From the 15th century onwards postal connections began to knit together the citizens of Europe. Horse-drawn mail coaches with armed messengers sped from one post to another, where they changed horses to hurry on. Paying passengers travelled along. It became ever easier and faster to send letters and to travel in person acrros Europe. European civilization grew along these postal roads. When was your town or region first connected to a regular postal service and where did these links lead? Write a mini-essays about early european postal networks in your region..more

Through the telescope and the microscope scholars had seen a new reality that no philosopher had ever thought of. They had to go out in the real world and see for themselves, use the new instruments or sail to unknown coasts to discover what that world was really like. The scientific revolution had begun. What happened in your area? When was the telescope or the microscope first used and what discoveries were made with them? Tell us about the threads that were spun to connect to the great web of science in your part of Europe...more

Most photos are portraits, full length, half size, close up. They show an individual the way he or she ‘really’ looks. Photos are a realistic likeness of an identifiable person, an individual, different from everyone else. In this respect, photography continues a very old tradition: portraiture. Let’s go to the museum in your area and see what portraits are displayed there. Who were the models? And where did they come from? Who were the painters and where did they come from, where did they learn their trade? How and when did portrait painting come to your area?....more

Polyphony emerged in Europe about a thousand years ago, when religious chants were performed by several singers who each added a melody line of their own. The instrument most suitable to perform polyphonous music is of course the piano since you can play several notes at the same time and thus perform different voices synchronously. Today keyboards come in many kinds and shapes. Electronic keyboards have become very popular. But the keys have not changed much in all these centuries. Can you play on a keyboard? Do you own one? Can you play different voices at the same time, for example a canon? Music and musicians travel easily since they are understood everywhere. Who were the piano builders in your area, who the virtuoso soloists and who wrote compositions for the keyboard? And also, where did they learn their art, where did they travel to offer their services abroad...more