In March 1193, Richard the Lionheart was captured on his way back from the Third Crusade. The English King was arrested by Leopold V, Duke of Austria, and soon imprisoned by Kaiser Heinrich VI at Trifels Castle in the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany. The arrest was revenge for Richard’s support of a massive conspiracy against the German… Continue reading German Kaiser Heinrich VI grants a pardon to ransomed King Richard the Lionheart of England
Prussia circa 1250, Teutonic Knights Charge during winter, their favorite season in the Northern Crusades. Much of German history is not well known ...for example, there were successful Crusades conducted in northern Europe for hundreds of years and the largest castle ever built in Europe was a German crusader castle, the Marienburg. There once existed… Continue reading There once existed a German state, governed by Warrior Monks, that ruled over all the lands along the Baltic Sea for 300 years
Teutonic Knights have such a compelling history...their story has all the makings of a great mini-series. In its first 200 years, the Teutonic Order was invincible. Its heavy cavalry of ordained Catholic monks, clad in white surcoats with black crosses, numbered some 3000 men. They were the best in Europe and formed the core of… Continue reading Teutonic Knights and their descendants, the Baltic Germans, prospered for 700 years in north eastern Europe.
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 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
...with walls 27 ft high and 7 feet thick...and with outermost castle walls that enclose 52 acres. For perspective, that is four times the enclosed area of Windsor Castle. Amazingly, this huge German medieval structure still exists... it has survived the ages and is now 743 years old, although it is no longer located within… Continue reading Marienburg Castle is the largest fortress ever built in Europe
This finely detailed painting by Adolph von Menzel depicts the 1861 Coronation of King Wilhelm I of Prussia. This ceremony took place in the 600-year-old historic Königsberg Castle in East Prussia. Only a short 10 years later, this King of Prussia will successfully re-unite most of the states of the former German Holy Roman Empire...… Continue reading Pomp and ceremony in the 600 year old Königsberg Castle
Prussia circa 1250, Teutonic Knights Charge during winter, their favorite season in the Northern Crusades. Much of German history is not well known ...for example, there were successful Crusades conducted in northern Europe for hundreds of years and the largest castle ever built in Europe was a German crusader castle, the Marienburg. There once existed… Continue reading There were successful Crusades conducted in northern Europe for hundreds of years
For People Proud of their German Heritage 