History of the Germans Podcast

“Let others wage war; you, happy Austria, marry”, that is what we are told. The reality was very different – invasion, rebellion, execution…
New episode out today

Simon and Jess have done a brilliant job making us all sound clever - so well worth listening to

No worries - I am repairing the website and there was something going wrong. Sorry about that.

Vielen Dank - Die erste Haelfte fand ich extrem interessant. Der zweite Teil mit der Kategorisierung als "historische Figur" ist nicht mein Ding....und ich glaube Christopher Clark fand das auch ncht so klasse..

Turkeys may not vote for Christmas but pigs have an ambivalent relationship with the whole month of December since the 9th century….

From the Salzburg manuscript c. 818 AD

Why did the Venetians chase bulls through the streets? This week we explain, while @hotgpod.bsky.social and A History of Italy Pod tell us about Barbarossa's Italian policy of the 1160s.👑
histvenicepod.podbean.com/e/040-everyt...

Within less than 3 years, 1474 to 1477, Charles the Bold had frittered away the mythical wealth of the Burgundian dukes.
How he did that and why it matters is what we talk about today.

#habsburg #burgundy #switzerland #Alsace #Valois #holyromanempire #tyrol #savoy #lorraine #nancy #murten

Three for th price of One!
The most excellent History of Venice Podcast has just published #1 of a 3-part series about the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in Italy.
And the best thing about it....it features another one of my favourite podcasters, Mike Corradi from A History of Italy and yours truly...

The small city of Neuss held out against the warmachine of Charles the Bold, the Grand Duke fo the West, for 10 long and arduous months, a feat that stirred the Holy Roman Empire out of its apathy....

Enjoy!

Germans think their bread is the best in the world. Here’s why they might be right | CNN Germans have more bakeries and eat more varieties of bread than most other countries in the world — no wonder it’s so good.

Germans think their bread is the best in the world. Here’s why they might be right edition.cnn.com/travel/germa... via @cnn.com

If you were a knight in the 14th century and you found yourself at a loose end, you went to Prussia and joined the Lithuanian crusades....

Today we talk about Matthias Corvinus, the legendary renaissance king of Hungary whose library outshone that of the Medici in Florence and whose standing army was one of the greatest – and most expensive - military forces in 15th century Europe.

#hungary #corvinus #ottoman #empire #habsburg

Thanks so much for the endorsement - and get well soon.

Episode 211 out now - see the House of Habsburg hitting rock bottom

I have signed up on Hidden Forces some time ago! Absolutely brilliant!

Episode 210 out today
Our journey today will take us back to Prague and its complex religious politics, to Vienna where the people fall for the promises of a populist and to Hungary where one of the greatest generals of the age squares up against the conqueror of Constantinople.

Great news - Mojo is back in the Dojo - new episode of the History of the Germans is in production. Normal service resumes on Thursday.

it is a bit knitpicky I know - but that is marketing...

Neither Rudolf, nor Albrecht I, Frederick the hndsome or Albrecht II were crowned emperors.

so, who do you think was the first Habsburg emperor?

absolutely - this was great fun!

The first Habsburg Emperor - who was a bit of a persitent disappointment - or wasn't he?

Thanks so much!

Let’s play a silly game

Starting to listen to the @hotgpod.bsky.social after this exciting episode. Including a toboggan race with the Pope!

🚨 NEXT WEEK🚨
Dive into the fascinating yet often misunderstood history of the Holy Roman Empire! Join us as historian Dirk Hoffman-Becking of the @hotgpod.bsky.social Podcast challenges the lazy quip that 'the Holy Roman Empire is neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.'

Episode 208 – Boy Meets Girl, Boy Becomes King • History of the Germans Podcast A weekly narrative podcast aiming to cover the History of the Germans from 919 -1990

In just one year 1438 Albrecht II. rises from mid-ranking duke to king of Hungary, king of Bohemia and king of the Romans.
Was it just because he married the right girl (always recommended), or was his overnight success decades in the making?
historyofthegermans.com/2025/09/25/e...

This is interesting. I used to go skiing in (the) Tyrol during the 80s and 90s and the locals were adamant calling it “Das Tirol”. And when I started talking about it, I found the same expression in German and English texts. But you are right, when I checked just now, it is old fashioned.

Episode 205 – Sempach, Death of a Duke, Birth of a Nation • History of the Germans Podcast On July 9th, 1386 in a field near the Sempach, the armies of archduke Leopold of Austria line up against the forces of the city of Lucerne and the men of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden Much of what hads be...

historyofthegermans.com/2025/09/04/s...