This day over 400 years ago gave us the Catholic League (Katholische Liga) formation. On July 10, 1609, a loose confederation of Roman Catholic German states within the Holy Roman Empire of German nations formed the Catholic League. It was created to counterbalance the slightly older Protestant Union in religious and political disputes.

Instead of balancing the powers, however, the formation of the Catholic League intensified the long-standing strain between Protestant reformers and the members of the Catholic Church. Intolerance increased. Repression and civil disobedience resulted and led to the longest lasting and most destructive conflict in modern European history: the Thirty Year War (1618-1648).

Although the Thirty Year War was a European conflict, it laid waste mainly to Germany whose regions became the principal theatre in the devastating clashes. Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria and his commanders Tilly and Albrecht von Wallenstein together with Duke Maximilian of Bavaria fought on the side of the Catholic League. Christian IV of Denmark and King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden were the main opponents on the side of the Protestant Union. Over the thirty-year period, the conflict destroyed large stretches of land and caused widespread famine and epidemics. It claimed the lives of 8,000,000 civilians.

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: Historical or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall, and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.