Believe it or not, there is an Australian (not Austrian!) association devoted to enjoying, researching, and translating the works of German author Karl May into English, and sharing their unusual hobby and interests with other Karl May enthusiasts in Australia and around the globe. The following article and information about the Australian Friends of Karl May was provided by Marlies Bugmann, a member of that society. Also see our other Karl May pages (links on the right).
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Australian Friends of Karl May is a place where the enduring success of Karl May’s stories can be discussed, dissected, elaborated, or simply admired. It’s a place where his life and work can be researched, questions can be asked, and hopefully answered by other Karl May enthusiasts among us. It’s a place where we try and link "Australian Friends of Karl May" with places where English language Karl May books and texts are available. It’s a place where his friends are encouraged to translate Karl May into English--a labour of love whose only reward at the end will be admiration and entry into a very exclusive club--the club of translators of Karl May works. It’s a place with room for any and all interests in Karl May, his life, his work, his stories, his characters, his wives, his adversaries, his time, his visions, most of all his "Edelmensch," the envisaged "noble human". The concept of Australian Friends of Karl May, the website and its function were conceived and implemented during January and February 2005.
After thirty-five years, I decided to re-visit a couple of old acquaintances: companions of my childhood and early teenage years in Europe--Karl May and Winnetou. The noble Apache chief Winnetou, Karl May’s greatest creation was always at my side, and life-size on my wall during the early sixties Winnetou film era and the Bravo magazine "star cut"—fighting my battles with me, and sometimes for me.
When writing my own books today, I quietly ask myself in times of pesky writers’ blocks, before I fall asleep at night how would Karl May treat this turn of events? Sometimes, miraculously, the next morning I have the resolution in my head, and need only write it down. During the thirty-five years without my friends, I often wondered whether there were any Karl May books in English on the shelves of the local bookstores in Australia. But I always came up empty; wondering why. A satisfactory answer still eludes me.
One ultimate goal is ahead: that of seeing all of Karl May’s original works translated into the English language. Somehow I have a feeling that might not happen in the foreseeable future, indeed it might not even happen in my lifetime. But others have made a start, and having the advantage of being bi-lingual, I aim to follow in their footsteps... well, I have intent. This is a long-term project and it won’t wait for another thirty-five years. — Marlies Bugmann
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The famous physicist, Albert Einstein, said about Karl May: "My whole adolescence stood under his sign. Indeed, even today he has been dear to me in many a desperate hour." How true! When I read my first Karl May book—and which one it was, I cannot say today, I read them in translation, and wanted to know how the originals sound. Therefore I learned German by reading Karl May's books. The tragedy of Karl May as a writer was that he never was awarded during his life time a literary prize, which he so richly deserved. The other reason is that Karl May had the uncommon ability to mix fiction with facts, which make his narratives so credible. It is called creative writing, but people mistook it for lying. More things have been brushing against the hair of Karl May's contemporaries in the Wilhelmine Germany of the second half of 19th century: May's view on equality of races, claiming that peace is better than war, his stand for conservation of nature, his concept of a higher being and moral values to which all people should be bound in their conduct. As Albert Einstein, I too enjoy reading Karl May. I even think that his tales from the American frontier land in the 19th century are in many cases far better than the stories written by some Americans. Many authors and their books come and go, forgotten forever. This does not seem to be the case of Karl May and his captivating world. I wish him and the memory of him my best. Howgh! — Dr. William E. Thomas, M.D
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