January 23, 1002 Death of Otto III, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in Viterbo, Italy (born in Germany in 980). As a child, Otto was crowned King of the Germans in Aachen in 983 following the death of his father, Otto II. In 996 he led his army to Rome to assist Pope John XV who was facing an insurrection by the forces of Crescentius. By the … [Read more...]

January 22, 1729 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) born in Kamenz, Germany. Lessing was the dominant literary figure of the early 18th century in Germany. He was a dramatist, aesthetic philosopher and critic. Significant works by Lessing include Laokoon: oder uber die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie (1766), Minna von Barnhelm (1767), … [Read more...]

January 21, 1521 Martin Luther excommunicated by Roman Catholic Church. January 21, 1794 Birth of Adolf Ludwig Follen (1794-1855) in Giessen, Germany. Follen was a romantic poet. Involved politically during his student years, he was expelled from the University of Giessen in 1815. In Heidelberg he became one of the founders of the … [Read more...]

January 20, 1488 Birth of Sebastian Münster (1488-1582) in Ingelheim, Germany. Münster was professor of Hebrew at the University of Basel after 1527. His major contribution to scholarship was his Cosmographia, published in 1544. That book, proceeding from the geography of Ptolemy, represented a revival of the science of geography in Germany, … [Read more...]

January 19 - feast day of St. Agricius von Trier (ca. 260 – ca. 329) Tradition relates that Agricius had been the Patriarch of Antioch and was sent to Trier, Germany by Pope Sylvester at the specific request of St. Helena (mother of the Emperor Constantine the Great, who ruled from Trier). He became the Bishop of Trier. Some legends have it … [Read more...]

January 18, 1701 Frederick I of Prussia crowns himself king at Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). Frederick maintained a large, splendid court and an army out of proportion to his territories and position to further his pretensions. In European politics, he allied himself with Austria and the sea powers (England and … [Read more...]