Pres Paul von HindenburgWikiThe usual image of the Weimar Republic was one of political instability, economic crisis and cultural decadence. That always seemed ridiculous to me since this republic was Germany’s new system of democratic government after the Second Reich collapsed. The name was chosen because Berlin was still in the midst of revolution when…

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Bonegilla is a rural area on the western shore of Lake Hume in N.E Victoria. The nearest large township is Wodonga Vic, 9 km to the west and c12 km from Albury NSW, on the southern bank of Murray River, the border between the two states. Bonegilla primary school opened in 1876, a railway connection (1889)…

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Patrick Joseph Ken­nedy (1858–1929) was the son of poor Irish im­migrants who married in Boston in 1849. Originally a saloon-owner in Boston who ex­pand­ed to own a whiskey importation business, Patrick Kennedy made a good living in al­co­hol, and became the first family member to enter local politics. When Prohib­ition became law in 1920, importers…

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St Andrew Square Edinburgh was built by 1781, an integral part of James Craig's scheme for New Town. For a long time, the squ­are's gardens were acc­es­s­ible only by very desirable inhabitants of the  sur­round­ing homes.The Melville Monumentin the centre of  St Andrew Square EdinburghThe Melville Monument is a large column and statue, built by 1827…

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The text of Auld Lang Syne is a Scots-language poem written by Robert Burns (1759-96) in 1788 but based on an older Scottish folk song. In 1799, it was set to a traditional pentatonic/Scots folk melody, probably a sprightly dance in a much quicker tempo. I hope this was correct because the slow version is…

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Bruno Bettelheim Tantor mediaBruno Bettelheim (1903–90) was born in Vienna, son of a middle-class Jewish lumber merchant. He entered Vienna Uni, but was forced to leave to take over his fam­ily business when his father sickened. In 1930, he married school-teacher Gina Al­stadt, a dis­ciple of Anna Freud.During the 1930s Bruno and Gina took care of…

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Truganini in shell necklace, 1866 - jpgin The AustralianTruganini (1812-76) was born on Bruny Island Tasmania near the mouth of the Derwent River, in her tribal territory. Truganini was a daughter of the leader of the Bruny Island peoples, Mangerner. She grew in her people’s traditional culture, even though Aboriginal life had been disrupted by…

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Austrian artist Max Oppenheimer (1885-1954) painted in 1927, capturing the rough energy of a music that was taking Berlin’s nightlife by storm in the interwar era.Max Oppenheimer, Weintraub's Syncopators, 1927. Jewish Museum BerlinUsed to illustrate brochures advertising Stefan Weintraub's (1897–1981) concerts in late 1920s, it showed the group as a quartet, though they often performed with 5+ musicians. Stefan Weintraub…

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Ripponlea Mansion was built for Frederick Sargood (1834-1903), a man who became rich selling soft-goods on the Vict­orian goldfields, wife Marian and 9 children. The proper­ty design­ed by Joseph Reed, Melb­ourne's most important architect then. Rippon Lea was built when there was much weal­th in Victoria from the gold boom. This led to the building…

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Recent posts of mine from BlueSky which read: “The recent uptick in ‘echo chamber’ rhetoric, alongside the weaponisation of ‘dialogue’ as a means of obscuring power dynamics between opposing sides of an issue in favour of ‘civility politics’, really needs to be watched carefully, tbh. People are reacting to collective rejection of right wing viewpoints…

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Andy Willimott wrote an excellent journal article on a generation of young Russians who embraced new ideals of socialist living. I have added my own family’s experience in this amazing era. Communist Youth League/Komsomol,  The youth were healthy, ideological and proud 1924 poster The October Revolution, which started when the Bolsheviks seized the Winter Palace on 25th Oct…

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Sheep arrived in Geelong in 1832, before it was proclaimed a town in 1838. When it was developing as a Victorian port, Australia was still a series of separate colonies which levied customs duties on goods coming from overseas and goods passing between colonies. For some years, all customs clearances had to be made through Williamstown, forcing…

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American Nancy Langhorne (1879-1964) was born in Virginia, daughter of a wealthy railroad entrepreneur. In the 1890s Nancy and her sis­ter Irene were enrolled in a finishing school in New York where they were prepared for entering high society. Nancy met and married her first husband Robert Gould Shaw II in 1897 in New York…

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I was fascinated by Isaac Ochberg (1879–1938) who was born in Uman in Russia/now Ukraine. With thousands of other Russians, the Ochbergs went to South Africa in 1894 where Isaac became a successful Cape Town businessman. Isaac Ochberg, March 1921aish.comAfter the old Czarist regime ended in 1917, rival armies were fighting for control. With law and…

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A photo of an anti-racism protest, with the backs of protestors facing the camera. In the centre of the photo is a sign being held by a person with long blonde hair that reads, “Silence is Violence”. (Photo Credit: Phil Roeder, Wikipedia) Over the past few months, I have found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with…

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The following is a transcript of my keynote talk from the Zooarchaeology Saves the World conference held in May 2022. Some examples of what actionable animal archaeologies could be (from the original presentation) Introduction Does zooarchaeology matter? Perhaps this is an intentionally provocative question to ask zooarchaeologists but given the status of the world today…

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On 13 July 2023 the British Library will host the 5th Annual Graham Nattrass Lecture, co-organised with the German Studies Library Group. The theme of this year’s lecture, to be given by Dr Alexandra Lloyd of Oxford University, is the anti-Nazi resistance group Die Weisse Rose (The White Rose); 2023...

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