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Merry Christmas!

24 Dec 2008

First of all, let me wish you all a very merry and peaceful Christmas (unless those two objectives contradict each other, of course :-) )! Though harsh winds blow both meteorologically and financially, I hope you can find some seasonal cheer, and maybe Santa even brings a Baedeker or two.

Going back to the great Wikipedia debunk, reader Martin Burkart has solved the mystery of F. W. Baedeker. Here's what he found out:
"KARL and FRIEDRICH WILHELM BAEDEKER were distant cousins; they had a common great grandfather (Gottschalk Diederich).

Gottschalk Diederich Baedeker (* 4.11.1713; † 9.4.1784)
	Son: Zacharias Gerhard Diedrich Baedeker (* 19.9.1750 ; † 19.8.1800)
		Grandson: Gottschalk Diederich Baedeker (* 13.7.1778; † 23.3.1841)
			Great grandson: Karl Baedeker (* 3.11.1801; † 4.10.1859)
	Son: Franz Gotthilf Heinrich Baedeker (* 1752 in Dortmund; † 1825 in Dahl, pastor and cultivator of fruit trees)
		Grandson: Friedrich Wilhelm Justus Baede(c)ker (* 1788 in Dahl + 1865 in Witten), pharmacist and ornithologist
			Great grandson: Friedrich Wilhelm Baedeker (* 3.8. 1823 in Witten, † 9.10. 1906 in Clifton/England)"

Many thanks, Martin! That would make Karl and FW second cousins, once removed (if I understand English usage in this respect correctly - after 26 years in the UK, this is still one of the hardest bits to get right).

UPDATE: Steven Hildreth has kindly put me right on this cousin business. As they were of the same generation, they were straight second cousins. This "removed" business only comes in when there is a generational difference. Some people who have told me different are going to hear about this! :-)

For the next Christmas cracker, let's see if we can work out what really happened in Milan Cathedral when Karl B. visited and surveyed the stairs. English Wikipedia repeats the well-known story: "Baedeker was famous for his careful work; when visiting Milan Cathedral in 1847, he was observed to drop a pea at every twenty steps of the staircase to the roof, so as to be able to report the number of steps accurately." But that seems like a very strange way of going about things, and I think what really happened was something a bit different - can you find out?

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