Showing posts with the label Germany

Watch 1505: The World's First Watch

Mar 19, 2024

In 1987, during a school trip to London, a watchmaker apprentice stumbled upon a rare find at an antique flea market. Concealed within a box...

Glienicke Bridge: The Bridge Of Spies

Dec 19, 2023

In the Wannsee district of Berlin, Germany, there is a brief bridge spanning the Havel River, connecting the German capital to Potsdam. Hist...

Talking Gravestones of Amrum and Föhr

Dec 11, 2023

About 60 km north of Heligoland in the North Sea, off the western coast of Germany, lies the islands of Amrun and Föhr. Part of the North F...

The Potsdam Giants

Nov 20, 2023

During his 27-year-reign, King Frederick William I of Prussia greatly expanded the size of the Prussian Army, turning it into the largest an...

The Sinking of U-boat 864

Nov 9, 2023

During World War II, German U-boats wrought havoc upon Allied supply lines and commercial shipping inflicting heavy losses on merchant convo...

F60 Overburden Conveyor Bridge: The Horizontal Eiffel Tower

Oct 9, 2023

About 60 km north of Dresden, in Lichterfeld-Schacksdorf in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany, lies a steel behemoth. It’s a gigantic over...

The Sibling Rivalry That Gave Birth to Adidas and Puma

Sep 25, 2023

Straddling the river of Aurach in the German state of Bavaria lies the small town of Herzogenaurach. It was here in the late 1940s, the Dass...

Optography: Preserving a Dead Person’s Last Sight

Sep 15, 2023

In 1924, Germany was rocked by a sensational case of multiple homicide. Fritz Heinrich Angerstein, a resident of Limberg, Germany, had bruta...

Peter Stumpp: The Werewolf of Bedburg

Sep 6, 2023

In The Knave of Harts , a collection of satirical poems penned by Samuel Rowlands, the English poet makes an allusion to a certain German ca...

The 1,000-Ton Nazi Tank That Was Never Built

Aug 11, 2023

In the midst of the Second World War, the Nazis unveiled prototypes for an array of extraordinary weaponry, spanning colossal aircraft, adva...

The Wolf of Ansbach

Jul 13, 2023

Like most wild animals, wolves predominantly inhabit remote areas, maintaining a natural inclination and capability to steer clear of human ...

Cold Water Geysers

Jun 28, 2023

A typical geyser expels hot water and steam when an underground spring comes in contact with hot rocks heated by magma, causing the water to...

Dresden’s Tobacco Mosque

Jun 22, 2023

The ‘Tobacco Mosque’ in Dresden, Germany, by the city’s main railway line, is a fascinating structure. The impressive building with a 60-fee...

1764 Woldegk Tornado: The Strongest in History

May 18, 2023

On June 29, 1764, almost the entire town of Woldegk was in church attending a day of repentance and prayer. Also known as Buß- und Bettag, i...

Why Phyllis Rode Aristotle Around Like a Horse

May 17, 2023

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, there is a bronze aquamanile, or water jug, dating from the late 14th or early 15th century. ...

The Case of The Radioactive Toothpaste

May 11, 2023

In the late 1943, while the Manhattan project was underway, a team of spies were sent to Europe to gather information about how the Nazis we...

5 Historical Figures Who Were Assassinated in The Lavatory

Apr 24, 2023

When a person is on the toilet, moving bowels, they are in a particularly vulnerable position. They are exposing parts of their body that ar...

Danube Sinkhole: Where a River Vanishes

Mar 2, 2023

The European river system is complex and extensive. Two of its main rivers, the Rhine and the Danube, despite not having their sources relat...

Escape From Colditz Castle

Mar 1, 2023

On a rocky outcrop high above the Mulde River in the small town of Colditz in Saxony, Germany, sits the massive Colditz Castle. Once the for...

Albrecht Berblinger: The Flying Tailor of Ulm

Nov 3, 2022

Albrecht Berblinger was an early aviation pioneer who is best known for designing a hang glider, nearly four decades before British inventor...