European History

A 3-D model of Athens' classical acropolis

These 3-D Models Offer a Digital Glimpse Into 3,000 Years of Athens' History

Photographer-animator Dimitris Tsalkanis built the city from scratch and posted it online for free

A Beethoven monument stands in Vienna's Beethovenplatz.

Following Beethoven’s Footsteps Through Vienna

For the composer’s 250th birthday, visit the apartments where he lived, the theaters where he worked and his final resting place

Home to just 780 people, Hallstatt welcomes more than one million tourists each year.

This Picturesque Austrian Town Is Being Overrun by 'Frozen' Fans

The 16th-century hamlet, incorrectly believed to be the inspiration for the fictional kingdom of Arendelle, hopes to stem the deluge of tourists

The museum's temporary location will close in February ahead of renovations and expansion scheduled for completion in 2022.

A New Holocaust Museum Is Coming to the Netherlands, With Help From Germany

Germany has pledged €4 million to a project that seeks to revamp the National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam

Pierre de Coubertin first publicly proposed reviving the Olympic Games in 1892.

Speech That Inspired the Modern Olympics Is Now the Most Expensive Sports Memorabilia Ever Sold

An anonymous buyer purchased the manuscript, penned by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin in 1892, for $8.8 million

With the number of visitors projected to keep rising, the Netherlands tourist board has decided to shift its focus from promotion to crowd control.

Why the Dutch Government Wants You to Stop Referring to the Netherlands as 'Holland'

In a push to redirect tourists to other parts of the country, officials are dropping "Holland" from promotional and marketing materials

Presenting Smithsonian magazine's top ten stories of 2019

Our Top Ten Stories of 2019

From a 16-million-year-old tree to Confederate soldiers’ diaries, voracious snakes and England’s warrior king, these were the most-read stories of 2019

Archaeologists Daniel Matsenius and Philip Tonemar recovering the probable remnants of Samson, a ship build in the 16th century

16th-Century Shipwreck Discovered Beneath Stockholm City Center

Just a few centuries ago, much of the Swedish capital was under water, clearing the way for magnificent ships to dock on the shore

One of the wrecks discovered off the coast of Vaxholm

This Wreck May Be the Sister Ship of Sweden's Ill-Fated 'Vasa' Warship

Divers discovered the wreckage of two 17th-century warships off the coast of an island near Stockholm

Henry V's nine-year reign saw a flourishing of royal authority and military action but ended abruptly with his untimely death in 1422

The True Story of Henry V, England’s Warrior King

The new biopic “The King” finds Timothée Chalamet tracing Henry’s evolution from wayward prince to heroic warrior

The Bayeux Tapestry tells the story of William the Conqueror's invasion of England.

Architecture and Math Show the Bayeux Tapestry Was Designed to Decorate a Cathedral

A new study proposes a convincing explanation for the 11th-century tapestry's creation

The Battle Over the Memory of the Spanish Civil War

How Spain chooses to memorialize Francisco Franco and the victims of his authoritarian regime is tearing the nation apart

A sculpture depicting Irish author James Joyce is seen behind his grave in Fluntern cemetery in Zurich

Dublin Wants to Reclaim James Joyce's Body Before the Centenary of 'Ulysses'

Critics question whether the author, who died in Zurich after a 30-year exile, ever wanted to return home, even in death

The tools and objects carried by an ancient warrior from a major battle in Europe more than 3,000 years ago.

What a Warrior's Lost Toolkit Says About the Oldest Known Battle in Europe

More than 3,000 years ago, soldiers appear to have traveled hundreds of miles from southern Europe to fight in what is now northern Germany

Scientific illustrations, Humboldt once wrote, should “speak to the senses without fatiguing the mind.” His famous illustration of Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador shows plant species living at different elevations.

The Pioneering Maps of Alexander von Humboldt

Beautiful and insightful, the illustrations of the German naturalist helped shape a new understanding of the world

Renia Spiegel in Przemyśl circa 1930

The Poignant Wartime Diary of a Jewish Teenager Living in Poland Has Been Published in English

Renia Spiegel was killed by the Nazis when she was 18 years old

The "Versailles of Dresden" Has Been Rebuilt, 74 Years After World War II

The opulent royal apartments at the Residential Palace were Augustus the Strong's attempt to project and prolong his power

An 8,000-Year-Old Platform in Britain Could Be the Oldest Boat-Building Site Ever Discovered

The Stone Age platform, where log boats may have been constructed, reveals early knowledge of advanced wood working techniques

At the height of the book scare, news outlets reported that dust from library books could spread infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox and scarlet fever.

When the Public Feared That Library Books Could Spread Deadly Diseases

"The great book scare" created a panic that you could catch an infection just by lending from the library

The 1876 Glaciarium included murals of the Alps on its walls and a raised seating section for curious onlookers, as shown in a May 1876 edition of Illustrated London News.

The 19th-Century Mania for Ice Skating in the Summer

Europeans sought to recreate the luxury of wintering in the Alps with an indoor rink attraction

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