Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. The Catholic Church has existed for nearly two millennia.
Speaker 1: It's one of the oldest religious institutions in the West,
Speaker 1: and an organization with such history is bound to have
Speaker 1: a few secrets. For example, the Freemason's got their start
Speaker 1: during the Middle Ages and are as mysterious today as
Speaker 1: they were back then. Yet the symbols they leave behind
Speaker 1: are everywhere. The square and compass has been spotted on
Speaker 1: structures all over the world as evidence of Masonic involvements
Speaker 1: in their construction. Other symbols, however, invite further investigation. Just
Speaker 1: turn over a dollar bill and you'll see the Eye
Speaker 1: of Horace, also known as the All Scene I Many
Speaker 1: see that as a Masonic nod to the supreme architect
Speaker 1: of the universe, but its true purpose on the bill
Speaker 1: is unknown. Other secrets, though, are not so public. For
Speaker 1: the Catholic Church. Those secrets are stored in a heavily
Speaker 1: guarded vault beneath Vatican City known as the Secret Archives.
Speaker 1: The Archives were established in sixteen twelve, and over the
Speaker 1: centuries their contents have changed ownership and location. Today they
Speaker 1: make up a fifty three mile long repository of papal documents, ledgers,
Speaker 1: and other historical artifacts, all of it kept locked away underground.
Speaker 1: Do you want to see Michelangelo's invoice for his work
Speaker 1: on the Sistine Chapel or the court transcripts from Galileo's trial.
Speaker 1: If you're lucky enough or privileged enough, you might get
Speaker 1: to see them. But there's something else stored within the archives,
Speaker 1: something the Church never wanted anyone else to see. But
Speaker 1: one person found it and it changed his life. His
Speaker 1: name was Genrik Mavrakiyevitch Ludwig, and he was a scientist
Speaker 1: who had been held during the nineteen forties in a
Speaker 1: Russian gulag. He had studied numerous disciplines, including architecture and
Speaker 1: ancient languages, as well as mysticism, all while working as
Speaker 1: a teacher, but he was also arrested and tortured, accused
Speaker 1: of being a spy for the Vatican, perhaps because of
Speaker 1: the documents he possessed. You see, Ludwig was fascinated by
Speaker 1: ancient civilizations, especially the Sumerians. In the nineteen twenties, he
Speaker 1: was allowed into the Vatican to leaf through their secret archives,
Speaker 1: but rather than pour over the financial details of Michelangelo's
Speaker 1: greatest work of art, he chose to examine some lesser
Speaker 1: known documents. Between the covers of several manuscripts, Ludwig claimed
Speaker 1: that he learned that the Earth had been visited by
Speaker 1: extra trust life forms thousands of years earlier. According to
Speaker 1: the texts, their presence helped to shape the directions of
Speaker 1: the ancient Egyptians, the Mesopotamians, and even the Mayonds. The
Speaker 1: Pyramids of Giza. The documents claimed that they weren't really tombs,
Speaker 1: but energy machines built for the benefit of the strange visitors.
Speaker 1: What type of energy they were meant to create, well,
Speaker 1: no one knows. There were photographs too, and drawings kept there,
Speaker 1: including pictures of what remained of the walls of Babylon.
Speaker 1: Those had been destroyed, melted even by what was described
Speaker 1: as a fiery pillar. Ludwig naturally believed the pillar was
Speaker 1: a nuclear blast from some alien weapon. He didn't take
Speaker 1: any of the documentation with him, of course, there would
Speaker 1: have been no way to smuggle it out of the
Speaker 1: archives without someone noticing. He did, though, managed to get
Speaker 1: photographs of a few pages, while others he transcribed from memory.
Speaker 1: As soon as he got home. In the years before
Speaker 1: his arrest, Ludwig would show his students what he had learned.
Speaker 1: His wife was also well aware of his obsession. In fact,
Speaker 1: she had been the one to turn him into the
Speaker 1: Soviet secret police in the first place. While he was
Speaker 1: incarcerated in the gulag during World War Two, Ludwig distracted
Speaker 1: his mind by creating over a dozen military inventions. He
Speaker 1: came up with things like a soundproof testing area for
Speaker 1: airplane engines and a safe way for troops to hurl
Speaker 1: bombs at tank set close range. Ludwig was a tortured
Speaker 1: man in more ways than one. His spouse had betrayed him,
Speaker 1: his country had turned on him, and he was cursed
Speaker 1: with knowledge that no one else would take seriously. But
Speaker 1: he knew deep down that the answer to all of
Speaker 1: life's important questions could be answered, yet no one would
Speaker 1: believe him. I suppose that's to be expected, though, after all,
Speaker 1: his ideas were quite literally out of this world. Author
Speaker 1: William Gibson defined a new breed of science fiction with
Speaker 1: his short stories and novels. His blend of technology with
Speaker 1: everyday life predates the Internet age, but rings truer now
Speaker 1: than it ever has before. The idea of humans connecting
Speaker 1: to computers the way we do today was unheard of.
Speaker 1: Back then. Technology was meant to be a tool to
Speaker 1: help us advance our minds. Today it's become an extension
Speaker 1: of our minds themselves, and in some ways as even
Speaker 1: surpassed them. Gibson once wrote, we are that strange species
Speaker 1: that constructs artifacts intended to counter the natural flow of forgetting.
Speaker 1: You see, we don't forget anymore. The Internet is forever
Speaker 1: Our pocket cameras capture every moment as they happen, saved
Speaker 1: to some nebulous cloud for all eternity. Before smartphones and
Speaker 1: the web, though, there was a time when our memories
Speaker 1: were curated. We stored them in photo albums, we displayed
Speaker 1: them on a mantle above our fireplace, and if it
Speaker 1: were curious enough, we kept them somewhere else Entirely in
Speaker 1: the middle of the sixteenth century, Archduke Ferdinand the Second
Speaker 1: ruled Outer Austria from Ambrus Castle. The enormous palace resided
Speaker 1: in Innsbruck and was treated more like a museum than
Speaker 1: a mansion. In the Spanish hall of the castle, Ferdinand
Speaker 1: kept twenty seven portraits of the rulers of Tyrril, a
Speaker 1: region of the Alps that was later dissolved after World
Speaker 1: War One. He also had a vast collection of armor
Speaker 1: and weapons on display, primarily throughout the lower castle. He
Speaker 1: wanted to honor the memories of great commanders whose armor
Speaker 1: he possessed, while also demonstrating the historical importance of German
Speaker 1: military gear. In the upper castle was the Habsburg Portrait Gallery,
Speaker 1: a collection that has grown to almost three hundred paintings
Speaker 1: over the last four hundred years. The portraits depicted the
Speaker 1: great rulers of the Habsburgs as well as the Holy
Speaker 1: Roman Empire. A short walk from the portrait gallery were
Speaker 1: other collections as well, including an exhibit devoted to glass
Speaker 1: from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, Gothic sculptures, and frescos.
Speaker 1: It's safe to say that the Archduke was quite the collector,
Speaker 1: but perhaps his greatest collection was in the lower Castle.
Speaker 1: The Chamber of Art and Wonders held some of the
Speaker 1: most incredible paintings of historical figures found anywhere in the world.
Speaker 1: For example, one of the portraits on display is that
Speaker 1: of Petrus Gonzalvo's also known as the Man of the Woods.
Speaker 1: You might remember him as Pedro Gonzalez, the Spanish nobleman
Speaker 1: who was born with hypotrichosis, a condition that caused large
Speaker 1: amounts of hair to sprout all over his body. Then
Speaker 1: there's a portrait of Gregor Baki, a Hungarian soldier, also
Speaker 1: displayed in the chamber. According to the stories, Baki had
Speaker 1: either been in the midst of battle or performing in
Speaker 1: a jousting tournament when he was impaled by a lance
Speaker 1: through his right eye and miraculously lived. Ivory sculptures, carved
Speaker 1: with ornate designs, crystals, rare coins, weapons, and odd musical
Speaker 1: instruments make up a sizable portion of this collection, as
Speaker 1: did various corals, bronze animals, and automatons. However, much of
Speaker 1: it was devoted to paintings. One in particular has garnered
Speaker 1: a lot of attention since it's unveiling. It is a
Speaker 1: portrait of a man with long brownish black hair and
Speaker 1: a mustache that stretches across the width of his face.
Speaker 1: He wears a red cap adorned with a large jewel
Speaker 1: set against a golden star or sun. Even his red
Speaker 1: coats is fastened with gold clasps and a matching color.
Speaker 1: The painting subject has been described as the personification of evil, and,
Speaker 1: thanks to his reputation for cruelty, was immortalized in one
Speaker 1: of the most famous tales ever told. His name was
Speaker 1: Vlad Tepees, also known as Vlad the Impaler, but you
Speaker 1: probably know him as one of the inspirations behind the
Speaker 1: character of Dracula. The Chamber of Art and Wonders at
Speaker 1: Ambras Castle still exists in its original location. Many other
Speaker 1: collections have been moved to other facilities or dismantled over
Speaker 1: the years, making this particular kunst Kammer the oldest of
Speaker 1: its kind in the world. Oh and about that word.
Speaker 1: Kunst kama is a German word with a very special meaning.
Speaker 1: It translates roughly as an early type of museum where
Speaker 1: strange objects were exhibited. But for you and I, it's
Speaker 1: a little more personal, isn't it, Because in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways it symbolizes the four hundred people, places, and
Speaker 1: artifacts that have had their stories told by me to
Speaker 1: listeners like you all over the world. Yes, Kunstkammer is
Speaker 1: a funny word, but around here we call it by
Speaker 1: a different name, A Cabinet of Curiosities. I hope you've
Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe
Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the
Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was
Speaker 1: created by me, Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works.
Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is
Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can
Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore
Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Yeah,