May, Karl |
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BORN 25 Feb 1842, Hohenstein-Ermstthal, Sachsen - DIED 30 Mar 1912, Radebeul, Sachsen (near Dresden) GRAVE LOCATION Radebeul, Sachsen: Friedhof Radebeul-Ost |
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Karl May was born in Hohenstein-Ermstthal as the fourth of fifteen children in a family of weavers. He worked as a schoolteacher, but his other activities even resulted in a prison sentence. After 1874 he became famous thanks to his adventurous tales of the Orient (Kara Ben Nemsi) and the Wild West (Winnetou, Old Shatterhand). Many of his readers considered his stories to be very realistic, but the press often wrote that his writings couldn't be further from the truth. In 1883 he moved to Dresden and he purchased his 'Villa Shatterhand' in Radebeul from the Ziller Brothers in 1895. Here he lived for the rest of his life. When he finally visited the USA in later years and spent six weeks there in 1908, it became clear to him that the country was compeletely different from what he had imagined. May kept up appearances and wrote that his visit had brought him great new ideas for future stories. He died in 1912 in Radebeul and he was buried there. Related persons • was influenced by Gerstäcker, Friedrich • met Näcke, Paul • was a friend of Schneider, Sascha • admired Ulrich, Pauline |
| Images |
 Karl May's grave at the Radebeul-Ost Cemetery. Picture by Androom (06 Aug 1998) |
Sources • Aubert, Joachim, Handbuch der Grabstätten berühmten Deutscher, Österreicher und Schweizer, Deutscher Kunstverlag, München, 1973 • Karl May - Wikipedia (EN) |
