The crimson Methuselah

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
First page of the first edition as a serialized novel under the title Kong-Kheou, the word of honor , 1888/89
Fourth edition of the book with illustrations by Oskar Herrfurth , 1904

The blue-red Methuselah , first published in 1888/89 in the magazine Der Gute Kamerad as a serial novel Kong-Kheou, the word of honor , is a youth novel by Karl May . It bears the subtitle "A funny student trip to China" (edited by Karl May Verlag) and has been listed as volume 40 in Karl May's catalog raisonné since 1914. The book edition with the new Methuselah title appeared for the first time in 1892 in the "Union-Verlag". Methuselah is the nickname of Fritz Degenfeld, one of the main characters who received this addition due to his blue-red nose.

content

The "eternal fraternity student " Fritz Degenfeld undertakes an adventurous journey to and through China with the young Richard Stein in search of his missing uncle. They are accompanied by Degenfeld's factotum Gottfried von Bouillon and a huge Newfoundland dog who always carries Degenfeld's beer glass in his mouth. On the trip they are also joined by the fat Dutch Mijnherr Willem van Aardappelenbosch and the captain Heimdall Turnerstick , who claims that he can speak perfect Chinese by simply adding the endings -eng, -ing, -ong, -ung to all words and is surprised that he is not understood.

On this trip, the friends experience some adventures, including with a beggar king. In the end, however, they manage everything they set out to do before the trip.

Others

The novel was to be filmed twice, but both attempts failed.

Bavaria Filmkunst GmbH made the first attempt to film it in 1939 , after a failed attempt to film the first part of the novel Winnetou by Luis Trenker .

In 1964, at the height of the Karl May films , a script was completed for the CCC film production by producer Artur Brauner . The film was to be shot in the remaining sets of the large-scale production “In the Empire of Kublai Khan” ( La Fabuleuse aventure de Marco Polo , 1965). For the title role were u. a. OW Fischer , Fernandel , Joachim Fuchsberger , Heinz Rühmann and many others in conversation. The costing for the film was over DM 1.7 million. After various revisions of the disappointing script, CCC boss Brauner threw in the towel in frustration at the end of 1964, even though Nora film distribution had already announced the film in its distribution program. No other Karl May film project was canceled so close to implementation.

See also

literature

  • Karl May: The blue-red Methuselah , Karl-May-Verlag, Bamberg - ISBN 3-7802-0040-6 (edited)
  • Karl May: Kong-Kheou, the word of honor , Franz Greno, Nördlingen 1988 (Karl May Works, Department III, Volume 2)
  • Raimund Lang: Gaudeamus in the Wild West. On the 100th anniversary of Karl May's death; in: Acta Studentica. Austrian Journal for Student History, Volume 43, Volume 181, September 2012, pp. 1ff
  • Raimund Lang: Funny student trip. Karl May's "Blauroter Methuselah" appeared 120 years ago; in: Studentenkurier, No. 2/2012, p. 4ff
  • Raimund Lang: Again Karl May: Did the "Blue-Red Methuselah" exist in person? in: Studentenkurier, No. 3/2012, p. 17

Web links

Works by Karl May


Early work (1875–1883)

The Book of Love  • Geographical sermons (in “ Schacht und Hütte ”) • The two Quitzow's last voyages  • Caught on the sea  • Scepter and hammer  • In the far west  • The Ranger  • The Jewel Island
Groups of shorter texts: adventure stories (including Old Firehand  • The Oil Prince ) • Erzgebirge village stories  • Stories about the old Dessauer  • Historical stories  • Humoresques

Colportage novels (1882–1888)

The forest rose  • The Uhlan's love  • The lost son  • German hearts - German heroes  • The way to happiness

Travel stories (1892–1899)

Through the desert and harem ( through the desert ) • Through wild Kurdistan  • From Baghdad to Stambul  • In the gorges of the Balkans  • Through the land of the Skipetaren  • The Schut  • Winnetou I – III  • Oranges and dates  • On the Pacific Ocean  • On the Rio de la Plata  • In the Cordillera  • Old Surehand I  • Old Surehand II  • In the land of the Mahdi I – III  • Old Surehand III  • Satan and Ischariot I – III  • On strange paths  • “Christmas!”  • In the realm of the silver lion I- II  • On the afterlife
special case: The rose of Kaïrwan

Youth narratives (1887–1897)

The son of the bear hunter  • The spirit of the Llano estakado  • Kong-Kheou, the word of honor ( The blue-red Methuselah ) • The slave caravan  • The treasure in the Silver Lake  • The legacy of the Inca  • The oil prince  • The black mustang
Groups of shorter texts: illustration texts  • Texts below the pseudonym Hobble-Frank

Late work (1900–1910)

Heavenly thoughts  • In the realm of the silver lion III  • Erzgebirge village stories  • In the realm of the silver lion IV  • And peace on earth!  • Babel and the Bible  • Ardistan and Jinnistan I – II  • Winnetou IV  • My life and striving

Other works (1896–1912)

The joys and sorrows of a widely read person  • Serious sounds (contains, among others, Ave Maria ) • Three questions of humanity  • Sitara, the land of the human  soul • Up into the realm of noble men

Film adaptations of the works and life of Karl May


cinemamovies

On the ruins of paradise  (1920) • The death caravan  (1920) • The devil worshipers  (1920) • Through the desert  (1936) • The slave caravan  (1958) • The lion of Babylon  (1959) • The treasure in the Silver Lake  (1962) • Winnetou Part 1  (1963) • Old Shatterhand  (1964) • The Schut  (1964) • Winnetou Part 2  (1964) • Among Vultures  (1964) • The Aztec Treasure  (1965) • The Pyramid of the Sun God  (1965) • The Oil Prince  (1965) • Through wild Kurdistan  (1965) • Winnetou 3rd part  (1965) • Old Surehand 1st part  (1965) • In the realm of the silver lion  (1965) • The legacy of the Inca  (1966) • Winnetou and the Half-blood Apanatschi  (1966) • Winnetou and his friend Old Firehand  (1966) • Winnetou and Shatterhand in the valley of the dead  (1968) • The trail leads to the Silver Lake  (1990) • WinneToons - The legend of the treasure in the Silver Lake  (2009)

Television series and films

With Karl May in the Orient  (1963) • Kara Ben Nemsi Effendi  (1973/75) • My friend Winnetou  (1980) • The bush ghost  (1986) • Hello - here Karl May / Bärenstark  (1987) • Prairie hunters in Mexico  (1988) • Winnetou  (1996) • Winnetou's Return  (1998) • WinneToons  (2002) • Winnetou - The Myth Lives  (2016)

Adaptations of the biography

Acquittal for Old Shatterhand  (1965) • Karl May  (movie, 1974) • Karl May  (TV series, 1992)