Locations of events.

Jesuit Erasmus Froelich wasn’t just mathematician and curator of the emperor’s coin collection. He also wrote a book, which was way more than a coin catalogue. It was supposed to prove the historical authenticity of one part of the Bible.

There is hardly any other philosopher that is as controversial among the English as Thomas Hobbes. Born as a child prodigy into the chaos of the English Civil War in the 17th century, he fell out with everybody – without disappearing from the picture. Without him, we probably wouldn’t think of ourselves as individuals.

In his monumental work „Utopia,” Thomas More imagines a world which functions entirely without money. If you think that this utopia is presented as an ideal world-to-wish-for and want to protest loudly, don’t worry. “Utopia,” is not meant to represent to an ideal world – rather, it is meant to make us think critically about the world we live in now.

When Ubbo Emmo wrote his now little-known work on Greek constitutions in 1600, it was pure dynamite. It was all about freedom – East Frisia’s authorities groaned, the freedom-loving classes rejoiced.

Beheaded, broken on the wheel, pinched with burning irons – these punishments seem to us inhumane. And yet, they had a purpose at their time. A book from 1720 published on the orders of the Prussian King gives us some hints as to why he believed these brutal punishments were necessary: Two officials had stolen from the royal coin cabinet.