From the Middle Ages to Reunification in 25-35 minute long episodes every Thursday
“A great many things keep happening, some good, some bad” (Gregory of Tours 539-594)
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A quick guide to the show
Seasons
Recent Episodes with transcripts
Episode 218 – Of Hedgehogs and Herons
By 1477 the rules of war that had been enshrined in the laws of chivalry are gone. The contest between the French and the Habsburgs over the inheritance of the Grand Dukes of the West gives us a foretaste of the things to come.
Episode 217 – When Mary Met Maxi
“Let others wage war; you, happy Austria, marry”, that is what we are told. The reality was very different – invasion, rebellion, execution…
Episode 216 – The Youth of Emperor Maximilian I
The Delights and Horrors of the Childhood of the Last Knight
Holy Roman Emperors And Kings of the Romans
Recent Reviews
All Episodes in Chronological Order:
The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.
New Season: The Empire in the 15th century
This is the time when the empire reaches its most challenging phase. This is not the difficult second album, this is more Tina Turner in 1982 when her cover of shame, shame, shame reached #47 in the Netherlands charts.
This is where we see the beginnings of actual states and state bureaucracies developing in Germany. But these states were extremely fragile, likely to be overrun by enemies, divided amongst multiple sons or incorporated into larger entties. War was almost constant, as were dramas of love and pride.
Despite all this strife and feuding, this is also a time of great innovation. Gutenberg came up with the printing press, a technology that would undermine the authority of the Catholic church, fan the flames which led to the Reformation, create the communications infrastructure needed for the rise of modern science and even – if Neil Postman is to be believed – lead to the invention of childhood as an extended, protected phase in the lives of young people.
Like the internet and social media, the printing press demanded new types of content: maps, encyclopedias, fiction, political pamphlets and engravings, opening the world up to the world.
“A free press can, of course, be both good and bad, but, most certainly, without freedom, the press will never be anything but bad.”
Albert Camus (1913-1960)
Support the Show
The History of the Germans Podcast has been advertising free since the very beginning and will remain so. The point of the exercise is not to make me rich (there are many smarter ways to do that), but to make the whole of German history more accessible, in particular to English speakers. But Podcasting is hard work. Each episode takes me about 2- 2.5 working days to prepare and record. So if I want to keep the podcast ad-free and keep my marriage going, I need to make this economically viable. And that is where you fine people come in. If you feel the urge to support this endeavour, are in need for some heartfelt gratitude or just want to have some great extra HotG stuff, choose a membership level that suits your wallet – please!
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Hard to believe the Hanseatic League season is over now – thought now would be a good time to leave a comment. I saw this podcast on a friend’s social media back in January and caught up on it over a few months (to be up to date once the north-east focused episodes started coming out), and wanted to say thanks so much for all your work.
Having been under quite a lot of stress earlier this year, I found that going for walks very early in the morning while listening to this podcast (as well as a couple of other history ones, though I’d say yours is comfortably the best) did wonders for keeping my mental state much more in balance than it would have been otherwise in the midst of university study. Additionally I’ve had a somewhat rough couple of months recently and the regular release of episodes has continually provided something to look forward to each week. I would be in a worse place if this didn’t exist.
I’ve really enjoyed all the seasons so far – some of my personal favourite episodes would be 101 (on Gottschalk and Adalbert), 124 Decline and Fall Part 2 (loved the tragedy format) and 126 on Bremen (talking about the cathedral, statue and guildhall in the square tied together the aspects of history brilliantly), and I could definitely say the same about many of the older episodes but haven’t listened to them as recently. Really looking forward to the next season!
(not sure if this comment went through the first time – ignore if so)
Hard to believe the Hanseatic League season is over now – thought now would be a good time to leave a comment. I saw this podcast on a friend’s social media back in January and caught up on it over a few months (to be up to date once the north-east focused episodes started coming out), and wanted to say thanks so much for all your work.
Having been under quite a lot of stress earlier this year, I found that going for walks very early in the morning while listening to this podcast (as well as a couple of other history ones, though I’d say yours is comfortably the best) did wonders for keeping my mental state much more in balance than it would have been otherwise in the midst of university study. Additionally I’ve had a somewhat rough couple of months recently and the regular release of episodes has continually provided something to look forward to each week. I would be in a worse place if this didn’t exist.
I’ve really enjoyed all the seasons so far – some of my personal favourite episodes would be 101 (on Gottschalk and Adalbert), 124 Decline and Fall Part 2 (loved the tragedy format) and 126 on Bremen (talking about the cathedral, statue and guildhall in the square tied together the aspects of history brilliantly), and I could definitely say the same about many of the older episodes but haven’t listened to them as recently. Really looking forward to the next season!
Just discovered this podcast and it has become part of my morning workout. I also joined on Patreon, so it doesn’t just suddenly end, like The History of Russia podcast did after Peter the Great.
You have some excellent content. Thank you. It has been valuable in my research of the migration of the Grail from the Aragonese Kings to the court of Thuringia, the direct descent of which gives us the Reformation and Rosicrucians of Germany. Hint: Constance of Aragon, wife of Frederick II, is “Herzeloyde” as per Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzifal.
Very interesting and entertaining stuff. Is this content also available in German language, so I could spare translating it to other readers?
I am afraid not. But if you run it through something like Deepl it comes out quite decent…
Do you have a good resource for historical sites and buildings to see in Germany? We are going this summer. I remember a few from listening to the podcast, but thought a curated list would be wonderful to have.
Thank you
Hi Daniel, unfortunately I don‘t. I may do this at some point. There are however excellent guide books about Germany available. If you can read German, I find the DuMont guides are often very thoughtful and well informed. Enjoy the trip!
Hi Dirk, I’m a listener of your podcast and I just came to hear your interesting series about the Hanseatic League. What interests me, and I could not find in the series, is a possible connection between the Hanseatic League and the development of Ashkenazi Judaism, which also came from Germany (the cities of the SchUM), engaged in trade, spread eastward, and conducted its life in Yiddish, which is a German language. all of this more or less at the same time as the Hanseatic League . Did you come across a connection between them?
Hi Yishay, I am no expert on Jewish history, so I am not well qualified to answer this. However, my understanding of the ay the Hanse merchants operated would have made it unlikely they were admitting Jewish members. It was very much a network of people who shared in the same language, culture and to a degree religion. The only prominent mention of Jewish people in the story came in the history of Hamburg. Hamburg had deviated from the other Hanse city in so far as they freely admitted merchants from other places. In particular jews expelled from Iberia found a home in Hamburg. But Hamburg was very much the exception.
It is my understanding that the Jewish expansion eastwards was at least in part at the invitation of Casimir III of Poland who was rebuilding his kingdom after centuries of division and civil war.
Does anyone in the HotGPod community have better infor?
Dear Dirk, I first heard about Henry VII decades ago while studying Dante. We heard that Dante was a big supporter, but it was not clear why or even who Henry VII was. I hope you can find time to discuss the Dante connection – how and why Dante became such a supporter. Thanks!
Best history podcast currently running.
if you one can afford the time to listen, consider the shear glee and knowledge if not; understanding that one gains from listening to this.
if a simple QR code was featured in the podcast and on this site, even micropayments in bitcoin without the added banking fees that other patronage systems charge, would become possible and listeners from all over the world would be able to just pay a simple pittance, per episode or when and how they would like, whether it be half a cent or millions of euros.
keep the podcasts coming, many of us safe them up for a binge-listen during vacation, i am sure, so don’t feel disappointed if the downloads haven’t been increasing much lately
Dirk, I enjoyed reading episode #126, “A Brief History of Bremen.” Can you please tell me when you first posted this episode
Jill
26 10 2023
I feel like I’ve been immersed exclusively in English and French history all my life, forced to march through every year of the hundred years war with a heavy helping of Lancasters, Yorks and Daughins piled on. Your podcast opened a door to a new amazing word full of truly holy emperors, noble slavs, and comune loving Italians! I am of nordic and german ancestry and outside of the recent horrors, the only knowledge I seemed to possess was from Tacitus, putting us in animal furs and wandering forests killing aurochs and the stray Roman Legion.
You had me from Otto the Lucky (er, the Great) through this amazing series. I had no idea of what happened in most of Europe while France and England (yawn) played endless games of sword skittles. This is where the excitement was!
Frederich Barbarosa! Frederich II! What amazing emperors and what tragic stories! Your passion for telling these stories, getting the history right, but still making us feel the drama is impressive. My banker soul loved the immersive world of the Hansa, their equalitarian principles and the intricate, but organic financial system based on trust and social norms. The series on the Teutonic Knights was equally fascinating (along with the Sword Bros, early fraties) describing the complicated and horrific conquering of the baltic tribes (pagan Prussians and the canny Lithuanians) and irony of eastern european crusades.
I wish I could describe the way you distill and present history as well as you do it. You are unique and to my wife’s horror I have been spouting German history to all and sundry these past months.
If you are ever in Columbus, Ohio (the US equivalent of Bohemia?) I would love to buy you a beer in our 1850’s German Village neighborhood and take you to see our famous statue of Schiller in beautiful Schiller Park. (Live Shakespeare in the park, but nothing’s perfect, nicht var?)
I just found this podcast and am enjoying it SO much. It’s hilarious, riveting, and wonderful for enhancing my (American) understanding of European history. It’s rare to find a laugh-out-loud podcast that is so fresh and full of information. Thanks, Dirk!
Wonderful podcast – I’m really enjoying it, funny, erudite, well written and fascinating.
Please put a description of the pictures on the website. I am into the Salinas, and I can guess what some of the pictures are, but on my Android tablet I can’t find a name or description of each picture.
This link https://historyofthegermans.com/69-2/ goes to 63-2, and the page for episode 69 on medieval faith cannot be found, even by searching for it. I really want to see that material.
Hello Dirk; thanks for a really exemplary podcast. It fills a gaping hole in British (& indeed anglophone) comprehension of history, in that more popular medieval history tends toward a fixation with British history, and references to anything happening in the rest of Europe tend to be regarding France (not, of course to suggest that there is anything wrong in having regard to either). At the same time Academic History tends, for a number of reasons, to eschew narrative frameworks such as the ones you are providing.
Beyond that, it’s dismaying to me, that even in large, good bookshops, such as Waterstones in Manchester or Blackwells in Oxford, there are a hundred times more titles devoted to the twelve years of The Third Reich as there are to the thousand years of the First. Before I digress into a rant about the preconditions for Brexit, let me pose the question that’s been nagging me somewhat, especially whilst listening to the past couple of seasons: do you intend to devote any time specifically (as opposed to incidentally) to the history of those Germans who were undoubtedly German in the tenth century, but who definitively ceased to be by the Peace of Westphalia, ie. The Dutch & The Swiss?
Dear Harald, thanks for your kind words. And as for your question, the Swiss have appeared already in Ep.151 and will take up quite a bit early next season when we talk about the Habsburgs and Sempach. As for the Netherlands, that is a touch more difficult. We have talked about Bruges, Antwerp and Amsterdam in the context of the Hanseatic League. They will play a major role when we get to the Reformation and 30 years’ war. But how exactly that will work out I do not know yet. We will cross that bridge when we get to it.
I wish you would name the french contemporary monarchs as you build your most entertaining history of the germans
Thanks
Padma
I have been listening daily to your show since I discovered it a few weeks ago. I was born and raised in Germany but never learned much about the Early and Middle Ages history. A recent trip to the Harz region made this clear. You podcast has really opened my eyes to much that has been and is going on in Europe. Especially right now as the world seems to enter a period of chaos and loss of democratic values it is important to study history and stay optimistic. Autocratic rulers might have the upper hand for a while but at one point when people have had enough will be ‘kicked to the curb’.
Thank you for this enlightening podcast.
As an FYI regarding episode 97 the battle against the Slaves by Stendal.
Stendal is about 10 km west of the Elbe river. When you take the train from Berlin you can see the multiple cars church towers right after crossing the river. (I was born there). This means that the Saxons staying west of the Elbe did probably win the battle as reported.
I am late to your podcast, so have only just finished season 1 with the Q&A session. I really love what you are doing and hope I can eventually catch up. I have a long way to go. I work in Ingelheim, so have been to the kaiserpfalz museum there, and live in a village near by. If you read the history of my village basically whenever some army or other moved up or down the Rhein it was raised to the ground, and whatever inhabitants were left had to start again. Which is probably why it has remained a small village. In the Q&A session you mentioned the Stolpersteinen. We also have Stolpersteinen in Ingelheim and in the surrounding area, although they are usually brass, not concrete. Whenever I stumbled across them they always bring me up short, a reminder of what can happen if we are not careful, even in the quietest most unassuming places. I think Germany has done more to face up to its ugly past than anywhere I have lived.
Hi Dirk, I seem to be getting the same notification about the opening of Season 10 on You Tube every day for the last several days. YT seems to show you uploading it every day and sometimes more than once. Not sure if the issue is at my end or yours?
Hi Axel, it seems the problem is on my end. I dropped the announcement into the sub—podcasts but YT then sent it multiple times to every playlist.. Thanks for letting me know.
Hi Dirk,
first, let me express my gratitude for the great podcast. It is very well researched, educational and entertaining.
Concerning the current season on the pre-reformation, since the podcast is a History of “the Germans” and not only a History of Germany, you may consider including something about the Germans in the early discovery and exploration os the New World.
As you surely are aware, during the 1500 several German explorers ventured in the New World. Particularly in the Andean countries (Venezuela and Colombia) there were several German led expeditions and a lot of cities were founded by Germans. My own birth city (Bogota) was “almost founded” by Nikolaus Federman of Ulm on behalf of the Welser family. Even the name “America” was coined by a German, Martin Waldseemuller.
Maybe not the central narrative, but could be an interesting side note.
Mit freundlichen reichfürstlichen Grüẞen,
Alejandro
Hi Alejandro, that is a great point! let me see how I can add this in. I was planning to have an episode on cartography and mapmaking, but the welser colonies could make the whol thing a bit more exciting. All the best dirk
Hi Dirk, to this point, I would also invite you to check out George (Charles) Preuss who joined the Fremont expedition in California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Preuss
Of course there are so many interesting facts about Germans in the USA, many of who have come after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire in1806, as they became free to leave or sadly didn’t have jobs after the collapse of the empire. Germans back than made up the majority of immigrants to the New World/USA. So many interesting stories, too little time. But without The Germans, even Washington could not have won the fight for independence. I highly recommend a visit to Valley Forge near King of Prussia to prove this point.
I admire your work. You are cranking out so much interesting information within such little time. Its quite extraordinary.
Keep up the good work!
Greetings from California
Uwe W.
Hi Dirk! I made a one-time contribution last week (I have been binge listening and loved your podcast so much that I decided to make a contribution as soon as I catch up, and it happened last week), and was expecting to get access to the bonus episodes. Wrong expectation?
Anyway, I’m considering making a monthly contribution too 🙂
Keep up the GREAT work. When I recommend your podcast, I usually compare it to The History of Rome, by Mike Duncan, and that’s a pretty huge compliment 🙂
Dear Dirk,
I moved to Germany last year from Hungary — though I originally grew up in Neumarkt am Mieresch( Targu Mures in Romanian, Marosvásárhely in Hungarian), in Transylvania. As part of settling into my new home, I wanted to deepen my understanding of the country that now hosts me. That’s when I came across your podcast — and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it ever since.
Many of the places you mention — whether in Transylvania, Czechia, Hungary, or Austria — are part of my own story. I’ve lived in or traveled through these regions, and listening to you speak about their history and richness fills me with both awe and humility. It’s a humbling experience to realize how much has happened in the very places I once walked, often unaware of their full historical weight.
Thank you for sharing your passion with such dedication and insight. Your work is deeply appreciated by us humble servants of the Emperor and of God.
Warm regards,
István
Hi Dirk. I must admit that – to my surprise – I found the diversions of the Hansa and the Hussites quite diverting. I also found the Empire in the 15th century mostly useful though perhaps the diversion into the Netherlands a bit exasperating. However I think the time is close when a return to the key direction of German history is resumed. Time to get on to the Reformation which will have a profound influence on not just European history but arguably World history. There will plenty of mad characters in that chronicle to divert us as we go along.
Hi Dirk – just to offer a different view, I found your Dutch excursion fascinating! We are all steeped in the history of the Dutch Golden Age – I was completely unfamiliar with it’s history in the Holy Roman Empire. Thanks for all you do!
I am just commenting to answer your question at the end of episode 199 if people prefer the sidesteps you make into related topics such as the Hanse and the Hussites or if people would rather you keep simply following the emperors without straying too much from the narrative.
In my opinion I have really enjoyed the past few seasons and especially your deep dives on regional history in Bavaria, the southwest and the low countries, maybe even more than the episodes about the emperors. I appreciate the more local history (for example the story of Agnes Bernauer) outside of the main stuff. It helps to understand what is going on outside of wherever the emperor happened to be focusing on.
Tldr; no need to rush to 1990 when there are so many interesting German/local stories waiting to be told for an international audience
I have followed your podcast from the beginning and have enjoyed it thoroughly. As an American my knowledge of any history outside of the boundaries of the U.S. is a little thin. Your forays off the straight line of Emperors has been fascinating and led me down my own “rabbit holes” and into other country’s histories. I only wish you had covered the Fugger’s sooner. I was in Augsburg in December and toured the Fuggerei, as well as the excellent Textile and Industry museum. I wish I had had the background history to put things into context while I was there.
In short keep up the amazing work you are doing and keep leading us to the “rabbit holes” that make history more than names and dates.
Hi Jim, thank you so much for your kind words! And I hope you still enjoyed your trip to Augsburg. I will try to be quicker next time. All the best. Dirk
hi Dirk- re your question on episode 199.. i just finished that episode, very interesting, and, I agree with the commenters above. More please! One thing that you provide that is ever so hard to find anywhere else is that you have access to German sources that are not available in English. Believe me, I’ve tried to get all the generally available history books in English on Germany (and for that matter France, Austria, etc), and it’s always the same stuff – a bit on the Ottonians, maybe the Salians, then a bit on Barbarossa, and then it’s straight into the Reformation, the Thirty Years War, and then Prussia Prussia Prussia/the Reichs. Nothing on the stuff that you talk about in your deep dives/”diversions”. So, hopefully you don’t run out of energy for this sort of stuff. It’s a sprawling topic that you have taken on, and I know it will only get worse as the centuries progress, so I know you’ll have to make some difficult editorial choices or risk being overwhelmed by the material. But, while you have the interest, will, and stomach to keep doing research and writing, I know that I, and judging by the comments above many others, will continue to look forward to this material. Thank you again for being my favorite podcast (I know this because yours is the one I go to first when a new episode comes out, followed by Age of Napoleon and History of Byzantium).
Deviations: YES
The richness of such in depth examinations is what is lacking in a standard history course.
It may be dangerous to tell a German lining un England but please, DEVIATE.
Truly enjoy listening to this. Makes the ride to work fly faster than my Alfa!
Sir Michael Massa, EOHS
Dirk, you are like a fine wine. You just get better and better as time goes by. When you say you ski, is it cross country? If so, I want to convince you to do the Norwegian Birkebeiner with me. Alles gute aus Seattle, mach’s weiter. David
Hi David, that sounds incredibly inviting. Unfortuntely I am a classic downhill skier – carving wide, looking relaxed, not an ounce of sweat on the brow….
Hello!
I love the show and am trying to arrange a monthly membership. However, I have rarely had a more difficult time trying to give away my money. The only button that works for me is the PayPal button below below the one time donation. Otherwise, when I click on the monthly membership buttons, I am returned to the same page.
I have tried several browsers and unblocked pop-ups.
Surely, I am doing something stupid.
Can you please help an absent-minded Professor?
WIth very best regards,
Vann P.
Hi Vann,
thank you so much for your support and making me awareof teh problem. It seems the whole page was corrupted, which is why you were constantly sent back. I have now fixed it. I have seen you joined on Patreon, which I hope was a somewhat more manageable experience.
Again apologies!
Dirk
Very interesting works, congratulation for sharing your passion.
Two comments :
1-In the episode about Livonians cities in the tile, the estonian city of Dorpat in german is written Tatu in estonian, it’s in fact Tartu.
2- In the first episode Henry the Fowler, you inserted interesting illustrations ( maps, picture, etc.) but without legend, title or source.
Anyway : Critica facilis, sed ars difficilis est
Great job, thank you !
Yes, yes, yes!!! Let’s make this HotG tour of Rhein/Main/(Donau?) happen!!
I came to Mike Duncan’s podcast to experience the History of Rome Tour.
I know a guy (Ami) outside Frankfurt who is a tour guide, but you probably have that covered.
Where else should I/we voice our tour preferences??
Dirk. Love your podcast. I’ve been listening since you first started. Recommend it to everyone I speak to about podcasts. I’m very interested in the proposed HotG tour. Also, given where we will eventually end, are you going to include a history of Jews in the German world?
Hi John,
Thanks for being such a loyal listener. That is vey much appreciated. And I will of course discuss the Jewish experience including the Holocaust. I have touched on some elements already as I am sur eyou noticed. In fact, one of the reasons to set the show up in the way I have done it is to help people understand the deep roots of what happened in the 20th century. Like most historic events, the descent into fascism and mass murder was no sudden event that came upon the Germans out of nowhere but built up over centuries. One of the questions I hope to answer – also for myself – is whether there are patterns that may repeat in differnt places and under differnet circumstances and how to identify the early signs that foretell the moral catastrophie. I just hope I am not too late…