Klara May

With Klara May to the Egyptian pyramids. A memory on the occasion of her anniversary year

For many people, summertime means holiday time. Whether you spend the best time of the year travelling or 'on the balcony', both offer special experiences, so that some moments can even be worth recording in a holiday diary.

Klara May was born 150 years ago, on 4 July 1864 in Dessau. Furthermore, 31 December 2014 will mark the 70th anniversary of her death. Reason enough to move her a little out of the shadow cast by her famous poet husband Karl May and into the spotlight of observation and appreciation.

After initially being in a relationship with Richard Plöhn, 11 years her senior, she married the newly divorced Radebeul writer two years later after his death in 1901. At this time, Karl May already found himself in the crosshairs of some critics, and the net of intrigue, slander and court cases was to close ever tighter around him in the future. As early as 1899, he therefore decided to counter the accusations that he was a desk adventurer whose daring endeavours would only be encountered in the realm of fantasy with a real trip to the Orient. He was accompanied on the second leg of his journey by his still-wife Emma and the still-married couple Plöhn.

Klara not only recorded this journey in written diary form, but also in photographic form, as she had the appropriate equipment and a growing interest in this activity. Just as the tour to the Orient offered Karl May a double advantage: on the one hand, he was able to demonstrate his suggested experienced worldliness and, on the other, the expedition was to serve him as a source of ideas for new literary material, Klara's written and photographic documentation benefited him in two ways. Not only did it provide a multifaceted testimony, but Klara May later used the entries in the travel diary, after the poet had already died, as a basis for his rehabilitation by reviving various episodes of the itinerary - albeit with a certain amount of artistic licence.

One such report is entitled "Egypt's Royal Tombs" (published in the Karl May Yearbook 1931) and that is where we now want to go on a dream journey with Klara.

"Egypt's pyramids are a stone 'Remember death' [] In front of these three pyramids lies the Sphinx [] Even today there is an air of infinite beauty and solemn seriousness on the unfortunately badly damaged face [] The Mamelukes even used the head as a target for artillery practice. [] The head was colourfully painted, and we can still see traces of it today. The pyramids were also colourful. [] The surfaces shone like mirrors in light yellow, white and rose-red in the sunlight. In the quiet moonlit nights, the old splendour seems to rise again. [] The giant body of the Sphinx begins to breathe. In the torchlight the priests appear in a solemn procession [] The stars twinkle large and bright [] It may have happened to many like me, and the longing to return there once again will dwell in all those who had a heart and an eye for past sublime greatness."

Unfortunately, Klara's wish to return was not fulfilled, but thanks to her diaries and photographs, her journey to the Orient with exploratory tours in and around Cairo, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Beirut and many others will remain alive for posterity.

Anyone interested in learning more about "Klara May as a photographer" still has the opportunity to visit the special exhibition of the same name at the Karl May Museum until 31 August, which is dedicated to her on the occasion of the anniversary year. Without her constant endeavours to preserve Karl May's memory, Radebeul would be one remarkable cultural asset poorer. In recognition of this, the town of Lößnitz has had a Klara May Trail since 2000.

Maren Gündel, town archive

Published in: Official Gazette July 2014