Category Archives: History

One Hundred Years Ago, Lawrence of Arabia killed the Railroad – March 1923: Transjordan

Zur deutschen Fassung. Not quite a hundred, but still more than thirty years ago, I was in Australia as an exchange student. I don’t think I have ever told stories from that time, because back then, we still took pictures … Continue reading

Posted in History, Iran, Islam, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Technology, Travel, UK, World War I | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

One Hundred Years Ago – the episodes you missed in 2022

Writing two blogs, one in German and one in English, is a lot of work. Not quite twice the work as writing one blog, because I can use the same photos twice. But it’s more work than some might think. … Continue reading

Posted in Germany, History, Language | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

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 , , | 24 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

Posted in History, Hungary, Photography, Travel | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

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 , | 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 , | 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 , , , | 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

Posted in Brazil, History | Tagged | 1 Comment

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 , , , | 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 , , | 8 Comments