Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 Profile picture
Feb 18, 2022 7 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Every day, here in Germany, it seems like I come across something weird and slightly puzzling from a historical perspective.

Today, I'm wondering, why were 700 'erdstall', short manmade tunnel systems, built under Bavaria and Lower Austria?
No two 'erdstall' are exactly the same, but do include common features such as slips, where a person could sit or stand.

This one can be found near the municipality oft Beutelsbach.
They're not wine cellars, or places for storing goods - they're simply not built to store things, and they're often damp and confined.
Most were built between 1000 and 1300, based on charcoal and other goods recovered from the tunnels.

This might give us a clue as to their use.
This was an era of frequent invasion from the east, but nomadic peoples, such as the Magyars.
So, one school of thought runs that these were shelters for local inhabitants from the frequent raids that took place during this period.
The other, based on their proximity to churches and cemeteries, runs that they were used for a religious purpose, a place of pilgrimage and contemplation.
Whatever the case, they're a fascinating riddle to solve and a window into a different world. Here's a great @SPIEGEL_English article about them. /FIN spiegel.de/international/…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷

Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @MikeStuchbery_

Apr 4, 2023
Sometimes when I get a little down in the dumps, I try to remember the amazing things around me, that connect me to a wider history, and my spirits soar.

This is Kloster Denkendorf, about twenty minutes drive from me. 🧵
Sometime in the 1120s, a 'Bertholdus', perhaps Berthold, Count of Hohenberg & Lindenfels, returned from a trip to the Holy Land and donated a small monastery and a church to the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, who sent a prior to Southern Germany. 🧵
Over the next hundred years, the protection of this church and monastery were placed under some very important families - the Hohenstaufen, the Habsburg, and the Holy Roman Empire. 🧵
Read 8 tweets
Mar 7, 2023
With #InternationalWomensDay on the 8th of March, here's who you can thank for its existence: Clara Zetkin! 🧵
Clara was born in the kingdom of Sachsen in 1857. In the 1870s she became involved with rhe SPD while studying to become teacher.

Her politics veering further leftwards, she spent time in Switzerland and Paris, dodging bans on socialist and communist orgs. 🧵
It was during her time in Paris that Clara, nee Eißner, took the name Zetkin, from her lover, Ossip Zetkin - the pair had two children - Maxim & Konstantin.

All the while she integral in forming the Second Socialist International, and other organisations. 🧵
Read 11 tweets
Mar 6, 2023
I tweeted that the inventor of the first real automobile, Gottlieb Daimler, died #onthisday in 1900.

Not many know this, but Daimler had a habit of scaring the bejesus out of his neighbours. I'd like to honour that. 1/4
When Daimler was putting his 'grandfather clock' engine onto a carriage chassis, the noise from his greenhouse in Bad Cannstatt was alarming his neighbours so much that his gardener eventually led the police in - they'd suspected him of running a counterfeiting operation! 2/4
On November 18 1885, a brave 17 year old Paul Daimler climbed on his father's invention, the 'Reitwagen', and made the world's first motorcycle trip along the banks of the Neckar River, terrifying local with the roar of the 1/2hp engine.

Also the seat caught fire. 3/4
Read 4 tweets
Feb 21, 2023
One thing that I don't think gets talked enough with folks experiencing ADD and/or living on the spectrum is the financial hit.

And I don't mean in a 'oops, didn't pay that bill way', but what years of grappling with if does to your job history and career progression.
There's loads of financial tools out there to help you keep track of where money is going - believe me, I use several.

However, there's not much that can be done when career progression has slowed due to ADD/ASD, but costs keep rising.

Working *harder* isn't an option.
Now, life patently isn't fair, and there is something to be said for hard graft.

Yet perhaps we need to examine and acknowledge that grey zone of those who high functioning, and can do some things really well - but end up driving themselves into the ground over time.
Read 6 tweets
Feb 13, 2023
#ValentinesDay tomorrow. You may not know this, but I am, in fact, @TheLocalGermany's love guru, in addition to Southern Germany correspondent, culture observer & ad creative.

So, you want to date a German? Let me offer you 10 rules for wooing, and dating a German. Image
10. Don't worry if your German is sub-par, you'll barely get a chance to use it.

Many Germans are keen to practice their English, and while this may seem a rich seam of laughs, it's best to keep a straight face.

Anyway, how many language do *you* speak?
9. When the friendly barkeep approaches you whilst on a date, and says 'zusammen' (together) or 'getrennt' (seperated), he's talking about the bill, not inquiring after your relationship status.
Read 11 tweets
Jan 25, 2023
Edward Berger's 'All Quiet on the Western Front' (DE: 'Im Westen Nichts Neues') has gathered nine nominations for the 2023 Oscars - including Best Picture, the only non-English film to make the cut.
It is third adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's seminal anti-war novel, and the first German-language version.

It stars Felix Kammerer as Paul Bäumer - an enthusiastic volunteer to the Imperial German Army in 1917, as World War One rages.
Erich Maria Remarque, born 1898, based the novel on his own experiences on the Western Front, and upon publication in 1929 it became a bestseller around the world.

Remarque left Germany in 1931, before his works were banned by the Nazis as 'unpatriotic'. He died in 1970.
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(