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It was Christmas Eve, and I was eight or nine years old. I'd just opened the small gifts under the tree when my father said there was a surprise in the basement. It must be Winnetou's Silver Gun, at the top of my wish list. But I didn't understand why I had to go down to the basement to get the toy weapon.Cowboys and Indians in 1970s GermanyI had been a Winnetou fan ever since I first heard the audio version of the Wild West stories by Karl May. I would sit at the record player and listen to how the character Karl May, aka Old Shatterhand, came to the Wild West. In the story, he's a German engineer who wanted to build a train line through Apache country. But then he got to know the Apache tribe and became 'blood brothers' with Winnetou, fighting at his side for the rights of Native Americans.
Generations of Germans have given pride of place on their bookshelves to these green Karl May volumesEven after growing out of my Winnetou phase, I remained interested in Native Americans. I studied their history and read personal accounts written by Native Americans about the horrible oppression and persecution they face.When I traveled to the US in the mid-1990s to do a report on the Smithsonian Institution, I visited the National Museum of the American Indian in New York. A woman there told me that Germans often came with a positive image of Native Americans - thanks to Winnetou. It doesn't matter that his world couldn't have been further removed from real life.Karl May is practically unknown in the US. The Winnetou trend in 1960s Germany could have something to do with German history, says Michael Petzel. 'After the war, Germans wanted to be the good guys. And the German Old Shatterhand was a good guy.
He traveled to a foreign country and brought justice.' That wish goes all the way down to today's Green party, which campaigns on behalf of persecuted minorities. To a certain extent, we are all heirs of Karl May and Winnetou because we stand with those who are persecuted, and we want to do good.' Germany's Harry PotterThe Winnetou story is a modern fairy tale - the German counterpart to 'Harry Potter' or 'Lord of the Rings.'
The myth has endured a lot over the years - even as a parody. The 2001 comedy 'Der Schuh des Manitu' (Manitou's Shoe) is one of post-war Germany's most successful films. The heroes were the Apache chief Abahachi (which sounds like the German onomatopoeia for sneezing) and Winnetouch, his gay twin. 'Ranger' and 'Abahachi' brush their teeth in the 2001 Winnetou parody filmThis Christmas, German private broadcaster RTL is releasing a remake of the three Winnetou films - at a budget of 15 million euros ($15.6 million). It remains to be seen whether they will go over well with the next generation.But this year, children all over the country will unwrap their presents as I did that Christmas before I followed my parents and brother down to the basement in anticipation of Winnetou's Silver Gun.
When I got there, I found a wooden crate covered with a cloth. I pulled back the fabric and found a black rabbit.Having lived through the war, my parents didn't like toy guns. Instead, they preferred to teach us how to take responsibility. We named the rabbit Mucki and continued to watch 'Winnetou' on television.