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Title: Lohengrin
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Date: 2021-07-29
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Category: Opera
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Have you heard of Lohengrin? It is a German Opera written and composed by
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Richard Wagner in 1850. I happen to think that German Opera is more
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entertaining than Italian Opera, but enough about me.
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### King Ludwig II
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Which brings me to King Ludwig II of Bavaria. If I understand correctly,
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King Ludwig was very fond of Lohengrin, and built Neuschwanstein Castle
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as a private world for himself where he could live alone in a fantasy
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inspired by the *Knight of the Swan* Legend, on which Lohengrin
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is based.
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But don't judge King Ludwig II too harshly: he was after all a cigar connoisseur,
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drove a smoking-hot golden carriage, and Neuschwanstein Castle is
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an excellent place to take selfies. You really should visit the
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Marstallmuseum at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich and see the golden
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carriage.
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Needless to say, Lohengrin is quite different from the Strauss Operas
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that your great-great-great Grandmother used to listen to on
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her smartphone in the bathtub.
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### Lohengrin
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So what happens in Lohengrin? King Henry the Fowler fights the Magyars.
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This means we have to talk about the Magyars, King Henry's Son Otto,
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the Battle of Augsburg which is sometimes called the Battle of Lechfeld,
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and the Mongols!
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### Magyars
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Ok, the Magyars are descended from a nomadic-steppe-people who settled on
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the Hungarian Plain, which is sometimes called the Carpathian Plain.
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Unfortunately for them, the Hungarian Plain was not quite vast
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enough to support a prosperous nomadic lifestyle. And so for some hundreds
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of years, the Magyars raided and pillaged all over Europe. It should be noted that
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Hungary considers 1896 to be the 1000th anniversary of the Magyars entering
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the Carpathian Plain, and in that year many memorials, monuments, and museums
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were built in Budapest.
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As stated above, the Magyars came into conflict with King Henry the Fowler
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who was the King of East Frankia. East Frankia evolved from the Eastern Parts of the
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Carolingian Empire that was originally put together by Charlemagne. Indeed,
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there is today a region of Bavaria called Franconia, which has excellent
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regional passenger trains connecting innumerable picturesque little cities and towns
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which are perfect for taking selfies and drinking the local bier. But I digress.
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### Battle of Lechfeld
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The Magyars were finally defeated by King Henry the Fowler's son King Otto I
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near Augsburg in 910, Augsburg being an ancient city in Bavaria that goes all
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the way back to the Roman Empire.
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King Otto I of East Frankia was the greatest King since Charlemagne, and the
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Battle of Lechfeld was equal in importance to the Battle of Hastings in 1066,
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in the context of European History, but deeper analysis of that is above my
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pay grade. (This is a free blog post)
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### Recommended
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Anyway, the Magyars gave up their raiding, became Christianized, and adopted
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a more agrarian lifestyle on the Hungarian Plain where they founded the Nation
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of Hungary around the year 1000. In the 13th Century, the Mongols invaded Hungary,
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but were never able to advance beyond Hungary into Western Europe.
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For more riveting entertainment about the Mongols, I recommend Dan Carlin's Hardcore
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History Podcast, in particular the subseries *Wrath of The Khans*.
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Thanks for reading, I'm fresh out of cigars.
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