Karl Schulmeister is shrouded in mystery like most spies. He claimed he was descended from Hungarian nobility, but he was born a clergyman’s son in Alsace. He doesn’t really arrive in the historical record until he began as an agent in the service of Austria. He was a smuggler, and apparently a good one and […]
Category: Austria
The Great War, Cause and Effect
On this, the 102nd anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War, I thought I would offer a quick synopsis of the political climate and so forth that led to the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife the Duchess Sophia, and the ensuing declaration of war. I also wanted to add a […]
Magic Beans- The History of Coffee
Written on July 11, 2016 by ER at 4:21 PM | 0
Africa, Austria, England, ER, France, Italy, Middle East, Northern Europe, Rest of the World, Turkey
Africa, Austria, England, ER, France, Italy, Middle East, Northern Europe, Rest of the World, Turkey
Java. Cup of Joe. My reason for living. These are all euphemisms for that most delicious of things- a cup of coffee. But how did coffee become the popular pick me up it is today? There is a legend that coffee was first discovered by an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi around 850. While out […]
Carlos II- The Bewitched King
When Carlos was born on November 6, 1661 there was universal rejoicing in Spain that there was a legitimate male heir. What they did not realize that Carlos had grave health issues. The child was not expected to live long. Along with mandibular prognathism, a.k.a. the Hapsburg lip (his lower jaw being larger than his […]
Nuremberg’s Secret Vault
Walter W. Horn was exactly the kind of man the Nazis wanted to recruit- good looking, educated, athletic and descended from five generations of Germans. However, Walter Horn wanted no part of them. As a professor of art history at the University of Heidelberg, he watched the rise of the Nazis with horror. As a […]