Only hesitantly could the old powers agree on a common action against revolutionary France. After the "first...
Cultural history
The Mailänderli
Mailänderli are the most popular and most frequently baked Christmas biscuit in Switzerland. In Austria, of course, we...
The life of François- Joseph Gossec
François-Joseph Gossec (1734-1829) came from a Walloon peasant family. At the age of six, he was already a choirboy at...
Bozza’s magnificent flute quartet
Eugène Bozza, who was born in Nice in 1905 and died in Valenciennes in 1991, was a violinist, composer and conductor....
The Klemmkuchen – its history
The Fläming is a historically grown cultural landscape in the border region between Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt,...
Augustus Fountain in Augsburg
The first of Augsburg's magnificent fountains, the Augustusbrunnen, was built between 1588 and 1594. It was...
The Cinnamon Star
If you mention the cinnamon star, especially if you do so around Christmas, everyone's eyes are sure to light up. On...
The “Klapotetz”
If you visit the wine-growing areas in the south of Styria, you will notice the large windmills everywhere, which not...
Cécile Chaminade, a French composer
In 1857, Cécile Chaminade was born in Paris at the foot of Montmartre. Her mother, a pianist, initially taught the...
Eastern Roman and Byzantine Empires
The Byzantine Empire immediately conjures up images in our Western European minds: magnificently dressed emperors,...
Olivier Messiaen – a blackbird for the flutist
I probably don't think of any other composer as often as I think of Messiaen in my daily life - at least not with this...
Roman Slavery and Christian Charity in Late Antiquity
Since the first advanced civilisations, slavery had been an important factor in the social and societal fabric of the...
Johann Strauss Radetzky March
It is probably the best known and most played march in the world: the Army March II dedicated to Field Marshal Josef...
Two Stubborn Men – Michelangelo and Pope Julius II.
Michelangelo Buonarroti, the star of the Renaissance, had a real problem with Pope Julius II. The Rovere Pope...
The Palazzo Ducale in Venice and the Palazzo della Signoria in Florence
Venice and Florence are certainly among the highlights of a tour of Italy. Both cities grew massively in size, wealth...