One of the most frustrating cyphers from history is, or rather was, the Copiale Cypher, which is believed to date from the 18th century. Well, we’ve cracked it, thanks to American and Swedish researchers and from it we’ve learned that…Germans were way, way stranger than we ever thought.
It turns out to be the rule book for a German secret society from the 1700s that was obsessed with eyes and eyeglasses. Apparently new initiates had to subject themselves to eye exams, touch their left eye with their right hand and vice versa and various other strange stuff.
Apparently, this is of historical value to researchers, since secret societies were a big deal and this helps fill in a few blanks. It also helps make Germany look even weirder than it already is, which if you’ve ever seen their pop culture, was pretty hard to do.
[ via the seemingly normal Germans at Crackajack ]