An affable tour guide

In mentioning Heinrich the Fowler, 10th-century King of the Germans and one of the many obscure figures who appears in his book, Simon Winder describes a painting in the Hall of Electors in Frankfurt. A product of the historicising 19th century, it is part of a series of German monarchs stretching from Charlemagne to 1806, the first seven centuries of which are ‘simply fantasy’. Winder writes:

I just feel happy not to be a professional historian who really has to stare hard at the reign of Heinrich the Fowler, say, and must ignore his notionally flowing locks and chartreuse cloak, must banish fantasies of mead-halls, damsels and winged helmets, must dispose of all this picturesque accretion in favour of a handful of often woefully under-informed monastic chroniclers and the odd legal document.



Winder is a romanticising and affable tour guide to Germany and its history. His focus is on characters, anecdotes and the neglected museums and towns that he loves.