Kara Ben Nemsi Effendi was a German television series broadcast from 1973 through 1975. It featured a hero inspired by British explorer Sir Richard Burton (1821–1890).

The protagonist was portrayed by Karl Michael Vogler

Karl Michael Vogler

Karl Michael Vogler was a German actor probably best known for his appearances in several big-budget English-language films of the 1960s and 1970s, including The Blue Max where he co-starred with George Peppard and Ursula Andress followed a few years later by Patton, in which he portrayed Erwin...

. His sidekick, Hadschi Halef Omar

Hadschi Halef Omar

Hadschi Halef Omar Ben Hadschi Abul Abbas Ibn Hadschi Dawud al Gossarah, literally hajji Halef Omar, son of hajji father-of-Abbas, son of hajji David al Gossarah, is one of Karl May's literary characters...

, was played by Heinz Schubert

Heinz Schubert (actor)

Heinz Schubert was a German actor, drama teacher and photographer, best known for playing the role of Alfred Tetzlaff in the German television comedy sitcom Ein Herz und eine Seele.- Life :...

 who became famous from the German version

Ein Herz und eine Seele

Ein Herz und eine Seele is a German sitcom aired in 1973/74 and 1976. It was essentially a remake of the British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part by Johnny Speight, and was written by Wolfgang Menge....

 of the British television series Till Death Us Do Part.

The music was provided by Martin Böttcher

Martin Böttcher

Martin Böttcher is a German composer, arranger and conductor.-The beginning:Böttcher began taking piano lessons at an early age. But his first passion was flying, and he wanted to become a test pilot...

 who had also written the music for the very successful Karl May films and composer of the Winnetou Melody.

Protagonist

Kara Ben Nemsi is the same man who has traveled the wild west as Old Shatterhand

Old Shatterhand

Old Shatterhand is a fictional character in western novels by German writer Karl May . He is the German friend and blood brother of Winnetou, the fictional chief of the Mescalero tribe of the Apache...

. Therefore he had been played in feature films by Lex Barker

Lex Barker

Lex Barker was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes and leading characters from Karl May's novels.-Early life:...

 who had also played Old Shatterhand. While in the US, his blood brother Winnetou

Winnetou

Winnetou is a fictional Native American hero of several novels written by Karl May in German, including the sequels Winnetou I through Winnetou IV....

 has called him "Charlie" (or, as Karl May used to write it, Tscharlie) his sidekick Hadschi Halef Omar, having similar issues pronouncing a traditional German first name such as Karl, calls him "Kara" instead.
According to the Karl May Society, the author had been inspired by the person and the works of Sir Richard Burton

Sidekick

Hadschi Halef Omar is the hero's scout and tutor. Omar knows the country and the people and is very crafty and canny. Also he always shows solidarity although Kara Ben Nemsi tends to make his own, much more risky decisions, either based on western thinking or simply trusting the power of his weapons (including his fists).
While Kara Ben Nemsi actually is a superman, who can knock out everybody by just one strike to his temples, rides as well as Frank Hopkins

Frank Hopkins

Frank Hopkins was an American professional horseman who at one time performed with the Ringling Brothers Circus. He was known as a legendary distance rider, claimed to have won 400 races, and was recognized by his contemporaries as supporting the preservation of the mustang.-Early life and...

 and is that excellent as a gunman that he could work in Wild West Shows

Wild West Shows

Wild West Shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe. The first and prototypical wild west show was Buffalo Bill's, formed in 1883 and lasting until 1913...

, Hadschi Halef Omar is a more authentic person.
Heinz Schubert played Haschi Halef Omar as a small man with a big heart who could be funny as well as amazingly brave and whose oriental ancestry would make him even more human for the western audience.

Production

The series presented other popular actors such as Ferdy Mayne

Ferdy Mayne

-Early life:He was born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel, in Mainz, Germany. His German father was the Judge of Mayence, and his half-English mother gave singing lessons. Because his family was Jewish, he was sent to England to protect him from the Nazis, and he stayed with his aunt, the photographer...

, Lina Carstens, Günther Lamprecht, and Willy Semmelrogge

Willy Semmelrogge

Willy Semmelrogge was a German actor. He appeared in 65 films and television shows between 1957 and 1984.-Selected filmography:* The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser * Woyzeck...

. The stories were faithful to the original books of Karl May. The complete series was released on DVD in 2006/2007.