Papa

The last chapter of Hopsi’s life is a succinct snapshot of Andrea and her personality, for better or worse.

Labor Day weekend 2021 Hopsi was at least 9 years old, which I’m told is really old for a rabbit. And he was showing his age: he would frequently trip, moving as if he were intoxicated; he was never excited about being fed; while asleep he slumped over, looking as if he were already dead. He was losing hair and weight at an alarming rate. Over the summer while the girls were in Austria I thought he might not survive due to the temperatures; having him die on my watch was not my goal, so I bought a fan which blew on his cage, providing respite from the heat. I just wanted him to live to see the girls one last time.

Hopsi looked bad enough that once the girls were home I warned them of his numbered days, and I asked Andrea how that works: do people euthanize rabbits?

Regardless, once the girls were home life went back to normal, which is to say chaotic with lots of moving parts. Hopsi was obviously in dire straits (thus my question to Andrea about euthanization), but Andrea “living in the moment” never took the time to truly look at him and ponder what action to take.

That is, until she was entirely alone in the house.

Labor Day weekend Niki, Britta & I were in Napa at BottleRock, while Annika was in San Francisco with Etienne. Andrea was home alone on Friday, where she noticed – surprise! – that Hopsi would frequently trip, moving as if he were intoxicated; was never excited about being fed; slept slumped over, looking as if he were dead. In her own uniquely impulsive way she decided – on her own, without consulting me, again in her unique way – that Hopsi needed to be compassionately put down immediately. She called around for options, then drove to Reno to a veterinary office that would provide the service.

To be fair to Andrea, who has a long history with rabbit’s, the day was difficult and wrenching. She openly wept at the vet’s office, and likely thought of Hopsi all weekend long.

But to be accurate, or to at least present my perspective, while euthanizing Hopsi was exactly the right call it would have also been appropriate for Andrea to consult me and the girls; maybe they would want to see him one last time, say goodbye, and be with him right to the end (just as they had insisted on doing with Baloo).

But the girls and I never had a chance to offer our perspectives. Andrea, with a lifelong determination to avoid any circumstances where she feels she is being controlled (eg a team of 1), as well as a lifelong inclination towards impulsive behavior, made the call. It was the right call, it’s only the timing which is in question.

A rabbit, unlike a dog, plays less of a role in a person’s life. Still, it’s with a smile that we think back to Hopsi, out of his cage, chasing Kino around (Baloo would immediately leave the room when Hopsi was let out) and humping (to include ejaculating on) Kino’s muzzle. Or thumping the ground to make his presence known. Or pushing your hand out of the way as you tried to fill his bowl with gourmet (really!) rabbit food, after which he would kick all the rabbit food out of the bowl and onto our floor so that he could get to the gourmet treats that awaited him. Or holding him – a rabbit! – and feeling his heart race at the normal rabbit rate.

Our rabbit Hopsi, ~summer 2012 to 9/3/21.

In the Fall of 1992, while traveling through Australia on a 3 month sojourn, I met a German woman in Darwin. Birgit was an editor for a publishing company in Hannover, and was also traveling through Australia. As it happened our travel intentions took the same clockwise route, so we ended up traveling together for the next 6 weeks (Darwin to Cairns to Whit Sunday Islands to Fraser Island to Sydney, with much more in between). Those 6 weeks were an amazing time, a story yet untold but worth being told.

Birgit was a voracious reader, and my latent interest in reading – long dormant since grammar school, with a brief surge right after graduating from college – was reignited.  But even more interesting and new to me, was story telling. Each night, either on walks or in bed or sitting on a beach, we would tell a story to each other. A story that was fictional and created right on the spot. Sometimes, the story would be mine, sometimes it would be Birgit’s, sometimes we would create a story together, one of us talking for a few minutes and then suddenly stopping, leaving the continuation of the story to the other (and back and forth it would go, until we reached a mutually agreed upon ending). It was truly an exciting time, to be introduced to one’s imaginative abilities at 29 years of age.

Fast forward 15 years, and I began a similar routine with Annika who was around 5 years old. At night Annika would give me a word or two, and I would create on the spot a short story using those few words as the genesis. Sometimes (rarely) I created a story that impressed myself, other times I was embarrassed at how unimaginative it was. Most of the time the stories were just OK; more than sufficient to assist a young girl to sleep.

At some point – 12? 13? – Annika was old enough to lose interest in our story routine. I only vaguely recall this time, of Annika not being as interested in stories of make believe and wanting more “Young Adult” fare (not my forte). The reason I vaguely recall this transition is that Niki and Britta were more than ready to listen to my imagination, so the routine remained with only a change in the audience. At night Niki would suggest a word, Britta would suggest a word, and off I’d go. Later, when they were a little older, on occasion they would make up a short story of their own using the 2 words, to be followed by my attempt.

Until now.

Last month, at age 13 years ~4 weeks, Niki asks one night: “When did you stop taking Annika to bed?”. I didn’t recall exactly…but a few weeks later Niki and Britta had a proposal: Instead of Andrea and I rotating each night taking the girls to bed, the girls wanted to intersperse nights where they would go to bed themselves – an appropriate step for 13 year olds.

The first night I took the girls to bed under this new organization, whereas normally they would blurt out a word of their own to start the storytelling, they didn’t ask for a story. And just like that, it’s possible our tradition has ended – just like 6 weeks of traveling through Australia.

While my daughters are my best audience, I’ll have to figure out a way to keep exercising my feeble imaginative muscle…

It’s happened on more occasions than I can count, and while it aligns with my pondering on attachment theory and narcissistic personality disorder, it’s still unsettling.

On Winter Solstice 2020, when the “Christmas Star” of Jupiter and Saturn were visually closer to each other than they have been in 400 years (a minor event I wanted to share with Niki & Britta), I was…home alone. Niki & Britta had ski team that day (a Monday), and the plan was for them to go to Emma’s house after skiing. That’s all good. The only update I received from Andrea was at 3:08.

Texts from Ann (at 3:15 and 4:54) included pictures of the girls baking and decorating cookies – I knew they were enjoying themselves. At this point I was assuming (always bad on my part) the girls will be home around 6:30-7:00, and I began to think of some dinner ideas.

At 9PM the girls arrive home exhausted and tired and happy, which is good to see. Andrea doesn’t offer a word – not an explanation for the lack of a status update, that they have already eaten dinner…essentially an explanation for why an after ski get together turned into an all evening affair.

Now, I could have initiated texts to Andrea asking for a status, but I expected any updates to be vague (“We will be leaving soon”) and likely inaccurate. Plus I’d argue the onus should not fall on me to find out how their plans are playing out. Once they are home I know it’s useless to broach the subject with Andrea – asking, for example, why she didn’t keep me updated on what’s going on – because this lack of consideration just doesn’t register on Andrea’s radar. Consideration, for Andrea, is superfluous. I have enough experience in this regard, having been on the receiving end of many evenings like this, that I shrug my shoulders and commit to the goal to continue to strive for the high road.

The good news, I suppose, is that the girls seem to be insulated from the complete lack of grace on Andrea’s part; they were with a friend and having fun, as it should be. As they grow older they will likely notice these facets of their Mom’s personality, but they will be in a better position to process these observations.

Still, even then, I can’t help but think it will be just as unsettling for them.

The Stoics embrace an idea, which seems negative at first glance, of attaining happiness by visualizing losing something you have. The concept is that we get so caught up in wanting what we don’t have (and, often times, once we get that we simply move on to wanting another thing we don’t have) that we forget to appreciate what we do have. A few ways to exercise this task is via negative visualization (imagine, only for a moment, losing something you have and appreciate) and the “Last Time” meditation.

While stoics would recommend these brief exercises a few times each day, I limit myself to about once a year. Or two.

The first time I contemplated the “last time”, it was unintentional. I had to visit Rideout Elementary, which over the years was a school, then a Rec center, then a school, then back to a Rec center. When Annika was just a few years old, I would take her to Rideout (the Rec center) in the winter to play in a toddlers area – a fantastic opportunity that had more than a toddler needed to entertain herself for a few hours. This was a winter event only; summers were spent outside. A few years later Annika was a young girl, too old to enjoy Rideout, but the twins were at the age to continue the tradition – so the experiences continued…until they didn’t.

Years after I had stopped visiting Rideout with any of the girls, I visited the school (the Rec center was temporarily gone) and I was suddenly flooded with memories of playing with the girls – really having so much fun. And I was struck by the idea that one day long ago, first with Annika and later with Niki & Britta, we came to Rideout and played and then left, not realizing we would never return (since the next winter the girls would be too old to fully enjoy what the Rec center had to offer).

Upon being thrown into a “Last Time” contemplation, I mourned, for a moment, the loss of those times together. Most of the time we were alone, every time I was entirely present for the girls, and the opportunity for us to compliment each of our imaginations was priceless. And the idea that I never realized the “Last Day” when it happened (and realistically I should have been able to see it coming) just befuddles me. It would have been a moment worth commemorating, if only to myself, but having missed it at the time I made the proper acknowledgement years later.

So I took it further. The summer equivalent to Rideout was Commons Beach; just like Rideout, I would often take the girls there in the non-winter months, and we would play on the playground. And just like Rideout, one summer I stopped going – almost literally never visiting the playground again. So I drove to Commons Beach, and walked around the playground, recalling the fun and the laughs and the games.

Now, as I said, “last time” seems negative at first glance; it certainly is melancholy, if only for a moment. But it motivates and reminds me to appreciate what I have, right now. Which are 12 year olds which are still so much fun to be with, and a 17 year old who is traveling some difficult terrain right now and I want so badly to figure out how to help her.

Being present, but reflecting back.

Life and relationships can get a bit more complicated concerning money.

In November 2017 Rups gave us $120,000, specifically intended to go towards college savings for the girls. While the gift was generous, it was also the result of other factors.

After Birgit had been diagnosed with cancer and gone through all the treatments, at some point Christoph made a comment to Inga and Rups that amounted to this: If Birgit does pass away due to cancer at least he will be taken care of via Birgit’s inheritance.

This inappropriate comment, needless to say, alarmed Inga and Rups. While they absolutely intended to pass all their assets on to Andrea and Birgit, they had no intention of Christoph receiving any money in the event that Birgit did pass away. Thus began a process of managing their money (the inheritance) differently, the details of which I don’t know. But the decision to contribute $120,000 towards the girls education was part of their readjusted planning.

I broke up the money into the girls 529 Education accounts: $50,000 for Annika, and $35,000 each to Niki and Britta.

Fast forward to October 2019, when I arrived in Munich for the start of another year in Austria (the girls had already been in Salzburg for nearly 3 months). On the drive from Munich to Salzburg I shared with Andrea that I had been thinking more about retirement; I didn’t have a date in mind, but I was in the long process of doing the financial planning and contemplating what retirement might look and feel like (a sanity check so to speak). One aspect I mentioned to Andrea was that the girls education was already accounted for, with their 529 plans sufficiently funded which was certainly due in part to Rups and Inga’s contribution.

Andrea, who was silent throughout the entire conversation, insulted my integrity with the assertion that I was acting just like Christoph, essentially taking money from Rups and Inga. Her assertion was that I was only able to consider retirement due to their $120,000 contribution.

Now, without going into details, a 56 year old with kids still at home and potentially 40 (an optimistic guess) years of living left to do needs A LOT more money to retire than just $120,000, and while that contribution was helpful it didn’t factor at all into my decision making concerning retirement.

Thus I made a snap decision that before I were to retire I’d re-pay Rups and Inga the $120,000, with an explanation why (the explanation being that my integrity and character was worth more than $120,000). Andrea’s comment killed our conversation, and the drive continued in silence.

Jump ahead to September 2020, when I have decided to retire and I do have $120,000 set aside to re-pay Rups and Inga. To be clear, this wouldn’t affect the girls college finances; their 529 wouldn’t be touched, I’d repay them with money directly from me.

Consider for a moment the delicacy of the situation:

– While Rups and Inga were motivated to contribute financially to the girls education because of their complete love and adoration for the girls, there was a strategic aspect as well (namely, ensuring that Christoph doesn’t see any of their money should Birgit pass away).

– Rups and Inga have no idea of the October 2019 conversation between Andrea and I

– My returning their money, without including them in the conversation, can be taken as an insult (and rightly so)

Thus I wasn’t sure how to approach this. One thought was to wait until summer 2021, and talk with them about it in person. While I wasn’t willing to reconsider my plan (again, my integrity and character was worth more than $120,000), I could at least explain the situation in person before actually returning the money.

However, when the girls returned to the US in September 2020 Andrea changed my plans to some degree. I don’t know all the details, but this is what Andrea said: Rups is anxious about money (although Rups is always anxious about money). There are some improvements (the roof and bathroom were two examples) to their house in Roxheim that he didn’t have the money for. To be clear they do have enough money to live on via their monthly retirement/pension, it was additional funds for home improvement that they lacked. Andrea asked that I wire $50,000 (taken from the $120,000 contributed by Rups and Inga back in 2017) to Andrea’s bank account in Salzburg, for the purpose of alleviating her Dad’s anxiety and allowing them to make those home improvements.

A few things to note, keeping in mind that I don’t trust Andrea at all:

– She insisted I wire the money to her account in Salzburg, and not to Rups and Inga

– Even though Rups had given Andrea 400,000 Euro back in 2013 as a deposit for the house in Elsbethen (the total cost was about 500,000 Euro I believe), Andrea decided that if Rups needed money it was better to repay them from their contribution for the girls education instead of Andrea repaying them in part for the money they gave her for the house.

– It’s not clear to me that Andrea has any renters in the house; meaning she has monthly mortgage payments (for the balance of the loan) and other bills (like utility) that she is responsible for. Thus I wonder if Andrea is intentionally not renting the house so that it will be available each summer for their return to Salzburg. This is all speculation on my part; Andrea doesn’t share any details of what’s going on, and certainly won’t share any specifics as to her plans or intentions.

It’s unfair of me to speculate in a way that’s not complimentary of Andrea, but such speculation is informed by my history, experiences, and understanding of Andrea’s moral compass.

So my plan now, subject to change: I’ll wire $50,000 to Andrea’s bank now. Next summer I’ll have that conversation with Rups and Inga, and I’ll reference the $50,000 already repaid. While I hope it’s not true, I will not be surprised if they know nothing about the $50,000, and that some of that has been spent by Andrea.

An interesting read.

Of course, all of this argues for nurture (vs nature), but yesterday I listened to a 2 hour podcast about how much nature (genetics) affects humans and basically parents really can’t do much wrong (except in the extreme cases). My suspicion is that nurture (shared environment) matters a lot the first few years of life, before nature truly starts to kick in thereafter. But who know’s, it’s complicated.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/can-an-unloved-child-learn-to-love/612253/

Of special interest is “Insecure Avoidant”:

– does not orientate to their attachment figure while investigating the environment.

– very independent of the attachment figure both physically and emotionally

– does not seek contact with the attachment figure when distressed. Such children are likely to have a caregiver who is insensitive and rejecting of their needs

– The attachment figure may withdraw from helping during difficult tasks and is often unavailable during times of emotional distress.

Insecure-avoidant infants are associated with unresponsive primary care. The child comes to believe that communication of needs has no influence on the mother/father.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_in_children
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_in_adults

Dismissive-avoidant
A dismissive-avoidant attachment style is demonstrated by those possessing a positive view of self and a negative view of others.

People with a dismissive style of avoidant attachment tend to agree with these statements: “I am comfortable without close emotional relationships”, “It is important to me to feel independent and self-sufficient”, and “I prefer not to depend on others or have others depend on me.” People with this attachment style desire a high level of independence. The desire for independence often appears as an attempt to avoid attachment altogether. They view themselves as self-sufficient and invulnerable to feelings associated with being closely attached to others. They often deny needing close relationships. Some may even view close relationships as relatively unimportant. Not surprisingly, they seek less intimacy with attachments, whom they often view less positively than they view themselves. Investigators commonly note the defensive character of this attachment style. People with a dismissive-avoidant attachment style tend to suppress and hide their feelings, and they tend to deal with rejection by distancing themselves from the sources of rejection (e.g. their attachments or relationships).

Pictures

Feb 13-17, toured all around Paris, such a vibrant city. Visited the Lourve, Montmartre, Eiffel tower, Invalides, Arc de Triumph, Picasso museum, Bastille, Notre Dame, Holocast memorial, Lourve gardens, Sacre Courte. I took 3 tours: Montmartre, French Revolution, Napolean.

I’ve been to Paris 3 times before:

1. Christmas 1989, with Arlene who was visiting me after I’d only been in Germany for 2 months. We took a bus tour, which arranged accommodations, but all I recall from that trip is visiting the Notre Dame cathedral on Christmas day.

2. ??. I have to confirm the time, but I went to visit Sherisse who was living in Paris for ~6 months, working on the construction of Euro Disney. I don’t recall much from this trip, either. 🙁

3. With Steffi and friends (Brad and Laurel at least), New Years Eve 1991.

I learned nothing of France during those 3 trips, so I had a lot of homework to do this time around. This is some of what I learned.

During the Iron Age France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people.
51BC. Rome annexed the area.
476. The Germanic Franks formed the Kingdom of Francia.
843. The Treaty of Verdun partitioned Francia into East Francia, Middle Francia and West Francia.
987. West Francia became the Kingdom of France.
1337-1453. The Hundred Years’ War, essentially between England and France which emerged as a major European power following its victory.
16th century. Dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).
17th Century. France became Europe’s dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV.
1643-1715. King Louis XIV was King of France. His reign of 72+ years is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in European history. With the help of his Mom he slowly transitioned France to an absolute monarchy (meaning parliament and the church were subservient to the Royal court). Money was usually a problem as 1% of the population were Noble and 1% were with the Church, neither of which paid taxes. Louis XIV continued the concept of the divine right of kings from the Middle Ages, the idea that God had granted earthly power to the monarch, just as He had given spiritual authority and power to the church. This is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy and was a key element for legitimising many absolute monarchies.
1681-1685. Louis dramatically increased the persecution of Protestants.
– banned emigration and effectively insisted that all Protestants must be converted
– issued the Edict of Fontainebleau which revoked the Edict of Nantes and repealed all Protestant privileges.
– no longer tolerated the existence of Protestant groups, pastors, or churches in France. No further churches were to be constructed, and those already existing were to be demolished.
It wasn’t until the 1787 Edict of Versailles (also known as the Edict of Tolerance) under Louis XVI which restored to non-Catholics their civil rights and the freedom to worship openly. After the French Revolution Protestants were granted equal rights with their Roman Catholic counterparts.
1682. The Declaration of the clergy of France increased royal authority at the expense of papal power. King Louis XIV moved the Royal Court from the Louvre to the Palace of Versailles; by compelling many members of the nobility to inhabit Palace of Versailles, he succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy and achieved increased control over the French aristocracy. For a little more than 100 years the Palace of Versailles was the seat of government for France. In some ways this may have been the start of the Revolution 100 years later; with the court in Versailles, the populace felt disconnected from the monarchy.
1689-1815. The “Second Hundred Years’ War”, almost continuous level of worldwide conflict mostly between France and Great Britain.
1756-1763. The Seven Years’ War. The four greatest powers “switched partners” and split Europe into two coalitions:
A. Great Britain, Prussia, Portugal. Britain aligned itself with Prussia, in a series of political manoeuvres known as the Diplomatic Revolution, which was the reversal of longstanding alliances in Europe around 1750 triggered by a separation of interests between Austria, Britain, and France. Austria went from an ally of Britain to an ally of France, while Prussia became an ally of Britain. The change was part of the stately quadrille, a constantly shifting pattern of alliances throughout the 18th century.
B. vs France, the Austrian-led Holy Roman Empire, Russia, Spain, and Sweden. France and Austria put aside their ancient rivalry to form a grand coalition of their own to curtail Britain’s and Prussia’s influence. This was also centered on Austria’s desire to recover Silesia (mostly in Poland), which had been a part of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy since 1526 but was conquered by Prussia in 1742.
C. Holland, Denmark-Norway, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire did not participate

1. 1754–1756. The British attacked disputed French positions in North America
2. 1756. The Treaty of Versailles between France and Austria offering mutual assistance if attacked by Great Britain or Prussia; this is despite the France–Habsburg rivalry. The Habsburgs were the largest and most powerful royal house of the Holy Roman Empire, controlling (principally through marriage) the Habsburg Netherlands (1482-1794), Habsburg Spain (1504–1700) and the Holy Roman Empire (1438–1806). All these lands formed the Habsburg ring around France causing border friction. The rivalry became a cause for several major wars, including the Italian Wars 1494–1559; the Thirty Years’ War 1618–1648; the Nine Years’ War 1688–1697; the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), the War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748), and later the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815).
3. 1756. Realizing that war was imminent, Prussia pre-emptively struck Saxony and formed an alliance with Britain
4. 1757. The Holy Roman Empire declared war on Prussia. Reluctantly, most of the states of the empire joined Austria’s cause.
5. 1762. Russia, originally aligned with Austria, switched sides upon the succession of Tsar Peter III.

Losses:
Prussia: 260,000+
Great Britain: 135,000+
Austrian: 373,588
French: 350,000+
Russia: 138,000
Spain 34,000+
Sweden 28,000

Penalty:
France cedes its possessions east of the Mississippi River, Canada, the island of Grenada, and the Northern Circars in India to Great Britain.
France cedes Louisiana and its territory west of the Mississippi River to Spain.
Spain cedes Florida to Great Britain.
1774. Louis XVI becomes King at 20 years old; he was never groomed for the role, as he had 2 older brothers but they were both killed.
1789-1799. French Revolution. The fortress Bastille (a prison, where armory was also stored) was stormed by Parisian rioters effectively starting the Revolution which eventually (1792) overthrew the absolute monarchy, establishing one of modern history’s earliest republics and drafting the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Louvre was then converted to a museum. It was prefaced by the National Council, a progressive movement of ministers meeting in Versailles. The grassroots effort at reform never took off, as progressive ministers were being bribed by the King, who was returned to Louvre and forced to remain there for 2 years. When Louis tried to escape France but was caught, he was beheaded and things got worse. That’s when most people fully gave up on the idea of working within a monarchy. There was non-stop power turmoil; Religion was outlawed (and the Gregorian calendar was not followed for a few years), ministers vying for power would align then betray others. In 1792 France, needing money, took money from the church. Europe monarchies were threatened by anti-monarchy movement in France and thus France was fighting both a civil war (commons vs nobility) and a Royal war (commons vs Europe). Finally Napoléon, a powerful and popular General by this time, was handed power and became a benevolent dictator with a hand picked parliament.
1804-1814. Napoleon established the First French Empire. Napoleonic Wars with about all of Europe.
1812. Napoleon attacked Russia and ultimately was defeated, exiled to an island (twice)
1815–1830. The Bourbon monarchy was re-established, with new constitutional limitations and Louis younger brother at the helm.
1830. The July Revolution, overthrow of Charles X by his cousin Louise Phillip, a shift from one constitutional monarchy to another, which established the constitutional July Monarchy.
1848. The February Revolution and the end of the July Monarchy and the start of the (more conservative) Second Republic.
1852. The president of the French Republic, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, Napoleon I’s nephew, was proclaimed emperor of the second Empire, as Napoleon III. He suspended the elected assembly, establishing the Second French Empire, and he went on to become the de facto last French monarch.
1870. Franco-Prussian War. The French declared war on Prussia due to Prussian ambitions to extend German unification and shift the European balance of power. The German forces were superior in numbers, had better training and leadership and made more effective use of modern technology, particularly railroads and artillery. Napoleon III was captured and the army of the Second Empire decisively defeated. A third empire was immediately created and moved its capital to Tours as Paris was under siege. France ultimately lost most of Alsace and some parts of Lorraine to Germany. French determination to regain Alsace-Lorraine along with British apprehension about the balance of power became factors in the causes of World War I (as well as post WWI).
1871. The Paris Commune, a radical socialist and revolutionary government that ruled Paris for 2 months in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War. It was bloodily suppressed by the regular French army at the end of May 1871. Karl Marx described the Paris Commune as an example of the “dictatorship of the proletariat”.
1875. Sacré-Cœur construction begins. The origins of the Church are contrversial; it is seen as a double monument, political and cultural, both a national penance for the defeat of France in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War and for the subsequent Paris Commune of 1871, as well as an embodiment of conservative moral order (which some attribute to the Church simply wanting the monarchy to return). At this time calls for the re-establishment of the monarchy dominated, but growing support for the republican form of government among the French populace and a series of republican presidents in the 1880s gradually quashed prospects of a monarchical restoration. Republicanism in the 1870s was considered “the form of government that divides France least”; however, politics under the Third Republic were sharply polarized. On the left stood Reformist France, heir to the French Revolution. On the right stood conservative France, rooted in the peasantry, the Roman Catholic Church and the army. The Third Republic endured for seventy years.
1889 – French engineer Gustave Eiffel spent two years working to erect this iconic monument for the World Exhibition
1914-1918. WWI. France exacts revenge on Germany at the Treaty of Versailles.
1940. Occupation by Germany.
1944. A Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War (1954-1962, which led to Algeria winning its independence from France. It was an important decolonization war).
1958. The Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle. Algeria and nearly all the other colonies became independent in the 1960s, with most retaining close economic and military connections with France.

Pictures

In 1989, by sheer happenstance, I was new to Germany just as the wall, (built starting in 1961 by the USSR, as a way of preventing mass emigration by people opposed to communist oppression) which physically separated East and West Berlin, and virtually separated all of Eastern Europe with Western Europe, was “coming down” as they say. I visited Berlin in Nov (with Sheila) and Dec 1989 (with Arlene), and was riveted by experiencing history in the moment. I ran the Berlin Marathon in September 1990, which was noted for being the first time the race would be run through the “new” Berlin (comprised of the old East Berlin and the modern West Berlin).
 
Today Berlin, with about 3.7 million residents, is the second most populous city of the European Union after London.

Some historical cheat notes, to bring us up to speed.

Prussia was a German kingdom between 1701 (due to Frederick III upgrading Prussia from a duchy to a kingdom, crowning himself King Frederick I) and 1918 (end of WWI) and was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871 . Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, where its capital was Berlin.

The Holy Roman Empire (loosely considered the first Reich) was effectively dissolved when Emperor Francis II abdicated (6 August 1806) during the War of the Third Coalition. In 1814–15 after the Napoleonic Wars the Congress of Vienna endorsed Austrian dominance in Central Europe. The negotiators at Vienna took no account of Prussia’s growing strength within and among the German states and so failed to foresee that Prussia would rise to challenge Austria for leadership of the German peoples. Thus German dualism (the problem of unification): Kleindeutsche Lösung, the small Germany solution (Germany without Austria), or Großdeutsche Lösung, the greater Germany solution (Germany with Austria).

Specific to Berlin, the Brandenburg gate was commissioned by Frederick William II of Prussia and built between 1788 and 1791. The Victory Column was intended to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War, but by the time it was inaugurated on 2 September 1873 Prussia had also defeated Austria in the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and France in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). The unification of Germany into a nation state (loosely considered the second or Deutsches Reich) officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Palace of Versailles. Princes of the German states, excluding Austria-Hungary, gathered there to proclaim William I of Prussia as German Emperor after the French capitulation in the Franco-Prussian War.

The German revolutions of 1848–49 the opening phase of which was also called the March Revolution, were initially part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many European countries. They were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire. The revolutions, which stressed pan-Germanism, demonstrated popular discontent with the traditional, largely autocratic political structure of the thirty-nine independent states of the Confederation that inherited the German territory of the former Holy Roman Empire. This process began in the mid 1840’s. The middle-class elements were committed to liberal principles, while the working class sought radical improvements to their working and living conditions. As the middle class and working class components of the Revolution split, the conservative aristocracy defeated it. Liberals were forced into exile to escape political persecution, where they became known as Forty-Eighters. Many emigrated to the United States, settling from Wisconsin to Texas.

The Dual Alliance in October 1879 was a defensive alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary, as part of Bismarck’s system of alliances to prevent or limit war. The two powers promised each other support in case of attack by Russia. When Austria stumbled into WW1, Germany obligingly followed.

After WWI the republic became known as the Weimar Republic (1918 to 1933); the name derives from the city of Weimar, where its constitutional assembly first took place. The Weimar Republic faced numerous problems, including hyperinflation, political extremism as well as contentious relationships with the victors of the First World War. Resentment in Germany towards the Treaty of Versailles was strong especially on the political right. The Weimar Republic fulfilled most of the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles and accepted the western borders of the country by abandoning irredentist claims on France and Belgium, but continued to dispute the eastern borders and sought to persuade Austria to join Germany as one of Germany’s states. The Great Depression, exacerbated by Chancellor Heinrich Brüning’s policy of deflation, led to a surge in unemployment. In 1933 President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor with the Nazi Party being part of a coalition government. The Nazis held two out of the remaining ten cabinet seats. Chancellor Franz von Papen was intended to be the “éminence grise” who would keep Hitler under control, using his close personal connection to Hindenburg. Within months, the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act of 1933 had brought about a state of emergency: it wiped out constitutional governance and civil liberties. Hitler’s seizure of power (Machtergreifung) was permissive of government by decree without legislative participation. These events brought the republic to an end—as democracy collapsed, the founding of a single-party state began the dictatorship of the Nazi era.

The formal abolition of Prussia, carried out on 25 February 1947 by the fiat of the Allied Control Council referred to an alleged tradition of the kingdom as a bearer of militarism and reaction, and made way for the current setup of the German states. However, the Free State of Prussia (Freistaat Preußen), which followed the abolition of the Kingdom of Prussia in the aftermath of World War I, was a major democratic force in Weimar Germany until the nationalist coup of 1932 known as the Preußenschlag.

My thoughts.
 
While much of Eastern Europe has century long tales of subjugation by Monarchies and Aristocracies, Religion, or horrific dictator’s, Berlin has the added distinction of hosting the worst of human impulses – namely the Third Reich, from 1933-1945. Hitler’s failed (but still disastrous) attempts at growth (real estate acquisition by force), dictatorial petulance (purging all political dissent [people, newspapers, community and business organizations] as well as persecution of religious super-minorities like the Quakers, by having them all removed to what ultimately became concentration camps), and genetic purification (by euthanizing the mentally and physically handicapped; exterminating homosexuals, gypsies, and of course Jews from all across Europe) are all numbing.
 
After enduring a front row seat to the worst that humanity has to offer in the goriest of details, it’s no wonder that about 60% of Berliners have no religious affiliation (Berlin, like Prague, is considered one of the most atheist enclaves of Europe, with the largest religious groups being Protestants (19%) followed by Roman Catholics (9%)).
 
While Berlin enjoyed some European dominance and stature by the usual custom of war mongering during the German (then Prussia) years (mostly 18th and 19th centuries, kicking a little Danish, Austrian, and French butt along the way), it was their (in hindsight) ill conceived alliance with Austria (a defensive move against Russian aggression) that catapulted Germany into World War I. In the end, having lost a battle against the same foes that Germany (Prussia) had vanquished in wars past, these vindictive foes (France amongst them) sought vengeance at the Treaty of Versailles, taking Germany out at the knees. After WWI and 15 subsequent years of hyperinflation, high unemployment and political extremism, the German people were eager to support an extreme demagogue (Hitler) who preyed on their populist desire for the return to a strong national identity (I’m being very simplistic here, but anyway). The implications were immediate (emphasis on immediate).
  
This 2020 trip to Berlin, unlike 1989, was removed from any immediate import and instead allowed me to look in the historical rear view mirror, aghast at all the atrocities. From 1933-1945 Berlin was home to the gold standard of a colossal race to the bottom in terms of ethics and morality and humanity and decency and…I was reminded of this during a sober tour of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp (http://lifeofannika.com/year/16/images/Salzburg/Papa/Berlin/Sachsenhausen), just outside of Berlin, as well as a tour of the Topography of Terror museum (http://lifeofannika.com/year/16/images/Salzburg/Papa/Berlin/WWII). Then from 1945-1989 Berlin was front and center for uninvited Communist hosts, who short of employing concentration camps still leveraged many of the tools available to paranoid sophisticated barbarians (http://lifeofannika.com/year/16/images/Salzburg/Papa/Berlin/ColdWar).
 
So I’ll grant a pass to the atheist (or at least agnostic) Berliners, who have first hand experience to doubt the potential of mankind, despite their new government building (http://lifeofannika.com/year/16/images/Salzburg/Papa/Berlin/Reichstag) which is meant to demonstrate transparency of the elected. Who knows what tomorrow brings…

Pictures

Summary: I had visited Prague twice before:

1. In November 1990 (during Thanksgiving) with John Fehan by train. It was a thrilling trip; communism had collapsed only a year prior, and we had no reservations or plans. We got off the train and were greeted by numerous people who were renting their flats (capitalistic entrepreneurs!). We toured around, and found a great jazz club off Old Town Square.

2. Some time in 1992 with Rodney Mayo and others (forget who). We drove there and to be honest I have no recollection of what we did (likely an extended weekend at most).

Today Czech (Prague) is beautiful, but crowded. Really crowded. Whereas Hungary receives about 3 million visitors a year, Czech receives more than 3 times that (10 million, both #’s from Wikipedia). Compounding that, whereas the Budapest history is spread out all around town on both sides of the Danube, Prague history is mostly centralized in the Old Town (and primarily the Old Town Square) and the Prague Castle (in Lesser Town, on the other side of the Vltava River). Crowding is so overwhelming that most of the small Prague tours advertised via Airbnb marketed the fact that they would avoid the crowds – which makes sense practically but doesn’t make sense experientially as you don’t get to see (via the tour) many of the historical sites.

My train arrived in Prague around 4 on a Thursday; after checking into my Airbnb room in Lesser Town (50 Euro per night, sorta pricey) I went to dinner at Ferdinanda, which was fantastic and hard to find so it seemed like more of a local hang out.

Friday morning I took a 2 hour tour with David and a nice couple Mark and Susan from Wisconsin (they would continue on to Israel after Prague). The tour was nothing like the tour I enjoyed in Budapest; David talked only (very) superficially about Czech history, and in the end I learned very little from the tour (I had already gotten my bearings straight from walking around prior to the tour). After the tour I relaxed a bit in the room (the crowds were such a deterrent I decided to wait until dark to go back out and walk around). After dinner once more at Ferdinanda I wandered for 3 hours, through the Old City, across the Charles Bridge, and up to the Prague Castle which was entirely empty of people. I was able to see the St. Vitus Cathedral with literally no one around (earlier that day there was a line of hundreds of people waiting to get into the cathedral grounds), which was really cool. Back in my room by 10PM, I realized I had done and seen all I wanted to and so decided to leave first thing on Saturday (one big advantage of a Eurail pass; you just get on). 42 hours after my arrival, I was leaving Prague.

—

The Czechs (Slavs) have lived in Bohemia since the 6th century. The slavic breakdown: East Slavs (chiefly Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians); West Slavs (chiefly Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, and Wends, or Sorbs); and South Slavs (chiefly Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Slovenes, Macedonians, and Montenegrins).

Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region in the present-day Czech Republic. Today Bohemia sometimes refers to the entire Czech territory, including Moravia (southern Czech) and Czech Silesia (south east slice of Czech), all of which were at one time or another the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and ruled by Bohemian kings.

Like Hungary, Bohemia has had a lot of different masters. Bohemia was a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire from 1004 to 1804 (when the Holy Roman Empire effectively ended); a crown land of the Austrian Empire from 1804 to 1867 (although Austria played a roll before that, as a part of the Holy Roman Empire. After the death of King Louis II in the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria became the new King of Bohemia and the country became a constituent state of the Habsburg Monarchy); and a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire from 1867 (the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 established the dual monarchy of Austro-Hungarian) to 1918 (end of WWII and the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). Bohemia was one of the five lands of Czechoslovakia founded in 1918 (defying claims of the German speaking inhabitants that regions with German speaking majority should be included in the Republic of German-Austria); was subsequently joined to Nazi Germany as the Sudetenland between 1938 and 1945; and in 1949 it was formally dissolved during the abolition of the land system following the communist coup d’état. In 1989 the Velvet (meaning peaceful) Revolution freed Czechoslovakia from the Soviet Union, and in 1993 Czech and Slovakia peacefully separated as well (self-determination, so to speak).

Along the way Germans came by invitation (the mid-13th century saw the beginning of substantial German immigration into Bohemia, into the northern and western border regions known collectively as the Sudetenland, to replace losses from the Mongol invasions in 1241), but were also escorted out by invitation (expulsions after 1945 WW II).

Language was one of the most contentious issues in Austro-Hungarian politics; all governments faced challenges in deciding on the official language of government and education. The minorities sought the widest opportunities for education in their own languages, as well as in the “dominant” languages — Hungarian and German. By the “Ordinance of 5 April 1897”, the Austrian Prime Minister Count Kasimir Felix Badeni gave Czech (meaning non-Catholic) equal standing with German (Catholic) in the internal government of Bohemia; this led to a crisis because of nationalist German agitation throughout the empire. The Crown dismissed Badeni.

It’s partially due to the reformation/protestant movement of Jan Hus that Bohemia eventually came under control of the Austro-Hungarian empire (via the Habsburg Monarchy), as the Catholics didn’t trust Czech speaking Bohemia with all their religious dissidents. Despite that Bohemia was predominantly non-Catholic from the early 15th century until the early 20th century.

The historical center of Prague is divided by the Vltava river into two parts: the Litte Side (Malá strana) and the Old Town (Staré mesto). The New Town, established by Charles IV, King of Bohemia in 1346, extends east past the Old Town.

The Charles Bridge connects both parts of the historical center. The bridge is named after Charles IV, King of Bohemia in 1346. His reign brought Bohemia to its peak both politically and in total area, resulting in his being the first King of Bohemia to also be elected as Holy Roman Emperor.

The bridge construction started in 1357 and finished in the 15th century. The bridge replaced the old Judith Bridge built in 1158–1172 that had been badly damaged by the 1342 flood. This new bridge was originally called Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) or Prague Bridge (Pražský most) but was renamed “Charles Bridge” in 1870. As the only means of crossing the river Vltava until 1841, Charles Bridge was the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city’s Old Town and adjacent areas.

The royal town (a town founded by the king) of Malá Strana was founded by King Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1257. It was created by amalgamating a number of settlements beneath the Prague Castle; the original residents were expelled and mostly German craftsmen and merchants were invited by the king. In the second half of the 14th century Malá Strana was extended by the King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV who built a new defensive wall called Hunger Wall. In 1419-1420 Malá Strana was burnt down by the Hussites, and in 1541 the town was damaged again by a fire but was rebuilt in the Renaissance style and many palaces of nobility were built (today home to many Embassies).

The Prague Castle (Pražský hrad), which began being built in 870, was a seat of power for kings of Bohemia (the Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept inside the castle), Holy Roman emperors, and today is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. Unlike counterparts in other Central European countries such as Austria and Hungary, who are generally considered figureheads, the Czech president has a considerable role in political affairs. Because many powers can only be exercised with the signatures of both the President and the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, responsibility over some political issues is effectively shared between the two offices.

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert is a Roman Catholic cathedral and the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Until 1997 the cathedral was dedicated only to Saint Vitus, and is still commonly named only as St. Vitus Cathedral. The St. Vitus Cathedral is a prominent example of Gothic architecture and is the largest and most important church in the country. Located within Prague Castle it contains the tombs of many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors.

The Staré mesto is anchored by Old Town Square, with the medieval astronomical clock “Orloj”, first installed in 1410 which makes it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still in operation.

The Gothic Church of Our Lady before Týn is the main church of Prague since the 14th century. The Baroque St. Nicholas Church is also located in the square.

The square’s center is home to a statue of religious reformer Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake on 6 July 1415 for his Hussite beliefs; his execution, as well as five consecutive papal crusades against followers of Hus, forced the Bohemians to defend themselves in the Hussite Wars (1419–1434) (a civil war of sorts). The Jan Hus Memorial was erected on 6 July 1915 to mark the 500th anniversary of his death.

The Hussites were a pre-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of Hus and the Bohemian Reformation; and was propelled by social issues. Although Hussites were one of the most important forerunners of the Protestant Reformation, it was a regional movement that failed to expand anywhere farther.

The Hussite cause gradually splintered into two main factions, the moderate Utraquists and the more fanatic Taborites. The Utraquists made an agreement with the Catholic Church during the Hussite Wars (1423) as they found the more radical views of the Taborites distasteful. Additionally, with general war-weariness and yearning for order, the Utraquists were able to eventually defeat the Taborites in the Battle of Lipany in 1434 and became the most common representation of the Hussite faith in Bohemia. However, despite an apparent victory for the Catholics, the Bohemian Utraquists were still strong enough to negotiate freedom of religion in 1436 via the Compacts of Basel, declaring peace and freedom between Catholics and Utraquists. 26 years later in 1462 Pope Pius II declared the compacts to be invalid. Catholics and Utraquists were emancipated (the Utraquist and the Catholic faiths were declared equal in front of the law) in Bohemia after the religious peace of Kutná Hora in 1485. This agreement finished a long series of religious conflicts in the Czech lands and constituted a definitive end to the Hussite Wars.

The majority Hussite ruled in the Czech Republic for two centuries until Roman Catholic Christianity was reimposed by the Holy Roman Emperor after the 1620 Battle of White Mountain during the Thirty Years’ War, which led to centuries of Habsburg (Catholic) persecution. The Thirty Years’ War was between various Protestant and Catholic states throughout Europe in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire. It eventually became less about religion and more of a continuation of the France–Habsburg rivalry for European political pre-eminence. The war was started when the new Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II tried to impose religious uniformity on his domains, forcing Roman Catholicism on its peoples. This went against the Peace of Augsburg, a treaty between Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor and the Schmalkaldic League, signed in September 1555 which officially ended the religious struggle between the two groups and made the legal division of Christianity permanent within the Holy Roman Empire, allowing rulers to choose either Lutheranism or Roman Catholicism as the official confession of their state. If a ruler chose for his or her subjects to practice Lutheranism, the population which endorsed and practiced Lutheranism increased greatly.

The Battle of Bílá Hora (“White Mountain”), fought on 8 November 1620 near Prague, was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years’ War. 15,000 Bohemians and mercenaries under Christian of Anhalt were defeated by 27,000 men of the combined armies of Ferdinand II the Holy Roman Emperor and the German Catholic League. The battle marked the end of the Bohemian period of the Thirty Years’ War and decisively influenced the fate of the Czech lands for the next 300 years. Its aftermath drastically changed the religious landscape of the Czech lands after two centuries of Protestant dominance. The result of the 1620 battle brought two centuries of recatholicization of the Czech lands and the decline of the Czech-speaking aristocracy and elite as well as the Czech language (accompanied with the growing influence of German-speaking elites). Roman Catholicism retained majority in the Czech lands until the late 20th century. Ever since the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, the Czech people have been historically characterised as “tolerant and even indifferent towards religion”. Today 40% consider themselves atheist; 40% are Roman Catholics; 5% are Protestant; 3% are members of the Orthodox Church; and 13.4% are undecided.

In front of the Old Town Hall is a memorial to martyrs (including Jan Jesenius and Maxmilián Hošťálek) beheaded on that spot during the Old Town Square execution by Habsburgs, after the Battle of White Mountain. Twenty-seven crosses mark the pavement in their honour. The crosses were installed during the repairs of the Old Town Hall after the WW2, while a nearby plaque which lists the names of all 27 victims dates from 1911.

On 3 November 1918, a Marian Column that had been erected in the square shortly after the Thirty Years’ War was demolished in celebration of independence from the Habsburg empire.

The former Jewish quarter “Josefov” is nearby the Old Town Square and is formerly the Jewish ghetto of the town.

Jews are believed to have settled in Prague as early as the 10th century. The first pogrom was in 1096 (the first crusade) and eventually they were concentrated within a walled Ghetto. In 1262, Přemysl Otakar II issued a Statuta Judaeorum which granted the community a degree of self-administration. In 1389, one of the worst pogroms saw some 1,500 massacred at Easter Sunday. The ghetto was most prosperous towards the end of the 16th century when the Jewish Mayor, Mordecai Maisel, became the Minister of Finance.

In 1850, the quarter was renamed “Josefstadt” (Joseph’s City) after Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor who emancipated Jews with the Toleration Edict in 1781. Two years before Jews were allowed to settle outside of the city, so the share of the Jewish population in Josefov decreased, while only orthodox and poor Jews remained living there.

Most of the quarter was demolished between 1893 and 1913 as part of an initiative to model the city on Paris. What was left were only six synagogues, the old cemetery, and the Old Jewish Town Hall (now all part of the Jewish Museum in Prague).

Pictures

10 million people speak the Hungarian (Uralic) language; it borders Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Austria to the northwest, Romania to the east, and old Yugoslavia to the West and South (Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, and Slovenia to the west). That geography goes a long way in understanding their history.

Summary: On Friday Dec 13 I took a train to Budapest from Salzburg, arriving just after 2PM. After walking to my Airbnb room in the Jewish Quarter, I left to walk around town. I stopped at a “street vendor” (it was actually a group of trailers with a lot of traffic and so looked safe) where I had some Hungarian dinner. It ruined my stomach for the rest of the trip. Next to the food spot was the Szimpla Kert, a famous tourist spot. Much of the Jewish Quarter was run down and ready to be torn down after the fall of communism, but some artists started moving in, determined to save the area it seems. They did that my opening community centers that would anchor the neighborhood and serve beer, too.

Saturday I signed up for a 4 hour tour with George, who was a 1st generation Hungarian (one parent was Egyptian, the other Hungarian with German roots) but a very proud Hungarian at that. Turns out I had George all to myself as no one else had signed up for the tour, which was fantastic for a lot of Q&A. What I learned is what’s documented here.

By the end of the 4 hours I was mentally exhausted; it was intense, in a good way. George was fantastic but I could sense some of his biases with respect to Transylvania (he suggested it is predominantly Hungarian, which I don’t think is true – plus, he never really mentioned Slovakia, which was also taken from Hungary yet when it broke fro Czech it didn’t look to re-unify with Hungary).

After George’s tour I signed up for another 3 hour tour, focusing on times during Communist rule. However, the aforementioned trailer food was wreaking havoc on my gut so I had to leave half way through to take care of business. Once it was dark I went back out for dinner, then retraced my steps with George on both sides of the Danube (with Buda on the west on Pest to the east) to take pictures at night. By the end of the night I concluded that I had seen everything, and so Sunday morning I was back on the train, 44 hours after my arrival. Despite the quick trip it was a very interesting city, and I really enjoyed my time there.

My notes:

– The year 896 is considered the start of Hungary, by the Hungarian grand prince Árpád following the conquest of the Carpathian Basin. The 7 Asianic tribes who first settled in Hungary around 896 are commemorated at the Heroes Plaza.

– In 997 the great-grandson of Árpád, Stephen I, ascended the throne. Szent Istvan (Steven) ruled from 997-1038 and converted the region to a Christian kingdom, to more closely align Hungary with Europe. He wanted Hungary to evolve away from a semi-nomadic culture into a feudal state (ownership of land vs service/labor).  Applying to Pope Sylvester II, Stephen received the insignia of royalty (including the Holy Crown of Hungary, currently kept in the Hungarian Parliament) from the papacy so it was then recognized as a Catholic Apostolic Kingdom. Hungary adopted Latin which remained the official language as late as 1844.

– By the 12th century, Hungary became a regional power.

– 1241, Mongolian invasion. The Mongolians seemed to be nomadic, so they wouldn’t conquer as much as they would rape, plunder and move on. After kicking Hungary’s butt, Hungary started building castles and fortifications, anticipating the return of the Mongols. See Fisherman’s Bastion in Buda as one example.

– 15th century Hungary reaches its cultural and political height.

– 1541-1699 Ottoman Empire. Despite many Ottomon’s not having Turkish descent, Hungarians aren’t too accepting of Turks today (according to George; he swore he would never visit).

– Early 1800’s. St Stephen’s Basilica is built. At first the Basilica was to be named after Saint Leopold, the patron saint of Austria, but the plan was changed in the very last minute to St. Stephen’s Basilica. In here is the mummified hand of Szent Istvan!

– 1849, Hungarian Revolution. They are independent for a short time…

– 1867 the Austro–Hungarian Empire. This was not a marriage of equals; Austria, as the seat of the Church, had most of the power. The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise
partially re-established the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hungary, separate from, and no longer subject to the Austrian
Empire. The agreement also restored the old historic constitution of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Hungarian political leaders had two main goals during the negotiations. One was to regain the traditional status (both legal and political) of the Hungarian state, which was lost after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.]

– 1873 Buda and Pest join to become Budapest. The Jewish Quarter was next to Pest; Jews had to pay a toll to enter and had to leave at night.

– 1896 millennial celebration; Heroes Square, Andrássy ut (street, it and the metro were built to get the visiting Aristocracy from the Danube to the Park), City Park (Városliget Park), Vajdahunyad Castle and the metro to all these were built. The property along Andrássy ut was sold to the rich so that it would look good and maintain appearances; today most Embassy’s are here (US excluded). Vajdahunyad Castle is a Disney-like complex, consisting of small models of significant buildings throughout Hungary (so the aristocracy could see them as examples, without having to go there). Germans were contracted to build the metro line, only the second in Europe and the first to be fully electric.

– After WWI, Treaty of Trianon, Hungary lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, and 32% of ethnic Hungarians. Transylvania went to Romania; Slovakia went to Czech.

– 1940, Hungary joined Germany; in order to gain their allegiance Hitler promised to give them back land (Transylvania in particular). In 1944 Germany “invades” in order to fight the Soviet Union after the downfall of their pact.

– 1949, With WWII over, Soviet Union takes over.

– 1956, Hungarian Revolution. Soviet Union has to loosen the leash so as to not lose control (Communism does have to take into consideration and adapt to the local culture, people, and custom’s).

– 1989, Democracy arrives after the fall of communism (see Ronald Reagan statue).

– 2004, joins EU (due doesn’t yet use the Euro, as I found out).

Places:

– Szabadság Square (Liberty Square), built around 1900 and reincarnated multiple times depending on who is in charge (Hungary, Austrians, Soviets, Hungary). Currently (added ~2014) there is a WWII monument which is controversial; it makes Hungary look innocent of the Final Solution, although they weren’t (see picture of paper). The US Embassy is here, as well as a Soviet memorial to war heroes.

– Kossuth Square. This is the square of the 1956 demonstrations/revolution/massacre; a peaceful protest against the communist means of governing turned violent, and secret police started shooting. 70+ killed, likely more. Within a few years after this restrictions were slowly and slightly lifted, vs other eastern block countries. House of Parliament is here, as well as the Kossuth memorial.

Across the Danube in the hills of Buda…

– Matyas Templom. Church, then Mosque, then hospital (Nazi’s), then nothing (Soviets), then Church (around 39% are Catholic, 14% Protestant, .3% Muslims, and the rest agnostics or atheists).

– Prime Minister, President house.

– Buda Castle.

Hungary has a rich history which, owing to their geography, means they were kicking ass and getting their ass kicked by a lot of different players. They were not usually in the drivers seat, and WWI (or more generally their marriage with the Austrian Empire) ruined their 20th century since:

– They were a loser in WWI, and subsequently lost a lot of land

– Because of that they took the wrong side in WWII

– Because of that defeat they were then ruled by the Soviet Union

It’s only since 1989 that a truly independent Hungary has existed.