The Marienburg High Castle with Virgin Mary's Church A moment in time at the start of the 20th century...one of many that the Marienburg Castle witnessed during its 747 years of existence in northern Europe, from 1274 to 2021. On this occasion in 1902, Kaiser Wilhelm II made the trip to West Prussia to participate… Continue reading In 1902, Kaiser Wilhelm II made a trip to the Marienburg in West Prussia
This historic map shows migration routes of Baltic Germans in 1939. This migration was voluntary, administered by the German government, in order to safely re-settle all ethnic Germans back into the Reich. Migration routes of Baltic Germans to Greater Germany (Grossdeutschland) in 1939 You may wonder...why were there so many Baltic Germans in Latvia and… Continue reading Migration routes of Baltic Germans in 1939
... the reason for this dates back to 1685 and the Great Elector and his successors. The Great Elector followed a policy of religious freedom and after French King Louis XIV's revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Frederick William encouraged skilled French and Walloon Huguenots to emigrate to Brandenburg-Prussia. His Edict of Potsdam welcomed the… Continue reading If you have ever wondered why some of Germany’s war heroes in WWI and WWII have French names…
“August der Starke” (Augustus the Strong) was an unusual man, not only because of his fabled strength, but most interesting to me is that he was a German Duke of Saxony who simultaneously also ruled as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. He inherited his German dukedom by birthright, but his rule over… Continue reading German Dukes of Saxony were also Kings of Poland and Lithuania in 17th and 18th century
The Order of the Black Eagle Breast Star was an award granted by the Kings of Prussia and its design contains a tantalizing clue as to how the small Kingdom came to grow so powerful. The motto that is engraved upon the Breast Star was taken seriously and one that the Prussian kings lived by… Continue reading The motto engraved upon the Breast Star encapsulates how Prussia was ruled
Below are just a few examples of topics covered in this Blog… images are linked, just click to see the blog article. To find other subjects that interest you, click on the menu bar to browse historical or cultural topics or type a keyword into the search box. German Americans Teutonic Knights and the Northern… Continue reading Interesting German historical and cultural facts
The image here is of a 1915 poster from Königsberg, the capital city of East Prussia. The poster shows a large dark knight against a colorful German Imperial Eagle banner with text announcing the dedication of an Iron Warrior, known as Der Eiserne Wehrmann. The text explains that the event will be held to collect… Continue reading Large wooden Nail Man statues were set up in cities all over Germany and Austria in WWI.
The summer Olympics of 1936 were held in Berlin, Germany. Berlin had previously been chosen to host the 1916 Summer Olympics, but they were cancelled due to the First World War. I have seen documentaries over the years, but I always was left with the impression that the United States was the winner over an… Continue reading Olympic Games 1936…a lot of things are discussed but the fact that Germany won the most medals of every color is never mentioned
The Teutonic Knights were warrior monks who fought to convert pagans to Christianity and also built and governed their Monastic State of the Teutonic Order all along the Baltic coast in northern Europe. At the core of their organization was a group of 3000 highly trained and well equipped warrior monks...men who also gave up… Continue reading For 300 years two men were included in the daily prayers of the Teutonic Knights
This image features Eppelein von Gailingen (1310 to 1381), a famous German robber baron in the Middle Ages. Gailingen belonged to the class of original robber barons, who supplemented their income with unauthorized tolls and, sometimes, flat-out theft. The term "robber barons" is derived from a medieval term, in German “Raubritter”, describing men of noble… Continue reading Eppelein von Gailingen was a robber baron in the Middle Ages, immortalized by folk song
For People Proud of their German Heritage 