Old Shatterhand

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Old Shatterhand is a fictional character in sixteen western novels by German writer Karl May (1842-1912). He is the German American 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.

Old Shatterhand is the alter ego of Karl May, and May himself maintained that he experienced all the adventures in person, even though he never traveled west of Buffalo, NY. Most of the stories are written from a first person perspective, and Winnetou often calls Old Shatterhand my brother Scharli (Scharli being a mispronounced form of Charlie, and ultimately meaning Karl in German). 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 (who also originates from Germany but is already an old-timer in the American West), as he was able to knock out his adversary with a single stroke.

Old Shatterhand owns two famous rifles, the Bärentöter (Bear Killer) and the Henrystutzen (Henry Carbine), 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 (Lightning), which he got from Winnetou, who rode the horse's brother, called Iltschi (meaning Wind).

The tales may have been an influence on the creation of the Lone Ranger media franchise.

[edit] Trivia

  • Stewart Granger starred in several movies as a character named "Old Surehand". Old Surehand is another character created by Karl May and is not to be confused with Old Shatterhand. Karl May dedicated three volumes to the character Old Surehand who is like Old Shatterhand a renowned Western hero, and is best friends with the Native Americans.

[edit] 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 (The Treasure of Silver Lake) (1962), dir.: Dr. Harald Reinl
  • Winnetou 1. Teil (Apache Gold) (1963), dir.: Dr. Harald Reinl
  • Old Shatterhand (Apaches Last Battle) (1964), dir.: Hugo Fregonese (imdb.com)
  • Winnetou 2. Teil (Last of the Renegades) (1964), dir.: Dr. Harald Reinl
  • Winnetou 3. Teil (The Desperado Trail) (1965), dir.: Dr. Harald Reinl
  • Winnetou und das Halbblut Apanatschi (Half-Breed) (1966), dir.: Harald Philipp
  • Winnetou und Shatterhand im Tal der Toten (Winnetou and Shatterhand in the Valley of Death) (1968), dir.: Dr. Harald Reinl