What does Graben mean?
The place name "Graben" is most likely an original job title: "am Graben" (namely at the moat of the castle where the village originated, or at the moat of the Pfinz, which falls here into the Rhine lowlands). (Graben Gemeinde Website)
Margrave
Graben is mentioned for the first time in 1306: On March 22, 1306, the Ubstadt “edel knecht Swiger” promised the Margrave Rudolf of Baden the right of first refusal in his part of the village of Graben. Four years later, on November 26, 1310, Swiger's brother Dietrich then sold all of his inheritance from his father Gerhart to the Margrave of Baden. There were still a number of quarrels between the Ubstadtern and the margrave, but in two documents from August 8 and 16, 1312, the sale of the castle and the village of Graben was finally sealed. So Graben had been part of the Margraviate of Baden since 1312, but since the early 15th century the castle and office of Graben remained only under fief for over 300 years (until 1746) under Electoral Palatinate sovereignty and the Margrave of Baden. (Graben Gemeinde Website)
The Margraves sell Graben
The ditch was a feast for the nobility. "My gracious prince and lord, because of the three Huoben acres, also imprisoned wooden justice in the Baurenwald to Graben as other owners of the Huoben dafelbft," the camp books report. The noble and influential citizens of the village were the respective lords of the castles, for many centuries the Margraves of Baden-Durlach. Due to the personal relations of the citizens of Graben with the sovereigns, the border town of Graben enjoyed many advantages. The lordship of Befißtum as: Buildings, gardens, fields, cottages and woods, form an outstanding part of the village's assets due to their construction, size, privileged location and the continuity of the administration in the Lauf period. The castle with Berchfrit and kennel, surrounded by wall and ditch, served the lordship of the dwelling. On the plan with the note: Tenth to Neudorf. Rent and Calf Pasture, which are annually increased by the Karlsruhe domain administration for the purpose of haymaking, find all other parts of the manor have been transferred to the Benefit of the municipality of Graben or individual citizens. (Graben by Frederick Kemm, 1920)
1500s
This may have been all the harder for Graben, since it was probably with a certain degree of glare that it lasted several years, especially in the late 16th and early 17th century. From 1577 to 1586 and from 1604 to 1617 Graben Castle had served as the widows of two margrave countesses, both with the first name Anna. The former, a native Countess of the Palatinate near Rhein, was very rich in blessings for Graben after her death. As early as 1581 she had deposited 2,000 guldens in Pforzheim, whose interest of 100 guldens was used to pay the annual interest to poor widows and orphans of the Graben. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
Religion
The effects of the Reformation led to the fact that the inhabitants of Graben adopted the new doctrine through the introduction of the reformed faith ordered by Margrave Charles II of Baden-Durlach in 1556. (Graben Gemeinde Website)
The warlike 17th century
The most terrible times of Graben's long history lived in the 17th century. Three great wars brought heavy suffering to the area and partly to the whole German southwest. The Thirty Years' War 1618-1648 and the so-called Palatinate War of Succession 1688-1697 have - quite rightly - left particularly deep marks in the collective memory, but in the case of the Graben, the Franco-German war of 1674-1679 must not be forgotten. Although it has not yet been given a name of its own by the historians, it brought much suffering and destruction to the region.
(Graben by Konrad Dussel)
1635 - 30 Years War
After the Swedes suffered a great defeat at Nördlingen in 1635,
the emperor sought to seize the moment. The Protestant Margrave with
his land between the Catholic margrave Wilhelm from Baden-Baden
and Elector Maximilian of Bavaria. The new lords tried to force through the re-Catholization of the country by force. In the Graben Castle there were Jesuits.
It is a matter of judging the quality of the church's work, and it is virtually impossible to achieve evangelical worship. In the end, despite all protests and requests, the Castle was even banned and May 27, 1643 was set as the day of emigration for the Protestant clergy. Already in August, however, this was taken back again a little, because those were in urgent need of military intervention. Real peace, however, did not come until 1648, when the many warring parties in Münster had agreed to put an end to the long murder. There, among other things, they agreed to exercise free rule according to the status of 1618. (Note: In other words after the 30 Years war they went back to the Catholic and Protestant status at the beginning of the war) (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
30 Years War
The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) brought much hardship and misery to the ditch. The population loss around Bruchsal averaged 80 percent. “In 1622, 1150 acres of arable land were cultivated, after peace in 1648 only 296 acres. 135 buildings were destroyed, in 1622 the ditch had 145 citizens, in 1648 there were only 42 left. ”The wars related to France's reunion policy under Louis XIV and the Palatinate Succession War also had devastating consequences for Ditch. So destroyed on March 31st / 1st April 1675 the French dug the castle from the Philippsburg fortress, which had been in French hands since the Peace of Westphalia (1648), and in spring 1689 they burned down the entire village "except for one old house". Quiet. (Graben Gemeinde Website)
Graben Cattle after the 30 Years War
All over the place, the stocktaking of losses was the order of the day. Schultheiss Munk drew up the following summary in 1653: Buildings have been burned and torn = 135, Vicarage and barn burned down. Change at the burgers, horses and livestock:
1622 1653
burgers 145 42
horses 345 stock 62 stock
cattle 400 stock 71 stock.
(Graben by Konrad Dussel)
Graben Castle 1600s
Graben Castle 1600s
Graben Castle seems to have come through the war reasonably well,
because there is always the military demand as a quarters and finally the Jesuits
when they served on the base. Afterwards, however, it was probably neglected. In 1666, however, it was restored to a habitable condition and fortified to such an extent that it was also habitable with...it offered protection. It could not really prove its worth with any of them; at the next it has already been destroyed.
In 1661 Louis XIV took over the government in France. The foreign policy goal of the later "Sun King" was hegemony over Europe and the consolidation of the state in the northeast and east. The Rhine was to form the natural border of France. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
Castle
We know next to nothing about the appearance of the building on the left bank of the Pfinz, which is often referred to as the "castle", and which only the names "Schloßstraße" and "Schloßplatz" remind us of today. It was probably a sober building, but it served its purpose well.
The Graben office, which was abolished at the beginning of the 18th century and added to the new residential city of Karlsruhe, was always anything but impressive: It consisted of just three villages: Graben, Liedolsheim and Rußheim, which is why the coat of arms of the municipality of Graben was created in 1901 had united the horseshoe, as the village symbol of Liedolsheim and Rußheim, with the "talking" spade (= grave logs) used for the village and official name Graben. The office building was located in the south of the castle district at today's Schloßplatz and formed part of the buildings belonging to the castle. (Graben Gemeinde Website)
French
The tactics of the French were not to occupy land, but to wear it down by means of constant devastation. On 8 October 1675 they invaded Graben again. Hanß Jakob Rausch, a citizen of Graben, reported on this: "At the time of the 111th anniversary of the death of the French, and all the inhabitants of Graben were unaware of why they had come into the village and two of them were in front of the house, one of them had smashed the windows with his pipe and hit a maiden in front of her forehead that she had fallen off the bench. The other one pushed the man and told him to take his wife and children away that he wanted to burn. The soldier who had been bedridden with the light on immediately infected a straw mop, took a straw mop and infected his neighbor with a large saucer filled with straw and hay, which then stood in flames, as did the stain on it. Kircze, city hall, Sczulzeißen house and some have been saved with large military. What the French got their hands on, they took with them, including 16 of the best horses. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
The French Destroy the Graben Mill 1676
On 20 January 1676 the mill was destroyed by the French. In 1681 the owner Veltin König started the reconstruction and received considerable relief: In the first year he was to pay only 10 times, in the second 20 and in the third year 30 times grain. With 30 malters it should then remain for 18 years. After that, he was to pay five times more every year until the old level of 60 times was reached again. This was to be continued for 26 years, then this newly built mill in the village of Graben would have to be paid for 60 times rye and 5 pigs or 5 fl.
However, this contract, calculated for more than 50 years, could only be concluded until 1688....will be held. On 11 November the French moved into Winterquartier in Graben, and the following year they destroyed the village and the mill. Müller Veltin König was thereupon issued the Gült for 1690 and 1691; for 1689 he still had to pay 14 times more and from 1692 on 20 times again. The only problem was that König did not have any more mills. When, after a short time, he started to set up at least one grinding course again provisionally, it became clear that the actual situation had changed dramatically: A French governor resided in Philapsburg, who was very angry that the Graben mill had been put back into operation without his permission. Therefore, he completely burned what was still in the stain, which then happened and of the least, including the wood for the millet(s), was spared, as the Schultheiss (Mayor or Sheriff) later reported. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
1700s
French Destruction
During the reign of Eberhard Louis (1676–1733), who succeeded as a one-year-old when his father Duke William Louis died in 1677, Württemberg had to face another destructive enemy, Louis XIV of France. In 1688, 1703 and 1707, the French entered the duchy and inflicted brutalities and suffering upon the inhabitants. The sparsely populated country afforded a welcome to fugitive Waldenses, who did something to restore it to prosperity, but the extravagance of the duke, anxious to provide for the expensive tastes of his mistress, Christiana Wilhelmina von Grävenitz, undermined this benefit. (Baden History)
The French Destroy the Graben Mill 1676
On 20 January 1676 the mill was destroyed by the French. In 1681 the owner Veltin König started the reconstruction and received considerable relief: In the first year he was to pay only 10 times, in the second 20 and in the third year 30 times grain. With 30 malters it should then remain for 18 years. After that, he was to pay five times more every year until the old level of 60 times was reached again. This was to be continued for 26 years, then this newly built mill in the village of Graben would have to be paid for 60 times rye and 5 pigs or 5 fl.
However, this contract, calculated for more than 50 years, could only be concluded until 1688....will be held. On 11 November the French moved into Winterquartier in Graben, and the following year they destroyed the village and the mill. Müller Veltin König was thereupon issued the Gült for 1690 and 1691; for 1689 he still had to pay 14 times more and from 1692 on 20 times again. The only problem was that König did not have any more mills. When, after a short time, he started to set up at least one grinding course again provisionally, it became clear that the actual situation had changed dramatically: A French governor resided in Philapsburg, who was very angry that the Graben mill had been put back into operation without his permission. Therefore, he completely burned what was still in the stain, which then happened and of the least, including the wood for the millet(s), was spared, as the Schultheiss (Mayor or Sheriff) later reported. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
1700s
Graben a Simple Village
Already in 1715 an important course for the future of the country had been set: After the Peace of Rastatt, Margrave Karl Wilhelm, Karl Friedrich's Great father, had a hunting lodge built in the Hardtwald - the basis for the late residence Karlsruhe. Soon afterwards the office of Graben was abolished and assigned to the new office of Karlsruhe. Graben lost its official seat and became a simple village. It was not until 1746 that the magnificent land rights of the Electorate Palatinate were replaced by the former Graben and Stein offices, which had had to be seceded in 1424, with 150,000 gulden. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
Margrave
The long reign of Margrave Karl Friedrich: when he came to the throne at the age of ten in 1738, he was able to take over the government in 1746 and hold it in his hands until his death in 1811 - and since 1771 also over the Baden-Baden lands. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
1755 Streets
In 1755, the streets began to be paved. The material for this came largely from the ruins of the (Graben) castle. The mayor's name was written above it. Some of them need to be paved: "It has come to pass that the most gracious lordship of the parish." (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
The first emigrants from Graben 1700s
Although the wars of the 17th century were essentially a thing of the past in the 18th century, the peacetime of the 18th century brought a new challenge to the Margraves of Baden in general and to Graben in particular: The population exploded. In Graben it grew from 176 (1702) to 420 (1756) - an increase of 240 percent in just five years. Of course, this was in part only a supplemental increase.
But the question was: what would happen if the living conditions could not be expanded accordingly? Due to the prevailing division of wealth, the inheritances became smaller and smaller - the land became scarce. In this situation there seemed to be only one solution for many people: to expand into countries
wandering, where everything was much better. Apart from the vast expanses of east and southeast Asa, North America seemed to be the best suited for this.
However, it is no longer possible to make a clear decision as to why the emigrants left.
The question is whether it was only the poor living conditions at home that drove them away, or whether the promise of a better life was the main reason for their hunting. It was always a mixture of both, with the proportion of the population varying from case to case. The attraction of the emigration destinations cannot be ignored because it would be difficult to explain why the emigrants did not simply scatter everywhere, but rather had clear signs of the time when they were in the country.
Leaving a German country was not possible without further ado. One did not like to lose subjects who were considered to be an important productive force, and certainly not if they were serfs from whom one profited especially much. As a deduction tradesmen must be deprived of a part of the property. The limits of the reign were quickly reached. The boundaries of the dominion were quickly defined in the Graben Law Book, the Stock Book of 1566, which will be discussed in more detail in a moment. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
The village and its inhabitants 1700s
For centuries the village and its inhabitants had not had a pillar (record) of their own; when it appears in documents and records, it is actually only as an object of superior rule. All other aspects left almost no traces. It was not until the 18th century that this began to change gradually, and more and more records and documents give an impression of life in Graben and its rules. Very often, however, they are only fragments, because at that time, no self-evident facts were written down, and so many questions remain open or cannot be answered with the certainty that is the rule for later years.
Even the question of municipal offices is a problem in itself, and is initially quite easy to answer. Most important was the mayor appointed by the authorities for life. He had not only administrative but also judicial functions, where he was supported by a group of jurors, the so-called court relatives. In addition, there was also the council. However, the council and the court almost always acted together, so that it is difficult to make out exact differences. And how exactly did one become a sheriff, a court relative or a councillor? For Graben, clear answers can only be given for the 19th century. For earlier times, one has to be content with misleading names and little additional information. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
Graben Sheriffs
1467 Heintz Tuber
1474 Michel Müller
1521 Erhard Ochsenbacher
1554 Hans Heil
1562 Hans Ochsenbacher
1575 HansMay
1585 Hans Hüenlin
1588 Mathis Süß
1614 Kaspar Weber
1624 Hans Hach
1632 Christoph Munk (Munckh)
1668 Hans Andreas Maintzer
1671 Jakob Süß
1691 Johann Mathis Zaisloff
1700 Christoph Keller
1706 Peter Keller (brother the Ch.)
1728 Hans Michel Cammerer
1732 Christoph Kemm
1752 Johann Philipp Kemm (son)
1786 Friedrich Nägele
1799 Wilhelm Becker
1812 Christoph Süß
1822 Christoph Kemm
Mayor 1700s
The mayor of Graben (like the mayor of Baden) was not a "Bürgermeister". He received this title only in 1830. Before that, the word had a different meaning, as the "Bürgermeister" were only the administrators of the municipal treasury, i.e. the predecessors of the "Gemeindereclmer".
Until well into the 18th century there were always two of them, one of the Municipal administrator , the other of the council. If they had closed the municipal account to Martini, they resigned from their office and were replaced by two new Mayor replaces. It is no longer possible to say exactly when this regulation was abandoned in Graben, because the annual records were not handed down in the last the office of Council President, as the jurisdiction in the village was restricted. Before his councillors gave their advice, the mayor had to note down the orders arriving from Karl's rest. However, there were no clear instructions as to how this had been done. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
Court in Graben
And so it went on page after page, year after year. The court punished minor thefts, so to speak, irregularities (like the cited violation of the pasture ban) or insults. In most cases fines were imposed or even just sitting down, which is described in the following paragraphs: "Blochsitzen was a dishonorable and very severe punishment. In front of the town hall stood a bench made of beams. The seat was quite wide and had two recesses in the shape of the thighs. After the condemned man had been crushed, a wood was laid over the upper part of the seat in such a way that the two cavities in it fitted exactly on those in the seat, and then the court usher put a lock on it, so that the poor sinner often sat for twelve hours without interruption and had to endure mental agony in addition to his physical suffering."
It is noticeable that over the years, the proportion of Karlsruhe's orders written down has increased and the number of court transcripts decreased until they disappeared completely. Johann Philipp Kemm's successors did not take the same care with the books as their predecessor. In many years there were no entries at all. It was not until 1824 that a new beginning was made and a new book of orders was started, in which all the Circulars, which had come from the Grand Ducal Land Office in Karlsruhe, were entered.
The old logbook was only used at this time to record the previous
...to hold these citizens' adoptions. It was by no means the case that every inhabitant was also a citizen, and even in terms of civil rights there were considerable differences. The so-called protector's civil rights were widespread.
(Graben by Konrad Dussel)
Farming
In pre-industrial times, the life and survival of people was closely linked to the land available to them. Without being able to use machines of any great value, almost all hands in the village were needed to cultivate the fields, supply the cattle and secure the most important other provisions for their own existence - for example, to provide for winter fires. On the whole, productivity was so low that no one could be relieved from the efforts of farming. Even the few village craftsmen, the schoolmaster and even the parish priest usually had to secure their livelihood by farming. The distribution of land according to area and quality was therefore not only the decisive principle for the social structure of the village community, but also for its overall ability to survive. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
Graben Forest
Graben Forest
Furthermore, the size of the existing forest has a significance of which one can hardly imagine today. The forest was a supplier of an abundance of raw materials: The wood was used as building or heating material, fruit and leaves were brought in as fodder or stable litter or, conversely, the cattle were driven to pasture in the forest to provide only a few key foods. Incidentally, game is not mentioned here; hunting has always been a genuine master's game and was not allowed to be practiced by the villagers. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
Farming - 17th - 18th Centuries
In contrast to today, where every farmer can work his property as he wishes, farmers in earlier times were subject to fixed rules that the community laid down for each individual. The principle of three-field farming made coordinated work inevitable. On the one hand, the basis was a regular change of land use to prevent the total exploitation of the land: Each field was cultivated one year with winter crops (mainly rye and spelt or some wheat) and one year with summer crops (barley or oats). In the third year it lay fallow to recover and served at best as pasture for livestock. Artistic fertilizer was unknown and the manure of the few animals was hardly enough to improve the yield of the gardens. There were no significant changes here until the 18th century, which will be discussed later. An old custom, however, still existed for a long time: that the number of years of lease had to be divisible by three. In order to make this system work in practice, on the other hand, there was extensive land movement. This resulted from the fact that no roads were used at all, so that as much land as possible could be cultivated. Without paths, however, it was necessary to sow and harvest in a well coordinated manner, because this always meant entering land that belonged to others. So not every field was cultivated separately. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
Miller
The lower or Erblehenmühle (Loan Mill)
One of the oldest village crafts is the miller. In his mill the harvested grain could be processed into flour much less expensively than at home. Although the miller's work was not particularly strenuous, it was not very flexible; it was capital-intensive and tied to the location: Before wind could be used (which was only possible in the 16th century), the mill was situated on a continuous watercourse with a certain gradient, where the mill building had to be erected. The profitability of this investment was now best secured by a monopoly, the so-called mill ban, which was imposed on all farmers of a certain territory prescribed to use the mill assigned to them and no other mill, possibly cheaper or subordinate to another lord. The ban on mills was therefore a business with two winners: it not only ensured a good income for the mill and the miller, but it also guaranteed the landlord who had issued the ban a secure tax. It is therefore understandable that the regulations in this regard are regularly among the oldest documents that prove the existence of a mill. The lower, the old or Erblehenmühle in Graben is no exception. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
The mill Graben behind the castle at the Pfintz was, with all its buildings and accessories, the property of the gracious Prince and Lord Margrave Karl, etc., free of all possessions. The subjects of the official ditch not only had to have their grain ground there, they also had to do corvée work there at any time if necessary, and had to do it for years and years, and in the same way when they became modest. Such support was, of course, not free of charge for the mill owner at that time, Friedrich Müller, the "Beständer" (because the plant was loaned out on a permanent basis). He had given Järichs out of it at Giilt (= as interest) Sectumpteen Malter Korn. And in addition, he fattened five pigs each year for a quarter of a year or gave each of them five guilders. It is a characteristic of pre-modern times that such rules remained completely unchanged for centuries. The stands of the Graben mill could be changed as often as they wanted, they always had 60 years of grain to be delivered to Karlsruhe. Such rigid regulations became problematic when the
the heat is rapidly deteriorating. Then long petitions and expert opinions were the result. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
1817 Lutheran Church
What happened during their lives?
1555 Sep 25, The Religious Peace of Augsburg compromised differences between Catholics and Protestants in the German states. Each prince could chose which religion would be followed in his realm. Lutheranism was acknowledged by the Holy Roman Empire. The Peace of Augsburg was the first permanent legal basis for the existence of Lutheranism as well as Catholicism in Germany. It was promulgated as part of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V's Augsburg Interim of 1548 was a temporary doctrinal agreement between German Catholics and Protestants that was overthrown in 1552.
1571 Dec 27, Johannes Kepler (d.1630), German astronomer known as the "father of modern astronomy," was born. Working with the data gathered by Tycho Brahe, he established the three laws of planetary motion:
a) The planets do not travel in concentric circles, but in ellipses, with the sun at one of the two foci of the ellipse.
b) A radius vector joining a planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
c) The third law asserted a mathematical relation between the periods of revolution of the planets and their distance from the sun.
1616 A set of silver playing cards was created in Germany about this time engraved by a man named Michael Frömmer. It used a suit seen in Italy, with swords, coins, batons and cups in values from ace to 10. Each of these suits has three face cards — king, knight and knave.
1618 May 23, The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) ravaged Germany. It began when three opponents of the Reformation were thrown through a window. The "official" Defenestration of Prague was the "official" trigger for the Thirty Year’s War. Local Protestants became enraged when Catholic King Ferdinand II reneged on promises of religious freedom and stormed Hradcany Castle and threw 3 Catholic councilors out of the window and into the moat. The conflict spread across Europe with most of the fighting taking place in Germany. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 brought the war to an end and ended the emperor‘s authority over Germany outside the Hapsburg domain.
1621 In Germany potatoes, native to the Andes, were first planted.
1633 In Oberammergau, Germany, plague victims swore an oath to portray the suffering and death of the Lord every 10 years. Their first Passion Play was performed in 1634.
1634 In Oberammergau, Germany, a re-enactment of the last days of Jesus began to be performed. The Passion Play was performed from then on every ten years with a few rare exceptions. In 1633 plague victims had sworn an oath to portray the suffering and death of the Lord every 10 years.
1648 Oct 24, The Peace of Westphalia ended the German Thirty Years War and effectively destroyed the Holy Roman Empire. The Treaties of Osnabruck and Munster, that ended the Thirty Years" War, divided Pomerania, a historic region that once stretched from Stralsund to the Vistula along the Baltic Sea in north-central Europe, into two parts known as Hither Pomerania and Farther Pomerania. Hither Pomerania, the area west of the Oder River, was granted to Sweden. Farther Pomerania was east of the Oder and went to the state of Brandenburg. Hither Pomerania is now part of the German state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania; Farther Pomerania is now part of Poland. The 30 years war had spread from one end of Germany to the other, and left the country a scene of desolation and disorder, wasted by fire, sword and plague. The war was followed by great scarcity, due to the lack of laborers. San Marino did not attend the conference or sign the treaty because it had not been involved in the fighting, however it was linked to states that were fighting and was therefore still at war with Sweden until 1996 when an official end was declared. The treaty abolished private armies and the nation-state acquired a monopoly on maintaining armies and fighting wars.
1653 Sep 1, Johann Pachelbel (d.1706), German organist and composer, was born. He is best known for his "Canon in D."
1671 In Germany Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz (Leibniz) devised a mechanical calculator to add, subtract, multiply and divide.
1680 In Hamburg, Germany, a cymbal was used for the 1st time in an orchestra.
1685 Feb 23, Composer and musician George Frideric Handel (d.1759) was born in Halle, Germany.
1685 Mar 21, Composer Johann Sebastian Bach (d.1750) was born in Eisenach, Germany, the youngest of eight children. 2nd source says Mar 21. He composed cantatas, sonatas, preludes, fugues and chorale preludes, and whose works included "Brandenburg Concerto" and "Well-Tempered Clavier."
1689 May 12, England’s King William III joined the League of Augsburg and the Netherlands. The "Grand Alliance" was formed to counter the war of aggression launched by Louis XIV against the Palatinate states in Germany. This is known as The War of the League of Augsburg (1689-97) also The Nine Years' War, and the War of the Grand Alliance.
1690 Jan 14, The clarinet was invented in Germany.
1693 Heidelberg was torched by the troops of Louis XIV in a dispute over a royal title.
1707 Oct 17, German composer Johann S. Bach married his niece Maria Bach.
1708 The German Baptist Brethren were founded as a band of Pietists in the village of Schwarzenau. Due to persecution they soon migrated to America. The Holy Spirit whispers to every believer but can only be heard by those who sacrifice self-will to god’s will. They observe the rite of the "holy kiss" and have no leaders.
1713 Bach composed his Brandenburg Concerto No. 3.
1717-1723 J.S. Bach worked under Prince Leopold at Anhalt-Cothen. During this period he composed the 1st book of the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Brandenburg Concertos and the sonatas for solo violin. Bach likely composed his “Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello" during this period, when he served as a Kapellmeister in Cothen. They were later acclaimed as some of the greatest works ever written for solo cello. In 2010 Eric Siblin authored “The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece."
1719 Nov 14, Johann Georg Leopold Mozart, composer, was born.
1721 Mar 24, In Germany, the supremely talented Johann Sebastian Bach published the Six Brandenburg Concertos.
1722 Daniel Schurzfleisch brought his book collection to the "Grünes Schloß" (Green Castle) on 35 horse-drawn carts. Duchess Anna Amalia (1739-1807) converted the palace into a library and made him the 1st librarian.
1722 JS Bach completed the manuscript of the 1st volume “The Well-Tempered Clavier." It circulated underground until it was published in 1801.
1723-1750 J.S. Bach worked as the cantor of Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church and school.
1729 Apr 15, Johann S. Bach's "Matthew Passion" premiered in Leipzig
1735 Sep 5, Johann Christian Bach (d.1782), composer, son of JS Bach, was born. He is known as the London Bach. He traveled to Italy, became a Catholic, and went to England where he was mentor to the young Mozart. He also represented the Style Gallant.
1744-1812 Mayer Rothschild, banker, rose from a ghetto in Frankfurt to become the banker to Prince William of Prussia. His son, Nathan Rothschild, worked in London as a banker and invested Prussian money in the Napoleonic Wars and smuggled it to Wellington in Spain. His 4 other sons established banks in Vienna, Naples and Paris.
1745 Oct 11, The Leyden jar, capable of storing static electricity, was invented by German cleric Ewald Georg von Kleist. Also about this time Dutch scientist Pieter van Musschenbroek of Leiden (Leyden) independently came up with the same idea.
1748 In Germany an oil painting by Elias Gottlob Haussmann showed bewigged composer Johann Sebastian Bach aged around 60 holding the score to one of his canons.
1749 Aug 28, German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (d.1832), "the master spirit of the German people," was born at Frankfurt am Main. Scientist, philosopher, novelist, and critic as well as lyric, dramatic, and epic poet, he was the leading figure of his age after Napoleon. He had early pretensions in the visual arts and was an avid draftsman into old age. He studied law in Leipzig and died in Weimar. He is best known for "Faust." "True excellence is rarely found, even more rarely is it cherished."
1750 Jul 28, Composer Johann Sebastian Bach (65) died in Leipzig, Germany. In 2000 Christoff Wolff authored the biography "Johann Sebastian Bach." In 2005 James Gaines authored “Evening in the Palace of Reasoning," a portrait of Bach in 1747. In 2013 John Eliot Gardiner authored “Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven."
1763-1825 Jean Paul Richter, German author: "A timid person is frightened before a danger; a coward during the time; and a courageous person afterward." "Spring makes everything young again except man."
1764 Jan 1, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (8) played for the Royal Family at Versailles, France.
1770 Dec 16, Ludwig Von Beethoven (d.1827), deaf German composer best known for his 9th Symphony, was born in Bonn. His Sixth Symphony "Pastorale" was in F-Major. Locks of his hair were cut off after his death and preserved by a number of collectors.
1776-1781 It is estimated that 30,000 Hessian soldiers fought for the British during the American Revolution. After Russia refused to provide troops for the war, the German states of Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Hanau, Waldeck, Anspach-Bayreuth and Anhalt-Zerbst supplied mercenary soldiers, collectively referred to as Hessians. Seven thousand Hessians died in the war and another 5,000 deserted and settled in America. The British paid the German rulers for each soldier sent to North America and an additional sum for each killed.
1777 Sep 16, Nathan Rothschild (d.1836), banker, was born in Frankfurt. He was the son of Mayer Rothschild (1744-1812), who rose from the Frankfurt ghetto to become the banker to Prince William of Prussia. Nathan worked in London as a banker and invested Prussian money in the Napoleonic Wars and smuggled it to Wellington in Spain. He was the first to hear news from Waterloo and sold stock to convince other investors that the British had lost. His agents bought the stock at low prices. His 4 brothers established banks in Vienna, Naples and Paris.
1785 Jan 4, Jacob Ludwig Grimm, German philosopher who wrote Grimm’s Fairy Tales, was born.
1787 Aug 10, Mozart completed his "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik."
1789 Mar 16, George S. Ohm (d.1854), German scientist, was born. He gave his name to the ohm unit of electrical resistance.
1789 Martin Klaproth, German chemist, discovered Uranium. It named after the planet Uranus discovered 8 years earlier.
1795 Mar 29, Beethoven (24) debuted as pianist in Vienna.
1797 Jan 31, Franz Schubert, German composer, was born in Vienna, Austria
1799-1804 Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), German explorer, and Aime Bonpland, botanist, led an expedition to South America. They collected over 60,000 plants.
1800 Apr 2, 1st performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's 1st Symphony in C.
1803 Feb 25, The 1,800 sovereign German states united into 60 states.
1803 Apr 5, 1st performance of Beethoven's 2nd Symphony in D.
1803 Beethoven composed his "Kreutzer Sonata" dedicated to the French violinist Rudolphe Kreutzer.
1805 Apr 7, Beethoven conducted the premiere of his "Eroica" symphony
1805 Sep 30, Napoleon's army entered the Rhine valley.
1806 Oct 27, Emperor Napoleon entered Berlin.
1807 Mar 5, 1st performance of Ludwig von Beethoven's 4th Symphony in B.
1809 Feb 3, Felix Mendelssohn (d.1847), German composer and pianist, was born. His work included: "Overture to a Midsummer Night's Dream"
1809 Apr 20, Napoleon defeated Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria.
1810 Jun 8, Robert Schumann (d.1856), German composer, was born in Zwickau, Germany.
1810 Oct 12, Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become King Ludwig I, was married to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. In honor of the wedding a horse race took place at the Theresienwiese (the Theresien meadow). The decision to repeat the horse races in subsequent years gave rise to the tradition of the Oktoberfest.
1813 May 22, Richard Wagner, German composer, conductor and writer, was born in Leipzig, Germany. He composed "The Flying Dutchman.
1813 Aug 27, The Allies defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Dresden
1813 Oct 16, In the Battle at Leipzig Napoleon faced Prussia, Austria & Russia.
1813 Oct 18, The Allies defeated Napoleon Bonaparte at Leipzig.
1813 Nov 2, Treaty of Fulda. After the Battle of Leipzig (Oct 16-19) King Frederick I of Württemberg (1754-1816) deserted Napoleon’s waning fortunes. By a treaty made with Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar von Metternich (1773-1858) at Fulda, Hessen, Germany he secured the confirmation of his royal title and of his recent acquisitions of territory, while his troops marched with those of the allies into France.
1813 Dec 8, Ludwig van Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A, premiered.
1813 Dec 31, Some 83,000 Prussian and Russian soldiers pursued Napoleon across the Rhine at Pfalzgrafenstein Castle
1814 Feb 27, Ludwig von Beethoven's 8th Symphony in F, premiered.
1815 Apr 1, Otto von Bismarck (d.1898), German statesman, was born. He founded the German Empire and was the chancellor of Germany, the Second Reich, from 1866-90 [1971-1990]. The Iron Chancellor created the modern social insurance state when he introduced transfer payments to appease worker insecurities. "History is simply a piece of paper covered with print; the main thing is still to make history, not to write it." "Every man had his basic worth - from which must be subtracted his vanity.
1816 Jul 21, Paul Julius Baron von Reuter (d.1899), founder of the British news agency bearing his name, was born in Hesse, Germany, as Israel Beer Josaphat.
1816 Rain, hail and frost during the summer caused starvation in all of Europe. Because of this, Gabriel Sedlmayr baked bread from dough using the spent grains of his mash tun. The bread is somewhat dark, but smells and tastes good.
1817 Baron Karl de Drais de Sauerbrun of Germany invented the draisienne, the first 2-wheeled, rider-propelled machine and exhibited it in Paris in 1818. The vehicle came to be known as the “velocipede," a 2-wheeled running machine without pedals.
1818 Oct 24, Felix Mendelssohn (9) performed his 1st public concert in Berlin.
1819 Sep 13, Clara Josephine Schumann, [nee Wieck], pianist and composer, was born in Leipzig, Germ.
1819-1898 Theodor Fontane, German author: "Happiness, it seems to me, consists of two things: first, in being where you belong, and second -- and best -- in comfortably going through everyday life, that is, having had a good night's sleep and not being hurt by new shoes."
1822 Feb 22, Adolf Kuszmaul, German physician (stomach pump, Kuszmaul disease), was born in Graben
1823 Oct 5, Carl Maria von Weber visited Beethoven.
1824 Mar 26, 1st performance of Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis."
1824 May 7, The Ninth Symphony by Beethoven had its premiere. The "Ode to Joy" lyric was originally written by Friedrich von Schiller as the "Ode to Freedom."
1813 Aug 26-27, The Battle of Dresden was Napoleon’s last major victory against the allied forces of Austria, Russia and Prussia.
1827 Mar 26, Ludwig von Beethoven (56), German composer, died in Vienna. He had been deaf for the later part of his life, but said on his death bead "I shall hear in heaven." It was later determined that he suffered from lead poisoning.
1828 Nov 19, Franz Schubert (b.1797), Austrian composer, died of syphilis in Vienna. In this he composed his song cycle "Schwanengesang." His work included the C-Major Symphony, string quartets, 3 piano sonatas, and the C-Major String Quarte
1832 Feb 22, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (b.1749), poet, (Faust, Egmont) died in Weimar, Germany. Goethe had served as minister of mines under Bismarck. He completed "Faust" just before his death: "When Ideas fail, words come in handy."
1832 Apr 15, Wilhelm Busch, German artist, was born. He created the precursor to the cartoon strip.
1832 Jul 5, The German government began curtailing freedom of the press after German Democrats advocated a revolt against Austrian rule.
1833 May 7, Composer Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany, and died on Apr 3, 1897. His works number through Opus 122 and included: the "Hungarian Dances," the "Haydn Variations," the "Violin Concerto in D Major," "Lullaby" and compositions for the pianoforte, organ, chamber music, orchestral compositions, numerous songs, small and large choral works
1838 Jan 6, Max Bruch, composer Scottish Fantasy), was born in Cologne, Germany.
1841 Mar 31, 1st performance of Robert Schumann's 1st Symphony in B
1842 May 5, City-wide fire burned for over 100 hours in Hamburg, Germany. The medieval center of Hamburg was virtually leveled.
1845 Oct 19, Richard Wagner's opera "Tannhauser," premiered in Dresde
1845 Der Struwwelpeter, a popular German children's book, was published by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehavior in an exaggerated way. The title of the first story provides the title of the whole book. Literally translated, Struwwel-Peter means Shaggy-Peter.
1846 Feb 9, Wilhelm Maybach, German engineer, was born. He designed the first Mercedes automobile.
1847 Nov 4, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (b.1809), German pianist and composer, died at age 38. His work included: "Overture to a Midsummer Night's Dream."
1848 German philosopher Karl Marx publishes The Communist Manifesto which would be the basis for Marxism and communism.
1860s Wooden and metal floor toys that resemble trains are first made.
1901 An elevated monorail, "hanging railway," was built in the Ruhr Valley.
1905 Einstein presented his theory of relativity declaring that the very measurement of time intervals is affected by the motion of the observer. He proposed that light is itself quantized, or particle-like, to explain how electrons were emitted when light hit certain metals. He presented four papers, the first on Brownian motion, the second was on the composition of light, the third proposed the Special Theory of Relativity, and the fourth established the equivalence of mass and energy (see Sep 27). Einstein presented 5 papers this year, one of which was titled “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend on its Energy Content?" This paper provided an incomplete proof of E=mc2, an equation that had already been know for a few years. In 2008 Hans C. Ohanian authored “Einstein’s Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius."
1905 In Southwest Africa (later Namibia) the Nama tribe joined the Herero uprising against German settlers stealing their land, cattle and women.
1908 Aug 11, Britain's King Edward VII met with Kaiser Wilhelm II to protest the growth of the German navy.
1911 Jan 31, The German Reichstag exempted royal families from tax obligations.
1914 Aug 1, Germany declared war on Russia at the onset of World War I.
Farming
The purely agricultural character of the municipality of Graben has been preserved until the beginning of the 20th century. It can be attributed to the cultivation of the special crops of tobacco and asparagus on the sandy soil of the Graben district that the structural change in agriculture took place only slowly. As early as 1912, 86 hectares of tobacco were grown here, and before and after World War II, Graben was one of the most important growing locations with almost 100 hectares of tobacco cultivation area. (Graben Gemeinde Website)
Hunting
Hunting in the community forest belonged to court hunting until the appearance of the newer hunting-feet (Jagdgefeß of 2 December 1850). The game species find: roe deer, harbour, fafans. partridges. Foxes, sometimes wild boars, fallow deer and red deer due to the proximity of the park. Until 1848 there were complaints about significant damage to the game by biting off the shoots of forlene; in the spring of that year well over 100 roe deer were fished and the populations were noticeably reduced. Now also the deciduous wood came up of which one believed earlier. it was held down with the scissors. The present wildlife does not exert a negative influence on the forest culture. Hunting is now once again the property of the community. (Graben by Frederick Kemm, 1920)
Miller
The lower or Erblehenmühle (Loan Mill)
One of the oldest village crafts is the miller. In his mill the harvested grain could be processed into flour much less expensively than at home. Although the miller's work was not particularly strenuous, it was not very flexible; it was capital-intensive and tied to the location: Before wind could be used (which was only possible in the 16th century), the mill was situated on a continuous watercourse with a certain gradient, where the mill building had to be erected. The profitability of this investment was now best secured by a monopoly, the so-called mill ban, which was imposed on all farmers of a certain territory prescribed to use the mill assigned to them and no other mill, possibly cheaper or subordinate to another lord. The ban on mills was therefore a business with two winners: it not only ensured a good income for the mill and the miller, but it also guaranteed the landlord who had issued the ban a secure tax. It is therefore understandable that the regulations in this regard are regularly among the oldest documents that prove the existence of a mill. The lower, the old or Erblehenmühle in Graben is no exception. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
The mill Graben behind the castle at the Pfintz was, with all its buildings and accessories, the property of the gracious Prince and Lord Margrave Karl, etc., free of all possessions. The subjects of the official ditch not only had to have their grain ground there, they also had to do corvée work there at any time if necessary, and had to do it for years and years, and in the same way when they became modest. Such support was, of course, not free of charge for the mill owner at that time, Friedrich Müller, the "Beständer" (because the plant was loaned out on a permanent basis). He had given Järichs out of it at Giilt (= as interest) Sectumpteen Malter Korn. And in addition, he fattened five pigs each year for a quarter of a year or gave each of them five guilders. It is a characteristic of pre-modern times that such rules remained completely unchanged for centuries. The stands of the Graben mill could be changed as often as they wanted, they always had 60 years of grain to be delivered to Karlsruhe. Such rigid regulations became problematic when the
the heat is rapidly deteriorating. Then long petitions and expert opinions were the result. (Graben by Konrad Dussel)
1 Graben Pastor while Philipp lived there:
Christoph Käß (1827 - 1840) * 1796 Mannheim † 1843 in Diedelsheim (studies in Heidelberg, exams in 1816, then vicar of the French community in Mannheim, 1821 pastor in Hochstetten, 1827 in Graben , 1840 - to his death in 1843 in Diedelsheim - "originally more fanatical nationalist took K. to influence Henhöfers he initially had fought in the strongest terms, a strictly positive attitude a . co-founder of the bad. association for external Mission. One of seven upright in the Catechism dispute, he in the by -invasive various headings ". [ Pastor's Book of Evangelical Church of Baden from the Reformation to the Present (1939) - D. Heinrich Neu])
1822 Adolph Kußmaul was born 3 years before Philipp in 1822 and later became a world famous physician with many first time discoveries. Not only that but Adolph's brother Hans Wilhelm Mortz Kussmaul was baptized three days before Philipp. Adolph's father Dr. Phililpp Jacob Kussmau lived in Graben at least from 1822 to 1825. He could be the Doctor who delivered Philipp.
1825 Philipp Scholl is born to Christina Scholl on February 12
1827 Beethoven died 26 March 1827 when Philipp is 2 years old
1828 Schubert died 19 November 1828 when Philipp is 3
1833 Johannes Brahms was born 7 May 1833, Philipp is 8
1848 Middle Class Revolution
The German Revolutions of 1848-49 must have touched Phillipp deeply. Seeing the freedom that the USA and France had, the middle class in "Germany" and in particular Baden revolt against the Nobility. They tired of the taxes and oppressive regime. Unfortunately the Prussian army came in and crushed the rebellion. It wasn't until 1871, that Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. Before 1871 Germany for all intents and purposes was a loose confederation of Nobility areas. We are not positive about the exact date Philipp emigrated to America but it was around this time that Philipp and many other middle class Germans gave up on the German promise of freedom and left for America.
1948 Zachary Taylor becomes President of the USA
1849 California Gold Rush begins
1850 President Taylor dies and Vice President Millard Filmore becomes the 13th President
1852 The Grand Duke of Baden, Leopold, dies, He was the noble who Philipp was under while growing up and when he left Germany. In1855 Philipp will renounce his allegiance to the new Duke of Baden when he becomes a naturalized US citizen.
1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska
1857 Utah War, armed confrontation between Mormon settlers and US Government
1860 Lincoln delivers his Cooper Union speech while running for President. Lincoln later said, “Brady and the Cooper Union speech made me president.”
1861 Lincoln becomes President
1861 Civil War begins
1861 When Lincoln’s trained crossed New York State lines on February 16, 1861 a crowd of 15,000 was waiting for him. Lincoln addressed them, ‘Standing as I do with my hand upon this staff, and under the folds of the American flag, I ask you to stand by me so long as I stand by it!”
1863 NYC Draft Riots, citizens in Lower Manhattan, where Philipp lived, riotted against Congress drafting them into the Civil War
1865 April 14, Lincoln assassinated
1865 April 25 Funeral procession in NYC for President Lincoln, With his assassination, Lincoln became an overnight sensation in New York. On April 17, three days after the assassination, more than 150,000 people turned out on Broadway to pass Lincoln lying in state at City Hall. Profound mourning did not get in the way of the hustle: Lincoln pictures, Lincoln plates, Lincoln ribbons, Lincoln lockets, all appeared and were big enough to fit the martyred president’s image
1867 Nebraska becomes a state
1868 14th Amendment passes enshrining due process and equal protection
1869 Transcontinental Railroad is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah
1870 Philipp moves to Nebraska
1876 Wild Bill Hickok is killed by Jack McCall while playing poker
1879 Thomas Edison creates first light bulb
1881 Gunfight at the OK Corral, Tombstone, Arizona Territory
1893-1897 Serious economic depression called the panic of 1893
1897 January 13, Philipp Scholl dies, Philipp lived 71 years 11 months 1 day
1902 December 7, Elizabeth Kelsch Scholl dies, Elizabeth was without Philipp 5 years 11 months 11 days.
1771 Separate Districts
In 1771, Augustus George of Baden-Baden died without sons, and his territories passed to Charles Frederick, who thus finally became ruler of the whole of Baden. Although Baden was united under a single ruler, the territory was not united in its customs and tolls, tax structure, laws or government. Baden did not form a compact territory. Rather, a number of separate districts lay on both banks of the upper Rhine.[12] His opportunity for territorial aggrandisement came during the Napoleonic wars. (Wikipedia)
Napoleon Rules Europe
In the wars after the French Revolution in 1789, Napoleon, the emperor of the French, rose to be the ruler of the European continent. An enduring result of his policy was a new order of the southwestern German political world. When the French Revolution threatened to be exported throughout Europe in 1792, Baden joined forces against France. Its countryside was devastated in the ensuing battles. In 1796, the margrave was compelled to pay an indemnity and to cede his territories on the left bank of the Rhine to France. Fortune, however, soon returned to his side.
Lutheran Church and Napoleon
Napoleon's invasion of Germany promoted rationalism and angered German Lutherans, stirring up a desire among the people to preserve Luther's theology from the rationalist threat. This Erweckung, or Awakening, argued that reason was insufficient and pointed out the importance of emotional religious experience. Small groups sprang up, often in universities, which devoted themselves to Bible study, reading devotional writings, and revival meetings. Members of this movement eventually took to restoring the traditional liturgy and doctrine of the Lutheran church in the Neo-Lutheran movement. A layman, Luther scholar Johann Georg Hamann, became famous for countering rationalism and advancing the Awakening
In 1817, Frederick William III of Prussia ordered the Lutheran and Reformed churches in his territory to unite, forming the Evangelical Church of the Prussian Union. The unification of the two branches of German Protestantism sparked the Schism of the Old Lutherans. Many Lutherans, called "Old Lutherans", despite imprisonment and military force, chose to leave the established churches and form independent church bodies, or "free churches" while others left for the United States and Australia
What happened during their lives?
1555 Sep 25, The Religious Peace of Augsburg compromised differences between Catholics and Protestants in the German states. Each prince could chose which religion would be followed in his realm. Lutheranism was acknowledged by the Holy Roman Empire. The Peace of Augsburg was the first permanent legal basis for the existence of Lutheranism as well as Catholicism in Germany. It was promulgated as part of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V's Augsburg Interim of 1548 was a temporary doctrinal agreement between German Catholics and Protestants that was overthrown in 1552.
1571 Dec 27, Johannes Kepler (d.1630), German astronomer known as the "father of modern astronomy," was born. Working with the data gathered by Tycho Brahe, he established the three laws of planetary motion:
a) The planets do not travel in concentric circles, but in ellipses, with the sun at one of the two foci of the ellipse.
b) A radius vector joining a planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
c) The third law asserted a mathematical relation between the periods of revolution of the planets and their distance from the sun.
1616 A set of silver playing cards was created in Germany about this time engraved by a man named Michael Frömmer. It used a suit seen in Italy, with swords, coins, batons and cups in values from ace to 10. Each of these suits has three face cards — king, knight and knave.
1618 May 23, The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) ravaged Germany. It began when three opponents of the Reformation were thrown through a window. The "official" Defenestration of Prague was the "official" trigger for the Thirty Year’s War. Local Protestants became enraged when Catholic King Ferdinand II reneged on promises of religious freedom and stormed Hradcany Castle and threw 3 Catholic councilors out of the window and into the moat. The conflict spread across Europe with most of the fighting taking place in Germany. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 brought the war to an end and ended the emperor‘s authority over Germany outside the Hapsburg domain.
1621 In Germany potatoes, native to the Andes, were first planted.
1633 In Oberammergau, Germany, plague victims swore an oath to portray the suffering and death of the Lord every 10 years. Their first Passion Play was performed in 1634.
1634 In Oberammergau, Germany, a re-enactment of the last days of Jesus began to be performed. The Passion Play was performed from then on every ten years with a few rare exceptions. In 1633 plague victims had sworn an oath to portray the suffering and death of the Lord every 10 years.
1648 Oct 24, The Peace of Westphalia ended the German Thirty Years War and effectively destroyed the Holy Roman Empire. The Treaties of Osnabruck and Munster, that ended the Thirty Years" War, divided Pomerania, a historic region that once stretched from Stralsund to the Vistula along the Baltic Sea in north-central Europe, into two parts known as Hither Pomerania and Farther Pomerania. Hither Pomerania, the area west of the Oder River, was granted to Sweden. Farther Pomerania was east of the Oder and went to the state of Brandenburg. Hither Pomerania is now part of the German state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania; Farther Pomerania is now part of Poland. The 30 years war had spread from one end of Germany to the other, and left the country a scene of desolation and disorder, wasted by fire, sword and plague. The war was followed by great scarcity, due to the lack of laborers. San Marino did not attend the conference or sign the treaty because it had not been involved in the fighting, however it was linked to states that were fighting and was therefore still at war with Sweden until 1996 when an official end was declared. The treaty abolished private armies and the nation-state acquired a monopoly on maintaining armies and fighting wars.
1653 Sep 1, Johann Pachelbel (d.1706), German organist and composer, was born. He is best known for his "Canon in D."
1671 In Germany Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz (Leibniz) devised a mechanical calculator to add, subtract, multiply and divide.
1680 In Hamburg, Germany, a cymbal was used for the 1st time in an orchestra.
1685 Feb 23, Composer and musician George Frideric Handel (d.1759) was born in Halle, Germany.
1685 Mar 21, Composer Johann Sebastian Bach (d.1750) was born in Eisenach, Germany, the youngest of eight children. 2nd source says Mar 21. He composed cantatas, sonatas, preludes, fugues and chorale preludes, and whose works included "Brandenburg Concerto" and "Well-Tempered Clavier."
1689 May 12, England’s King William III joined the League of Augsburg and the Netherlands. The "Grand Alliance" was formed to counter the war of aggression launched by Louis XIV against the Palatinate states in Germany. This is known as The War of the League of Augsburg (1689-97) also The Nine Years' War, and the War of the Grand Alliance.
1690 Jan 14, The clarinet was invented in Germany.
1693 Heidelberg was torched by the troops of Louis XIV in a dispute over a royal title.
1707 Oct 17, German composer Johann S. Bach married his niece Maria Bach.
1708 The German Baptist Brethren were founded as a band of Pietists in the village of Schwarzenau. Due to persecution they soon migrated to America. The Holy Spirit whispers to every believer but can only be heard by those who sacrifice self-will to god’s will. They observe the rite of the "holy kiss" and have no leaders.
1713 Bach composed his Brandenburg Concerto No. 3.
1717-1723 J.S. Bach worked under Prince Leopold at Anhalt-Cothen. During this period he composed the 1st book of the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Brandenburg Concertos and the sonatas for solo violin. Bach likely composed his “Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello" during this period, when he served as a Kapellmeister in Cothen. They were later acclaimed as some of the greatest works ever written for solo cello. In 2010 Eric Siblin authored “The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece."
1719 Nov 14, Johann Georg Leopold Mozart, composer, was born.
1721 Mar 24, In Germany, the supremely talented Johann Sebastian Bach published the Six Brandenburg Concertos.
1722 Daniel Schurzfleisch brought his book collection to the "Grünes Schloß" (Green Castle) on 35 horse-drawn carts. Duchess Anna Amalia (1739-1807) converted the palace into a library and made him the 1st librarian.
1722 JS Bach completed the manuscript of the 1st volume “The Well-Tempered Clavier." It circulated underground until it was published in 1801.
1723-1750 J.S. Bach worked as the cantor of Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church and school.
1729 Apr 15, Johann S. Bach's "Matthew Passion" premiered in Leipzig
1735 Sep 5, Johann Christian Bach (d.1782), composer, son of JS Bach, was born. He is known as the London Bach. He traveled to Italy, became a Catholic, and went to England where he was mentor to the young Mozart. He also represented the Style Gallant.
1744-1812 Mayer Rothschild, banker, rose from a ghetto in Frankfurt to become the banker to Prince William of Prussia. His son, Nathan Rothschild, worked in London as a banker and invested Prussian money in the Napoleonic Wars and smuggled it to Wellington in Spain. His 4 other sons established banks in Vienna, Naples and Paris.
1745 Oct 11, The Leyden jar, capable of storing static electricity, was invented by German cleric Ewald Georg von Kleist. Also about this time Dutch scientist Pieter van Musschenbroek of Leiden (Leyden) independently came up with the same idea.
1748 In Germany an oil painting by Elias Gottlob Haussmann showed bewigged composer Johann Sebastian Bach aged around 60 holding the score to one of his canons.
1749 Aug 28, German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (d.1832), "the master spirit of the German people," was born at Frankfurt am Main. Scientist, philosopher, novelist, and critic as well as lyric, dramatic, and epic poet, he was the leading figure of his age after Napoleon. He had early pretensions in the visual arts and was an avid draftsman into old age. He studied law in Leipzig and died in Weimar. He is best known for "Faust." "True excellence is rarely found, even more rarely is it cherished."
1750 Jul 28, Composer Johann Sebastian Bach (65) died in Leipzig, Germany. In 2000 Christoff Wolff authored the biography "Johann Sebastian Bach." In 2005 James Gaines authored “Evening in the Palace of Reasoning," a portrait of Bach in 1747. In 2013 John Eliot Gardiner authored “Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven."
1763-1825 Jean Paul Richter, German author: "A timid person is frightened before a danger; a coward during the time; and a courageous person afterward." "Spring makes everything young again except man."
1764 Jan 1, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (8) played for the Royal Family at Versailles, France.
1770 Dec 16, Ludwig Von Beethoven (d.1827), deaf German composer best known for his 9th Symphony, was born in Bonn. His Sixth Symphony "Pastorale" was in F-Major. Locks of his hair were cut off after his death and preserved by a number of collectors.
1776-1781 It is estimated that 30,000 Hessian soldiers fought for the British during the American Revolution. After Russia refused to provide troops for the war, the German states of Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Hanau, Waldeck, Anspach-Bayreuth and Anhalt-Zerbst supplied mercenary soldiers, collectively referred to as Hessians. Seven thousand Hessians died in the war and another 5,000 deserted and settled in America. The British paid the German rulers for each soldier sent to North America and an additional sum for each killed.
1777 Sep 16, Nathan Rothschild (d.1836), banker, was born in Frankfurt. He was the son of Mayer Rothschild (1744-1812), who rose from the Frankfurt ghetto to become the banker to Prince William of Prussia. Nathan worked in London as a banker and invested Prussian money in the Napoleonic Wars and smuggled it to Wellington in Spain. He was the first to hear news from Waterloo and sold stock to convince other investors that the British had lost. His agents bought the stock at low prices. His 4 brothers established banks in Vienna, Naples and Paris.
1785 Jan 4, Jacob Ludwig Grimm, German philosopher who wrote Grimm’s Fairy Tales, was born.
1787 Aug 10, Mozart completed his "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik."
1789 Mar 16, George S. Ohm (d.1854), German scientist, was born. He gave his name to the ohm unit of electrical resistance.
1789 Martin Klaproth, German chemist, discovered Uranium. It named after the planet Uranus discovered 8 years earlier.
1795 Mar 29, Beethoven (24) debuted as pianist in Vienna.
1797 Jan 31, Franz Schubert, German composer, was born in Vienna, Austria
1799-1804 Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), German explorer, and Aime Bonpland, botanist, led an expedition to South America. They collected over 60,000 plants.
1800 Apr 2, 1st performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's 1st Symphony in C.
1803 Feb 25, The 1,800 sovereign German states united into 60 states.
1803 Apr 5, 1st performance of Beethoven's 2nd Symphony in D.
1803 Beethoven composed his "Kreutzer Sonata" dedicated to the French violinist Rudolphe Kreutzer.
1805 Apr 7, Beethoven conducted the premiere of his "Eroica" symphony
1805 Sep 30, Napoleon's army entered the Rhine valley.
1806 Oct 27, Emperor Napoleon entered Berlin.
1807 Mar 5, 1st performance of Ludwig von Beethoven's 4th Symphony in B.
1809 Feb 3, Felix Mendelssohn (d.1847), German composer and pianist, was born. His work included: "Overture to a Midsummer Night's Dream"
1809 Apr 20, Napoleon defeated Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria.
1810 Jun 8, Robert Schumann (d.1856), German composer, was born in Zwickau, Germany.
1810 Oct 12, Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become King Ludwig I, was married to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. In honor of the wedding a horse race took place at the Theresienwiese (the Theresien meadow). The decision to repeat the horse races in subsequent years gave rise to the tradition of the Oktoberfest.
1813 May 22, Richard Wagner, German composer, conductor and writer, was born in Leipzig, Germany. He composed "The Flying Dutchman.
1813 Aug 27, The Allies defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Dresden
1813 Oct 16, In the Battle at Leipzig Napoleon faced Prussia, Austria & Russia.
1813 Oct 18, The Allies defeated Napoleon Bonaparte at Leipzig.
1813 Nov 2, Treaty of Fulda. After the Battle of Leipzig (Oct 16-19) King Frederick I of Württemberg (1754-1816) deserted Napoleon’s waning fortunes. By a treaty made with Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar von Metternich (1773-1858) at Fulda, Hessen, Germany he secured the confirmation of his royal title and of his recent acquisitions of territory, while his troops marched with those of the allies into France.
1813 Dec 8, Ludwig van Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A, premiered.
1813 Dec 31, Some 83,000 Prussian and Russian soldiers pursued Napoleon across the Rhine at Pfalzgrafenstein Castle
1814 Feb 27, Ludwig von Beethoven's 8th Symphony in F, premiered.
1815 Apr 1, Otto von Bismarck (d.1898), German statesman, was born. He founded the German Empire and was the chancellor of Germany, the Second Reich, from 1866-90 [1971-1990]. The Iron Chancellor created the modern social insurance state when he introduced transfer payments to appease worker insecurities. "History is simply a piece of paper covered with print; the main thing is still to make history, not to write it." "Every man had his basic worth - from which must be subtracted his vanity.
1816 Jul 21, Paul Julius Baron von Reuter (d.1899), founder of the British news agency bearing his name, was born in Hesse, Germany, as Israel Beer Josaphat.
1816 Rain, hail and frost during the summer caused starvation in all of Europe. Because of this, Gabriel Sedlmayr baked bread from dough using the spent grains of his mash tun. The bread is somewhat dark, but smells and tastes good.
1817 Baron Karl de Drais de Sauerbrun of Germany invented the draisienne, the first 2-wheeled, rider-propelled machine and exhibited it in Paris in 1818. The vehicle came to be known as the “velocipede," a 2-wheeled running machine without pedals.
1818 Oct 24, Felix Mendelssohn (9) performed his 1st public concert in Berlin.
1819 Sep 13, Clara Josephine Schumann, [nee Wieck], pianist and composer, was born in Leipzig, Germ.
1819-1898 Theodor Fontane, German author: "Happiness, it seems to me, consists of two things: first, in being where you belong, and second -- and best -- in comfortably going through everyday life, that is, having had a good night's sleep and not being hurt by new shoes."
1822 Feb 22, Adolf Kuszmaul, German physician (stomach pump, Kuszmaul disease), was born in Graben
1823 Oct 5, Carl Maria von Weber visited Beethoven.
1824 Mar 26, 1st performance of Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis."
1824 May 7, The Ninth Symphony by Beethoven had its premiere. The "Ode to Joy" lyric was originally written by Friedrich von Schiller as the "Ode to Freedom."
1813 Aug 26-27, The Battle of Dresden was Napoleon’s last major victory against the allied forces of Austria, Russia and Prussia.
1827 Mar 26, Ludwig von Beethoven (56), German composer, died in Vienna. He had been deaf for the later part of his life, but said on his death bead "I shall hear in heaven." It was later determined that he suffered from lead poisoning.
1828 Nov 19, Franz Schubert (b.1797), Austrian composer, died of syphilis in Vienna. In this he composed his song cycle "Schwanengesang." His work included the C-Major Symphony, string quartets, 3 piano sonatas, and the C-Major String Quarte
1832 Feb 22, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (b.1749), poet, (Faust, Egmont) died in Weimar, Germany. Goethe had served as minister of mines under Bismarck. He completed "Faust" just before his death: "When Ideas fail, words come in handy."
1832 Apr 15, Wilhelm Busch, German artist, was born. He created the precursor to the cartoon strip.
1832 Jul 5, The German government began curtailing freedom of the press after German Democrats advocated a revolt against Austrian rule.
1833 May 7, Composer Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany, and died on Apr 3, 1897. His works number through Opus 122 and included: the "Hungarian Dances," the "Haydn Variations," the "Violin Concerto in D Major," "Lullaby" and compositions for the pianoforte, organ, chamber music, orchestral compositions, numerous songs, small and large choral works
1838 Jan 6, Max Bruch, composer Scottish Fantasy), was born in Cologne, Germany.
1841 Mar 31, 1st performance of Robert Schumann's 1st Symphony in B
1842 May 5, City-wide fire burned for over 100 hours in Hamburg, Germany. The medieval center of Hamburg was virtually leveled.
1845 Oct 19, Richard Wagner's opera "Tannhauser," premiered in Dresde
1845 Der Struwwelpeter, a popular German children's book, was published by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehavior in an exaggerated way. The title of the first story provides the title of the whole book. Literally translated, Struwwel-Peter means Shaggy-Peter.
1846 Feb 9, Wilhelm Maybach, German engineer, was born. He designed the first Mercedes automobile.
1847 Nov 4, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (b.1809), German pianist and composer, died at age 38. His work included: "Overture to a Midsummer Night's Dream."
1848 German philosopher Karl Marx publishes The Communist Manifesto which would be the basis for Marxism and communism.
1860s Wooden and metal floor toys that resemble trains are first made.
1862 Otto von Bismarck is elected Prime Minister of Prussia.
1871 Germany defeats France in the Franco-Prussian War. The German states are unified and the national parliament, called the Reichstag, is established.
1873 German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann smuggled out treasures from the ancient city of Troy.
1875 Sep 3, Ferdinand Porsche, German automotive engineer, was born. He designed the Volkswagen in 1934 and the Porsche sports car in 1950.
1875-1965 Albert Schweitzer, German-born missionary and Nobel laureate. "Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will -- his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals."
1876 Nov 4, Johannes Brahms' Symphony #1 in C, premiered at Karlsrue
1876 A paper in the Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift, a Germany medical journal, suggested that salsalate could help diabetics control their blood sugar. Harvard researchers in the 1990s conducted studies that supported the claim.
1876 Carl von Linde (1842-1934), German engineer, invented refrigeration.
1877 Dec 2, Camille Saint-Saens' opera "Samson et Dalila," premiered in Weimar.
1878 Topf & Sons was founded in Erfurt, Germany, as a customized incinerator and malting equipment manufacturer. The firm was close to the Ettersberg hill, later the site of Buchenwald concentration camp. With the expansion of cremation in Germany as a burial rite in the 1920s, the firm's ambitious chief engineer Kurt Pruefer pioneered furnaces which complied with strict regulations on preserving the dignity of the body. In 1941 the firm agreed to build crematoria for Auschwitz and enable industrialized mass murder.
1879 Mar 14, Physicist Albert Einstein, mathematician best known for his theories on relativity was born in Ulm, Germany. He received the Physics Nobel Prize in 1921.
1880 Aug 14, Construction of Cologne Cathedral, begun in 1248, was completed 633 years after it was begun.
1882 Mar 24, German scientist Robert Koch announced in Berlin that he had discovered the bacillus responsible for tuberculosis.
1882 The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra was founded.
1884 Robert Koch, German microbiologist, rediscovered, isolated and cultured the cholera bacillus, Vibrio cholerae. Italian anatomist Fillipo Pacini discovered the bacillus in 1854, but did not prove that it caused cholera.
1885 Dec 29, Gottlieb Daimler patented the 1st bike in Germany.
1886 Jan 29, 1st successful gasoline-driven car was patented by Karl Benz in Karlsruhe.
1888 Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher, authored “Twilight of the Idols." It included the phrase: "What does not destroy me makes me stronger," which unwittingly inspired 21st century musicians.
1889 Apr 20, Adolf Hitler, leader of National Socialist Party (1921-1945), was born in Braunau, Austria. He was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933-1945 and started World War II by invading Poland. He committed suicide in his Berlin bunker. The German Fascist leader, promised to bring Germany to the promised land on one condition: that the state would have total control over all the organs, organizations, and citizens of the nation.1889
1889 Apr 20, Adolf Hitler, leader of National Socialist Party (1921-1945), was born in Braunau, Austria. He was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933-1945 and started World War II by invading Poland. He committed suicide in his Berlin bunker. The German Fascist leader, promised to bring Germany to the promised land on one condition: that the state would have total control over all the organs, organizations, and citizens of the nation.
1889 Aug 16, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show star Annie Oakley, using a Colt .45, shot the ash off the end of a cigarette held in the mouth by a young German Kaiser Wilhelm II. Appearing at Berlin's Charlottenburg Race Course, Oakley asked in jest for a volunteer from the audience and, to her horror, the young ruler of the Reich stepped forward. A nervous Oakley successfully performed the trick shot. Years later, after the start of WWI, Oakley reportedly wrote to the Kaiser, asking for a second shot.
1891 Marklin begins to mass market model trains in Germany
1892 Count Zeppelin left the army and began work on his lighter-than-air ship
1892 Ernst von Mendelssohn Bartholdy acquired the mansion at Boernicke, Germany and 4,500 acres. The mansion was lost to the Nazis in the early 1930's and to the Soviets in 1945. In 1994 it passes to the control of a former Communist leader, Karl Heinz Posselt, the local deputy mayor. The Mendelssohn family is still seeking control.
1895 Mar 4, Gustav Mahler's 2nd Symphony, premiered in Berlin.
1897 Aug 10, Felix Hoffmann, a German worker for Bayer, rediscovered aspirin (acetyl salicyclic acid), the active ingredient of the willow plant’s (salicin). In 1832 a French chemist named Charles Gergardt had experiments with salicin and created salicylic acid. On March 6, 1899, Bayer registered Aspirin as a trademark.
1900 Mar 23, Erich Fromm (d.1980), German-American psychologist (Sane Society), was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He wrote "The Sane Society." "Modern man thinks he loses something, time, when he does not do things quickly. Yet he does not know what to do with the time he gains, except kill it."
1900 Oct 7, Heinrich Himmler, chicken farmer who became the head of the German Gestapo in Hitler's Germany, was born.1882 Mar 24, German scientist Robert Koch announced in Berlin that he had discovered the bacillus responsible for tuberculosis.
1882 The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra was founded.
1884 Robert Koch, German microbiologist, rediscovered, isolated and cultured the cholera bacillus, Vibrio cholerae. Italian anatomist Fillipo Pacini discovered the bacillus in 1854, but did not prove that it caused cholera.
1885 Dec 29, Gottlieb Daimler patented the 1st bike in Germany.
1886 Jan 29, 1st successful gasoline-driven car was patented by Karl Benz in Karlsruhe.
1888 Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher, authored “Twilight of the Idols." It included the phrase: "What does not destroy me makes me stronger," which unwittingly inspired 21st century musicians.
1889 Apr 20, Adolf Hitler, leader of National Socialist Party (1921-1945), was born in Braunau, Austria. He was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933-1945 and started World War II by invading Poland. He committed suicide in his Berlin bunker. The German Fascist leader, promised to bring Germany to the promised land on one condition: that the state would have total control over all the organs, organizations, and citizens of the nation.1889
1889 Apr 20, Adolf Hitler, leader of National Socialist Party (1921-1945), was born in Braunau, Austria. He was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933-1945 and started World War II by invading Poland. He committed suicide in his Berlin bunker. The German Fascist leader, promised to bring Germany to the promised land on one condition: that the state would have total control over all the organs, organizations, and citizens of the nation.
1889 Aug 16, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show star Annie Oakley, using a Colt .45, shot the ash off the end of a cigarette held in the mouth by a young German Kaiser Wilhelm II. Appearing at Berlin's Charlottenburg Race Course, Oakley asked in jest for a volunteer from the audience and, to her horror, the young ruler of the Reich stepped forward. A nervous Oakley successfully performed the trick shot. Years later, after the start of WWI, Oakley reportedly wrote to the Kaiser, asking for a second shot.
1891 Marklin begins to mass market model trains in Germany
1892 Count Zeppelin left the army and began work on his lighter-than-air ship
1892 Ernst von Mendelssohn Bartholdy acquired the mansion at Boernicke, Germany and 4,500 acres. The mansion was lost to the Nazis in the early 1930's and to the Soviets in 1945. In 1994 it passes to the control of a former Communist leader, Karl Heinz Posselt, the local deputy mayor. The Mendelssohn family is still seeking control.
1895 Mar 4, Gustav Mahler's 2nd Symphony, premiered in Berlin.
1896 Carlisle and Finch develop electric powered trains that run on a metal track.
1896 Aug 9, Otto Lilienthal, German aerodynamic engineer, made his last glide when his glider No. 11 was upset by a sudden gust of wind and he was unable to regain control. Lilienthal broke his back in the crash and died the next day in a Berlin clinic. He had made more than 2,000 test flights in gliders and convinced many people that flight was possible and set the stage for early aviation. He once wrote that "we must fly and fall, fly and fall until we can fly without falling." He also influenced flight theory by using bird flight as a model for the basis of aviation.1897 Aug 10, Felix Hoffmann, a German worker for Bayer, rediscovered aspirin (acetyl salicyclic acid), the active ingredient of the willow plant’s (salicin). In 1832 a French chemist named Charles Gergardt had experiments with salicin and created salicylic acid. On March 6, 1899, Bayer registered Aspirin as a trademark.
1900 Mar 23, Erich Fromm (d.1980), German-American psychologist (Sane Society), was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He wrote "The Sane Society." "Modern man thinks he loses something, time, when he does not do things quickly. Yet he does not know what to do with the time he gains, except kill it."
1901 An elevated monorail, "hanging railway," was built in the Ruhr Valley.
1901 Lionel produces its first electric train, built initially only as a store-window display. Shoppers are more interested in the display itself than the store's products.
1904 Oct 18, Mahler's 5th symphony premiered in Cologne.1905 Einstein presented his theory of relativity declaring that the very measurement of time intervals is affected by the motion of the observer. He proposed that light is itself quantized, or particle-like, to explain how electrons were emitted when light hit certain metals. He presented four papers, the first on Brownian motion, the second was on the composition of light, the third proposed the Special Theory of Relativity, and the fourth established the equivalence of mass and energy (see Sep 27). Einstein presented 5 papers this year, one of which was titled “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend on its Energy Content?" This paper provided an incomplete proof of E=mc2, an equation that had already been know for a few years. In 2008 Hans C. Ohanian authored “Einstein’s Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius."
1905 In Southwest Africa (later Namibia) the Nama tribe joined the Herero uprising against German settlers stealing their land, cattle and women.
1908 Aug 11, Britain's King Edward VII met with Kaiser Wilhelm II to protest the growth of the German navy.
1911 Jan 31, The German Reichstag exempted royal families from tax obligations.
1914 Aug 1, Germany declared war on Russia at the onset of World War I.
1920s Toy electric trains blossom in popularity in what today is known as the "Golden Age." However, most are big, expensive, and associated with rich kids.
1930s Accurate model trains in O scale and later HO scale, more realistic in proportion and detail than "toy" trains, come into existence. They are primarily kits built by adult craftsmen