This is great! I love your deadpan humor. Also, I do love that Bach!

Please stop sharing your political biased on your podcast. Not everyone cares that you support Kamala and the Democratic Party.

I heard of your podcast from a local archeologist and began listening a few months ago. I am only ending season one. I have roots in Germany and two of my children live there. It lets me know intimately where they came from. My youngest son also loves the podcast. As a brilliant 12-year-old he gets more out of it than I do. Thank you. You inspire me to learn more. I would love to help improve your reading list. I'm a librarian and looking to help.

History of the Germans is a gem. Well researched and witty, it provides both a broad overview of the history of what is now Germany from around the year 900 and a wealth of vignettes and fascinating details. The podcast author is German, but spent most of his professional life in the UK, so he provides a lot of context for the anglophone listener. If, like me, your knowledge of European history for regions east of France and north of the Alps is a bit sketchy, History of the Germans is a revelation and, in many instances, puts the history of England, France and Italy into a more three dimensional and coherent perspective. There is an analysis of the historiography of each period at the end of every topical season. So the show not only provides narrative history, but also how subsequent generations have reframed events over and over again. Fascinating! With a background in law, banking and management consulting, the podcast author periodically provides solid economic history. The entire podcast is informed by attention to how and why a given political or social structure worked - or failed to work - financially. History of the Germans is delightfully free of advertising. Membership to support the show is a very modest $3 or £2 per month. Since the podcast usually comes out weekly, this is one of the best value for money shows in the history podcast sphere. I should end this review with a warning. History of the German’s is quite addictive and exceptionally tempting to binge listen to.

…in pace, attitude, and honesty. Well curated. Excellent density of information delivered with clarity and with a nod to both the necessary omissions and the context of the interpretations presented.

Listen to it. Great content even better presenter.

Dirk just thanked his loyal listeners for sticking around. I’m still thrilled that this informative, structured and accessible podcast is their every week. It’s great to have the facts, motives, context and well placed interpretation laced with just enough dry and self-deprecating humor to solicit understanding with a “schmunzeln” - German word for “smirk without nastiness resulting from humor”. This podcast is never dull, perfectly in length, and intellectually engaging. Thank YOU Dirk.

Ever wondered how the German empire of Otto the Great turned in to the collection of states know as the Holy Roman Empire that per Voltaire was neither Holy, Roman, nor an Empire? Have been following this podcast since Henry the Fowler began the process and now we are at where the Hapsburg step in. Have been enjoying the roller coaster ride the Germans suffered and hoping to learn how this leads us to Bismark’s Germany. Keep driving, Dirk!

I’ve listened to some others, one very well known, and always felt like I was just getting entertainment that was barely true. Not here. It’s refreshing to find an actual History podcast that is both informative on a subject I wanted to learn more about, and I just love the dry humor that is inserted now and then which doesn’t distract or descend to spectacle but instead moves things along quite nicely without bother. I’m 15 episodes in so far and just hooked. Highly highly recommend.

Dirk does a great job making this series both interesting and informative. Some history podcasts get lost in the weeds or suffer from being over generalized, but this podcast does not make those mistakes. This podcast is a perfect way to become acquainted with German history (especially for those of us who live outside of Germany). I highly recommend it!

This is a great show for digging into German history. It covers a lot, and it’s more than just names and dates. I like the slow build of a historical story (recent series on the Hanse and the Teutonic Knights, for example), and the humor interspersed in the narrative makes it a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

Listening to this podcast is proof of my history nerdiness. Dirk does a great job of explaining the contexts of the events and the leading characters of the stories. He also adds subtle humor to situations that are often difficult to understand from my 21st century perspective. Lots of information, names of people places, etc, and explanations of why they are important. I really enjoy when Dirk reads verbatim the declarations of popes, emperors, dukes, etc. I wish he would make more references to where events happened. Keep up the good work. I have many more episodes to hear.

Dirk does a great job of detailing each period so you can easily follow along. If you want to learn about Germany’s History beyond the World Wars, this is the best podcast to listen to.

I have a lot of catching up to do as I’m only on episode 12 if you count the three prologue episodes, but this is so well done it’s worth the time and energy that he spends doing it. I usually allow myself one episode a day… Yes, this is very very deep stuff and he and I are on the treadmill every afternoon thoroughly. Enjoy the work. Keep it up looking forward to more.

"History of the Germans Podcast" is catnip for those interested in European history. The podcast is exhaustively researched, and the presenter is excellent. He has something of a German accent in English, but his diction is clearer than just about any podcast host I've heard. I'm thankful for that, because I often listen while driving, and I don't need to crank this one up a lot to understand it over road noise. The presentation is scrupulously fair. While the presenter definitely has points of view, he always, even when pricking various myth balloons, takes a charitable view of both other historians' assertions and of the motivations of the persons and institutions involved (wherever possible). It's a mini-course in historiography. And our host has a delightfully dry sense of humor, indispensable for such a chronicle's being bearable, not least for the host himself. I'm on ep 90, and about 500 years in, around 1250 C.E. Very thorough indeed. It's not just wars and dates, though they are there. It's also climate, economics, religion, the role of ideologies as motivation as well as the usual "register of crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.” Worth a listen if you like this sort of thing.

Well presented, with humor and great story telling chops

I enjoy the podcast from Dirk for all kind of reasons. He is a great example of German humor in English - yes, Germans are funny - and the information is put together with great care and captivates me over and over. If you are not listening to this, you are lost to history. If you listen to it, you will be lost in history.

The podcast is well structured and paced. Important and subtle insights are highlighted while sprinkled with humor. In the first three episodes several of my biggest questions about the period were effectively answered.

Quality Content with Consistent Release Schedule

I started this, knowing there’s 100 episodes in front of me. The narrator does a nice job making this insightful and well researched material funny and entertaining and I find myself binging through it and annoying people around me with knowledge I’ve gained. Thank you, keep up the good work. I’m looking forward to making it through the entire thing! :)

I’ve been skulking around the history podcast scene for many years now listening to history narratives about Rome, Byzantium (I know), England, the American Civil War, etc., etc., but this is by far one of my favorites. The show is well researched and straightforward in speech. Dirk’s sense of humor is reminiscent of Mike Duncan in the best of ways. While occasionally showing his biases since he is obviously human, I appreciate his general even handedness on topics such as religion and individual character, which can be often be misinterpreted or judged too harshly. So, I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank Dirk for his continued hard work and dedication to the facts. He is much appreciated. P.S. He also has a delightful voice, which is a weird thing to say I know, but having committed to listening to this man speak for years to come it’s something to be thankful for.

After reading some World War II history, I realized I knew very little about German history. The title of the podcast was exactly what I was looking for, and I was pleased when the content accurately reflected it. The host is witty, knowledgeable, and his German accent just … fits.

Thank you for all the careful research and the time you have spent on this lively and interesting history. Extremely easy to follow and easy to listen to. I first heard you when you were a guest on the History of Cologne podcast. So knowledgeable, witty and such dry humor, I knew then that I had to hear more!

Not only in depth history rarely covered but entertaining wit.

Everything from the sound of his voice, ironically clever insights and ability to effectively summarize complicated events…I’m thoroughly enjoying this podcast!!

It is a shame he uses the podcast to push modern day political bias.

Such a joy to listen to history in a storytelling format.

There I am, deep diving into the history of the Germans and I break out into a giggle. History nerd? Obviously. And I do love the lesson, but the subtle humor keeps me smiling. Thank you!

This is a good history podcast! I recommend

Phenomenal job!

A fantastic podcast!

I very much enjoyed this podcast!

I just started History of the Germans the other week quite reluctantly but I’ve been plowing through it. German history seemed so much more atomized and consulted compared to English or French history. But Dirk is an amazing host who presents the history in a streamlined easily digestible fashion and a great, dry Germanic sense of humor that pops up from time to time and makes it even more of a delight to listen to. I highly recommend.

Fantastic. Dirk is a master of historical storytelling. I am fascinated by the post-Carolingian period. Dan Carlin introduced me to this period years ago. Dirk is just as good. A shout out to David Crowther for recommending this podcast. Well done and keep it up!

This is the German history podcast I’ve bern looking for.

Hey Dirk. Love the podcast. I really appreciate all your hard work putting this together. And you even managed to insert some humor here and there. I write alternative history and have written several short stories in the 30 year war era. Getting all this information from you is great background for my work. Keep it up.

Balanced. Factual. Well produced

Been looking a long time for this subject matter . The narration is brilliant, he was plenty of wit and humor to go with well researched information.

What makes a great history podcast? Good, well researched stories, humor, nice voice. Oh, and no irritating personal political comments. Dirk has it all. I am completely addicted to this and about 4 other podcasts for these reasons.

It is hard to find English language podcasts about history other than US or UK history, but this is a great one. Instead of a list of kings and wars and family intrigue, the author focus on the whys and how early German history led to modern Europe. The podcaster has a wonderful dry humor and sense of irony, which makes it all entertaining. Thank you for all the work that has gone into this.

A solid and interesting podcast covering details of German history from the 900s to the 1990s or from Charlemagne to Reunification.

I discovered this podcast about two months ago and just caught up with the episodes. What a wonderful addition to the history podcasting world! This podcast is an in-depth narrative history of the territory that is called Germany today. Each episode covers events, developments, and people in great detail. The podcaster himself is a superb storyteller. His style draws you in and keeps you attentive throughout the episodes, which are of very reasonable length - not too short and not excessively long. What is especially great is that the release schedule is mostly weekly. Occasionally, there is a bit of a gap between episodes, which is, of course, inevitable as life happens. But for the most part, listeners can rely on a new exciting bit of German history every Thursday morning. Can't recommend this podcast enough to anyone who loves history.

Dirk does a great job at laying out the narrative in a coherent way that is also easy to listen to. The fact that he is actually German gives it an extra bit of authenticity similar to the History of England.

This is a detailed history of the German people woth insights on politics, warfare, and society.

Entertaining as well as informative

Finally- a comprehensive look at the early history I can listen to, my heritage.

So happy to have found this podcast in its infancy! Excited to get to the 16th-18th century

Dirk has a gift for storytelling and being informative too. I’m a junky for history podcasts and this is one of the best.

I want to give this a 3.5 star rating. The host does a great job telling the story and characters of the Germans. I have learned a lot and had fun. The main issue with this podcast is the hosts animus towards the Church. Other history podcasts I've run in to have had an openly agnostic host who has at the same time been respectful of the Church and made sure the listener understood the worldview and context of everyone involved, and taken great pains to make sure that the listener judges characters and institutions by the standards of the time and not impose a modern lens into it, even while criticizing inconsistencies or hypocrisy .This host (thus far- about 10 episodes in) shows a very condescending attitude in most discussions on the Church that, if dropped, would greatly improve an otherwise excellent podcast. I'm looking forward to listening to more of it.

Very very good. I like how accurate it is and not like schools history and and ending blank questions. This podcast is very very nail biting and factual. My father has always told me to read books on my history and our country but never wanted to read. This however, Is very much better I honestly don’t know why but I do like this better than actual reading books. This was great!