The Crazy Bavarian and Kauai’s Russian Fort

by | Oct 17, 2022 | History and culture

Germans, Baltic Germans, and Native Hawaiians So how many German connections for a so-called Russian Fort on the Hawaiian island of Kauai could there be? More than you might expect. We’ll start with a Bavarian/Franconian physician and adventurer named Georg...

Oberammergau, Bavaria • The Passion Play

by | Jan 3, 2021

The 2022 Passion Play in Oberammergau Oberammergau is a scenic town of about 5,500 inhabitants situated on the Ammer River in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. Most of the time it is a normal small Bavarian town, but once every ten years Oberammergau is transformed...

Richard Wagner, Bayreuth and Italy

by | Jul 20, 2020

“The Ring of the Nibelung” Introduction Richard Wagner (1813-1883) revolutionized classical music with his Tristan und Isolde (1859) and The Ring (1874). His tremendous influence on opera came from his “musical dramas,” including the...