Don't Mention the War Trivia Quiz

Answer: Teutoni

As the written sources for this era of history are only Roman, I chose to use the Roman names for the different tribes.
The Cimbri and the Teutoni came from the present Jutland peninsula (mostly situated in present-day Denmark, although the most southern part is nowadays the German Bundesland of Schleswig-Holstein). The Cimbri inhabited the middle part of the peninsula just before 110, and the Teutoni were their southern neighbours. Most probably because of a fall in the agricultural output of their habitat, these two tribes packed all their belongings and went looking for greener land in the south. When they approached the Roman frontier, several battles ensued. At first the Roman legionnaires were overwhelmed by the fierce but uncoordinated attacks. Later consul Marius inflicted two decisive defeats on the invading tribes: the Roman legions annihilated the Teutoni near Aquae Sextiae (nowadays Aix-en-Provence, France) in 102 BC and the Cimbri near Vercellae (nowadays Vercelli, Italy) the next year.
Germans call themselves 'Deutsch', a name which probably goes back on the Teutoni. Likewise their country is named 'Deutschland' in their language.
The Frisii (Frisians) have given their name to the present Dutch province Friesland. The Langobardes ("those with the long beards") gave their name to the Italian region Lombardia. And the Alemani have left their name to Germany according to some Romance languages (French: Allemagne, Spanish: Alemania).

Answer: Publius Quinctilius Varus

When Augustus obtained the title of imperator (chief of the army) for life, the Roman Empire bordered Germania at the Rhine and the Danube rivers. Varus (46 BC- 9 AD) was named the general of three legions operating in Germany, a territory inhabited by fifty-odd different tribes without a central organisation.
Several German tribes had a grudge against Varus because of the tribute he demanded and because of his habit to have several prisoners of war executed by crucifixion - a method of execution normally only used on slaves. So it was no wonder a violent clash would come.
In the autumn of the year 9 AD, Varus and his three legions (about 20,000 troops) were retreating towards the Rhine for the winter months. But their guide and alleged ally Arminius attracted Varus' attention to a small scale uprising a bit north of the chosen route. Varus decided to make a detour via present-day Osnabrück and subjugate the rioters on his way. But the path he followed was a narrow track between the Teutoburger Wald (a quite dense forest at that time) and a swamp. And then an almost equivalent number of Germans attacked from a prepared ambush. As the narrow track didn't allow the usual Roman tactics, the legions were almost fully wiped out.
Agrippa (64 BC-12 BC) was Varus' second father-in-law. Appianus (45 BC-12 BC) was Varus' third father-in-law. And Marcellus (88 BC-40 BC) was the maternal grandfather of Varus' third wife.

Answer: Charlemagne

Charlemagne was born as Charles according to some sources in 742 AD, according to other sources in 747 or 748 AD. His birth location is uncertain: at least five cities have been proposed, among which Aachen is the most widely propagated option.
In 768 AD, Charles and his brother Carloman jointly succeeded Pepin the Short as majordomus (Mayor) of the Frankish kingdom. The Franks had a king, but he performed only ceremonial functions - the true power resided with the majordomus.
Why does a Frank (this means someone with the centre of his reign in France) pop up in a quiz on German history? Well, first of all the Franks were a tribe of Germanic descent - may be originally from the banks of the Franconian Saale river in Bavaria. After all, part of the name of this river lives on in the name of the tribe, whilst the other part of the river name can be recognised in the Frankish law on succession (lex salica - Salic law. The succession was divided among the male offspring.) Furthermore, we will see that Charles paid great attention to the part of his empire situated in present-day Germany.
So in 768 AD Charles and Carloman shared the reign of the Franks. But Carloman died (probably of natural causes) in 771 AD, leaving Charles as sole Frankish ruler. By his marriage to Desiderata, princess of the Longobards, Charles extended his influence to the northern part of Italy. Furthermore he expanded his reign into present-day Germany by subduing Saxony, Bavaria and Carinthia, as well as the Spanish Marche (the most northern part of Spain).
Around 800 AD Charles offered Pope Leo III assistance in quelling a revolt by the Roman population. Leo then famously crowned Charles Emperor in the Christmas celebration in 800 AD - according to contemporary scholars, as a manoeuvre that quite surprised Charles. Charles' biographer Einhard even quoted Charles "If I had known what the Pope was up to, I wouldn't have entered the Saint Peter's - even on Christmas Day".

Answer: Henry the Fowler

Conrad I ruled East Franconia from 911 until 918. Upon his deathbed he advised his council to elect Henry of Saxony as his successor. When the heralds reached Henry, he was involved in one of his favourite pastimes: hunting with falcons. So the heralds gave Henry the nickname "the Fowler", and this nickname has made the history books.
Henry the Fowler was born in 876 in a town named Memleben (nowadays a hamlet) in Saxony. As he was not Frankish by descent, he is generally considered as the first German king - his predecessors (including Conrad) reigned over East Franconia. Henry was crowned Duke of Saxony in 912 and rose to the throne of Germany in 919. Arnulf of Bavaria surrendered to Henry in 921, but maintained considerable influence in Bavaria. Likewise the Duke of Swabia and the Duke of Lotharingia were subdued by Henry after a short campaign.
Henry had also to wage war on the Magyars, the Slavs and the Danes.
In 936 Henry died, and his son Otto I succeeded him.
Louis the German (802-876) was king of East Francia from 843 until his death. Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) was a Portuguese crown prince, but never ascended to the throne. Luis the Stammerer (846-879) briefly ruled West Francia from 877 until his death.

Answer: Mayor of Hamburg

Although Hamburg was one of the most important cities economically, it never gained the highest political influence such as wielded by the Prince-Electors.
The Prince-Electors have been around at least from 919 AD until 1806 AD. But the composition of this electoral corps varied through the centuries.
At first, two of the members were the Duke of Franconia (an office that became extinct in 1039) and the Duke of Swabia. The last of the Swabian dynasty however was executed after a revolt.
In 1257, when they needed a successor to Richard of Cornwall, the seven Prince-Electors were the Archbishop of Cologne, the Archbishop of Trier, the Archbishop of Mainz, the Duke of Saxony, the King of Bohemia, the Count Palatine of the Rhine and the Margrave of Brandenburg. These seven officials are considered the "original" or "classical" Prince-Electors, although the electoral corps in the years 900 had had had other members.
Later Prince-Electors were the Duke of Bavaria, the Elector of Hanover (who would from 1714 until 1837 also be the King of Great Britain), and in the Napoleonic times the Archbishop of Regensburg, the Duke of Württemberg, the Margrave of Baden, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, the Duke of Salzburg, the Grand Duke of Würzburg. However, the Prince-Electors named after 1801 (Regensburg, Württemberg, Baden, Hesse-Kassel, Salzburg or Würzburg) never cast their votes and the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806.

Answer: Benedictine

Hildegard of Bingen was born about 1098 in a family of the lower nobility in a quite small county near the Rhine (roughly between Koblenz and Mainz).
As the youngest child of at least eight, and a girl too, she had no chance of claiming an inheritance. Because of this bleak prospect for a child that was frequently ill, her parents decided to enter her in a convent. In 1150, Hildegard was promoted to abbess and moved into the abbey of Rupertsberg with twenty-odd nuns.
She wrote theological treatises (mainly inspired upon visions she had), composed music, and wrote about herbal medicine and nursing.
Hildegard of Bingen died in 1179 and was canonized in 2012.
The Franciscan, Domincan and Jesuit orders were only formed after Hildegard's death: the Franciscan order in 1209, the Dominican order in 1216 and the Jesuit order in 1540.

Answer: Both wanted to appoint the German Archbishops

According to the church, all clergy had to be appointed by the clerical hierarchy. As far as the prelates had only to be a spiritual guide, this was a quite obvious view.
But in the feudal times many archbishops, cardinals and the Pope himself also claimed worldly power. Now a King or Emperor would best be served by loyal vassals. Alas, secular vassals (such as Counts, Dukes or Margraves) were succeeded by their legitimate heirs, who were not always loyal to their King or Emperor. So if the Emperor could appoint the Archbishops, he could for each succession choose the candidate whom he deemed most loyal.
The clash of these two views (the Papal doctrine that all clerical appointments should be made by the Church, and the desire of the German Emperor to choose loyal people as Archbishops who wielded secular power) led to one of the most complicated conflicts in the eleventh century: the Investiture Controversy.
This conflict was finally resolved by Emperor Henry IV's submission to Pope Gregory VII at the castle near Canossa, where the Pope stayed briefly in January 1077.
None of the German Emperors considered the Crusades as futile, but many found excuses not to participate themselves: there was always something closer to home to settle.
The predestination doctrine was a source of dispute starting in the sixteenth century, when Luther and Calvin came up with another denomination of Christianity.
The "habit" of divorcing and/or executing successive wives is a vice for which only King Henry VIII of England is notorious.

Answer: Lübeck

The Hanseatic League was a very important economic factor in German history. Several cities cooperated in order to enhance their trade. Although trade had absolute priority and thus peaceful negotiations were preferred, the Hanseatic League even built some warships to defend their interests at sea.
The Hanseatic League was active between around 1160 and c.1800. Lübeck is a port city in the north of Germany (east of Denmark) first established around 700 AD and thoroughly devastated in 1128. The city was rebuilt between 1142 and 1159. Lübeck took the initiative to gather several fellow cities to discuss measures fit to improve the trade on the Baltic Sea, and thus evolved to capital of the Hanseatic League.
Over time no fewer than 23 German cities, as well as 18 cities in the present-day countries of Poland, Sweden, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and the Netherlands, were full members of the Hanseatic League. On top of this, they had offices in present-day Norway, Belgium, UK, Lithuania, Russia, Sweden and Belarus. To complete the picture, they also had trade communities in some cities in present-day Finland, Italy and France.
Berlin was in the Hanseatic League until 1442. Frankfurt an der Oder was only member for twelve years, from 1430 until 1442. Soest left the Hanseatic League in 1609.

Answer: Red beard

Emperor Frederick I was born in 1122. In 1152 he became King of Germany and King of Burgundy, to which he added in 1155 the titles of King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor.
At the time Frederick acceded to the throne of Germany, this title was almost reduced to a ceremonial one, for most of the over 1600 divisions (cities, margraves, duchies, bishoprics...) of Germany opted for a very independent course. Frederick did restore the order and tried to install a central authority.
The physical appearance of Frederick I was quite pleasing, with a nicely trimmed red beard and moustache. People from the northern cities of Italy gave him the nickname Barbarossa, as his Swabian compatriots called him Rotbart. Both these nicknames translate to Redbeard.
Frederick was one of the leaders of the Third Crusade (1189-1192), but drowned in the Saleph River in 1190. After his death, the German crusaders abandoned the crusade and retreated into their homelands.
The other options I gave are not random figments of my imagination, but the nicknames of among others Charles the Bald (823-877, King of West Francia from 843), Louis VI the Fat of France (1081-1137) and Edward I of England (Edward Longshanks, 1239-1307).

Answer: True

This is a less familiar episode of German history. When the German king Henry VI died in 1198, the Prince-Electors in the South chose Philip II of Swabia (1177-1208), a member of the Hohenstaufen family (also named the Ghibelline family, named after the Italian version of the name of their family castle at Waiblingen, near Stuttgart). However the northern Prince-electors chose Otto IV of Brunswick (1175-1218), a member of the Welf family, as King of Germany. The Archbishop of Cologne even crowned Otto as King of the Romans (a title held by the king of Germany).
Between 1198 and 1208 the two German Kings were involved in a civil war, which came only to an end when Philip was murdered by one of his family members. The motives for the assassination are unclear.
Otto IV was thus the sole German King since 1208 and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent III in 1209. Otto added to his titles also the title King of Italy and King of Burgundy, both in 1208.
An altercation with Pope Innocent III forced Otto IV to abdicate in 1215. Otto died without titles in 1218.