Old Shatterhand
Old Shatterhand is a fictional character in Western novels by German writer Karl May. He is the German friend and blood brother of Winnetou, the fictional chief of the Mescalero tribe of the Apache. He is the main character in the Eurowestern by the same name from 1964, starring Lex Barker, as well as in six more films of the Winnetou film series.
Characterisation
Old Shatterhand is the alter ego of Karl May, and May himself maintained that he experienced all the adventures in person, even though in fact he did not visit America until after he wrote most of his well-known Western stories, and never traveled west of Buffalo, New York. Most of the stories are written from a first person perspective, and Winnetou often calls Old Shatterhand my brother Scharli. May also wrote stories about the same character traveling the Orient, where he is known as Kara Ben Nemsi.May attached the prefix Old to the names of several of his characters, considering it to be typically American and a sign of the characters' great experience. In the stories, Old Shatterhand is given the name by his friend Sam Hawkens, as Old Shatterhand was able to knock his opponents unconscious with a single punch from his fist aimed at the head.
Old Shatterhand owns two famous rifles, the Bärentöter and the Henrystutzen, both made by a fictional gunsmith called Henry in St. Louis. The Henrystutzen was able to fire 25 shots without reloading, probably a hyperbolic reference to the Henry rifle. Old Shatterhand rode a horse called Hatatitla, which he got from Winnetou, who rode the horse's brother, called Iltschi.
The tales may have been an influence on the creation of the Lone Ranger media franchise. Christian Tramitz parodied Shatterhand as a character called Ranger in the "Apahachi and Ranger" sketches for Michael Herbig's comedy show Bullyparade and their cinematic adaptation Der Schuh des Manitu.
Original German Old Shatterhand stories
Travel stories
- Deadly Dust
- Ein Oelbrand
- Im »wilden Westen« Nordamerika's
- Winnetou I
- Winnetou II
- Winnetou III
- Old Surehand I
- Old Surehand II
- Old Surehand III
- Satan und Ischariot I
- Satan und Ischariot II
- Satan und Ischariot III
- Gott läßt sich nicht spotten
- Ein Blizzard
- Mutterliebe
- „Weihnacht!“
- Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen I
- Winnetou IV
Stories for youth
- Unter der Windhose
- Der Sohn des Bärenjägers
- Der Geist des Llano estakado
- Der Schatz im Silbersee
- Der Oelprinz
- ''Der schwarze Mustang''
Further mentions
- In Unter Würgern, a story set in the Orient, the name Old Shatterhand appeared for the first time: the otherwise anonymous first-person narrator mentions casually that this name was given to him in the Plains.
- In the chapter An der Tigerbrücke directly written for the omnibus edition Am Stillen Ocean the first-person narrator called Charley indicates his identity with Kara Ben Nemsi and Old Shatterhand.
- In the story Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen IV Kara Ben Nemsi says once he was Old Shatterhand.
Movies
The character of Old Shatterhand was played in the German Karl May movies of the 1960s by American actor Lex Barker.Der Schatz im Silbersee, dir.: Dr. Harald ReinlWinnetou 1. Teil, dir.: Dr. Harald ReinlOld Shatterhand, dir.: Hugo FregoneseWinnetou – 2. Teil, dir.: Dr. Harald ReinlWinnetou – 3. Teil, dir.: Dr. Harald ReinlWinnetou und das Halbblut Apanatschi, dir.: Harald PhilippWinnetou und Shatterhand im Tal der Toten, dir.: Dr. Harald ReinlIn contrast to the stories in the movies Unter Geiern and Der Ölprinz Old Surehand was the hero instead of Old Shatterhand. Old Surehand is another character created by Karl May, who wrote three books featuring the character. Old Surehand, like Old Shatterhand, is a renowned Western hero and best friends with the Native Americans. Unlike Old Shatterhand, Old Surehand is a half-blood Native himself, though raised in a white family.
English translations of Karl May's works
- Karl May's works have been translated by Marlies Bugmann