19.10.2008 by Traveler.

So, a week ago to the day my good friend Timo, my beloved wife Lila and me went to Augsburg to attend a concert by the most talented, beautiful and gifted lady Emilie Autumn and her ragtag band of fellow Asylum inmates called The Bloody Crumpets.

Apart from the excellent music I once more got to dress in my Steampunk Parade uniform: White Shirt (1900’s style), prussian-blue breeches, riding boots, vest and my beloved 1855 pocket watch and my goggles (the ones you see here).

The Rockfabrik Augsburg, where the marvelous event took place, has also turned into one of my favorite clubs. The interior is spacy, well ventilated, drinks are reasonably priced and the cuisine is excellent for a club catering tonthe needs of the Metal and Goth crowd.
But I digress…

The concert was one of the most memorable and excellent I ever attended. A laudanum-laced fantasy and tumble through the minds of the inmates of Emilie Autumns Asylum and, in best Victorian fashion, everything was served with tea and biscuits. So without further ado, some images taken at the event:

One glorious event for Metalheads, Goths and Steampunks alike (and never forget: There were quite a few Gothic Lolitas present).

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5.8.2008 by Traveler.

So vast a terrain that is none. So many places that do not “really exist”, whatever that means. The ætherweb, or internet as non-Steampunks would call it, is a magnificent place and there is so much to see.

Luckily, modern technology has enabled us to explore the reaches of this virtual cosm with ease. We are not even confined to our homes anymore, if we want to sojourn within the ætherial reaches of the internet. All it takes is a device for mobile Internet access, like my trusted notebook (I only wish it would look like the one pictured on the left) and a UMTS Flatrate and the steampunk explorer can hook up with his fellow steampunks wherever he likes. Exploring the web is likewise so easy and cheap. By Jove! The blessings of modern civilisation, undreamed of in the age of steam but none the less very welcome in deed!

It is conditions like the ones we find today, where people can link via the internet, the omnipresent æthernet, that they are able to get organized along lines of interest, unhindered by geological or political borders, that enable a subculture such as ours can flourish. What a great blessing of technology in deed!

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3.8.2008 by Traveler.

This could actually develop into a rant or an inflamatory speech.

So, what does it mean to be a steampunk?

For me it’s more of a question what does it mean to be a German steampunk. Most steampunks I know are from North America or the British Isles and thus draw their inpiration from the reign of Queen Victoria and the time of the Civil War onwards.

For Germans it’s a little bit more tricky, if only because some of us still think we were the bad guys of the 20th century. Take a look at what happened elswhere (Boer War, Trail of Tears, The Great Leap foreward, you get the picture). Everyone has some skelletons in the closet and it’s god damn 120 - 63 years ago. I was not around, my father wasn’t around why should I feel guilt? Of course I still could have chosen to base my steampunk persona, my look etc. on some British gentleman, I did not.

I am firmly rooted in early Imperial Germany, the Emperor of my choice is Friedrich III and I am not going to call him by his anglicized name in this blog. My skies are filled with Zeppelins, not airships, and Germans certainly are not Huns.

The particular time period offers so much from a German perspective: Graf Zeppelin invented the, well, Zeppelin, Germany industrialized quite heavily, there were so many inventions by Germans at the time and so many brilliant scientists. Why not add some weird, steampunk science to the picture?

I have chosen to modify the look and feel of Imperial Germany for my personal Steampunk Æsthetics. Why should I use British or American? Steampunk is partly based on the workes of Jules Verne and the protagonist of Journey to the Center of the Earth is German, so the grand old master obviously had no resentiments, why should I?

After all, my Germany, highly romanticized and very weird, very steampunk, will never go to war over some squabble in the Balkans, and why bother with colonies when there’s the æther waiting to be explored…

So I’m an officer of the Kaiserliches Zeppelinkorps. I love my country and I love adventure. With an advanced Zeppelin design, the world and the Æther is ripe for exploration!

Lang lebe der Kaiser!

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22.7.2008 by Traveler.

What a great animated Steampunk short (I wish I had one of those Steampunk Battle Mechs):

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1.7.2008 by Traveler.

Yet another Steampunk Blog. As if there aren’t enough already, but not to worry, it shall not stop me. This is going to be a very much “in-character” blog, so everything in here will be viewed from a Steampunk perspective.

For the greater part, I am going to put my adventures while traveling in here. I’m quite fond of traveling, and when I do, my goggles go with me.

As in:

Thus I travel as a steampunk and my experiences will be related from a Steampunk point of view, but I’m repeating myself.

More to follow soon (including the story behind the foto above)

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