History – Page 3 – Teutonista

A Brief History of Berlin, Briefly

Rome is respectfully called The Eternal City, and Prague is known as The Golden City. New York, though not a capital, is affectionately referred to as The Big Apple. Copenhagen is simply The City, while the Dutch have a fond nickname for Amsterdam: Damsko. The Spanish humorously call Madrid Madriz, and the Swiss refer to Bern as the Sleeping Pill. Paris is celebrated as both the City of Fashion and the City of Light. Berlin, however, has many nicknames, most of them unflattering but largely accurate: the Gray City, the Scarred City, the Failed City, to name but a few.

Downfall: The Last Days of the Stasi

On February 8, 1950, the People’s Chamber of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) enacted one of the shortest laws in German legal history. Without prior discussion, the law was rubber-stamped within minutes. It consisted of just two succinct paragraphs:

Paragraph 1:

«The Head Office for the Protection of the National Economy, previously under the Ministry of the Interior, shall be transformed into an independent Ministry for State Security. The Law of 7 October 1949 on the Provisional Government of the German Democratic Republic (Law Gazette p. 2) is amended accordingly.»

Paragraph 2:

«This act shall come into effect on the date of its promulgation.»

Thus, the Stasi was created.

Roots of Power: The Three German-American Presidents Who Shaped U.S. History

More than half of all U.S. presidents have Irish ancestry, while only three of the 45 presidents to date have or had German roots. These three, whose ancestors all came from the Electoral Palatinate, one of the main sources of German emigration to the U.S., had little to no close connection with their ancestral homeland.

Courting the Devil: The Witches of Berlin

Belief in witchcraft stretches back to the dawn of human history, shaping cultures and sparking both fascination and fear. In the world of ancient Germanic tribes, long before Christianity’s spread, sorceresses and seers were woven into the fabric of everyday life. Magic was considered a real and potent force, not just idle superstition. These early beliefs laid the foundations for later ideas about witchcraft and reshaped how society perceived magic’s role, transforming it from a respected tradition to something dark and dangerous.

Tracing Roots Across the Atlantic: Join the American Journey to Discover Your German Ancestors

Genealogy is undergoing a spectacular renaissance across the United States. No longer confined to dusty shelves or curious families in distant lands, the search for German ancestors, lost friends, and relatives is capturing the imagination of Americans from every walk of life. Whether in small Midwestern towns or busy cities, millions of Americans are joining the journey to understand the stories behind their surnames, and discovering that their own family saga is closely woven into the fabric of America itself.

I Don’t Know What Gave Them the Idea to Put a City in the Middle of All This Sand

«Before God, all people are actually Berliners.»—Theodor
Fontane

An ‹Ur-Berliner› is someone who was born in Berlin. Ideally, their parents were also Berliners, and their grandparents too. Even better if you can trace your ancestors back to a local mammoth hunter clad in a bearskin. Back when Berlin actually belonged to the Berliners, and people knew their neighbors. Of course, the place wasn’t yet called Berlin.

Unraveling the Silent Words: The State of Scientific Research on the Language of the Egtved Girl

In the heart of Denmark, near a quiet village, lies one of the most intriguing mysteries of the Bronze Age: the Egtved Girl. Discovered in 1921 within an ancient oak coffin buried in a mound, her remains have captivated archaeologists, historians, and linguists alike for over a century. She was a young woman, perhaps 16 to 18 years old, interred around 1370 BC, her body remarkably preserved by the acidic bog conditions that dissolved her bones but left her hair, nails, skin fragments, and clothing intact. Wrapped in woolen garments, adorned with a bronze belt plate symbolizing the sun, and accompanied by the cremated remains of a child, she embodies the enigmatic world of Nordic Bronze Age society. Yet, among the many questions her discovery raises, one stands out as particularly elusive: what language did she speak?

Healing plants from Celtic and Germanic legacies

The world of folk medicine is a living tapestry woven from generations of knowledge, rituals, and botanical wisdom. At its heart lies a profound connection to the land and its native plants, a relationship that has shaped healing practices for millennia. Today, as we turn to herbal remedies for wellness, we are often unwittingly drawing from traditions that stretch back to the ancient Celts and Germanic tribes. Remarkably, nearly half of the plant species still used in modern herbal medicine were already recognized and utilized by these early European peoples, highlighting the enduring legacy of their healing heritage.