The Bell Cemeteries of World War 2
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 21, 2021
Nearly every German family in every German town contributed something to the two World Wars. For many, it was their men. For others, it was ...
Showing posts with the label Germany
The Degenerate Art Exhibition of 1937
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 14, 2021
Not everybody gets modern art. From Andy Warhol’s Soup Cans to a banana stuck to the wall , there are plenty of examples from the perplexin...
Propeller Driven Railways
Kaushik Patowary
May 31, 2021
A locomotive can derive power from many different sources. The earliest locomotives were driven by steam. Then came electric trains powered ...
Gnomonic Blocks, or Multi-faceted Sundials
Kaushik Patowary
May 11, 2021
In the park of the Abbey of Epau, in Yvré-l'Evêque in France, you can admire a curious monument in the shape of an obelisk. Built by the...
Nazi Amphitheaters
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 28, 2021
Near the summit of a large wooded hill overlooking the town of Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, stands an open-air theater called a...
The Mercy Dogs of World War 1
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 26, 2021
Dogs have accompanied men to war since ancient times, as scouts, sentries, trackers and messengers. But the most unique role they ever playe...
Conrad Haas: The 16th Century Rocket Pioneer
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 9, 2021
In 1961, a professor at the University of Bucharest, made a surprising discovery in the archives of the city of Sibiu, in Romania. It was a ...
The Pumps That Keep Germany Dry
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 1, 2021
The Ruhr valley in North Rhine-Westphalia was once Germany’s industrial heartland producing coal and steel, the two very essential raw mater...
Hitler’s Monster Railway
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 27, 2021
Hitler’s megalomaniac plans for Germany included a monumental new railway. This railway was supposed to connect the most important cities i...
Mäusebunker: Berlin’s Mouse Bunker
Kaushik Patowary
Jan 26, 2021
Sitting squarely in the middle of Berlin is a monstrous-looking building with façade of solid grey concrete, punctured by long ventilation t...
Why Julius Caesar Built a Bridge Over The Rhine And Destroyed it 18 Days Later
Kaushik Patowary
Jan 4, 2021
In the early summer of 55 BC Julius Caesar had already begun his conquest of Gaul three years earlier. At that time the eastern border of th...
The Dambusters Raid of 1943
Kaushik Patowary
Nov 11, 2020
On the night of 16–17 May 1943, a squadron of the Royal Air Force conducted a daring mission deep into German territory to destroy two dams ...
Fokker’s Synchronizing Gear And The Birth of Fighter Planes
Kaushik Patowary
Oct 16, 2020
The first airplanes to join the First World War were not made for combat. They merely played the role of an observer, scouting enemy positio...
The Disgrace of Gijon: The Match That Changed World Cup Football
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 21, 2020
For the first time in the history of FIFA World Cup, the 1982 edition of the tournament in Spain saw 24 teams take part instead of the usual...
The Erfurt Latrine Disaster
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 1, 2020
Deaths are always unfortunate and even more so if they occur as a result of an accident. But sometimes there are incidents that have particu...
The Uranium Cubes From a Nazi Nuclear Reactor
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 31, 2020
In the summer of 2013, Physicist Timothy Koeth of University of Maryland received an unexpected gift from one of his friends. It was a small...
Schuttberg: Germany’s Rubble Mountains
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 7, 2020
Scores of hills dot the edges of many German cities, but these are not natural. They are known as Schuttberg, or “debris hill”. Schuttberg...
Büsingen am Hochrhein: The Town Torn Between Two Countries
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 2, 2020
Büsingen am Hochrhein is a German town with a lot of Swiss character. That’s because this small town on the Rhine is entirely surrounded by ...
Dürkheimer Riesenfass: The Giant Cask
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 30, 2020
The historic town of Bad Dürkheim lying on the edge of Palatinate Forest on Germany's oldest wine routes, is well known for its vineyard...
Dürer's Rhinoceros: A 16th-Century Viral Fake
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 16, 2020
Five hundred years ago, Europe saw its first rhinoceros in more than a thousand years. The animal was fairly common during Roman times see...
