November 23, 912 Birth of Otto I in Germany. Otto became the German King in 936 and the Holy Roman Emperor in 962. He brought order to the empire, which was greatly fragmented, strengthened the position of the church, and made possible a period of prosperity and development of culture referred to as the "Ottonian Renaissance". November … [Read more...]

November 22, 1867 Birth of Wilhelm Groener in Ludwigsburg, Germany. In October 1918 he replaced General Erich Ludendorff as quartermaster general (Ludendorff had to resign to make armistice negotiations possible). He joined General Paul von Hindenburg in informing Kaiser Wilhelm that he no longer had the confidence of the army and should … [Read more...]

November 21, 1555 Death of Georgius Agricola (original name, Georg Bauer) in Chemnitz, Germany. Agricola was a humanist, physician and scientist who is often called "the father of mineralogy". He was one of the first to base his science on the observation of nature rather than speculation. The American president Herbert Hoover (himself a mining … [Read more...]

November 20, 1602 Birth of Otto von Guericke in Magdeburg, Germany. Von Guericke invented an air pump in 1650. That is not very remarkable, but what he did with it is. He pumped out vacuums. He was the first to learn that light travels through a vacuum, but sound does not. He was also the first to demonstrate that a vacuum can, in fact, exist … [Read more...]

November 19, 1299 Death of St. Mechtilde von Hackeborn (ca. 1241-1298) Mechthilde was born near Halle, Germany in about 1241. At her own insistence she entered the cloister at Rodardsdorf at age 7. She is known as the mentor of St. Gertrud the Great. She is also known as having a wondrous voice and was a lifelong singer of sacred music at … [Read more...]

November 18, 1786 Birth of Carl Maria von Weber in Eutin, Germany. The composer is known primarily for his operas Der Freischütz (1821), Euryanthe (1823) and Oberon (1826). His operas greatly influenced the development of the Romantic opera in Germany. Der Freischütz came to be regarded as the first German "nationalist" opera, Euryanthe … [Read more...]

November 17, 1231 Death of St. Elisabeth von Thüringen (1207 - 1231). St. Elisabeth was born in 1207 in Hungary. At the age of 4 Elisabeth was engaged to the 11 year old son of the duke of Thuringia. She was sent to Thuringia to be educated as a German in preparation for the wedding to follow one day. But Hermann, her intended husband, died in … [Read more...]

November 16, 759 Death of St. Othmar (? - 759) St. Othmar was a monk in St. Gallen where he united the monks in the area into a monastery of the rule first of St. Columban and later of St. Benedict. He was noted for his ministry to the poor. After refusing to allow the monastery to fall into secular hands, he was imprisoned and died in prison on … [Read more...]