, he played straightforward, tough, strong-willed people - Volga characters that betrayed his origin. I didn't believe in his baron. The work began, he got into character, and changed before our eyes. He grew into the role, and Munchausen appeared - smart, ironic, subtle. What a mistake it would be if we took another actor!”

Nevertheless, Zakharov managed to defend Yankovsky’s candidacy. “There was an element of risk in inviting Oleg Yankovsky to the role of Baron Munchausen,” the director recalled. “After all, he developed as an actor of a completely non-comedy kind. But to Oleg’s credit, his acting palette also contained comedic colors, which found worthy embodiment in the film, especially in its first part.”

But choosing an actress to play Martha turned out to be a difficult task. Among the contenders for the role of the baron's beloved were Irina Mazurkevich and Galina Zolotareva, but Zakharov was inclined to cast Tatyana Dogileva in the film. The fact that Koreneva, unlike Dogileva, as well as more than half of the actors in the film, was not an actress at Lenkom, directed by Zakharov, helped make the choice in favor of Elena Koreneva, who, in the end, was invited to filming. “If everyone is taken to filming, who will act in the theater?” – Mark Anatolyevich noted.

Satire Theater actor Yuri Vasiliev played the role of Theophilus, but Leonid Yarmolnik was cast.

An actor from the Moscow Art Theater Kolesnikov auditioned for the role of Ramkopf, but the majority on the artistic council voted for Alexander Abdulov. They said that although there is no irony in him, he has youth, charm, and he has the sympathy of the audience.

But Leonid Bronevoy was approved without tests.

In the initial scene of Munchausen's conversation with the hunters, German actors were filmed together with Oleg Yankovsky and Yuri Katin-Yartsev, who were later voiced by Russians. If you look closely, you will notice that their articulation does not match the text.

It turned out to be difficult to depict a deer with a cherry tree on its head, which comes out of the forest in confirmation of Munchausen’s words. “When we came to the zoo to film the animal, it turned out that the deer were just shedding their antlers, so there was no need to attach the tree,” says combined filming operator Vsevolod Yakubovich. “We tried to remove the scarecrow, but its eyes were empty. Then they resorted to combined photography. At the animal base of the Tsentrnauchfilm studio, they found a deer that could be passed off as a deer, decorated the enclosure's lattice to resemble a forest, and laid turf. They released the deer, and instead of walking in front of the camera, he began to roll on the ground. Then we decided to try to lure the deer with a treat. It worked. He followed him along the required route. Then we took a cherry tree trunk from the Moscow State University biological station and attached artificial flowers to it. Our familiar choreographer from the Operetta Theater, having carefully studied the passage of the deer, repeated his movements with a tree on his head. After which the tree was cut out and combined with the deer.”

Combined photography was also used in the scene of Martha and Baroness Jacobina passing in a carriage. “We filmed this episode in the Mosfilm pavilion, and it was necessary to place a German urban landscape in the carriage window,” says Vsevolod Yakubovich. – It turned out that the footage taken in Germany was not suitable: the camera was placed on a high tripod, and the carriage windows were at the level of the second floor. I had to zoom in a lot and only use the bottom of the frame.”

“There is a scene in the film: Munchausen’s servant looks through a telescope and, when he sees ducks flying up, gives the baron a sign,” says combined filming operator Vsevolod Yakubovich. - He shoots into the chimney, and a roast duck falls out of the fireplace. According to the idea, the servant was supposed to see ducks in the chimney flying towards him. When we started looking in film libraries for such a flight, we found many shots of ducks flying away from the camera, but not a single one of them flying in the other direction. I had to organize a movie hunt for ducks and drive them towards the camera. A bear also took part in the filming of the film - according to the plot, he came out of the forest during the ducal hunt. In order for the animal to go in the right direction, it was lured with a jar of sprat - when they knocked on it, the bear followed the familiar sound.”

A German stuntman, a kind of German macho, took part in the filming. During the break, the dashing Abdulov approached him and offered to measure his strength: to find out who has the stronger fingers. They crossed their index fingers and began to push against each other. “Suddenly I heard a crunching sound and saw that Abdulov’s finger was twisted somehow unnaturally,” says Dolinsky. “I tell him: “It seems he broke it for you.” “It doesn’t seem like it, but for sure,” replies Abdulov. How Zakharov cursed later! Alexander was given an invisible plaster cast, and he continued filming with it. But his adventures did not end there. Right on the set, Abdulov also managed to break his toe.”

Mark Zakharov already spoke about this: “It wasn’t broken, it was dislocated. Abdulov is a very gambling person and persuaded me to allow him to jump from a four-meter fence without an understudy. The second director - a more experienced person - said that it was necessary to make a special hole that would soften the impact on the ground, and something else. I took it lightly. As a result, Alexander Gavrilovich jumped and injured his leg. I really regretted giving in to him. There was another episode involving risk for Yankovsky, when his hero climbs a rope ladder. I tried it myself first, the steps disappeared from under my feet, it was scary. But Yankovsky, without a backup and insurance, rose to a decent height.”

“That Same Munchausen” suffered less from censorship than Zakharov’s other films - for example, when “An Ordinary Miracle” was submitted to the artistic council, each phrase had to be fought for. A single insignificant scene was cut from “Munchausen”: “Director Mark Zakharov set me the task of writing words for a song about Munchausen, which the heroine Lyubov Polishchuk would have to sing,” says poet Yuri Entin. – Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya recorded it. When the film was released, I sat down by the TV in the hope of hearing my song, I watched the first episode, but there was no song in the second, although my last name was listed in the credits. Then it turned out that the song was banned because of Polishchuk, who at that time for some reason was out of favor on television. I resigned myself to not including “That Munchausen” in my filmography, but a few years later the song was returned to the film.”

The director himself believes that he owes such luck to the fact that the film was released on the eve of the New Year, and the film officials who received the film were already in a pre-holiday mood, as a result of which they were not so picky about his new creation. From the very first showing on television, the film became very popular, and now, more than thirty years after the premiere, it, having acquired the status of a cult film, remains beloved by a huge number of viewers.

A little old man sitting by the fireplace, telling stories, absurd and incredibly interesting, very funny and “true”... It seems that a little time will pass, and the reader himself will decide that it is possible to pull himself out of the swamp, grabbing his hair, turning the wolf inside out , discover half of the horse, which drinks tons of water and cannot quench its thirst.

Familiar stories, isn't it? Everyone has heard about Baron Munchausen. Even people who are not very good with fine literature, thanks to cinema, will be able to immediately list a couple of fantastic stories about it. Another question: “Who wrote the fairy tale “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”?” Alas, the name of Rudolf Raspe is not known to everyone. And is he the original creator of the character? Literary scholars still find the strength to argue on this topic. However, first things first.

Who wrote the book "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"?

The year of birth of the future writer is 1736. His father was an official and part-time miner, as well as an avid lover of minerals. This explained why Raspe spent his early years near the mines. He soon received his basic education, which he continued at the University of Göttingen. At first he was occupied by law, and then natural sciences captured him. Thus, nothing indicated his future hobby - philology, and did not foretell that he would be the one who wrote "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen."

Later years

Upon returning to his hometown, he chooses to become a clerk, and then works as a secretary in a library. Raspe made his debut as a publisher in 1764, offering the world the works of Leibniz, which, by the way, were dedicated to the future prototype of the Adventures. Around the same time, he wrote the novel “Hermyn and Gunilda”, became a professor and received the position of caretaker of an antique cabinet. Travels around Westphalia in search of ancient manuscripts, and then rare things for a collection (alas, not his own). The latter was entrusted to Raspa taking into account his solid authority and experience. And, as it turned out, in vain! The one who wrote “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” was not a very wealthy man, even poor, which forced him to commit a crime and sell off part of the collection. However, Raspa managed to escape punishment, but it is difficult to say how this happened. They say that those who came to arrest the man listened and, fascinated by his gift as a storyteller, allowed him to escape. This is not surprising, because they encountered Raspe himself - the one who wrote “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”! How could it be otherwise?

The appearance of a fairy tale

The stories and twists and turns associated with the publication of this fairy tale actually turn out to be no less interesting than the adventures of its main character. In 1781, in the “Guide for Merry People” the first stories with a cheerful and all-powerful old man are found. It was unknown who wrote The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. The author considered it necessary to remain in the shadows. It was these stories that Raspe took as the basis for his own work, which was united by the figure of the narrator and had integrity and completeness (unlike the previous version). Fairy tales were written in English, and the situations in which the main character acted had a purely English flavor and were associated with the sea. The book itself was conceived as a kind of edification directed against lies.

Then the fairy tale was translated into German (this was done by the poet Gottfried Burger), adding and changing the previous text. Moreover, the edits were so significant that in serious academic publications the list of those who wrote “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” includes two names - Raspe and Burger.

Prototype

The resilient baron had a real-life prototype. His name, like the literary character, was Munchausen. By the way, the problem of this transmission remains unresolved. introduced the variant “Munhausen” into use, but in modern publications the letter “g” was added to the hero’s surname.

The real baron, already at an advanced age, loved to talk about his hunting adventures in Russia. Listeners recalled that at such moments the narrator’s face became animated, he himself began to gesticulate, after which incredible stories could be heard from this truthful person. They began to gain popularity and even went into print. Of course, the necessary degree of anonymity was observed, but people who knew the baron closely understood who the prototype of these sweet stories was.

Last years and death

In 1794, the writer tried to start a mine in Ireland, but death prevented these plans from coming true. Raspe's significance for the further development of literature is great. In addition to inventing the character, who had already become a classic, almost anew (taking into account all the details of the creation of the fairy tale, which were mentioned above), Raspe drew the attention of his contemporaries to ancient German poetry. He was also one of the first to feel that the Songs of Ossian were a fake, although he did not deny their cultural significance.