All About Royal Families

June 10th. 1865 marks an important date in the history of opera and music dramas. Then the first performance of Tristan and Isolde took place at the Hof-und Nationaltheater in Munich. Richard Wagner - own picture - picture & statue in Nymphenburg Castle Tristan & Isolde is a three act drama written by Richard Wagner based on the romance drama work made by Gottfried von Strassburg (13th. century).  This opera had a strong influence to the Western European Classical Composers, such as inter alia Richard Strauss. Tristan and Isolde - Source picture: Wikipedia On next link you can listen and see to the theme of the Tristan and Isolde opera.

Not only in Belgium there are traces derived from Napoleon Bonaparte. Soestdijk Palace, located in Baarn (The Netherlands) has a huge link to Napoleon Bonaparte and to Waterloo. old picture @ Soestdijk - Source: Wikipedia First of all, when  Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, became King of Holland (June 5th. 1806) he took possession of the Soestdijk Palace. He extended the palace and refurnished it. Louis Bonaparte stayed King till 1810. In 1815 Crown Prince William (the later King William II) fought as commander of the I Allied Corps in Quatre Bras (June 16th. 1815) and at the Battle of Waterloo (June 18th. 1815). There the Prince became wounded. Sources described him as short and skinny and in the army he  received the  nickname: 'Slender Billy'. As recognition for his participation in the Battle of Waterloo, William was offered Soestdijk Palace by the Dutch People. Do you want to know more about King William II of The Netherlands, w

Prins Louis Maria of Bourbon-Two Sicilies was born on August 1st. 1838 in Naples as the son of Ferdinand II of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Maria Theresa of Austria. Prince Louis - Source picture: Wikipedia On June 5th. 1861 Louis married Duchess Mathilda Ludovika in Bavaria. Duchess Mathilda Ludovika in Bavaria was a daughter of  Duke Maximilian in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. She was also a sister of inter alia Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi). From the beginning this marriage wasn't a big success at all. Louis fled into the alcohol and Duchess Mathilda Ludovika in Bavaria traveled from place to place often accompanied by one of her sisters. The couple had together one daughter and Louis had one natural son. Louis died of a heart disease in Paris on June 8th. 1886, although there are other rumors of his death....

History books always interest me, but I admit, I have a weakness for comics. Luckily Belgium has a lot of good comic books. At the picture you can see the statue of the Red Knight (in Dutch: Rode Ridder) near the beach in Middelkerke. Red Knight - Rode Ridder - Own picture In Middelkerke, every year there even is a comic festival! At the dike there are a lot of statues from comic characters, which you can see all the time. The Red Knight is a comic with the character called Johan. He is known by his red tunic. Johan's character embodies the chivalric ideal. He is brave, virtuous and loyal. In the comics Johan had to fight against bandits, ruthless noblemen or magicals. He would have lived at the Castle of Horst, as a member of the family of the lords of Rode (Rode is derived from ... Red). With this sunny Early Weekend Picture I want to wish you all a very happy weekend and a good start of the brand new week. I also want to thank you very much for all your n