Brief analysis of interesting events in German history
It was in the frenzied fighting in 1757 at the Battle of Kolin that Frederick the Great is said to have bawled at Manstein’s flinching Prussian infantry “Dogs! Do you want to live forever?” The surrounded Prussians in a rearguard battle are depicted in this painting by Richard Knötel. Prussia lost this battle, but losing… Continue reading Although at war with Austria, Russia, France, and Sweden, Frederick did not ever expect to lose a battle.
Equestrian portrait of Elisabeth, age 15, at her father's castle in Bavaria....Verlobungsgeschenk, her wedding engagement gift to Franz Joseph I of Austria...1853 painting by Karl Theodor von Piloty Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria (1865), portrait by Franz Winterhalter Elisabeth Princess of Bavaria was popularly known as Sissi, which was also the title of a 1957… Continue reading Elisabeth Princess of Bavaria, known as Sissi, became the popular Empress of Austria in 1854
A German artist named Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze memorialized the dramatic event of Washington Crossing the Delaware. Leutze conceived the idea for this famous painting during the German Revolutions of 1848. He was hoping to encourage Germany's liberal reformers through the example of the American Revolution. There were actually two versions of this painting. Leutze began… Continue reading A German artist created the famous painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware
This painting by Anton von Werner shows German Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm contemplating the corpse of French General Abel Douay, on the first day of the Franco-Prussian War in August 1870. When the French declared war on Prussia in 1870, they were overconfident. They assumed an easy victory and seriously underestimated the strength and experience… Continue reading When the French declared war on Prussia in 1870, they were overconfident.
Twenty year old Frederick William Hohenzollern became Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in 1640 and reigned for 48 years until his death in 1688. Historians refer to him as "the Great Elector" (der Große Kurfürst) because of his military and political prowess which set the groundwork for Brandenburg and Prussia to merge and… Continue reading Twenty year old Frederick William Hohenzollern became a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1640
Germany launched an era of prosperity in 1871 when almost all German states merged into one new nation. The synergy that was unleashed... plus 47 years of peace in Europe...lead to a German Empire that was an industrial, technological, and scientific giant. For example, Germany received more Nobel Prizes in science than any other country… Continue reading For everyone with German heritage, the Kaiserzeit of 1871 to 1918 is a another good reason to be proud.
For People Proud of their German Heritage 