! Them von Königsmarcks!
The brief story of a royal heir, his wife and her lover....and a curious pattern from von Königsmarcks
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Stefan Israel
- Aug 3
- 2 min
The Other French Germans
By 1700, one-fifth of Berlin was French-speaking, and they remained French-speaking until siding with the rest of Germany against Napoleon.
64 views
Stefan Israel
- Jul 21
- 5 min
Fiefdom in a Desk
What challenges of reading an older document, such as a 15th century manuscript, and what can its language tell us? Who, when, where & more!
99 views
Stefan Israel
- Jul 6
- 3 min
Why Couldn’t Shakespeare Get U and V Right?
When you look at old books into the 1600’s, it looks like they mixed u and v up with abandon. Originally, there had only been one letter.
67 views
Pamela Israel
- Jun 22
- 3 min
German Feudal, Fief and Enfeoffment
A 1497 German manuscript stashed in a Boston desk opens a window into German enfeoffments - relationships between feudal lords and vassals.
104 views
Pamela Israel
- May 25
- 3 min
1497 German Medieval Letter
Part 1 of 3 It's not every day you find a medieval German knight's letter in an old desk. What on earth? Well, Laurence Posner of...
134 views
Stefan Israel
- May 11
- 1 min
What's in a name- George?
Translating names can be tricky. Look at the name George, Jurgen, Georgios, Jorge and Yuri - all the same. Here's some history.
81 views
Stefan Israel
- Apr 27
- 5 min
Punctuation and the Genealogist
A comma, semi-colon or period - different quotation marks in different languages - Agh! What an interesting history to punctuation marks.
68 views
Stefan Israel
- Mar 30
- 2 min
Two Dots and an Umlaut
Unlocking the umlaut. History of the two dots.
282 views
Stefan Israel
- Mar 16
- 5 min
Celtic Footsteps across Germany- the Undarkening Ages
Medieval Irish and Scottish influences still felt in Germany and beyond.
140 views
Pamela Israel
- Mar 6
- 1 min
Milestone Favorites: Language, History & Tips
Unlock Your History launched in 2017! Check out some favorite posts about language history & translating old German, Danish, Swedish.
76 views
Stefan Israel
- Apr 2, 2021
- 3 min
Brahms’ Lullaby, the Wiegenlied
Genealogy is family, and family is parent and child, and what binds parent and child like a Wiegenlied? A Wiege is a cradle, a lied is a...
1,536 views
Stefan Israel
- Mar 5, 2021
- 4 min
When France Came to Germany
Beethoven and Goethe, the German Shakespeare, were glad to see liberator Napoleon come, and glad to see occupier Napoleon go. Napoleonic la
747 views
Stefan Israel
- Jan 28, 2021
- 4 min
Why Couldn’t My Ancestor Spell Their Name the Same?
You’re tracing your family back, and the spellings sometimes just go crazy.
605 views
Pamela Israel
- Jan 14, 2021
- 6 min
A Plea to Save Letters!
Save letters! I have a treasure trove of memories downstairs.
So began the email from my mother earlier this week.
87 views
Dean Meservy
- Dec 24, 2020
- 3 min
Why do Americans say ‘Merry Christmas’?
We have kept the old word “merry” from a day when Christmas was anything but a Silent Night
1,252 views
Stefan Israel
- Dec 17, 2020
- 3 min
Baptizing Beethoven - 250th Year Anniversary
Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized the 17th of December, 1770, in Bonn, a small city on the Rhine River.
176 views
Stefan Israel
- Nov 21, 2020
- 3 min
20 YEARS OF FRENCH GERMANY
French Germany? France is French and Germany is German, as a general rule, so how could you have French Germany?
Well, borders can be flu
524 views
Stefan Israel
- Oct 30, 2020
- 1 min
Our Dutch (Speaking) President Martin Van Buren
The first U.S. president born in the United States (so after the country’s founding) didn’t even speak English as his first language.
900 views
Pamela Israel
- Oct 6, 2020
- 2 min
German-Americans Celebrated in October
The whole month of October is German American month. But wait! October 6 in particular is German-American Day. So many have contributed.
102 views
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