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- The Battlefield of Waterloo, Looking for the Bones, and a Surprising Supper
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Category Archives: History
The Battlefield of Waterloo, Looking for the Bones, and a Surprising Supper
Zur deutschen Fassung. “Little Napoleon wants to be picked up on platform 2, please. And hurry, or he’ll lay waste to the whole town!” Only when I hear this announcement and look out of the train window, I realize what … Continue reading
Posted in Belgium, Food, History, Military, Photography, Travel
Tagged Napoleon, train, Waterloo
20 Comments
The largest Roman city you never heard of: Gorsium
Fumbling through the Puszta fog, somewhere between Balaton and Buda, between Pannonia and Pest, I discovered the largest Roman city you probably never heard of: Gorsium. Continue reading
One Hundred Years Ago, King Ferdinand got Promoted – October 1922: Greater Romania
While Romania is famous for shooting its dictators, it treated its kings quite fairly.
One hundred years ago, the king was asked if he wanted to retain the job although his kingdom had greatly expanded. He said yes. Continue reading
Posted in History, Hungary, Moldova, Photography, Romania, Travel
Tagged Alba Iulia, monarchy
7 Comments
The Secret Space Program of Yugoslavia
Zur deutschen Fassung. After my brother and I unexpectedly and rather accidentally discovered a secret Yugoslav submarine port in Montenegro (please read that story first, otherwise this one won’t make any sense), we were still completely excited and out of … Continue reading
Posted in Bosnia–Herzegovina, Cinema, Croatia, History, Military, Montenegro, Technology, USA
Tagged space, Yugoslavia
8 Comments
King and Peasants discuss the British Monarchy
The following clip from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) is still one of the best contributions in the debate about (not only British) monarchy: I found the following transcript of the dialogue: [ARTHUR and PATSY riding. They stop and … Continue reading
Posted in History, Politics, UK
Tagged British monarchy, democracy, government, Monty Python
16 Comments
One Hundred Years Ago, they were looking for the Center of Brazil – September 1922: Brasília
Zur deutschen Fassung. As you know, I am currently searching for the geographical center of Europe, which, over the next few months, will take me to obscure villages from Ukraine to Sweden, from France to Belarus, from Estonia to Belgium. … Continue reading
One Hundred Years Ago, Sweden almost gave up on Booze – August 1922: Prohibition Referendum
Zur deutschen Fassung. Before I went to Sweden last summer, I received a lot of well-meaning advice from friends in Germany who had already been to Scandinavia: “Take enough beer with you, it’s prohibitively expensive in Sweden!” “As an EU … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, History, Politics, Sweden
Tagged alcohol, democracy, Health, referendum
6 Comments
Journey to the Center of Europe – Kruhlyi, Ukraine
Zur deutschen Fassung. For the project “Journey to the Center of Europe”, I am going to visit all the places that have ever laid claim to being the geographical center of Europe or the European Union. And write about them. … Continue reading
Posted in Austria, Europe, History, Photography, Romania, Travel, Ukraine
Tagged hitchhiking, Solotvyno, Soviet Union
8 Comments
One Hundred Years Ago, two young Men left Bavaria for the United States – June 1922: the Vogl Brothers
Zur deutschen Fassung. When thinking about migration, we distinguish between push- and pull-factors when we try to get to the bottom of migrants’ and refugees’ reasons to move/flee. The former refer to incentives to leave a place and move away. … Continue reading
Posted in Germany, History, Travel, USA
Tagged Antwerp, Bavaria, Bremen, family, immigration, Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, refugees, ship
14 Comments
Battlefield Tourism – Then and Now
Zur deutschen Fassung. The following is the English translation of a presentation I gave during a field trip with my university to Ypres. Because it’s a German university, there is a focus on German (language) sources and on the German … Continue reading
The Happy Hermit 