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Specialty Tours Economics and Economic History Related

My daughter, who is currently a freshman, has a minor scholarship to spend on educational activities this summer. Her current plan is to double major in economics and history. She'd like to spend the scholarship on a more in-depth comparative economics and economic history tour of Europe during our family vacation to Europe.

What we'd like are suggestions for economically oriented museums and tours, and possibly week long seminars but we don't have much hope for that. She is fluent for everyday speech in French, but probably not ready for college level economics in that language. She's a capable young lady and I'd feel quite safe letting her detour from our route for a few days or weeks if the destinations are important. She could arrive a week early for a seminar, if she flies into someplace relatively comfortable for her like Paris or London where she speaks the language. Brussels in particular might be a good detour for her if there is much for her to do at the EU Parliament. I suspect Berlin might be another good detour destination for her given it's communist/fascist/capitalist/socialist history.

She is considering looking into the economics of drugs and prostitution in Amsterdam as well as the history of trade during Amsterdam's mercantile height, possibly the tulip bubble, and the economics of Dutch imperialism; fascism in Vienna; communism and fascism in Prague; socialism in Paris as well as the economics leading up to the French Revolution and economics during the Napoleonic Era; mercantilism, capitalism, and the economics of the British Empire.

Our plans are from late June to late July:

Amsterdam: 7 nights
Night Train to Munich: 1 night
Salzburg: 3 nights
Vienna: 6 nights
Cesky Krumlov: 1 night
Prague: 6 nights
Night Train to Cologne: 1 night
Paris: 5 nights
London: 4 nights

She and I are finding some good museum and tour possibilities here and there. But we'd love some help with either tour or museum recommendations, on or doably off our route. Anything related to economics or history related to economics is on the table.

The budget is $2000. We will cover her plane tickets to Europe, and lodging and meals with the family. Special tours, museums, lodging apart from us, and travel without us will be covered by the scholarship. We'd be willing to kick in another $500 or so to make a special detour workable.

Posted by
11294 posts

My first thought, of all things, was Liverpool. I've never been there, but was reading about their International Slavery Museum (a grim part of the story of world economics, but a huge one). http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/index.aspx. And of course, Liverpool was a main port of the British Empire, and there are several museums there related to this.

There's also some of this, if I recall correctly, in the Amsterdam Museum (the Dutch East India Company did not trade slaves, but the Dutch West India Company did). There's plenty of other stuff in this museum related to economics, as you say.

Posted by
14920 posts

Hi,

I would suggest to her on France: read up on the the pre-Marxian socialists such as Louis Blanc, also the political and economic aims of the Left (who ever they are) during the Commune of 1871, which was feared as the great proletarian uprising that Marx had urged.

On Austria: read up on Austro-fascism, and also the rise of political anti-Semiticism in Austria-Hungary, the Linz program of 1882, RG Schönerer and K. Lueguer (Hitler's favourite mayor of Vienna). There is a column plaque/memorial to Lueger on across from Westbahnhof. See also the post WW 1 section of the Army Museum (the Heeresgeschichtlichesmuseum) in Vienna on the rise of Austro-fascism in the early 1930s. If she reads German, even better for understanding the message behind the political posters and newspaper headlines.

The CNL night train Amsterdam - Munich is running in June. I'll be taking that CNL from Düsseldorf to Munich.

Posted by
2076 posts

For the history of trade there are a few interesting places in Belgium and the Netherlands:

Brugge: Huis ter Beurze (the name bourse is derived from it), the first known place for trading in commodities, starting in the 13th century.

Antwerp: Had the first purpose built place for trade in exchange (16th century). Was before Amsterdam Europes economic and cultural powerhouse and is still today the worlds largest diamond center.

Amsterdam: The first place for stock exchange (17th century).

Contact the TI´s for visits and walking tours.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange_(organized_market)