Baron Munchausen is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia. The character is loosely based on baron Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen.
Gustave Doré's portrait of Baron Munchausen
A c. 1740 portrait of the real Münchhausen as an Imperial Russian Army officer in Riga
The Baron entertaining guests, from a series of postcards by Oskar Herrfurth
Portrait of Rudolf Erich Raspe, creator of the fictional Baron
Rudolf Erich Raspe was a German librarian, writer, and scientist, called by his biographer John Patrick Carswell a "rogue". He is best known for his collection of tall tales The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen, also known as Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia, originally a satirical work with political aims.
Rudolf Erich Raspe
Picture from an old Dutch edition of Münchhausen (R. E. Raspe, De verrezen Gulliver. Amsterdam, 1827.)