collection of American Indian objects from Ernst Tobis, stage name Patty Frank, who was a circus performer and--inspired in his youth from reading Karl May’s books--a collector of American Indian ethnographic artifacts. With Frank’s help and the additional collections her husband and she had acquired on their visits to the United States in 1908 (and then a solo journey she undertook in 1930), she had the foundation of the present collection of over 800 objects. To house the exhibit, a log-cabin style building was erected in 1926 in the back garden of the Mays’ house, and in 1928 the Bärenfett” exhibit was opened to the public (Hoffman 7). Much “Villa later in 1985, the actual May residence was converted in part to preserve May’s study, library, and reception room, and to make a new exhibition space with the additional installation of the exhibit May Leben und Werk” [“Karl May, Life and Work”]. This building is now “Karl – known as Shatterhand,” named after the fictional German frontiersman in the Winnetou “Villa books and May’s performed alter ego. The May Leben und Werk” exhibit was “Karl – refurbished in 1992 (Hoffman 60). The zur Museumsgeschichte” [“Overview of the “Überblick Museum’s History”] on the museum’s website further explains that the Bärenfett” exhibit “Villa was remodeled in 1970, though little has been done with it since (Karl May Museum 2014). On the museum’s website, the [“Future Vision”] tab provides “Zukunftsvision” documentation of the museum’s present plans, including an outline of the remodeling and updates the museum would like to do. So far the planned American-West-themed playground has been installed, as well as a new log cabin building for children’s and education activities, called Nscho-Tschi”. Acknowledging that the display techniques, climate technology, and “Villa multimedia features lag far behind contemporary practice, Bärenfett” is a high priority for “Villa renovation and for a new addition to be built on, apparently in an Southwest Native adobe-style architecture (Karl May Museum, Vorhaben” tab). The intention of the new renovations “Unsere
collection of American Indian objects from Ernst Tobis, stage name Patty Frank, who was a circus performer and--inspired in his youth from reading Karl May’s books--a collector of American Indian ethnographic artifacts. With Frank’s help and the additional collections her husband and she had acquired on their visits to the United States in 1908 (and then a solo journey she undertook in 1930), she had the foundation of the present collection of over 800 objects. To house the exhibit, a log-cabin style building was erected in 1926 in the back garden of the Mays’ house, and in 1928 the “Villa Bärenfett” exhibit was opened to the public (Hoffman 7). Much later in 1985, the actual May residence was converted in part to preserve May’s study, library, and reception room, and to make a new exhibition space with the additional installation of the exhibit “Karl May – Leben und Werk” [“Karl May, Life and Work”]. This building is now known as “Villa Shatterhand,” named after the fictional German frontiersman in the Winnetou books and May’s performed alter ego. The “Karl May – Leben und Werk” exhibit was refurbished in 1992 (Hoffman 60). The “Überblick zur Museumsgeschichte” [“Overview of the Museum’s History”] on the museum’s website further explains that the “Villa Bärenfett” exhibit was remodeled in 1970, though little has been done with it since (Karl May Museum 2014). On the museum’s website, the “Zukunftsvision” [“Future Vision”] tab provides documentation of the museum’s present plans, including an outline of the remodeling and updates the museum would like to do. So far the planned American-West-themed playground has been installed, as well as a new log cabin building for children’s and education activities, called “Villa Nscho-Tschi”. Acknowledging that the display techniques, climate technology, and multimedia features lag far behind contemporary practice, “Villa Bärenfett” is a high priority for renovation and for a new addition to be built on, apparently in an Southwest Native adobe-style architecture (Karl May Museum, “Unsere Vorhaben” tab). The intention of the new renovations
revisiting_winnetou_and_the_karl_may_museum_2.docx