Free Republic

A casual hike on the slopes of Zvičina Hill in the Czech Republic led to a remarkable discovery when two hikers stumbled upon a lost gold treasure worth more than $340,000. The find, made in early February but only recently announced, includes 598 gold coins, jewelry, and other artifacts. The entire collection weighs about seven kilograms, with gold coins accounting for nearly 3.7 kilograms. While exploring the landscape near the Polish border, the hikers uncovered a tin container packed with nearly 600 gold coins. The coins were carefully stacked in eleven piles and wrapped in black cloth. Not far from...

The Austro-Hungarian Empire, also known as the Dual Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed by a compromise agreement between Vienna and Budapest, consisting of two sovereign states with a single monarch who was titled both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. The empire was geographically the second-largest country in Europe and the third-most populous, spanning almost 700,000 square kilometres and containing 52 million people. It was a major European power in the years prior to World War I, occupying much of central Europe and containing a rich mix of...

A world gone by. Colorized film from the last years of the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Court showing Franz Joseph, Archduke (later Emperor) Karl and the Archduchess Xenia, and I think I saw the ill-fated Franz Ferdinand in there as well. Background music is the old imperial anthem Gott Erhalte Franz den Kaiser.

IT WAS a shot that echoed round the world. When Archduke Franz Ferdinand - heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire - was assassinated in the Balkan city of Sarajevo more than 90 years ago it heralded the beginning of the most brutal conflict the world has ever seen. Yet during this week of remembrance commemorations which culminates in Remembrance Sunday on November 14, a Hampshire man has made an incredible discovery. Historian, Brian Presland, from Chandler's Ford visited the Vienna Military Museum where the car which the archduke took his last fatal drive is preserved to this day. When he got...