2012 ~ Research Blog

Dienstag, 27. November 2012

Thrifty Elizabeth Shackleton

"I made me a work bag of my old, favourite, pritty, red & white Linnen gown", three years later: "made a cover for the Dressing drawers of my pritty Red & white linnen gown." Or: "I cut a pair of fine worsted stockings, good legs & bad feet - to draw over my Stocking to keep my knees warm - like them much now they are made properly for the use."

citated: Elizabeth Shackleton, in: Amanda Vickery, The Gentleman's Daughter, pg. 184.
Based on her diaries at the Lancashire Record Office in Preston. (Does anyone know how to get to read those 39 diares from where I live in Germany, I'd be grateful!)

Donnerstag, 25. Oktober 2012

Measuring the World

Today a new period drama hits the theaters: Measuring the World.
Based on the novel by Daniel Kehlmann the movie takes us to the adventures of Carl Friedrich Gauß and Alexander von Humboldt's lives. The novel was a bestseller right after its publication and many a controversial discussion followed its success. Nevertheless I want to show the trailer to a very well adapted book and a beautiful period drama!

Donnerstag, 11. Oktober 2012

A letter from the 4th Duke of Marlborough

"One June morning in 1763, the Duke helped himself to a sheet of guilt-edged ivory notepaper from the pile on his desk which, miraculously, never got any lower, and scribbled a note to Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, the most fashionable landscape-architect of the day. The Duke told Capability that he wanted to make 'expensive alterations' to Blenheim's dishevelled grounds. 'I have a notion I shall begin here immediately so that the sooner you come the better,' the Duke wrote in the peremptory tone which he used towards underlings."*

Well, I'm so inspired by this little abstract, that I want to do something with Leyland myself. Not with the help of Brown or William Kent I suppose, but something... And the guilt-edged notepaper! Gosh! i want some. Being a duke is really awesome indeed... ;-)

*Marian Fowler, Blenheim: Biography of a Palace, 1989, pg. 94.

Dienstag, 9. Oktober 2012

Lady Cartwright now on Facebook

Well, I did it. I managed to set up a page on Facebook for Emmeline. No profile, just a page. But its still offline, nothing much happened yet. I'm working on it... It's overwhelming what is possible with this timeline thingy... Still, I don't want a profile for my real life me...

Facebook page

Archive buys 300 year old notebook

City Archive Halle Saale (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) bought a 300 year old notebook, enabled by donations. It's a student's memorandum of his time in Halle in 1710. More than 100 entries of fellow students, teachers etc, including the publishing dynasty Gebauer, were collected by theology student Friedrich Wilhelm Ehr, who rented a chamber at the Gebauers. Archive members hope for more insights in economical and social history of Halle during the 18th century.

Facebook Revisited

Last year I deleted my FB account, just before the timeline was launched. I don't regret it. I don't miss it. I don't use Twitter actively - just for my feed and stuff. But now, reading about this, I am intrigued to use it for the Leyland Blog as Emmeline's Diary.
The success to historical FB sites is new to me, but interesting. Even the many learning apps are fascinating and I am thinking of signing up for Emy...

Facebook increasingly includes learning tools among its many, many applications, although you'll need an account to explore them. Flashcards lets you create your own questions, vocabulary lists, and answers and maintain your digital cards in sets. The Courses application is one of several that enables students (or students and educators) to post schedules and exchange notes and comments.*

Does it really work to set a birthdate in mid 18th century?

UPDATE: whoosh! the 100th Research Post!!!!! Yeah...

Montag, 8. Oktober 2012

National Trust Movie Map

I just read this awesome post by Nicola and immediately headed over to the homepage to check out the map myself. Its great. I love it. Try for yourself!!!
I was thrilled to see a post for Lyme Park as well, the Pemberley of the 1995 Pride & Prejudice Series. I've visited the place myself in 2009 (oh gosh! so long ago!!!!) and loved it at first sight.

By Accident: Corisande de Gramont - Tankerville

When exploring the graveyard at a nearby village, that is supposed to be Leyland's old cemetery, I found a gravestone for a woman named Corisande. Unfortunately I couldn't find any more informations on her online.
Though I hope to find out more about her, as she belongs to the family, the famous historian Schultze-Gallera comes from.

But I stumbled upon another Corisande: Corisande Armandine Léonie Sophie de Gramont, daughter of Antoine Louis Marie de Gramont, 8th duc de Gramont (later the family intermarried with the French branch of the Rothschild dynasty).

As it is often the case, coming across someone by accident like this, the person reveals a most interesting background. Her family is very famous. Her mother was Aglae de Polignac* (+1803, left), daughter of Yolande Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess de Polignac and BFF of Marie Antoinette. (Well, she had brothers, of course, but I don't want to enlarge the post this much...)

At the Château de Versailles, on 11 July 11 1780, at the age of twelve, Aglaé married the Duc de Gramont et Guiche. She then became the Duchess of Guiche and was nicknamed 'Guichette' by her family.

Aglae's daughter Corisande (right) married Charles Augustus, 5th Earl of Tankerville on 28 July 1806 at Devonshire House, London. They had two children: Corisande Emma (+1865) and Charles (1810-99), the future 6th Earl of Tankerville.

Corisande Emma married the 3rd Earl of Malmesbury. But they had no issue. Her brother Charles married Lady Olivia Montague and one of his children (5) was another Corisande, who died in 1941.

The men in the Tankerville and Gramont families were mostly politicians and there's not so much on their wifes and daughters I could find.

*Aglae de Polignac, aka Madame de Gramont, made a brief appearance in the novel 'Farewell, my Queen' by Chantal Thomas published in 2002.

Freitag, 5. Oktober 2012

geboren.am

I'm just fascinated by a website I just found: www.geboren.am
It is a German website, by Daniel Korioth, offering biographical details to many many persons throughout history sorted by their birthday... You can sort in many ways: today, days, years, anniversaries, names & places.
I love it! And I'll try and post some great and interesting peoples birthdays/anniversaries that suit the Leyland Blog.

Paintings of the human heart

On 5th of October in 1758 German novelist August Heinrich Julius Lafontaine was born in Brunswick. After studying theology he worked as a private tutor for the Prussian officer von Thadden in Halle Saale. Then he acted as field chaplain and discovered his talent in creating stories. In 1800 he went to move in a country house near Halle and became a widely read author. Today he is almost forgotten... He wrote over 150 volumes, using several pseudonyms

Some of his works are:
Paintings of the human heart; 1792 and later, 15 vols.
Familiengeschichten (Family stories; 1797-1804, 12 vols.)
Kleine Romane und moralische Erzählungen. Berlin, 1799-1810, 12 Bde.
Die Wege des Schicksals. 1820, 2 Bde.

Montag, 1. Oktober 2012

Leylands old Cemetery & Chapel

Today I finally had the chance to visit a nearby cemetery and a church ruin. Shamefully I have to admit, that the village where it is situated is just a couple of kilometers away, but I never made it to just stop there. This morning I did and encountered a little paradise, both beautiful and spooky at the same time. And it became a post over at the Diary.
The model for Leyland's old cemetery and chapel is the ruin of Nietleben's old church at the Granau site near Halle Saale. As the wikipedia-article is only available in German, I collect some parts here in English: the settlement called 'Granau' was destroyed by Swedish troops during the 30 years war and though the place wasn't rebuilt, the church was in 1654 as a simple Baroque Hall. The altar was at the west front and there was no baptistery. In 1886 the church was abandoned because of a new Protestant church in the village of Nietleben. Since then the church decays. For example author and historian Baron Siegmar of Schultze-Gallera is buried at the Granau cemetery. More pictures are available here. I made several, because the atmosphere was so great, but will probably use them in the diary, not here...

Henry Purcell's ''Dido & Aeneas''

Premier of Henry Purcell's first English opera was in 1689 in Chelsea. This 2006 production is by Deborah Warner & was broadcastet today on arte.tv:

Samstag, 22. September 2012

Anne Rice's advice on being / becoming a writer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw2KXX7WrOY

Montag, 17. September 2012

A chocolate map

On Thursday the Halloren Chocolate Museum in Halle/Saale will show a historical piece: a 3-dimensional chocolate map of Halle in the year 1952, the year the Halloren Kugeln were created. The map is 2,20m wide. Houses, streets and blocks show the city center in chocolate glory. Come and visit!

A Country House by Erdmannsdorff

In 1780 the younger brother of Prince Franz of Anhalt, Johann Georg of Anhalt (1748-1811), engaged Friedrich Wilhelm of Erdmannsdorff as architect for a new country house within the Gartenreich at Wörlitz. He created an English landscape garden in the northern part of Dessau and built some more classical houses as part of the garden plan. The 'Georgium' is one of the most important gardens within the Gartenreich itself!
Johann Georg was a Prussian general and also founder of other parks and notable buildings around Dessau (Georgengarten & Beckerbruch). He never married and had no issue. His brother Leopold III. Friedrich Franz actually wanted him to become heir to Anhalt and enable Franz himself to stay in England with his mistress. Though Johann would have made a splendid Prince, history shows us, that Franz' return home to Dessau wasn't the wrong decision.

Freitag, 14. September 2012

Frauen-Zimmer-Geschichten

Morgen kann man an einer kostümierten Stadtführung in Halle teilnehmen. Zum letzen Mal in diesem Jahr findet die Frauen-Zimmer-Geschichten-Führung statt. Startpunkt ist das Marktschlösschen. Beginn ist 14 Uhr. Um die bedeutende Hallenserinne und Sehenswürdigkeiten entdecken zu können, meldet man sich unter:

0345/1229984

Die Teilnahme kostet 8€.

Mittwoch, 12. September 2012

A most extraordinary thing happened

Here is a wonderful video I wanted to post for ages... Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on9U_tdRIeU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Donnerstag, 6. September 2012

European Heritage Days - Ausstellungen zu historischen Themen in Sachsen-Anhalt

As part of the European Heritage Days, here some tips on German sights, especially in Saxony-Anhalt. Sorry, this post is only available in German and I don't plan to translate it. but Google will... ;-P

In der Alten Elementarschule Quedlinburg, in der St. Cyriakus Straße 2, sind von Mo-Fr 10-16:30 historische Klassenzimmer und Unterrichtsmaterialien zu sehen.

Ebenfalls in Quedlinburg: Historische Glaskunst in der Galerie 7kunst am Word 28. Di-Fr von 11-18 Uhr.

Und gleich nochmal Quedlinburg! Im Schlossmuseum gibts die Schau 'Otto und die Liebe - Kaiserliche Hoch-Zeiten in Quedlinburg'. Di-So 10-18 Uhr.

Die Franckeschen Stiftungen zu Halle zeigen eine tolle Ausstelllung zur Protestantischen Musikkultur seit Luther!

Und nicht vergessen: am Sonnta ist Tag des offenen Denkmals. Bundesweit.

In Halle kann man sich das Leben vor 300 Jahren in Glaucha ansehen und zwar im Innenhof der Glauchschen Gaststube 'Zum Raubschiff' am Franckeplatz. Dort wurden die Pferde der Reisenden abgeschirrt etc. Mal ein anderer Blick hinter die Kulissen!

In Hohenmölsen kann man beim diesjährigen Herbstfes ins Jahr 1080 zurückreisen und den Städtischen Horden bei 'Wettspielereyen' zusehen.

Auch am Sonntag kann man den 'Eichenkranz' frisch sanierte Gasthof im Gartenreich besichtigt werden. Dann wandelt man auf den Spuren von Novalis, Ludwig I. von Bayern, Schopenhauer und Hölderlin. Von 10-17 Uhr ist Bürgerfest vor dem Wirtshaus, ab 9 kann man sich zu Führungen anmelden, die es ab 16 Uhr gibt.

In Frankleben/Braunsbedra kann man das 2007 sanierte Schloss Unterhof besichtigen.

Auch das Ostrauer Schloss derer von Veltheim lädt am Sonntag ein. Sollte man sich nicht entgehen lassen, da Führungen und Besichtigungen sonst nur auf Anfrage möglich sind.

Mein Favorit und definitives Ziel am Sonntag ist die Leopoldina, Sitz der Nationalen Akademie der Wissenschaften, am Jägerberg in Halle. Die Anlage ist taufrisch saniert. 1792 wurde das Gelände von der Loge 'Zu den 3 Degen' gekauft, mit einem Logenhaus bebaut und danach immer wieder erweitert und umgebaut. Von 11 bis 14 Uhr kann man an Führungen teilnehmen.

Und musikalisch Interessierte sollten auf ihrem Plan das Wilhelm-Friedemann-Bach-Haus in der Gr. Klausstraße nicht vergessen!

Mittwoch, 15. August 2012

3, 2, 1... Baroque Chateau for sale

On 25th of August you can bid for Baroque Chateau Bündorf, near Merseburg, Saxony Anhalt.

Starting bid is 120 000 € for several buildings and the 30 000sqm lot. The chateau etc are not in good condition and of course the Memorial Trust will have an eye on any renovations...

Freitag, 10. August 2012

Good to know French!

If you are able to speak/read/understand French, then you're lucky. Very lucky indeed, if you're also interested in everything Marie Antoinette and her family. The Hathi Trust Digital Library offers online texts by the Duchesse d'Angouleme, Marie Therese...

Here are some links (found via The Online Books Page and it's celebration of women writers):

Journal of Marie Therese during the French Revolution
Memoirs of Marie Therese d'Angouleme
The destiny of Madame Elisabeth, sister of Louis XVI (in English)

More women writers on this page and more by Marie Therese...

Donnerstag, 9. August 2012

Frederick the Great and his architect

You can attend a lecture on 18th century Prussian architecture and gardening at the Roncalli-House in Magdeburg.
On August 16th the export on Baroque art, architecture and history, Volker A. W. Wittich, will report on the building and garden designs by Georg Wenzeslaus of Knobelsdorff, architect to King Frederick the Great of Prussia.

The lecture will be held at Max-Josef-Metzger Str. 12.

Conference on European Gothic in 18th century Anhalt

From September 13th to 15th the Dessau-Wörlitz conference on 'European Gothic in 18th century Anhalt-Dessau' will take place at the gallery of the historical inn 'Zum Eichenkranz'. Historians from Dessau, Potsdam and Berlin will attend and talk about this trend in architecture etc.

Donnerstag, 2. August 2012

Carl Michael Bellmann

The Neues Theater Halle will be an interactive stage for 18th song writer Carl M Bellmann. His songs dealt with love, wine and joy of life in Rococo Stockholm.
The audience is invited to actively take part in the play.

Tickets @ TiM-Ticket
0345/2029771

Donnerstag, 19. Juli 2012

Historical Toys

On Saturday a new exhibition will be opened to the public. At the museum on the Petersberg (near Halle) you can travel back to the 1860s to the 1960s and learn more about what your great.....grandparents played with. There'll be objects from the toy museum in Bad Lauterberg. The museum presents everything from dolls houses and steam engines to boxes of toy bricks...

Samstag, 30. Juni 2012

Joy and happiness in life

On wednesday I wenn to a lecture on leasure and entertainment in the 18th century. Michael North from the University of Greifswald, who also published books and essays on the German economic history and on the culture of games during enlightenment, had his speech centered on northern Germany, especially Hamburg and Berlin and their elites during the 18th century.
Many facts I already knew. For example the influences from Italy, France and England. But the role model in everything concerning entertainment, music, balls, theatre and what we today know as leasure time, were the Dutch. Well, in Northern Germany that is. But it isn't surprising, is it!?
Games were not yet seen as something bad and therefore forbidden. So L'ombre and Tric Trac were played a great deal, which can be seen in the households inventories of that time.
The musical entertainment business as we know it from England or rather London was merely unfolding to become professionally organized and commercialized.
I recommend one of his books, though I don't know if there is an English version available: Joy and hapiness in life. Cultural consumerisn during the Enlightenment, Cologne 2003. 26,90€

Freitag, 29. Juni 2012

technically independent

To days ago, I got myself a new smartphone. I decided for one with a
full keyboard and the usual smart software. I'm glad I discarded my
touchscreen phone, they are highly overrated for my taste. Now I can
write my blogposts in quickoffice, synchronize them with my netbook or
email the posts right away to my blog (like this post). Is there a
mobile windows live writer? If there is, I'll get it! Anyway, now I
hope to post more regularly. There is so much going on right now at
Leyland...

Hope to see you soon at the manor!

Donnerstag, 28. Juni 2012

News on the 'Dunkelgräfin'

Hildburghausens city council has allowed the disinterment of the Dunkelgräfins body. The mysterious lady who appeared in the small German town in 1807 is believed to have been Marie Antoinettes daughter Madame Royal. A modern DNA-test shall reveal, if it was really the princess, who lived at Castle Eishausen until her death in 1837. - A new documentary on MDR will exclusively show the results of the analyses and report on the mystery of the Dunkelgräfin.

More information here: madame-royale.de - a great website with tons of research.

The Vindication of a Witch

Colognes city council is debating about the vindication of a burnt witch 385 years ago. Since her trial in 1627, Katharina Henot, a postmasters daughter, even as a patrician woman, was convicted as witch and burnt according to the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (1532) and seen as an obdurate sinner.
In 2012 council and church see her case differently and want to dissociate themselves from these verdicts, as do 14 other municipalities in Germany.
The woman in question, a Catholic, has already been honoured in many ways. A school and a street in Cologne bear her name and her sculpture can be seen at the townhall next to one of Friedrich Spee, a Jesuit and one of the most famous fighters against the obsessive belief in witches.

Samstag, 23. Juni 2012

Elizabeth I. and J.J. Rousseau

Tonight on Arte and the upcoming week on Arte+7 you can watch documentaries on Elizabeth I. and Jean Jacques Rousseau. I'm quite excited about the second one and look forward to hopefully many custumed scenes ;-D

Btw, the 1995 version of BBCs Pride and Prejudice was broadcasted this and last week. But I haven't watched the German dub version; got the DVD anyway... And who would like to hear Colin Firth speaking in German!? Ugh! *Love the Original*

Freitag, 8. Juni 2012

An endless resource

The World Wide Web seems to offer an endless resource on Frederic the Great. On Project Gutenberg you can download a 22 volume History of Frederic II of Prussia by Thomas Carlyle.
This author, famous himself, is also one of my favourites. There is an online archive with all the Carlyle Letters and of course tons of other information making one quite addicted to him and his work!

The King's letters

The Library of the University of Trier offers free access to digital copies of Frederic the Great's letters. They are available in German and French.
Check out this website!

The letters were originally published in the 1840s and 50s by Johann Preuss. Momentarily I don't know, if they are available on Gutenberg or any other free archive as well... but let me know, if you find anything...

PS: Another great resource is the website for D'Alembert's letters!

Anna Wilhelmine of Anhalt-Dessau and her summer palace

During the festival Anhalt 800 we visited the Castle Mosigkau, a Rococo manor built for Leopold I.'s daughter Anna Wilhelmine. It is a wonderful little palace and I will use parts of it for Leyland. More on Anna Wilhelmine you can find in this wikipedia article, a translation of the original German article. More on Mosigkau you can find on its website. You can visit Anna's summer residence online!

Rococo dresses on ebay

On ebay Germany a seller from Hamburg currently offers beautiful dresses from different eras, one from the 18th century. A golden Polonaise from around 1770. Unfortunately not my size... :-(

I copied a photo, rights belong to the seller, of course. Look here:

Donnerstag, 24. Mai 2012

Italian Graces

During the 18th century, polite Europe discovered the relicts of the Vesuv's eruption in 79AD. A statue found at Herculaneum was the Isis-Fortuna, a 33cm tall bronze statue, then bought for the palace at Wörlitz, the residence and effigy of genteel and aristocratic elegance in 18th century Germany. The Prince of Anhalt-Dessau's palace and its garden/park are major attractions in Anhalt. The Isis-Fortuna is part of a decorative cycle of wall paintings and plasterings based on patterns found at Pompeji and Herculaneum. The exhibition ends 26th August 2012.

Minnesongs at Castle Falkenstein

The duo Stella Splendens will appear at Castle Falkenstein (Harz) this Withsunday and sing Irish and English Medieval songs as well as sacral music from the song book of Anna of Cologne. Stages will be the Royal bedchamber and the Chapel.

Frederic the Great vs. Count Brühl

Many exhibitions and events are planned this year for the Frederic300-festival. One series of exhibitions deals with the enemies Frederic the Great and Count Brühl. From the 25th of May until the end of October, the Pückler Museum Cottbus and the Marstall-Museum of Castle Branitz show the history of this enmity. Another exhibition starts in August at Count Brühl's residence Castle Brody in Poland.

These exhibitions try to tell the reasons between their hatred, show the violence in their actions and the different histories of their lives.

Sonntag, 13. Mai 2012

Castle Bündorf

I posted about our trip to Merseburg before and on our way, we saw a really intricating palace in a tiny village. It is Castle Bündorf, a mid-18th-century stately home and farm. I think it was sold a couple of years ago to someone, but we couldn't see any changes to the state of the buildung. Castle Bündorf is known to have been in use as the gowager duchess of Saxe-Zeitz's home, Erdmuthe Dorothea, who died there in 1720. Her initials can be seen at the front gate. She was even buried in the ducal crypt at Merseburg Cathedral.

It was first mentioned in 1266 and belonged to the bishops of Torgau and later to the Bündorf family. During the 18th century it belonged to the ducal family of Saxe-Merseburg-Zeitz. Until the end of the Second World War the castle was owned by the Counts of Zech-Burkersroda, who were disappropriated by the GDR-government and a retirement home was installed. It is typicall for GDR-times, that buildings such as this were neglected and not repaired.

Napkins at Castle and Cathedral Merseburg

Today we went to the Museum for Cultural History at the episcopal palace of Merseburg. Currently there is an exhibition on table napkins, but the other parts of the museum are exciting as well. We had not as much time as one needs to see all of the castle and the cathedral. But we saw the early modern and Prussian part. I was happy to see lots of needlework and other crafts exhibited. I took some photos, though I'm not sure, if it was allowed. Anyway, there were tatting tools as well as lace bobbins etc etc... See for yourself! One very interesting piece was a 'hair-work' made of real hair, wire and paper from the 19th century! A must-have was the guilded needlework-case featuring a mirrow and tiny boxes and all!

Freitag, 11. Mai 2012

Holiday in a Castle

You don't need to be a princess or duchess or whatever to spent your holidays in a real castle, a manor house or another stately home. A new network of castles, manors and farms offers holidays at Germany coastal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - former home of King George III's wife Charlotte - from 5-star hotels to huesthouses or farms. 34 locations invite tourists to their historical buildings. More informations on their website!

Mittwoch, 9. Mai 2012

9th May 1671

341 years ago the Irish adventurer Thomas Blood and his three accomplices were cought in the act of stealing the Crown Jewels of England from the Tower. Above the vault of the jewels lived the bailee's family. Disguised as a clergyman, Blood obtained their confidence by fraud. The robbery failed. Impressed by Blood's manners and demeanour, King Charles II. pardoned the thief.

More on Thomas and his life via wikipedia...

Donnerstag, 3. Mai 2012

Phantasie Spectaculum

For the first time the MPS, the medieval phantasy spectaculum, will perform at the airport Ballenstedt. More than 100 000 square meters will be transformed into a medieval world of more than 500 tents, structures and installations and more than 600 contributers.
This weekend from noon till night you can travel back in history in Ballenstedt!
Check the links for more information and the map for directions.

Mittwoch, 2. Mai 2012

Happy Birthday Friedrich!

Today is the 240th birthday of Friedrich of Hardenberg, better known as Novalis. He was born in 1772 in Oberwiederstedt near Hettstedt and was one of the mysterious kind of poets.
Gerhard Schulz, professor for German Studies in Melbourne, Australia, published a new Novalis biography, which opens with an essay on the only acknowledged portrait we know of the genius. Novalis died too young, only 29 years old in 1801.
The author very successfully presents Friedrich of Hardenberg as a much stronger person than universally believed and contradicts older pictures about him. Novalis is still fascinating and will remain so inspite of the new book.
Gerhard Schulz, Novalis, Leben und Werk Friedrich von Hardenbergs, C.H. Beck, 303 pages, 24,95€ (as ebook too!, 19,99€)
Many works by Novalis are also available in English. Novalis in German as ebooks are available for free at amazon! - Novalis in English ONLINE.

Samstag, 28. April 2012

Queens lover died

On the 28th of April in 1772 Johann Friederich Struensee was executed near Kopenhagen. He was minister to King Christian VII. and his queen, the English princess Caroline Mathilde. Because of his affair with the queen, his enemies at court could overthrow his government and stop his reforms.
Struensee was born in Halle/ Saale as a clergymans son.

Dienstag, 24. April 2012

Gossip on Frederic the Great

When French general Jacques Antoine de Guibert

went to Germany, he also visited Frederic the Great to learn more about the 'Prussian regimental drills and army manœuvres'. Later, when he went back to France he published a journal and also commented on Frederic's non-existent sense of fashion. The Friedrichradio on RBBinfo has a podcast (German) on rumours and gossip about Fritz.

Guibert, Journal d'un voyage en Allemagne (1803); Journal d'un voyage en Allemagne fait en 1773 par G.-A.-H. Guibert, ouvrage posthume publié par sa veuve et précédé d'une notice historique sur la vie de l'auteur (2 volumes, 1803)
The French ebook is available at google in two volumes!
Personally I would like to read the love letters between him and Julie de Lespinasse...

Montag, 23. April 2012

From Frederic's bedchamber

The marriage between Frederic the Great and Elisabeth Christine of Braunschweig-Bevern was a difficult one and didn't even start well. The wonderful pages on RBBInfo show a scene from the new Frederic drama, which was aired on RBB April 10th, starring Anna Thalbach as the young Fritz and her mother Katharina Thalbach as the old king.
More on the film, photos and movie snippets as well as the making of can be found HERE.

Unfortunately the podcasts have no link to embed them, so please click the link above to access the original homepage.
More information on the Prussians/Hohenzollern dynasty can be found on preussen-chronik.de
Exhibitions and more during the Friedrich-Jahr/Frederic-year HERE.

Radio for the King

2012 is the 300th birthday of Prussian king Frederic the Great. Brandenburg Radio (RBB Inforadio) turns to history and sends out its reporters to 18th century Prussia and the court of King Fritz. For a whole week they will report on events on Frederics life, the Katte process and the life at court in Berlin.

The articles are in German, as are the podcasts, but do translate the text with google, they did a great job travelling through history!

Friedrichradio

Eine Woche lang - vom 23. bis 27. April - berichtet Inforadio live aus dem 18. Jahrhundert vom Hof König Friedrich des Großen. So hätte Preußen klingen können, wenn es damals schon ein Friedrichradio gegeben hätte ...

English:

Frederick radio
For one week - from 23rd to 27th April - Inforadio reports live from the 18th century court of King Frederick the Great. How would Prussia have sounded, if it had then been given a radio ?

The Katte Process - live reports on Crown Prince's reaction

Fashion at Frederic's court

***

the week on Friedrichradio:

Tuesday - Potsdam, economy and intrigues & rumours

Wednesday - 1 day in the life of a king

Thursday - wars & peace

Friday - Frederic's foreign policy & his death

Sonntag, 22. April 2012

Where Otto the Great was born

Today we went on a family trip to Wallhausen Palace, a Renaissance palace in the southern Harz region. It was probably the place where Otto the Great was born in 912. His parents Henry I. and Mathilda of Ringelheim where married there. Several diplomas were signed in Wallhausen, which was an important Pfalz near the Kyffhäuser during the Ottonian time.

The palace was rebuilt several times, from the Renaissance period onwards to the Second World War it belonged to the Counts of Asseburg. Since 1945 till 2004 it was a school and since 2005 it is in private hands again, renovated and turned into a hotel and cultural center for modern art by Swiss owner.

It'll be a long way until it will be restored to its Renaissance beauty, but it is already very beautiful! Together with students from the University of Magdeburg an exhibition on Otto the Great and his time is open to the public this year; in correspondence with the exhibition in Magdeburg and several other Ottonian places in Saxony Anhalt.

Samstag, 21. April 2012

The Prudent Housewife

The Management of all Domestic Affairs is certainly the proper Business of Woman; and unfashionably rustic as such as Assertion may be thought, 'tis certainly not beneath the Dignity of any Lady, however high her rank, to know how educate her children, to govern her servants, to order an elegant Table with Oeconomy, and to manage her whole family with Prudence, Regularity and method.

Lady Sarah Pennington, An Unfortunate Mother's ADvice to Her Absent Daughters, 1761

Saxonian Princess gets back her tomb slab

Saxonian princess Christiana, daughter of Duke Christian I. of Saxony-Merseburg, was born in 1659 and married Duke Christian of Eisenberg-Saxony in 1677. One month after the birth of her daughter of the same name, Christiana died in childbed (1679). She was burried in the 'Fürstengruft' of the Merseburg cathedral. In the 1970s the engraved silver slab was stolen from her tomb out of the vault. After the Reunification of both parts of Germany, the cathedral's dean went on a 9 years quest for the slab and finally found it in a gallery in Bremen. Meanwhile it was bought back.

Now the silver tomb slab came back home to Merseburg. It will be on display in the Gewandkapelle. Guided tours to the vault will start again from 29th April. Advanced booking is recommended.

Click for directions to the cathedral in Merseburg.

Merseburg offers more historical treats: The museum for cultural history in Merseburg features an exhibition ('Augenschmaus') on festive table decoration and the art of napkin folding from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The museum is open daily from 10am to 6pm.

Donnerstag, 19. April 2012

A Royal Affair

Finally the Danish movie 'A Royal Affair', which was partly filmed in Dresden (short video below the trailer!), starts in German cinemas TODAY. I still don't know if its shown in any theatre nearby(UPDATE: yes it is!!!!), but I'm already excited by the trailer. I've read a biography about Matilda years ago and immediately loved her. There is also a docu-drama on arte.tv abouth her and Struensee. It's so sad to see this young queen lose her children to a tyrannical mother-in-law and an insane husband. And to lose her love as well, not to mention to be exiled and die a lonely death in the middle of nowhere. Just reminds me of Marie Antoinette's daughter Marie Therese...

PS: Ooooooh, swoon... Mads Mikkelsen!!!!

Freitag, 13. April 2012

Comeback for Pesne, Lisiewsky and Veronese after loss in 1945

Eleven portraits, two by Antoine Pesne, some by Lisiewsky and one by Paolo Veronese finally found their way back to Anhalt. During the anniversary 'Anhalt 800' the Castle Mosigkau, summer residence of the Anhalt-Dessau-dynasty, will exhibit the long lost portraits, of which many show members of the princely family. After the 13th of May they will be incorporated into the collection of the Dessau-Wörlitz-Trust and several palaces like Oranienbaum and Mosigkau.

Castle Mosigkau

Donnerstag, 12. April 2012

Baroque musical entertainment by RESONANTIA

The Resonantia-Ensemble from Leipzig [Doreen Busch (Mezzosopran), Johanna Baumgärtel (Traversflöte), Frank Petersen (Theorbe,Barockgitarre)] will pick up their lutes for clerical cantatas & arias from the Renaissance and Baroque eras this Sunday at the Castle Merseburg.

The "Tafelmusik" will start at 4pm and the entertainment is called 'Ohrenschmaus - Barocke Tafelmusik'.

Tickets are available at the Tourist Information.

Kulturhistorisches Museum Schloss Merseburg

Domplatz 9

06217 Merseburg

Tel: 03461/401318

Sonntag, 26. Februar 2012

New Theme

As you'll well notice, the diary got a new theme design and I hope you'll like it. It is the first step for me to get back to blogging. After amost one year of blogging absence - except for the Research Center Posts - I want to continue the diary. Many changes will take place in the story in general. Some will be published here, some will be kept top secret for the book to come ;-D But I hope you'll enjoy Emmeline's progresses...
There are many gaps in the storyline and I have to sort them out first, but in the meantime I'll try to publish some new parts of the diary - the historical sources like Emmeline's housebooks for instance.

Glad to be back at last,
C.

Samstag, 4. Februar 2012

Knitting on the Train

Travelling through Switzerland can be a more fascinating trip if you are a knitter or want to become one. This year the Chur - Disentis - Line turns 100 years and they celebrate with a special offer: a knitting workshop while on the train enjoying a marvellous landscape.

The Senior Design Factory is responsible for the workshop. You'll get needles, yarn etc etc. The trip including all the fun costs 99 CHF.

The train leaves Chur on Sunday 26th of February at 10.56 am, arrives at Disentis 12.11 pm and returns to Chur at 12.44 pm to 14.01 pm.

PS: How I'd love to live in Zurich and work at the Senior Design Factory. Check out their website - they're lovely!

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