- Franz Winkelmeier
Franz Winkelmeier (
27 April 1860 –24 August 1887 ) was, at convert|2.58|m|ft|lk=on|sp=us|sigfig=2|abbr=off, the tallest human during his time and one of the tallest humans in history. He was known as the Giant of Friedburg-Lengau.His life
He was born as a son of a
mercenary family inLengau . Two years later, his parents bought theSchöscharngut betweenFriedburg and Lengau. In Friedburg, Franz Winkelmeier attendedelementary school . Until the age of fourteen years, his growth was normal.Franz Winkelmeier made his first public appearance as an anomaly on
6 October 1881 in Braunau. He was promoted by an efficient tailor from Friedburg, and appeared inLower Austria ,Steiermark ,Carinthia ,Görz ,Triest ,Fiume ,Hungaria andSiebenbürgen .In the summer of 1885 he was in
Tyro l, and from1 September until30 November he was seen in the Concordia-Theater in Berlin. Even the tall soldiers of Emperor Wilhelm seemed to be dwarves beside him.After appearing in more German cities, he went to Paris at the
Folies Bergere theater. On9 November 1886 he was hired by R. Rosingky to go toLondon . On22 June 1887 he was presented toQueen Victoria . The famous doctorRudolf Virchow confirmed his size.As soon as he finished his tours, Franz Winkelmeier died of
tuberculosis . He was buried in the cemetery in Lengau. In the restaurant Zum Riesen, there are a lot of memories of Franz Winkelmeier.Bibliography
*Mairhofer-Irrsee, Hans. "Der Riese von Lengau "
*Turrini, Peter. "Der Riese vom Steinfeld". Oper vonFriedrich Cerha References
* [http://www.auslandsdienst.at Österreichischer Auslandsdienst - Austrian Service Abroad]
* [http://www.hrb.at/lengau Riese von Lengau Tage Homepage]External links
* [http://ooe.orf.at/magazin/treffpunkt/freizeit/stories/93985/ Report to Lengau]
* [http://alleskunst.net/index.php?lang=de&thema=bvz&sub=muse&subthema=mu_ged&doit=suche&bcsi_scan_8029A76587052C3C=gZUSTH5D6lAnnRpTpg2H1ggAAADFvK4B&bcsi_scan_filename=index.php Memorial to Lengau]
* [http://www.ooemuseumsverbund.at/de_museumsshop_292.html Upper Austrian Museum Alliance]
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