In Brittany, i.e. in the north-west of France, there are these wonderful, legendary and usually very picturesque...
Cultural history
Ravel’s Bolero – a classic earworm
Maurice Ravel composed his Bolero in 1928 for the dancer Ida Rubinstein. Throughout his life, he was to have a very...
European food culture around 0 and 1500
Despite all the contrasts in our modern world and despite all the differences between the cultures and regions of this...
The king’s new snoopers!
Imagine the following: You are still sitting slightly sleepy and unsuspecting at your morning coffee. Suddenly your...
The history of Margrave Leopold I.
Leopold I. (Liutpold), called the Illustrious, was born around 940. He was count in the Bavarian Danube delta and...
Puccini – Tosca and Tuscany
In 1858, Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, the once independent republic in northwestern Tuscany. In the...
Marriage between Maximilian of Habsburg and Mary of Burgundy
19 August 1477: Marriage between Maximilian of Habsburg and Mary of Burgundy The young Duchess of Brugund, Maria, was...
The Cappuccino
At the beginning of the 16th century, there was unrest within the Franciscan Order. Many friars saw the great ideal of...
The Flying Dutchman
The stories surrounding the so-called ghost ships are almost as old as seafaring itself. Which should not come as a...
Indian summer (Altweibersommer)
Since the early 19th century the term "Altweibersommer" (summer of the old women) is known. It should be noted that...
The Magdalene flood of 1342
One of the worst natural disasters of the last millennium, even worse than the floods of 2013, was without question...
What are electoral princes
It is interesting how coincidences not only determine our personal lives, but also shape the so-called "great"...
The evening
Silence of the people loud desire: roars the earth as in dreams Wonderful with all trees, What the heart is hardly...
Hyacinths
Music echoes far away; but here is silent night, The plants breathe on me with a slumbering scent. I have always,...
Hiker’s Night Song
Above all peaks Is rest, In all treetops Do you feel Hardly a breath; The birds are silent in the forest. Just wait!...