It was in 1818 and they say it’s all the fault of a poor church mouse. A few years prior, Napoleon suffered defeat at Waterloo, and they exiled him to the island of St Helena, one of the most remote islands in the south Atlantic. That was far, far away from the Austrian countryside in which our poor church mouse lived. An Austrian Winter...
We’re back in the 1920s. It is a cold winter’s evening. The sun kisses the horizon and snowflakes are slowing drifting through the cold air outside. A fine layer of freshly fallen snow already coats the scenery in front of your window. Inside, a fire crackles making everything cozy and warm. You just put the tree up and the scent of hot...
What could have been a tranquil afternoon in a Native American village over 400 years ago was interrupted by the sound of distant guns. Guns are fired for many reasons, – most of them are bad. Better safe than sorry, thought the villagers, so Native American warriors from the Wampanoag people grab their weapons and assemble in the middle of...
The moonlight sonata is a piano piece by Ludwig van Beethoven that he wrote in 1801. Moonlight sonata is also the code name that planners of the German Luftwaffe gave their raid on the British city of Coventry in the night from November 14 to 15 in 1940. It makes one wonder what people think when they call their plans to destroy a city like...
It feels that no day goes by without someone announcing that they can predict the end of the world. It’s next Tuesday at 5 pm. Those predictions come with a deluge of bible verses that allegedly prove the point. And then doomsday comes, and the sun sets on another failed doomsday prophet. The predictions would almost be funny if these questionable...
Some believe capitalism is God’s favorite economic system. It would follow that God also endorses the sophisticated financial system that makes capitalism work. However, when we open the bible, we read in Deuteronomy: “You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on provisions, interest on anything that is...
The hunt was good and the people gathered around the camp fire are feasting. Nothing beats those juicy fresh strips of game roasted over an open fire. The enticing scent fills the air. There was a time when the neighboring clan took the smell of cooked food as an invitation to raid the camp. The one with the bigger stick is the king of the world...
Jerusalem is a holy place for three world religions. At any given time, the city is full of political radicals, religious zealots, pious pilgrims and cash-strapped archaeologists. That the sun scorches the earth for most of the year does not help the peaceful coexistence of an often volatile mix of people. Too many seek God in mutually...
There is a determined expression on the face of the bowler who stands ready to strike. What will follow in a few heartbeats already plays out in his mind. He stares down the bowling lane where 10 defiant pins radiate the confidence that nothing in the world will make them fall. But he will send the ball down the oiled lane and send those pins...
The first thing anyone will notice about your vessel is the smell of death, desperation and suffering. You’re the captain of a slave ship sailing the middle passage. You set sail in merry old England to trade the fruits of the emerging industrial revolution. Your business partners in West Africa will pay you with black gold; slaves. Your...
According to cherished legend, one late October day in 1517, Martin left his house carrying a piece of parchment, a hammer, and a couple of nails. Who knows what his mood was? Maybe he was happy. His document was an invitation for his university colleagues to meet in a pub and spend a riotous night in rigorous academic debate. At least...
A destroyed city has a certain smell. Dust of smashed bricks mingles with the sweet stench of bodies that are still buried under the rubble. There is a faint whiff of phosphor, the main ingredient of incendiary bombs. It is overlaid with the odor of cooking fires. They are boiling rutabaga, the staple of the German diet in the Berlin of 1945. It...
