Learning from the Past Reconstructed prehistoric pile dwellings at the Pfahbaumuseum Unteruhldingen (photo: Tourismus-Marketing GmbH Baden-Wuerttemberg) Throughout history, flourishing societies have occasionally undermined the very foundations of their own prosperity. Archaeology provides many examples. Around Lake Constance, Neolithic and Bronze Age communities appear to have exhausted the surrounding forests through intensive timber use, gradually reducing an essential resource. Centuries...
25 days ago • 2 min read
Hello fellow history enthusiasts and blade aficionados, Whether we study historical martial arts or historical weapons, one question continually arises: why were things done this way? The answer may lie partly in movement and partly in craftsmanship. More often than not, however, it emerges from the dialogue between maker and user—a relationship encapsulated in the artefacts of our martial heritage. Watch Cornelius practicing in a new public video The Longpoint Lesson — Hand-Foot Coordination...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hello fellow history enthusiasts and blade aficionados, questions about historical body proportions come up regularly when discussing historical and prehistoric fighting techniques. Fortunately, archaeology provides some surprisingly clear answers. How tall were Europeans of the Roman era compared with modern people? Were People Smaller in the Past? One widespread assumption is that human body height increased steadily throughout history and that people today are generally taller than our...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello fellow history enthusiasts and blade aficionados, sometimes the most interesting discoveries come not from finding something new, but from looking again at familiar things. Here are a few recommendations and updates that I hope you will enjoy. A replica fishtail dagger which I recently got to play with in Harald Meller's office. A Stone Age Misconception? Some ideas become so widespread that they eventually start to feel self-evident. One such example concerns Late Neolithic fishtail...
2 months ago • 3 min read
History in Stone — And Steel Hello fellow history enthusiasts and sword lovers, living in rural Mecklenburg means being surrounded by traces of the past. Within only a few kilometres of where I live, one encounters Neolithic monuments, Bronze Age burial mounds, Iron Age cemeteries, Slavic settlement history, and medieval fieldstone churches. Much of this remarkable heritage remains little known beyond the region itself, despite its historical significance and enormous cultural potential....
3 months ago • 2 min read
Blades, Belief, and Hidden Design Documenting a 4000-year old dagger in Halle Hello fellow history enthusiasts and blade aficionados, two weeks ago, I returned from a research trip to Jena and Halle. During this excursion, I had the opportunity to examine and document a range of remarkable Bronze and Iron Age artefacts. I also met with Professor Harald Meller and Dr Jan-Heinrich Bunnefeld to discuss future research ventures — more on that in due course. For now, I invite you to explore my...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Research Concept Completed Print copies of my 20-page document Hello fellow (pre-)history enthusiasts, over the past months, I have brought together many strands of my work into a structured research concept on Bronze Age combat. At its core lies a simple question: how were these weapons actually used? By combining archaeological evidence, experimental testing, and practical martial expertise, the project aims to move beyond long-standing assumptions and towards a clearer understanding of...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Shield Combat: Prehistoric, Viking, Medieval ⚔️ Hello fellow fighters, history enthusiasts, and shield bearers,🛡️ spring is here, and with it comes the perfect opportunity to take shields in hand — whether in the field, in study, or in imagination. Hedeby This Weekend The Hedeby Bouts will take place this weekend, 18–19 April 2026, at the Wikinger Häuser Haithabu. Participants from Denmark and Germany will gather for training, exchange, and, of course, a fair amount of good-humoured martial...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Prehistoric Belief, Bronze Age Design and Imperial Remains Documenting a Late Bronze Age sword at the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle. Hello fellow (pre-)history enthusiasts, from time to time, closer inspection of artefacts reveals patterns that are as simple as they are profound. At other times, new discoveries remind us how complex and layered our understanding of the past has become. This issue brings together both: geometry and belief, craftsmanship and power — and the enduring human...
5 months ago • 3 min read