Baron Munchausen is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in 1785. The character is loosely based on a real baron, Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen. The real-life Baron fought for the Russian Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739. He became a minor celebrity within German aristocratic circles for telling outrageous tall tales based on his military career.
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