Franz Winkelmeier
Giant of Lengau
At first he visited towns in his home district only,
in the regions covering Braunau and Ried/Innkreis.
Finally he travelled extensively through the Austro
Hungarian monarchy, Paris, Berlin and eventually
to London. There he was introduced to the entire
European nobility on the occasion of Queen
Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Shortly after his return
to Lengau from England lung disease resulted in
the early death, on 24.8.1887, of a man who was
at that time the tallest person in the world and is
still today the tallest EU citizen who ever lived.
Franz Winkelmeier was born in Lengau on 27th
April 1860. Although originally of short stature,
after an infection at the age of 14 he began to grow
excessively until, at the age of 21, he had reached
the grand height of 8.5 feet (2,58m).
This extraordinary growth made him unsuited for
work on the family farm. A tailor from Friedburg
by the name of Klamer succeeded in persuading
Franz Winkelmeier – who became known as the
Lengau Giant – to become a fairground entertainer.
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