Looking to the past, the annals of history have its fair share of extraordinary and unusual deaths, some more famous than others. It’s well known that Attila the Hun, the marauding Mongolian warlord...
When you hear the word genocide, your mind may immediately go to the Holocaust by the Nazis during the Second World War. Very few know that the first genocide of the 20th century that almost led to...
Bogs have been home to some of the weirdest items and artifacts, some that were buried or stored intentionally, and others that were inadvertently lost in the mud. The archaeological record is full...
Scientists think an ancient astronomical observatory in Pömmelte, Germany will overshadow England’s famous Stonehenge in terms of archaeological data and the number of human burials. Over 4,000 years...
In Berlin , a historic medieval cemetery has been excavated which reveals that medieval people’s lives were blighted by hunger, disease, and extreme violence. Many of the human remains show signs of...
Archaeologists in Germany have discovered a 6,000-year-old hilltop burial mound that indicates Neolithic societies were much more hierarchically organized than previously thought. The story of the...
All through classical history, imposing and long walls, ramparts, and fortifications played a significant role in securing the borders of nations and kingdoms from all sorts of incursions and attacks...
Catherine the Great takes up a rare role in the history of Russian rulers and Emperors. In many ways she was a woman of firsts, as well as being the country’s longest ruling female leader. From the...
The Untersberg is a great mountain straddling the Austro-German border opposite Salzburg. It was reputed in local legend to be the seat of the god Wotan and to be haunted. The Knights Templar of the...
In the history of the European Middle Ages, noble families and powerful feudal lords always played a very important role. The wealthier, influential aristocratic families rose to great heights and...
In Germany, a team of experts have made a very important discovery. They have established that an ancient wooden artifact is a throwing stick (or ‘killing stick’). This is allowing them to understand...
The Nibelungenlied , or "The Song of the Nibelungs", is a Middle High German epic poem first written sometime in the thirteenth century. Though its author is unknown, The Nibelungenlied remains one...
Rwanda, known as the land of a thousand hills, is one of the best countries to spot gorillas in their natural habitat. It is emerging from a bloody past and is now one of the most dynamic societies...
Monaco is famed for being the playground of the rich and famous and hosting an exciting annual Grand Prix race, and yet, this tiny sovereign state also has a long history. There are several historic...
The modern nation of Belarus has had a dramatic and often bloody history because of its strategic location. Like many other European nations, it has a rich heritage in military architecture . While...
Eltz Castle is a majestic castle situated on the top of a rock within a small wooded valley in Germany. Be it through luck or strategy, the castle has been mostly spared from the ravages of war...
In 1962, an Alemannic burial site containing human skeletal remains was discovered in Niederstotzingen (Baden-Württemberg, Germany). Researchers at the Eurac Research Centre in Bozen-Bolzano, Italy,...
A heathen hof, also referred to as a Germanic pagan temple, is the name given to a place of worship in the Germanic religion. These were pre-Christian temples found in various parts of Northern...
An erdstall is a type of tunnel that is found throughout Europe, mainly in the south-eastern German state of Bavaria and Austria. Erdstalls are thought to have been created during the Middle Ages,...
Archaeologists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) started excavations in September 2016 at Khirbat al-Minya, an early-Islamic caliphate palace on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel...
The famous Queen Victoria set the tone for Britain’s era of industrial expansion and empire. Though often recalled as wearing black mourning clothes and having a strict code of morality, she was said...
In 1825, a mysterious double edged sword containing a cryptic code was found in the River Witham near Lincoln in England. The 13th century sword contains an enigmatic 18-letter message running down...
Like many ancient poems and epic tales, the 13 th century saga of The Nibelungenlied, or "The Song of the Nibelungs", is based on both myth and history. Written by an unknown author, the tale remains...
There are not many who would mourn the death of Christian Friedrich von Kahlbutz, a German knight who is known to have frequently exercised droit du seigneur , a legal right in late medieval Europe...
