History

Looking back at the man who contemplated the root causes of poverty and how class struggle shapes societies. By Robert A. Selig Social historians often characterize the 18th century as the age of poor people, beggars and petty criminals, nevertheless, th... Read More...

Colorful trachten, flag throwing, alpenhorns and choirs converge to celebrate in “America’s Little Switzerland.” By Don Heimburger It’s a day Swiss-Americans look forward to all year. It’s always a day of food, fun, singing and dancing, and also a solemn... Read More...

By Mark Jahne Photographs courtesy Mark Jahne The Hartford (Connecticut) Sängerbund is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year, highlighted by a concert and dinner scheduled for Saturday, June 9. Singers past and present will perform at 4 p.m. at the S... Read More...

One man’s knowledge and desire helped the United States open a doorway to space. By Peter Vogt   The rise of Nazi Germany and its subsequent defeat caused two different German brain drains, the first one in the early 1930s and the second soon aft... Read More...

Remembering the man who witnessed famine and suffering and established a banking system to serve the working class. By Robert A. Selig     In May of 1817, one year before Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen was born, Carl Bames of Reutlingen jus... Read More...

Using technology to “unearth” archaeological treasures without moving a single shovelful of dirt. By Crispin Andrews   Austrian scientists have developed technology, which (in 2014) was used to uncover previously unheard of monuments at Stoneheng... Read More...

This beautiful city’s existence and history are forever entwined with the Danube. By Alevetina Altenhof   Donau in German, Dunai in Russian, Dunav in Bulgarian and Duna in Hungarian—the Danube River which connects ten European countries between t... Read More...

Supply, the combined impact of Allied blockades and weather-related crop failure left its war-ravaged citizens sick and starving. By Robert A. Selig   For most Germans today, the answer to the question “How much bread and meat will I be able to b... Read More...

Lutheran missionaries settled in the far reaches of central Australia where daily life was a challenge and they left a lasting legacy. By Maggie Kielpinski / Photographs courtesy Maggie Kielpinski   I was watching the landscape as we drove into t... Read More...

Yes it was war but Hessians, Brunswickers and Ansbachers killed in battle were often left unburied in a foreign land. By Robert A. Selig Washington Irving’s 1820 story about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow forms an integral part of American culture. A fusion... Read More...