Karl F. May books and films have an avid group of followers in many countries

The author Karl Friedrich May belongs to the best selling German novelists of the nineteenth century. He was given birth to on 02/25/1842 and perished on 03/30/1912. More than 200 million copies of Karl Friedrich May’s works were distributed all over the world. The most famous characters of Karl F. May’s volumes are Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. Winnetou is the clever prince of the Apache Tribe, and Old Shatterhand is his white blood brother.

From 1912 to 1968 there were publicized 23 movies following Karl F. May’s novels. The American performer Lex Barker became very popular for playing the role of Old Shatterhand. Another main Karl May character is Old Shurehand. The British performer Stewart Granger acted as the character of Old Shurehand in three films. The films were quite successful, although partially only inaccurately following the original Karl Friedrich May volumes.

The Karl Friedrich May books have been translated into at least forty languages and have been publicized all over the world. They are popular even in countries like Indonesia and the Czech Republic. Exceeding 84 books are included in the German Karl May collection, all of which should be available at the following online book store: Karl May Buecher Shop.

Books 1 to 9 have been publicized to the German audience under the following titles:

• Band 1: Durch die Wueste
• Band 2: Durchs wilde Kurdistan
• Band 3: Von Bagdad nach Stambul
• Band 4: In den Schluchten des Balkan
• Band 5: Durch das Land der Skipetaren
• Band 6: Der Schut
• Band 7: Winnetou I
• Band 8: Winnetou II
• Band 9: Winnetou III

Karl F. May wrote the first 3 Winnetou stories and the three Old Shurehand books in the 1890s. They are set in the so-called Wild West of North America. Mentionable is the certainty that Karl F. May’s first trip to America took place not before the year 1908. This tour took him to the Niagra Falls, Buffalo and Albany, but not farther west. So his famous stories came from imagination, creativity and factual sources as travel accounts, maps and guide books, as well as anthropological books.