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Karl Friedrich von Munchhausen

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Military Personnel

The Resume

    (May 11, 1720-February 22, 1797)
    Born in Bodenwerder, Germany
    German Baron
    Served in the Russian military (1739-52)
    Inspired numerous stories, collected by Rudolf Raspe in ‘The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchhausen’ (1785)
    Adventures allegedly included riding a cannonball, traveling to the Moon and escaping from a swamp by pulling himself up by his own hair

Why he might be annoying:

    His second marriage ended with a divorce that ruined him financially.
    He gained a reputation for telling exaggerated tales.
    Terry Gilliam’s film ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen’ (1988) was one of the decade’s biggest money losers.
    He gave his name to the psychological conditions Munchhausen Syndrome, in which a person feigns illness for sympathy, and Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy, in which a person gains attention by inflicting injury on someone under their care.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Despite his tall tales, he was known for his honesty in business affairs.
    He received the order of St. Anna from Czar Paul I for his ‘faultless service.’
    Much of the material in Raspe’s collection was borrowed from other sources.
    Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Russia jointly established an international tour of sites visited by the Baron.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 17 Votes: 47.06% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 30 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 34 Votes: 64.71% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 37 Votes: 59.46% Annoying