Karl F. May novels and films have an avid group of fans in Europe
The writer Karl Friedrich May belongs to the group of best selling German novelists of the 19th and 20th centuries. He was born on February 25, 1842 and passed away on 03/30/1912. At least 200 million copies of Karl May’s books have been bought around the globe. The best-known heroes of Karl F. May’s works are Old Shatterhand and Winnetou. Winnetou is the intelligent prince of the Apache Tribe, and Old Shatterhand is his white friend.
From 1912 to 1968 there were published twenty-three movies following Karl Friedrich May’s works. The American performer Lex Barker became very renowned for acting as the character of Old Shatterhand. Another important Karl May figure is Old Shurehand. The British performer Stewart Granger acted as the character of Old Shurehand in three movies. Those films became very successful, although some of them only inaccurately reflecting the original Karl May novels.
The Karl May stories have been translated into over forty languages and have been released in a lot of countries. They are well-known even in countries like the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. At least 82 novels are included in the German Karl Friedrich May collection, all of which can be bought at the following Internet book shop: astore.amazon.de/karl-may-buecher-21. The available English translations of Karl May’s volumes could be for sale at the following online book shop: astore.amazon.com/karl-may-books-20
Books 1 to 9 have been released to the German public under those headers:
- Buch 1: Durch die Wueste
- Buch 2: Durchs wilde Kurdistan
- Buch 3: Von Bagdad nach Stambul
- Buch 4: In den Schluchten des Balkan
- Buch 5: Durch das Land der Skipetaren
- Buch 6: Der Schut
- Buch 7: Winnetou I
- Buch 8: Winnetou II
- Buch 9: Winnetou III
Karl Friedrich May wrote the the 3 Old Shurehand stories and the first 3 Winnetou books between 1890 and 1900. They are set in the grand Wild West of North America. Surptising is the matter that Karl F. May’s first journey to America took place not before the year 1908. That visit took him to Buffalo, the Niagara Falls and Albany, but not farther west. Consequently his famous novels originated from creativity, imagination and literature studies such as guide books, maps and travel accounts, as well as anthropological and linguistic books.