On the afterlife
On the beyond is volume 25 of the “Collected Travel Stories” by Karl May . This work was written in 1899 for the book edition by Friedrich Ernst Fehsenfeld .
History of origin
The anniversary volume no. 25 was the third after volume 7 “Winnetou I” and volume 24 “Christmas” , the text of which was not preprinted in magazines or other print media. Originally, Karl May intended to conclude this travel story in a single volume. The beginning of the tetralogy “Im Reiche des Silbernen Löwen” was planned for volume 26 , as this work was already published in the German House Treasure . But the work became so extensive while writing that May had to end the story in the middle of the plot and put his readers off for a second part, “In the Hereafter” . Due to the decisive experience of his great trip to the Orient in 1899/1900, which led him to the " symbolic " spelling, it never came to that. A continuation would have led to the same “ break in the building ” ( Otto Eicke ) as with the silver lion tetralogy.
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Kara Ben Nemsi is on the way to Mecca with Hajji Halef Omar , his wife Hanneh, their son Kara Ben Halef and a group of Haddedihn . In the Arabian desert they meet the blind Münedschi, who was first buried alive by his 'protector' El Ghâni (“The Rich”) and then abandoned. They save him and take him to Mecca, where he lives. The supervisor of the Shiite holy places of Meshhed Ali , Khutab Aga, who hunts the robbers of the sacred "treasure of the limbs", joins them. Kara Ben Nemsi helps him get the treasure back from the perpetrator El Ghani. He then incites Bedouins to raid society in order to get revenge and to get the treasure back. The companions of Khutab Aga are murdered, the latter and Kara Ben Nemsi are captured and almost killed. The Haddedihn and befriended Bedouins save them and give the treasure back to Khutab Aga. El Ghâni, whose son was killed in the fighting, is released and chased away. The Münedschi always has visions in which he speaks with the voice of the spirit being Ben Nûr and can take a look into the hereafter. The journey to Mecca continues.
"In Mecca"
Karl May did not finish the story, but the end was unsatisfactory. In his estate there was no indication of how he had intended the sequel, but after his turn to symbolism the work would have turned out very differently than originally planned. Franz Kandolf therefore wrote Volume 50 in the style of the author in the travel adventures. This attempt is therefore not without controversy in literary criticism.
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Kara Ben Nemsi and his companions save the abandoned Münedschi and heal his eye disease. He can be convinced of the dishonesty of Ghani and reveals his true life story, which brought him from Russia, which he left for political reasons, to the Persian court. In Tehran, the Ghani had staged an intrigue against the Münedji and thus made him dependent. Upon arrival in Mecca, Kara Ben Nemsi and Hatschi Halef Omar discover evidence of the Ghani's predatory intentions. They find access to an underground secret passage, which leads them on the trail of a Ghani conspiracy against the Grand Sherif and the Ottoman governor. In order to get rid of his adversaries, however, the Ghâni tries to discredit Kara Ben Nemsi and his companions against the Grand Sherif and accuses them of the disappearance of the Münedschi. At a public hearing in the residence of the Grand Sherif, however, Münedschi, who is now sighted, unexpectedly appears, who instead testifies to the Ghani's guilt. Kara Ben Nemsi is exposed as a Christian, but is allowed to stay in Mecca because of the goodwill of the Grand Sherif. With the help of Hajji Halef Omar and the Haddedihn under the leadership of Kara Ben Halef, the Ghâni is arrested when he tries to use the secret passage to attack the Grand Sherif. The Münedschi is given his property back and he can also bring the secret of his previous life to a satisfactory end. The Ghani, fleeing from Mecca, dies mysteriously in a sandstorm, exactly at the place of the abandoned Münedschi in the desert. The prophecy of Ben Nûr is thus fulfilled.
Book editions
- Karl May: On the beyond. Travel experiences from Karl May . (Karl May's collected travel stories. Volume XXV). Freiburg: Fehsenfeld, 1899. Reprint Bamberg: Karl-May-Verlag, 1984.
- Franz Kandolf: In Mecca. Continuation of Karl May's travel story Am Jenseits (Karl May's Collected Works, Volume 50 ), Karl May Verlag, Bamberg 1953.
literature
- Wolfgang Hermesmeier, Stefan Schmatz : Development and expansion of the collected works. A success story for 110 years . In: Lothar and Bernhard Schmid (eds.): The polished diamond. Karl May's Collected Works. Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg / Radebeul 2003, ISBN 3-7802-0160-7 , pp. 341-486, especially p. 378 f.
- Hans Wollschläger : The "owner of many bags": Reading notes on Karl May's "Am Jenseits" (materials for a character analysis II) . In: Yearbook of the Karl May Society 1974. pp. 153–171.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Hermesmeier / Stefan Schmatz: Origin and expansion of the collected works ... , 2003, p. 378 f.
- ↑ a b Franz Kandolf: In Mekka ... (GW 50), 1953, pp. 6-8.
- ↑ GR XXV contains from page 504 one of the most interesting descriptions of a near-death experience . In the now shorter version of the Karl May Verlag ( GW 25 ), it is Chapter 11: Die Derbestunde , p. 381 ff. Cf. on this: Johannes Zeilinger : “I had died and had noticed this”. Apparent death and near-death experiences with Karl May , in: Jb-KMG 2016, pp. 241–270.
- ↑ Karl May: On the beyond. Travel experiences from Karl May . (Karl May's collected travel stories. Volume XXV). Freiburg: Fehsenfeld, 1899. Reprint Bamberg: Karl-May-Verlag, 1984.
- ^ Franz Kandolf: In Mekka ... (GW 50), 1953.