Winnetou

Winnetou
Cover of 1893 edition
Created by	Karl May
Portrayed by	Pierre Brice,Nik Xhelilaj
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Tribal Leader

Winnetouis a fictionalNative Americanhero of several novels written inGermanbyKarl May(1842–1912), one of the best-sellingGermanwriters of all time with about 200 million copies worldwide, including theWinnetoutrilogy. The character made his debut in the novelOld Firehand(1875).

Stories

In May's story, first-person narratorOld Shatterhandencounters theApacheWinnetou, and after initial dramatic events, a true friendship arises between them. On many occasions, they give proof of great fighting skill, but also of compassion for other human beings. May portrays a belief in an innate "goodness" of mankind, albeit constantly threatened by ill-intentioned enemies.

Nondogmatic Christian feelings and values play an important role, and May's heroes are often described asGerman Americans.

Winnetou became the chief of the tribe of theMescalero Apaches(and of the Apaches in general, with theNavajoincluded) after his father Intschu-tschuna and his sister Nscho-tschi were slain by the white bandit Santer. He rode a horse called Iltschi ( "Wind" ) and had a famous rifle calledSilberbüchse( "The Silver Gun" ), a double-barrelled rifle whose stock and butt were decorated with silver studs. Old Shatterhand became theblood brotherof Winnetou and rode the brother of Iltschi, called Hatatitla ( "Lightning" ). In a number of adaptations, Winnetoureferred to himself in the third person.

Themes

Winnetou's DeathorWinnetou's Ascension,cover ofWinnetou IIIbySascha Schneider(1904)

Karl May'sWinnetounovels symbolize, to some extent, a romantic desire for a simpler life in close contact with nature. The popularity of the series is due in large part to the ability of the stories to tantalize fantasies many Europeans had and have for this more untamed environment. The sequel has become the origin of festivals, and the first regular Karl-May-Spiele were staged 1938 till 1941 inRathen,Saxony.East Germanyrestarted those open-air theater plays in 1984. InWest Germany,theKarl-May-FestspieleinBad Segebergwere started as early as 1950 and then expanded to further places likeLennestadt-Elspein honor of Karl May's Apache hero, Winnetou.

The stories were so popular thatNazi Germanydid not ban them, instead the argument was made that the stories demonstrated the fall of the American aboriginal peoples was caused by a lack of racial consciousness.

May's heroes drew onarchetypesof Germanic culture and had little to do with actualNative Americancultures. "Winnetou is noble because he combines the highest aspects of otherwise 'decadent' Indian cultures with the natural adoption of the romantic and Christian traits of Karl May's own vision of German civilization. As he is dying, the Apache Winnetou asks some settlers to sing an Ave Maria for him, and his death is sanctified by his quiet conversion to Christianity."

In the 1960s, French nobleman and actorPierre Briceplayed Winnetou in several movies coproduced by German–Yugoslav producers. At first, Brice was not very excited about the role besideLex Barker,but his very reduced text and stage play brought Winnetou to real life in Germany. Brice not only became a star in Germany, but a significant contributor to German–French reconciliation, as well.

Original German Winnetou stories

Travel stories

• Old Firehand(1875)
• Winnetou(1878, titular characterInn-nu-wo, der Indianerhäuptling(1875) is changed)
• Im fernen Westen(1879, revision ofOld Firehand,later revised forWinnetou II)
• Deadly Dust(1880, later revised forWinnetou III')
• Die Both Shatters(1882)
• Ein Oelbrand(1882/83)
• Im "wilden Westen" Nordamerika's(1882/83, later revised forWinnetou III)
• Der Scout(1888/89, later revised forWinnetou II)
• Winnetou I(1893, temporarily also entitled asWinnetou der Rote Gentleman I)
• Winnetou II(1893, temporarily also entitled asWinnetou der Rote Gentleman II)
• Winnetou III(1893, temporarily also entitled asWinnetou der Rote Gentleman III)
• Old Surehand I(1894)
• Old Surehand II(1895)
• Old Surehand III(1896)
• Satan und Ischariot I(1896)
• Satan und Ischariot II(1897)
• Satan und Ischariot III(1897)
• Gott läßt sich nicht spotten(withinAuf fremden Pfaden,1897)
• Ein Blizzard(withinAuf fremden Pfaden,1897)
• Mutterliebe(1897/98)
• Weihnacht!(1897)
• Winnetou IV(1910)

Juvenile fiction

• Im fernen Westen(1879, revision ofOld Firehand)
• Unter der Windhose(1886, later also withinOld Surehand II)
• Der Sohn des Bärenjägers(1887, withinDie Helden des Westenssince 1890)
• Der Geist des Llano estakado(1888, withinDie Helden des Westenssince 1890)
• Der Schatz im Silbersee(1890/91)
• Der Oelprinz(1893/94)
• Der schwarze Mustang(1896/97)

Other works

• Auf der See gefangen(1878/1879, also entitled asAuf hoher See gefangen)

Comic strip adaptations

In the 1950sCroatiancomic book artistWalter Neugebauerfinished his 1930s comic book adaptation of Karl May's stories.SerbianartistAleksandar Heclalso drew one.Belgian comics artistWilly Vandersteencreated a whole series of comics based on May's stories, simply titledKarl May(1962–1977).More notable Winnetou comic strip adaptations were done by Spanish writer and artistJuan Arranzfor the Dutch comic strip weeklySjorsbetween 1963 and 1970. Most of these stories were also published in comic strip albums and were syndicated to other European countries. Two Hungarian authors named Horváth Tibor and Zórád Ernö collaborated on yet another comic version in 1957. In Germany, Helmut Nickel also adapted the source material, published bi-weekly from 1962 to 1966.

Karl May movies with the Winnetou character

In all these movies, Winnetou was played by French actorPierre Brice,who was wearingRedface,and was usually teamed withLex BarkerasOld Shatterhand.The music for all Winnetou movies (with its famous title melody played on theharmonicabyJohnny Müller) was composed by German composerMartin Böttcher,exceptOld Shatterhand,composed by Italian composerRiz Ortolani,andWinnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand,composed by German composerPeter Thomas.The films were so successful in Germany, their budgets could be increased almost every time. Principal shooting usually took place inPaklenicakarstrivercanyonnational park,Croatia.The early films preceded theSpaghetti Western.

1. Der Schatz im Silbersee(1962) —Treasure of Silver Lake(1965) (Germany) (Yugoslavia)
2. Winnetou 1. Teil(1963) —Apache Gold(1965) (Germany) (Yugoslavia)
3. Old Shatterhand(1964) —Apaches' Last Battle(1964) (UK) (Yugoslavia)
4. Winnetou – 2. Teil(1964) —Last of the Renegades(1966) (UK) (Germany) (Yugoslavia)
5. Unter Geiern(1964) —Frontier Hellcat(1966) (Germany) (Yugoslavia)
6. Der Ölprinz(1965) —Rampage at Apache Wells(1965) (Yugoslavia)
7. Winnetou – 3. Teil(1965) — Winnetou:The Desperado Trail(1965) (Germany) (Yugoslavia)
8. Old Surehand 1. Teil(1965) —Flaming Frontier(1969) (Germany) (Yugoslavia)
9. Winnetou und das Halbblut Apanatschi(1966) —Winnetou and the Crossbreed(1973) (Germany) (Yugoslavia)
10. Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand(1966) —Winnetou and Old Firehanda.k.a.Thunder at the Border(1966) (Germany) (Yugoslavia)
11. Winnetou und Shatterhand im Tal der Toten(1968) —The Valley of Death(1968) (Germany) (Yugoslavia)

All of the Winnetou movies are available onVHS tapeinPALformat – some also dubbed in English under the above-mentioned English titles.Winnetou I–III,Der Schatz im Silbersee,Old Shatterhand,andWinnetou und Shatterhand im Tal der Totenare also available on DVD (region-code 2), but all in German only. In 2004–2005, the missing movies were also to reappear on DVD. In 2016 a Blu-ray box with all Winnetou movies was released; they also were made available as part of the Karl May Blu-ray box.

In April 2009, DVDs of the clearedremasteredmovies were issued in theCzech Republic,selling as an add-on to theMetronewspaper for 50Czech crowns.All movies are dubbed intoCzechandGerman,with subtitles in Czech andSlovak.

Television miniseries

Also in these television series, Winnetou was played by Brice.

• Mein Freund Winnetou(1980) —My friend Winnetou—Winnetou le Mescalero,7 episodes at 52 min.
• Winnetous Rückkehr( "The Return of Winnetou" ) (1998), 2 parts, 171 min. in total
• CBC Documentary

In 2016,Winnetouwas published, a modernized version of the classic movies in three parts directed byPhilipp Stölzl,starringNik Xhelilajas Winnetou.

In popular culture

• The artwork forGang of Four's albumEntertainment!features a heavily processed image from a Winnetou film.
• The song "Mein Bester Freund" ( "My Best Friend" ) on the 1991Die PrinzenalbumDas Leben ist grausamrefers to Winnetou in a short list of heroes, alongsideRobin HoodandSherlock Holmes.
• In 2001, a parody of the Winnetou films,Der Schuh des Manitu,was directed byMichael Herbig.This movie is based on various sketches of Herbig's TV showBullyparade.InBullyparade – Der Film,which was also directed by Herbig, Winnetou is one of the main characters of the episodeWinnetou in Love.
• DirectorQuentin Tarantinomentioned Winnetou in his 2009 filmInglourious Basterds.

Further reading

• Perry, Nicole (McGill UniversityDepartment of German Studies). "Karl May'sWinnetou:The Image of the German Indian. The Representation of North American First Nations from an Orientalist Perspective"(Archive). August 2006. –Info page

External links

Media related toWinnetouat Wikimedia Commons