Andreas Cellarius was a Dutch-German cartographer, best known for his Harmonia Macrocosmica of 1660, a major star atlas, published by Johannes Janssonius in Amsterdam. He was born in Neuhausen (now a part of Worms), and was educated in H...

Amalia of Solms-Braunfels was a regent of Orange. She was the wife of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. She was the daughter of count John Albert I of Solms-Braunfels and countess Agnes of Sayn-Wittgenstein. When Frederick Henry became...

Otto von Guericke was a German scientist, inventor, and politician. His major scientific achievements were the establishment of the physics of vacuums, the discovery of an experimental method for clearly demonstrating electrostatic repulsio...

Anna Maria van Schurman was a German-born Dutch painter, engraver, poet, and scholar, who is best known for her exceptional learning and her defense of female education. A highly educated woman by seventeenth century standards, she excelled...

Ferdinand III of Hapsburg, Holy Roman emperor (1637 – 57), archduke of Austria (1621 – 57), king of Hungary (1625 – 57) and king of Bohemia (1627 – 57). Denied command of the Habsburg armies in the Thirty Years' War, Ferdinand conspired to...

Johann Jakob Froberger was a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. He was among the most famous composers of the era and influenced practically every major composer in Europe by developing the genre of keyboard suite and...

The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts, as well as the deadliest European religious war, in history. It took place in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648 and resulted in eight million casualties. Ini...

Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as "the Great Elector" (der Große Kurfürst) b...

Dieterich Buxtehude was a German-Danish organist and a highly regarded composer of the Baroque period. His organ works comprise a central part of the standard organ repertoire and are frequently performed at recitals and church services. He...

Leopold I, Holy Roman emperor, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, was the second son of the emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria. He was also...

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist. Born in the small Bohemian town of Wartenberg, Biber worked at Graz and Kromeriz before he illegally left his Kremsier employer (Prince-Bishop Carl Liechtenstein...

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz was a German mathematician and philosopher. He occupies a prominent place in the history of mathematics and the history of philosophy. Leibniz developed calculus independently of Isaac Newton, and Leibniz's...

Maria Sibylla Merian was a German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator, a descendant of the Frankfurt branch of the Swiss Merian family. Merian was one of the first naturalists to observe insects directly. Merian received her artis...

The Peace of Münster was a treaty between the United Netherlands and Spain signed in 1648. It was a landmark treaty for the Dutch republic and one of the key events in Dutch history; with it, the United Netherlands finally became independen...

Frederick I, of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia...