Obelisk Day
Here you will learn everything there is to know about Obscurium's weirdest holiday and how it came into being.
​
In late 2021, President Zar Antonov was exploring the wide expanses of the Charlottenburg palace park in Berlin. During this expedition he and his companion came across an obelisk, just a little off the path, standing amid bushes and grass. The obelisk bore the same inscription on all four sides: "11th of March - This could be a day of historical importance". According to a nearby sign "Braco Dimitrijevic created the 10-meter-high marble obelisk in 1979. The artist's intention was to erect a monument commemorating an arbitrarily chosen date (March 11th), which would stimulate contemplation about the nature of historical significance, much like it is connected with dates (in Germany) such as November 9th or October 3rd."
Naturally, the spirit of this monument perfectly reflects the spirit of Obscurium and therefore it was decided to uplift the 11th of March to the status of a national holiday for no other reason than the fact that it was randomly selected by Braco Dimitrijevic.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
After input from Obscurian citizens it was decided that the day would be celebrated in two ways:
1. One places a wreath (preferably a laurel wreath) on their head, raises their hands towards the sky (in other words, "becoming the obelisk" and holding this position while contemplating historical significance and the nature of the wider world.
2. Any person who wishes to do so may submit their short account of an obscure or strange historical event which will be shared on this site.
​
While this is an Obscurian holiday, we encourage anyone to follow in the spirit of this date and even participate in the submission of little known historical events to this website on the 11th of March.
And lastly, if you are reading this on the 11th of March, we wish you a happy Obelisk Day!
​
The recordings of both of these traditons can be found below.
Obelisk Day Celebrations
The Obelsik Ritual
Obscure Historical Events (2022 Entries)
The Anabaptists of Münster (Zar Antonov)
From 1534 to 35 a radical religious sect called the "Wiedertäufer" (Anabaptists),
took over the city of Münster and under the leadership of Jan Van Leiden, it became their kingdom of New Jerusalem. They believed that due to strange phenomena being observed in the skies Jesus would soon return to earth and that the apocalypse would begin. They banished everyone, who refused to be baptized by them, from the city, destroyed the city seals and archives and made polygamy legal. Van Leiden himself had 15 Brides.
After a long siege Münster was eventually retaken by the bishops troops and the Anabaptists rule of Terror came to an end.
Jan Van Leiden was taken prisoner, tortured, publicly executed and put into a cage which was hung on the Church tower and can still be seen there today.
From the late 19th to the middle of the 20th century the Anabaptists and Jan Van Leiden became quite popular and were used to attract Tourist to Münster.
There were Anabaptist medals and coin souvenirs, Anabaptist home decorations and even Anabaptist chocolate with a picture of van Leiden on them.
In 1921 he even appeared on the cities emergency currency.
While there aren't quite that many Anabaptist souvenirs for purchase in Münster nowadays, most people there still remember the story of Jan Van Leiden's apocalyptic kingdom. In addition to the cages, still hanging from the main church today, there is a large part of the city's historical museum, which examines this strange event.
Brennus and the Sack of Rome (Jan Olav Spiekermann)
Many of you will know of the fall of the city of Rome to the Visigoths in 410 AD. But there had been another sack of Rome, 800 years before this event.During the late 400s AD, both the Roman Republic and the Gallic Tribes who had previously settled in the north of Italy were expanding. At around 390 AD the Romans and the Gallic Senones tribe under their king Brennus, clashed in battle over the Etruskan city of Clusium, which had asked Rome for help against the Senones. Rome sent 3 ambassadors, one of whome got involved in the battle itself, which was a breach of the rule that ambassadors had to be neutral. Offended by this act, the Senones marched against Rome itself, meeting the Roman army at the place where the Tiber and Allia rivers meet. The Romans were decicively defeated at this engagement and Rome was subsequently taken by the Gauls and held for several months, before the Romans managed to drive them out.
The Target Shooter (Arthur de Turneau)
About one hundred and thirty years ago there was a target shooting in Ötz (Austria). A young man, who was working as a target shooter, suddenly fell down and lay lifeless for a while. The bystanders thought he was dead, but he got up again and was soon as fresh and healthy as before. Soon the rumour spread that he had seen something, i.e. had a vision. But when he was asked about it, he would only answer, "What is right there is right there, and what is right there is right there." By the word "there" he meant the other world. But once he said to his relatives: You will not live to see it, nor will your children, but your grandchildren will live to see it, that there is a world war." This prophecy came true, because those grandchildren lived to see the world war as elderly people. That man lived for 50 years after the incident, but no one had ever seen him laugh during that long time.
Is Heligoland still a British possession? (Jan Olav Spiekermann)
In 1807, Heligoland, until then part of the Kingdom of Denmark, was occupied by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland because Denmark was an Ally of the French Empire. In 1814, Heligoland officially became a British Crown Colony. It was a popular holiday destination, especially for German tourists, as well as a popular refuge for German Democrats who sometimes had to flee from the authoritarian regimes in the many German states of the German Confederation.
For example, in 1841 Heinrich August Hoffmann von Fallersleben composed the text of the German Anthem while staying on the Island. Heligoland was described as ''a land where there are no bankers, no lawyers, and no crime; where all gratuities are strictly forbidden, the landladies are all honest and the boatmen take no tips.'' A little paradise on earth. But after Germany became unified under Prussian domitation in 1871, the German Government was eager to get rid off the British possession off its shore as they saw it as a possible threat. On the other hand the British were afraid that in case of a war they would ot be able to defend Heligoland againsta German invasion. So in 1890 the British Government and the German Government signed the so-called Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty. In exchange for some German possessions and rights in Africa, the British ceded Heligoland to Germany. On the 10th of August 1890, there was a handover ceremony on Heligoland. The majority of the inhabitants of Heligoland were against this territorial exchange. If there would have been a referendum, the majority would have voted for the United Kingdom. Nonetheless there were some exclusive rights granted to the British and the inhabitants of Heligoland were allowed to remain British Citizens if the wished to do so. So even in 1914 there were still some natives of Heligoland on the Island who still had a British and not a German passport.
Due to this, when World War I broke out in 1914 the German Governemnt evacuated Heligoland as they thought that the inhabitants of Heligoland would still sympathies more with the British. And they had all reason to do so, because Prussian Germany built a naval base on the island and almost destroyed the tourist sector on Heligoland, which had been an important source of income under British rule. After WWI, through the Versailles treaty, all German pre-war treaties were annulled, except those which were explicitly renewed. So when I asked the State Government of Schleswig-Holstein if the privilege's of British Fisherman, granted to them in the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty, are still valid, I received this answer from a government official:
"Dear Mr. Spiekermann,
I apologize for only now getting back to your question below. To determine the facts, I asked my fishing colleagues at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for help, who have now sent me an answer:
""According to information from the Foreign Office, the Helgoland-Zanzibar Treaty of July 1, 1890 is no longer in force. The privileges guaranteed therein to the explicit fishermen have thus expired. This results from the Versailles Treaty of June 28, 1919 (entry into force on January 10, 1920). whose art. 282ff. provided that, with the exception of the agreements mentioned there (nil report regarding the Helgoland-Zanzibar Treaty), all existing agreements with the German Reich would become ineffective. Art. 289 of the Versailles Treaty then provides for the possibility of the victorious powers naming the agreement, by means of a unilateral notification within 6 months of its entry into force, to the German Reich which are to come into force again. However, no such notification was made to the German Reich by the end of the period on July 10, 1920. The British government also shares this view, as can be seen from a debate in the House of Commons in 1951 (https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1951/jun/25/heligoland). ""
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me again.
Best regards"
Well, if I count 1 and 1 together, I see that the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty is no more valid anymore, than the very central aspect of this argument - cession of Heligoland from Great Britain to Germany - is also invalid. So under international law Heligoland is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. - Although that's both simply ignored by the British and the Germans.
The Kingdom of Romkerhall (Zar Antonov)
In the old days it was customary for the nobility to have specially designated area for hunting retreats. Geore V., King of Hannover had his hunting retreat in the picturesque landscape around Romkerhall. He was blind, so in order to have something nice there that even he could enjoy, he ordered the construction of a 64 meter tall waterfall at Romkerhall in 1862, the highest in the Harz mountains. Some even say that he placed the area under the direct authority of the crown of Hannover to commemorate the occasion. Furthermore, he allegedly subsequently gifted the land to his beloved wife, Queen Mary, who became its rightful owner.
The house on the property itself was managed by different owners until it became a hotel and inn in 1898, with its history slowly drifting from memory.
However, since the area was never given to any specific community and mostly ignored from the Prussian annexation of Hannover to the re-organization of German communities in the 1970s, the argument was made that it still belonged to the house of Saxony, of which Queen Mary had been a member.
So the search for a member of the house of Saxony to take over as monarch of this hidden piece of land began and sure enough, Princess Erina of Saxony was found, the wife of Prince Timo, the grandson of the last King of Saxony, Friedrich August III..
She was crowned queen of Romkerhall in an elaborate ceremony in 1988 and held this position until her death in 2010, after which the current owner of the territory, Princess Susanne of Romkerhall took over until the day when the rightful heir can be determined. The Kingdom has been run as a toruist attraction/ hotel ever since the coronation of Queen Erina in 1988 and has undergone renovations in recent years to compensate for the fragile state of parts of the building.
However, whether the Kingdom of Romkerhall is indeed the “World’s Smallest Kingdom” as they claim or just a community free area in the Harz mountains, has yet to be determined.
Emperor Norton I. (Clostridium Botulinum)
"At the peremptory request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, ....declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these U. S.; and in virtue of the authority thereby in me vested, do hereby order and direct the representatives of the different States of the Union to assemble .. to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring, and thereby cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad, in our stability and integrity."
—NORTON I, Emperor of the United States.
With these words, sent to the various newspapers of San Francisco and published on Sept 17, 1859, Joshua Norton, a former South African businessman who lost his fortune and disappeared after trying to corner the rice market in seven years before, returned to take up his duties as ruler of the country. Whether mad from his earlier ruin or from the direction of the country increasing lurching towards Civil War (or both), Norton was nevertheless humored by the folks of San Francisco. Soon after becoming emperor, Norton banned the United States Congress through proclamation as:
"...fraud and corruption prevent a fair and proper expression of the public voice; that open violation of the laws are constantly occurring, caused by mobs, parties, factions and undue influence of political sects; that the citizen has not that protection of person and property which he is entitled."
When Congress ignored the order, Emperor Norton ordered the US Army to depose of them. This was also ignored. When French Emperor Napoleon III invaded Mexico in 1862, Norton quickly gave himself the additional title, "Protector of Mexico". Again this was ignored.
Emperor Norton soon began to develop a schedule, spending most of the day observing the conditions of sidewalks and cable cars with a uniform of a used Army coat, a beaver hat, and an umbrella, eating free food at bars, and having lengthy philosophical discussions with anyone who would listen. Periodically he would send further proclamations to the newspapers, including some that in hindsight were quite visionary: a ban on the word "Frisco" (SF continues to be the abbreviation used by locals), a bridge connecting San Francisco to Oakland via Goat Island (some plan to rename the Bay Bridge to the "Emperor Norton Bridge"), and a League of Nations. He also banned the Democratic and Republican Parties and forbade conflict between religions. In one famous incident, while inspecting his lands Norton came across an ugly mob beginning to riot against the Chinese. Interceding between the mob and their targets, he bowed his head and recited the Lord's Prayer until the mob sheepishly dissipated.
In 1867, while on another inspection, Emperor Norton was arrested by a police officer for lunacy. A massive public outcry soon persuaded the police to release the emperor, who magnanimously pardoned the errant officer. Afterwards the officers of the San Francisco Police saluted Norton as he made his rounds. By the 1870s, Emperor Norton's fame had reached throughout the United States. The 1870 Census listed his occupation as "Emperor" (it also added "insane"). Tourists arriving at San Francisco were eager to meet the emperor, including Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II. Postcards of him became popular. Norton began selling "Imperial Dollars" to supplement his income, which became de facto currency throughout the city. Things were now much easier for him: he was able to ride the rails free, courtesy of Leland Stanford and eat at the finest restaurants as owners sought his seal of approval and the accompanying boost in revenue.
It all ended on January 8, 1880, when Emperor Norton collapsed in front of St. Mary's Church. Though a carriage was quickly called, Norton died on the way to the hospital. He had ruled San Francisco for 21 years. "Le Roi est Mort" screamed the headlines of the San Francisco Chronicle.The Pacific Club quickly took up his funeral costs, and Emperor Norton was buried at the Masonic Cemetery in a ceremony lined by perhaps 10,000 people. In 1934, as part of the massive gravesite removals from San Francisco, Emperor Norton was transferred to Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma.
Emperor Norton's eccentric legacy lives on, mentioned by Robert Louis Stevenson in the book the Wrecker, and serving as the basis for the figure "the King" in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Additionally, he is a patron saint of Discordianism and there remain efforts to rename the Bay Bridge after him. Perhaps Norton's best legacy is summed up by Robert Cowan:
"...he had shed no blood; robbed no one; and despoiled no country; which is more than can be said of his fellows in that line."
Woodlawn Cemetery, Colma, California
