Editing Karl May (section)

== Early life ==
[[File:Museum Hot 1910.jpg|thumb|right|The family house then on ''Niedergasse 111'', where Karl May was born in Hohenstein-Ernstthal. The house was inherited by May's mother in 1838 and sold in 1845 (photo 1910).]]
[[File:Karl May Geburtshaus.jpg|thumb|right|190px|The house where Karl May was born is now located on Karl-May-Straße (photo 2005). The street was named in his honor. Next to the house is a modern Karl May depository, literary museum and research center that was established in July 2022.<ref name="KMM1">{{Cite web|title=Karl May Haus: Literaturmuseum und Forschungsstätte|trans-title=Karl May House: Literary Museum and Research Center|url=http://karl-may-haus.de/das-haus/museum/|first=André|last=Neubert|publisher=Karl-May-Haus Hohenstein-Ernstthal|location=Hohenstein-Ernstthal|date=|page=|language=de|access-date=2023-08-23|isbn=}}</ref>]]
May was the fifth child of a poor family of [[Weaving|weavers]] in [[Hohenstein-Ernstthal|Ernstthal]], [[House of Schönburg|Schönburgische Rezessherrschaften]] (then part of the [[Kingdom of Saxony]]). He had 13 siblings, of whom nine died in infancy. His parents were Heinrich August May and Wilhelmine Christiane Weise. <!--According to his autobiography, he suffered from visual impairment shortly after birth and regained his eyesight after treatment at the age of five. Possibly a lack of vitamin A led to [[Nyctalopia|night blindness]], which then grew worse.[add citation]---> During his school years, he received instruction in music and [[Composition (music)|composition]]. At age twelve, May was making money at a [[Nine-pin bowling|skittle alley]], where he was exposed to rough language.<ref name="Bio">May K. ''Mein Leben und Streben'' (''My Life and Aspirations'') Karl May, 2014 in German
{{ISBN|9786050342987}}.</ref>

=== Delinquency ===
In 1856, May commenced teacher training in [[Waldenburg, Saxony|Waldenburg]], but in 1859 was expelled for stealing six candles. After an appeal, he was allowed to continue in [[Plauen]]. Shortly after graduation, when his roommate accused him of stealing a watch, May was jailed in [[Chemnitz]] for six weeks and his license to teach was revoked. After this, May worked with little success as a private tutor, an author of tales, a composer and a public speaker. For four years, from 1865 to 1869, May was jailed in the workhouse at [[Osterstein Castle]], [[Zwickau]]. With good behaviour, May became an administrator of the prison library, which gave him the chance to read widely. He made a list of the works he planned to write (''Repertorium C. May''.)

On his release, May continued his life of crime, impersonating various characters (policemen, doctors etc.) and spinning fantastic tales as a method of fraud. He was arrested, but when he was transported to a crime scene during a judicial investigation, he escaped and fled to [[Bohemia]], where he was detained for vagrancy. For another four years, from 1870 to 1874, May was jailed in [[Waldheim, Saxony]]. There he met a [[Catholic Catechist]], Johannes Kochta, who assisted May.<ref>M. Bugmann, ''Savage To Saint: The Karl May Story'' (2016).</ref>