There are a few men after whom an entire age is named: Columbus reached America in 1492, Vasco da Gama found the sea route around Africa for Portugal in 1498, Magellan achieved the first guaranteed circumnavigation of the world around 1520 while looking for a shipping route to India.
The Age of Discovery is considered an era of European success and the seafarers are their heroes.
People who, driven by curiosity, ventured into unknown areas, who courageously pushed the boundaries of what was previously so limited in knowledge.
But: haven't the Vikings already sailed to America?
Didn't the people of the Middle Ages already know that the earth was round?
And what about the travelers from Africa or America who explored Europe - why do you hardly ever hear anything from them, as well as from the women traveling with them?
In conversation with the historian Valentin Groebner it becomes clear: The story of Christopher Columbus and his colleagues is simply a very good story - one that has profoundly shaped our ideas of the world to this day.
But if you look behind the well-known story, you will discover the more interesting perspectives.
Hear more?
You can hear more episodes of the story podcast here. In it, an author tells of the search for the Nazi spy who betrayed her aunt. It is also about a smallpox outbreak that panicked the Eifel - at that time there were amazing parallels to the corona pandemic.