Bodenwerder, the Town of Baron Munchausen

2013

Title Bodenwerder is not as known as the name of its most famous resident - Baron Karl Friedrich Hieronymus von Munchausen. A hero of fairy tales, cartoons and numerous movies is now known all over the world.

Baron Munchausen was a real person. Born in a family of a colonel, at 17 years he went to Russia, where he participated in the Turkish campaign. Later he was promoted to lieutenant and took command of the elite squad. By the way, actions of many his famous stories take place in Russia.

He was not known before returning to his native Bodenwerder, where he lived from 1752 until his death in 1797. Here, in a hunting pavilion with stuffed animals, Baron told his fantastic stories. And, quite possibly, he would have remained an unknown retired military. But his stories began to diverge around the neighborhood, and in 1781, 16 of them were published in the magazine "Guide for Cheerful People", published in Berlin. After that, several books about Munchausen were writen. After the release of one of them, Baron even went to court, but without any success. He acquired real fame after the book by Rudolf Erich Raspe.

Pictures and sculptures of the famous resident are everywhere in Bodenwerder. The main attraction of the city is the building where he was born. Now it is a museum and Town Hall. The town regularly hosts various performances and musicals, and the largest fireworks festival in Germany takes place here on the second Saturday of August on the Weser river.

2024

This time we came to Bodenwerder with our daughter, as there is a small amusement park here, almost in the center of town (51.974583, 9.510417).






And, of course, we took a walk around. As it turned out, the day before there was a large-scale festival with fireworks (Lichterfest Bodenwerder 2024). We will try to visit it next time.








Have you ever seen one of these? A vending machine for bicycle tires.


Getting there: By train to the Hameln, Emmerthal or Holzminden stations. Then by bus #520 (Im Hagen, Bodenwerder bus stop). Here you can download a PDF file with the bus schedule.