Poster advertising the tallest man in the world Wellcome L0063555

Franz Winkelmeier (27 April 1860 – 24 August 1887) was an Austrian man who was promoted as the world's tallest man at ; however, he was measured by well known physician

Rudolf Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow (; or ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder ...

at . He was known as the Giant (german: Riese) of Friedburg-Lengau.

Biography

He was born as a son of a family of smallholding farmers in Lengau,

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...

. Two years later, his parents bought the Schöscharngut between Friedburg and Lengau. In Friedburg, Franz Winkelmeier attended

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

. 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 in

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

Steiermark Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

Görz Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...

Triest Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

Fiume Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

Hungaria Hungaria or Hungária may refer to: *Latin for Hungary, a European country **For historical entities (from 895) see: Hungary (disambiguation) *Lady of Hungaria, the national personification of Hungary * ''Hungaria'' (Liszt), a symphonic poem by Fra ...

and

Siebenbürgen Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

. In the summer of 1885 he was in

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, and from 1 September until 30 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 Bergère The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall, located in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the architect Plumeret. It opened on 2 May 1869 as the Folies Trév ...

theater. On 9 November 1886 he was hired by R. Rosingky to go to London. On 22 June 1887 he was presented to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. As soon as he finished his tours, Franz Winkelmeier died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. He was buried in the cemetery in Lengau. In the restaurant Zum Riesen there are a lot of mementos of Franz Winkelmeier.

Bibliography

*Mairhofer-Irrsee, Hans. ''Der Riese von Lengau '' * Turrini, Peter. ''Der Riese vom Steinfeld''. Oper von

Friedrich Cerha Friedrich Cerha (born 17 February 1926) is an Austrian composer, conductor and music educator. Education and Career Cerha was born in Vienna, Austria, and educated at the Viennese Music Academy (violin with Váša Příhoda, composition with A ...

References

Österreichischer Auslandsdienst - Austrian Service AbroadRiese von Lengau Tage Homepage

External links

Report to LengauMemorial to Lengau

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winkelmeier, Franz 1860 births 1887 deaths People from Braunau am Inn 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis People with gigantism Braunau am Inn Tuberculosis deaths in Austria