Category Archives: History
One Hundred Years Ago, the female Robinson Crusoe only survived thanks to a cat – August 1923: Ada Blackjack
Four men. One woman. One island. –
The history of Arctic exploration, Russian expansion, and a dramatic story which explains why you should never travel without a cat. Continue reading
The real Soviet War Memorial in Berlin
Zur deutschen Fassung. Many visitors are surprised when, in the center of the German capital, right next to Brandenburg Gate and Parliament, between plenty of other monuments, and only a short walk from the train station, they see two Soviet … Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The Happy Hermit 