The focal point of the beautiful Branitz Park near Cottbus consists of two pyramids: the Land Pyramid, modeled after the stepped shape of the Pyramids of Saqqara, and the Lake Pyramid or "Tumulus"—the burial pyramid. In front of the latter lies a tiny island featuring the gravestone of Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau and his wife, Lucie.

Hermann von Pückler-Muskau commands respect as one of…

An entire army has been standing at attention beneath the soil outside Xi’an for more than two millennia—quiet, disciplined, and astonishingly detailed.

Discovered by accident in 1974 by farmers digging a well, the Terracotta Army is part of the vast burial complex of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China. What began as a routine dig revealed ranks upon ranks of life-sized clay…