The Art of Otto Dix (Germany)

Otto Dix was was a German painter and printmaker born in 1891. He was already exposed to art in his early life and entered the Academy of Applied Arts in 1910. 

When World War I began in 1914 Otto Dix enthusiastically volunteered for the German Army. He was assigned to a field artillery regiment and later fought on the Western Front, including the Battle of the Somme. His regiment was moved to the Eastern Front in November 1917 and to Flanders in February 1918, where he fought in the German Spring Offensive. He was discharged from service in December 1918 after he was wounded in the neck.

After the war he had to fight with a recurring nightmare and handled his sights in various paintings. One of his works about World War I is Der Krieg

He was one of the founders of the Dresden Secession group in 1919 and his works were shown during the German Expressionists exhibition in Darmstadt and the first Dada Fair in Berlin. He was known for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of the society during the Weimar Republic and became one of the most important artists of the New Objectivity, Neue Sachlichkeit. After the Nazis took over the power in Germany they regarded Dix as a degenerate artist and some of his paintings were burned as Entartete Kunst. He had to join the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts and was forced to paint only inoffensive landscapes, but occasionally he still painted allegorical paintings that criticized Nazi ideals. After World War II Dix gained recognition in East and West Germany. He died in 1969.

The History of Palermo and Sicily (Italy)

Palermo was founded in 8th century BCE by the Phoenicians. It was a part of Cathage until it was conquered by the Romans in 254 BCE. In 440 the city came under the control of Germanic tribes, before it was reconquered by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire in the Gothic War in the 6th century. In 904 Sicily was captured by the Arabs and Palermo became the capital of the Emirate of Sicily. During the Christian Reconquest of the island the County of Sicily was founded, which became a kingdom under Norman rule in 1130. In 1194 the Kingdom of Sicily fell to the House of Hohenstaufen. In the following centuries the kingdom was ruled in personal unions with the Holy Roman Empire (1220–1250), the Crown of Aragon (1282–1516), the Kingdom of Spain (1516–1713), the Duchy of Savoy (1713–1720), the Habsburg Monarchy (1720–1735) and the Kingdom of Naples (1735–1816). In 1816 the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was founded with Palermo as its capital, but already in 1817 the capital was moved to Naples. In 1861 it was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia to form the Kingdom of Italy. 

The Palazzo dei Normanni is the oldest royal residence in Europe. It was the seat of the Kings of Sicily during the Norman domination. Later it was used as the main seat of power for the subsequent rulers of Sicily. In the 12th and 13th century it was the imperial seat of Frederick II and Conrad IV. Today it houses the Sicilian Regional Assembly. 

The Arab-Norman Palermo is since 2015 on the UNESCO World Heritge List.

The Cultural Life of Bayreuth (Germany)

The Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, which was ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Bayreuth became the residence of the Margrave in 1603 and in the 18th century Bayreuth had its heyday under the rule of Margrave Frederick and his wife Wilhelmine of Prussia. In 1791 the Margraviate was ceded to Prussia, who lost it again in 1807. Since 1810 is Bayreuth a part of Bavaria. 

Wilhelmine of Prussia was born in 1709. She was the oldest daughter of Frederick William I of Prussia and older sister of Frederick the Great. In 1731 she married Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. She was a gifted composer and ordered the construction of various Baroque buildings in Bayreuth, which now shape the city's appearance. She died in 1758. 

The Eremitage is a historic park built between 1715 and 1722. Actually built by Margrave George William, his son Frederick gave the Eremitage to his wife Wilhelmine of Prussia after his father died. She ordered the construction of many additions.

One of the additions built at the behest of Wilhelmine is the Temple of the Sun. It was built between 1749 and 1753 and is crowned by a golden quadriga driven by the sun-god Apollo.

The Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth was built between 1745 and 1748 by Joseph Saint-Pierre in the Baroque style. The interior was designed by Giuseppe Galli Bibiena and his son Carlo. It is one of Europe's few surviving theatres of the period and is completely preserved in its original condition, except for the curtain which was taken by Napoleon's troops in 1812. The Margravial Opera House is since 2012 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Bayreuth saw another heyday when the the Margraviate was long gone, as Richard Wagner chose the city to become the setting for his now World-famous theatre and music festival in the 1870s.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was one of the most famous German composers and made the opera into a Gesamtkunstwerk by writing text, music and stage directions. The first Bayreuth Festival was held in 1876. Since then it is held annually in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which was built between 1872 and 1875 just to house the festival. It was designed by Richard Wagner himself and was built with money from King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

A Centre of the Renaissance (Italy)

Urbino came under the rule of the House of Montefeltro in the early 13th century and under their rule in the Renaissance the city had its heyday, when it was a centre of attraction for famous artists from all over Italy, who created there an exceptional urban complex of remarkable homogeneity. In 1502 Cesare Borgia dispossessed the Duke of Urbino and in 1519 a new Duchy was established by the Dukes Della Rovere. In 1626 Pope Urban VIII incorporated the Duchy into the Papal States. 

Between 1444 and 1482 the city was ruled by Federico III da Montefeltro. He was the most famous member of the Montefeltro family, a skillful diplomat and an enthusiastic patron of art and literature. In 1454 he ordered the construction of the Palazzo Ducale, one of the most important Renaissance buildings in Italy.

The Historic Centre of Urbino is since 1998 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Raphael was born in Urbino in 1483. He was a painter and architect of the High Renaissance and is said to be one of the period's Great Masters. He had an unusually large workshop and left a large body of work, although he already died at 37 in 1520. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace.

Some of his most famous paintings include the Madonna of the Meadow shown in Vienna, the Madonna of Foligno shown in the Vatican and the Sistine Madonna shown in Dresden.

Hoffmann von Fallersleben and the Song of Germany (Germany)

August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben was born in Fallersleben in 1798. He went to schools in Helmstedt and Braunschweig and later studied in Göttingen and Bonn. In 1823 he started to work at the university library of Breslau. He married in 1849 and in 1860 he became librarian in Corvey Castle near Höxter, where he also died in 1874. Today he is especially known for writing the text of the Song of Germany, although he wrote many other poems and also children's songs, which are very famous in Germany.

He wrote the Song of Germany in August 1841 during his stay on Heligoland. It uses a melody composed by Joseph Haydn and was played for the first time in Hamburg in October 1841. In 1922 it was declared national anthem of Germany, but because it was also used by the Nazis there was a discussion after World War II whether it is still suitable for the new democratic state. In 1952 the decision was made that the song remains the national anthem, but that only the third stanza is sung.