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04.05.

1891: Fictional Death of Sherlock Holmes

1891: Fictional Death of Sherlock Holmes
Photo Credit To Wikipedia Commons/ "221B Baker Street" by Russ Stutler - http://www.stutler.cc/other/misc/baker_street.html. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:221B_Baker_Street.JPEG#/media/File:221B_Baker_Street.JPEG

Story Highlights

  • Historical event:
  • 4 May 1891
  • According to the story, Holmes and Professor Moriarty clashed near the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. This is a “real” location in the heart of Switzerland, near the town of Meiringen in the Canton of Bern.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described the fictional death of the famous character Sherlock Holmes, which occurred on 4 May 1891.



This “death” was described in Doyle`s story “The Final Problem”, and Holmes tragically died while fighting with Professor James Moriarty.

According to the story, Holmes and Professor Moriarty clashed near the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. This is a “real” location in the heart of Switzerland, near the town of Meiringen in the Canton of Bern.

640px-Holmes_reichenbach
Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. From Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Final Problem. Original caption in Strand Magazine was THE DEATH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (by Sidney Paget, 1893)

The famous Interlaken is located about 20 kilometers away from the mentioned place.

The Reichenbach Falls are a tourist attraction due to their natural beauty (and their connection with Sherlock Holmes).




Therefore, Arthur Conan Doyle “retired” the character of Sherlock Holmes.

In fact, he wanted to stop writing about Sherlock Holmes, but his fans persuaded him to keep writing.

After about 8 years, Doyle released a new story, “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, which took place before the mentioned death.

Later, he officially “revived” the character, and constructed that Holmes had faked his own death near the Reichenbach Falls.

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