Some people stand head and shoulders above others, serving through their actions as an inspiration to future generations who follow, however humbly and imperfectly in their footsteps. Today I do not celebrate some religion addled Byzantine nutjob or inbred Habsburg halfwit. Not even a fifth rate Roman emperor or overambitious German lordling who has somehow managed to get himself proclaimed King of the Romans can gain my attention today.
Instead I offer a most respectful birthday greeting to the man whose creativity, intelligence and dedication to strict and impartial reporting of the facts is mirrored in every entry of this blog. Happy birthday to Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Munchhausen who was born on this day in 1720.
Von Munchhausen followed a typical career path for one of his birth. He served as a page to the Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg and when the Duke went to Russia (where he married a noblewoman, fathered a future Tsar and was locked up for decades by that Tsar's replacement) von Munchhausen went too. Despite his employer's unpleasant end von Munchhausen served for several years in the Russian army rising to the rank of Rittmeister. At the age of forty he retired from Russian service and returned to Germany to live on his estates as a country gentleman.
He became famous at dinner parties where he entertained the guests with detailed and witty accounts of his service in Russia which were so amusing that there was frequently a waiting list of people wanting to visit him. His stories were deliberately unbelievable while being told with a deadpan expression and close attention to military detail. The stories were essentially "party pieces" to entertain guests and there is no indication that von Munchhausen expected them to be taken seriously.
At some point in his career von Munchhausen crossed the path of a combined author/scientific researcher/conman by the name of Rudolf Raspe. Raspe heard some of the stories and combined them with other tall tales and published the lot as the Adventures of Baron Munchausen (although he hid his own name to avoid being sued). This was a wise move as von Munchhausen was horrified to discover that his name was now associated with outrageous, dishonest self promotion and attempted to sue the publisher without success. He retreated into silence and stopped holding dinner parties and telling stories.
It was rather a sad conclusion actually and in retrospect this blog seems to be more inspired by Raspe than von Munchhausen but I don't know when his birthday was.
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