Lebius, Rudolph

Born in the East Prussian city ​​of Tilsit in the family of a grain merchant. After graduation, he studied law and philology in Berlin . After the death of his father in 1892, he had to leave school and work as a visiting editor in several newspapers. Being familiar with the sons of Wilhelm Liebknecht , he joined the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany), where he wrote articles for a party newspaper. Due to slanderous notes, he was arrested twice and left the SPD. In 1904, it was published in the liberal Dresden Sunday newspaper Voice of Saxony, in which he also acted as a publisher, as the newspaper experienced regular financial problems.

As a member of a right-wing union, he now fought against the SPD and left-wing unions. In 1907, the SPD party newspaper published an article with the headline "Is Lebius a man of honor?" At this time he lives in Berlin and publishes several short-lived magazines that have a nationalistic connotation. In 1918, Lebius founded the National Democratic Party, which opposes hegemony in the economy of big business and the acceptance of Jews into public service. The party broke up in 1923.

In early May 1904, Lebius visited the famous adventure writer Karl May and offered him to campaign for him, in return promising to give May a cash loan. May refused. In September 1904, Lebius threatened him with terrible revelations on an anonymous postcard, and yet, May did not respond to threats. In response, Lebius organized the real persecution of the great writer.

Already in November-December 1904, several articles directed against May appeared in the Voice of Saxony newspaper containing hints of his previous convictions. In 1908, Lebius published the pamphlet Karl May, the Destroyer of German Youth. In the Bund magazine and his leaflets, he tried to defame May with dubious information, including referring to May's first wife, Emma Pollmer, whom Lebius did visit. In a private letter to opera singer Scheidt, he calls May "a natural born criminal."

Carl May initiated in the future more than two dozen lawsuits because of these insults that lasted until his death.

Lebius' articles on May as leader of a band of robbers have been reprinted by many newspapers. The charge of insulting May by the notion of a “natural born criminal” was rejected on April 12, 1910 by the Berlin-Charlottenburg court. It was found that the notion of “natural born criminal” was used by Lebius in a private letter and thus did not express any insult. May appealed the verdict.

The decisive verdict was issued on December 18, 1911 in a Berlin court. This time, at a dramatic meeting, the court ruled that the name “natural born criminal” was given with the intention of insulting, and Lebeus was convicted of insulting a fine of 100 marks or, alternatively, 20 days in custody. In 1912, after the death of Karl May, Lebius wrote his obituary in his Berlin national democratic newspaper.

Several films have been made about the relationship of Rudolph Lebius and Karl May.

• Jürgen Seul: Karl May und Rudolf Lebius: Die Dresdner Prozesse. Verlagsgruppe Husum, ISBN 3-920421-91-4 .
• Rudolf Lebius: Die Zeugen Karl May und Klara May. Ein Beitrag zur Kriminalgeschichte unserer Zeit. Reprint der Ausgabe Berlin-Charlottenburg 1910, ISBN 3-879986-30-4 .
• Frederik Hetmann: “Old Shatterhand, das bin ich” Die Lebensgeschichte von Karl May. Beltz Verlag, Weinheim und Basel 2000, ISBN 3-407-80872-0 .

• Literatur von und über Rudolf Lebius
• Eintrag im Karl-May-Wiki