Franklin College Professor to Discuss His Recently Published Book on German History

Release date: February 20, 2013

Franklin, Ind. - Ralph Guentzel, an associate professor of history at Franklin College, will speak about his recently published book, The Demigod's City: A Short History of Kassel, at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 14 in the Henderson Conference Room of the Johnson Center for Fine Arts, located at the corner of Branigin Boulevard and Grizzly Drive.

Guentzel is a native of Kassel, Germany, which is celebrating its 1100th anniversary this year. Kassel is known for its baroque style castles and its art festival "documenta." It is also the home of the Brothers Grimm, famous for their collection of fairy tales during the 1800s. The Demigod's City ties the present with the past by discussing how medieval Kassel became a thriving metropolis in the center of Germany and Europe.

The book, published by the German company Tectum Verlag and its U.S. partner Ingram, is available through Amazon. It is also available in the Franklin College Bookstore, located in the basement of the Napolitan Student Center. Guentzel wrote The Demigod's City as a user-friendly tool for English speakers, as there is not currently an English history of Kassel available.

Guentzel studied at Georgia-Augusta University in Goettingen, Germany and the Free University in Berlin, Germany. He also studied history at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he earned a master's degree and a doctorate degree. Guentzel has served as chair of the history department since 2004 and as director of the Centre for Canadian Studies since 2001.

For more information, contact the Franklin College Office of Marketing and Communications at (317) 738-8185.

Founded in 1834, Franklin College is a residential four-year undergraduate liberal arts institution with a scenic, wooded campus located 20 minutes south of downtown Indianapolis. The college prepares men and women for challenging careers and fulfilling lives through the liberal arts, offering its approximately 1,000 students 28 majors, 36 minors and eight pre-professional programs. In 1842, the college began admitting women, becoming the first coeducational institution in Indiana and the seventh in the nation. Franklin College maintains a voluntary association with the American Baptist Churches USA. For more information, visit www.franklincollege.edu.