1.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
2.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
3.
Museum
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Most large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist in smaller cities, towns and even the countryside. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public, the goal of serving researchers is increasingly shifting to serving the general public. There are many types of museums, including art museums, natural history museums, science museums, war museums, the city with the largest number of museums is Mexico City with over 128 museums. According to The World Museum Community, there are more than 55,000 museums in 202 countries, the English museum comes from the Latin word, and is pluralized as museums. The first museum/library is considered to be the one of Plato in Athens, however, Pausanias gives another place called Museum, namely a small hill in Classical Athens opposite to the Akropolis. The hill was called Mouseion after Mousaious, a man who used to sing on the hill, the purpose of modern museums is to collect, preserve, interpret, and display items of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance for the education of the public. The purpose can also depend on ones point of view, to a family looking for entertainment on a Sunday afternoon, a trip to a local history museum or large city art museum could be a fun, and enlightening way to spend the day. To city leaders, a healthy museum community can be seen as a gauge of the health of a city. To a museum professional, a museum might be seen as a way to educate the public about the museums mission, Museums are, above all, storehouses of knowledge. In 1829, James Smithsons bequest, that would fund the Smithsonian Institution, stated he wanted to establish an institution for the increase, Museums of natural history in the late 19th century exemplified the Victorian desire for consumption and for order. Gathering all examples of classification of a field of knowledge for research. As American colleges grew in the 19th century, they developed their own natural history collections for the use of their students, while many large museums, such as the Smithsonian Institution, are still respected as research centers, research is no longer a main purpose of most museums. While there is a debate about the purposes of interpretation of a museums collection, there has been a consistent mission to protect. Much care, expertise, and expense is invested in efforts to retard decomposition in aging documents, artifacts, artworks. All museums display objects that are important to a culture, as historian Steven Conn writes, To see the thing itself, with ones own eyes and in a public place, surrounded by other people having some version of the same experience can be enchanting. Museum purposes vary from institution to institution, some favor education over conservation, or vice versa. For example, in the 1970s, the Canada Science and Technology Museum favored education over preservation of their objects and they displayed objects as well as their functions. One exhibit featured a printing press that a staff member used for visitors to create museum memorabilia
4.
Belvedere, Vienna
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The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna, Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the district of the city. The grounds are set on a gradient and include decorative tiered fountains and cascades, Baroque sculptures. The Baroque palace complex was built as a residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Belvedere was built during a period of construction in Vienna. This period of prosperity followed on from the commander-in-chief Prince Eugene of Savoys successful conclusion of a series of wars against the Ottoman Empire. On 30 November 1697, one year after commencing with the construction of the Stadtpalais, Prince Eugene purchased a plot of land south of the Rennweg. Plans for the Belvedere garden complex were drawn up immediately, the prince chose Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt as the chief architect for this project rather than Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, the creator of his Stadtpalais. Hildebrandt, whom the general had met whilst engaged in a campaign in Piedmont, had already built Ráckeve Palace for him in 1702 on Csepel. He later went on to numerous other edifices in his service. The architect had studied engineering in Rome under Carlo Fontana and had gone into imperial service in 1695–96 in order to learn how to build fortifications. From 1696 onwards, records show that he was employed as an architect in Vienna. To buy the plot, Prince Eugene was forced to out a large loan secured against his Stadtpalais. He bought additional neighboring areas of land in 1708,1716, records indicate that the construction of the Upper Belvedere had started by 1712, as Prince Eugene submitted the request for a building inspection on 5 July 1713. Work proceeded swiftly, and Marcantonio Chiarini from Bologna started painting the quadratura in the hall in 1715. The ambassador from the Spanish Flanders visited the Lower Belvedere, as well as the Stadtpalais, extensive work was carried out on the grounds at the same time as construction went ahead on the Lustschloss, as the Lower Belvedere was described on an early cityscape. Dominique Girard changed the plans for the garden significantly between January and May 1717, so that it could be completed by the following summer and it was on the latter’s recommendation that he entered Prince Eugene’s employ. The statuary for the balustrade is the best known work of Giovanni Stanetti, construction was so far advanced by 2 October 1719 that the prince was able to receive the Turkish ambassador Ibrahim Pasha there
5.
Prince Eugene of Savoy
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Born in Paris, Eugene grew up around the French court of King Louis XIV. Based on his physique and bearing, the Prince was initially prepared for a career in the church. Following a scandal involving his mother Olympe, he was rejected by Louis XIV for service in the French army, Eugene moved to Austria and transferred his loyalty to the Habsburg Monarchy. Spanning six decades, Eugene served three Holy Roman Emperors, Leopold I, Joseph I, and Charles VI, however, the Princes fame was secured with his decisive victory against the Ottomans at the Battle of Zenta in 1697, earning him Europe-wide fame. Renewed hostilities against the Ottomans in the Austro-Turkish War consolidated his reputation, with victories at the battles of Petrovaradin, nevertheless, in Austria, Eugenes reputation remains unrivalled. Eugene died in his sleep at his home on 21 April 1736, Prince Eugene was born in the Hôtel de Soissons in Paris on 18 October 1663. His mother, Olympia Mancini, was one of Cardinal Mazarins nieces whom he had brought to Paris from Rome in 1647 to further his, the Mancinis were raised at the Palais-Royal along with the young Louis XIV, with whom Olympia formed an intimate relationship. Yet to her disappointment, her chance to become queen passed by. The King remained strongly attached to Olympia, so much so that many believed them to be lovers, after falling out of favour at court, Olympia turned to Catherine Deshayes, and the arts of black magic and astrology. Embroiled in the affaire des poisons, suspicions now abounded of her involvement in her husbands death in 1673. From the age of ten, Eugene had been brought up for a career in the church, in February 1683, to the surprise of his family, Eugene declared his intention of joining the army. The request was modest, not so the petitioner, he remarked, no one else ever presumed to stare me out so insolently. Denied a military career in France, Eugene decided to service abroad. One of Eugenes brothers, Louis Julius, had entered Imperial service the previous year, when news of his death reached Paris, Eugene decided to travel to Austria in the hope of taking over his brothers command. It was not a decision, his cousin, Louis of Baden, was already a leading general in the Imperial army, as was a more distant cousin, Maximilian II Emanuel. On the night of July 26,1683, Eugene left Paris, by May 1683, the Ottoman threat to Emperor Leopold Is capital, Vienna, was very real. With the Turks at the gates, the Emperor fled for the refuge of Passau up the Danube. It was at Leopold Is camp that Eugene arrived in mid-August, although Eugene was not of Austrian extraction, he did have Habsburg antecedents
6.
Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt
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After studying in Rome under Carlo Fontana, he constructed fortresses for Prince Eugene of Savoy during his Italian campaigns, becoming his favorite architect. In 1700 he became court engineer in Vienna, and in 1711 was named head of the department of building. He became court architect in 1723 and his designs for palaces, estates, gardens, churches, chapels, and villas were widely imitated, and his architectural principles spread throughout central and southeast Europe. Among his more important works are Palais Schwarzenberg, St. Peters Church, and Belvedere in Vienna, Savoy Castle in Ráckeve, Schönborn Palace in Göllersdorf, Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt was born on 14 November 1668 in Genoa. Hildebrandt was the son of an Italian mother and a German father, Fontana in Rome, and he studied civil and military engineering under Prince Eugene of Savoy also in Rome, and military engineering in Piedmont. Hildebrandt became the architect of Prince Eugène. In 1700, Hildebrandt became Hofburg court engineer, in 1711, head of the Court dept. of building, at the Hofburg, however, Hildebrandt could not assert himself against the rivalry of the two Fischer von Erlachs and worked mainly for aristocrats. Unlike the monumental works of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Hildebrandts works seem more committed at a personal level and this helped his popularity spread to the middle class. Hildebrandt united Italian and French elements and shaped the development of the style in south Germany. Hildebrandt was also involved in many projects which were developed by other architects. From 1713 to 1716, he was employed by the wealthy and powerful Kinsky family of Austria, building their residence, from 1723 on, he was inspector-general of the imperial buildings. His two best known works, the Upper Belvedere and the Lower Belvedere, were commissioned by Prince Eugene of Savoy. Hildebrandt also worked in Bavaria on the Pommersfelden castle known as Schloss Weißenstein, Hildebrandt built numerous city palaces in Vienna, his religious buildings are also of great importance. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt died on 16 November 1745 in Vienna, entry about Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt in the database Gedächtnis des Landes on the history of the state of Lower Austria
7.
UNESCO
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris. It is the heir of the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, UNESCO has 195 member states and nine associate members. Most of its offices are cluster offices covering three or more countries, national and regional offices also exist. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs, education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, on 18 December 1925, the International Bureau of Education began work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development. However, the work of predecessor organizations was largely interrupted by the onset of World War II. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944, a prominent figure in the initiative for UNESCO was Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, the Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCOs Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place between 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General and this change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the CICI, in how member states would work together in the organizations fields of competence. In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO claiming that some of the organizations publications amounted to interference in the racial problems. South Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, UNESCOs early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, started in 1947. This project was followed by missions to other countries, including, for example. In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States should make free primary education compulsory, in 1990, the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a global movement to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. Ten years later, the 2000 World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, UNESCOs early activities in culture included, for example, the Nubia Campaign, launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after construction of the Aswan Dam, during the 20-year campaign,22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro, Fes, Kathmandu, Borobudur, the organizations work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978, since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 and 2005
8.
World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
9.
Winter Palace of Prince Eugene
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The Winter Palace of Prince Eugene, also known as the City Palace, is a high-Baroque palace in the Innere Stadt district of Vienna, Austria. Located on a street at Himmelpfortgasse 8, the palace was used as the winter residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Winter Palace was designed and constructed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach from 1695 to 1700, the palace was acquired through auction by Empress Maria Theresa for the imperial court in 1738, along with most of the princes other buildings. In 1752, the palace was converted by Nicolò Pacassi into the seat of state institutions. The palace housed the Finance Ministry of the Austrian Empire from 1848 to 1918, since 1919, the palace has housed the Federal Ministry of Finance. From 2007 to 2013, the palace was extensively renovated, the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene is considered one of the most magnificent Baroque edifices in Vienna. In 1694 and 1695, Prince Eugene of Savoy purchased several old houses on Himmelpfortgasse in Vienna, in 1695, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach won the prestigious and lucrative contract to build a palace at this location for the prince. In 1697, Fischer von Erlach began constructing the seven-bay palace, Fischer von Erlachs construction manager was Andrea Simone Carove. The stonemasonry was done by the Viennese master Johann Thomas Schilck, the large portal with side reliefs—Hercules fighting the giant Antaeus on the left, and Aeneas saving his father from burning Troy on the right—was sculpted from Kaiserstein by Lorenzo Mattielli. During this first phase of construction, the staircase with Kaiserstein steps. The sculptures from Zogelsdorfer stone in the stairway were executed by Giovanni Giuliani, material deliveries were made by master Reichardt from Moenchhof Fux. In 1702, the project was taken over by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, during this phase of construction, some of the halls were completed, in particular the gold cabinet with oil paintings. Following the acquisition of the properties, the facade was extended in 1708 by 12 meters. The stonework for this work was provided by the Kaisersteinbrucher master Giovanni Battista Passerini, in 1710, the chapel and a gallery were added. The central focal point of the saloon with its frescoes by Marcantonio Chiarini dates from this time. In 1719, the palace was widened through the acquisition of the western area, the stonework was provided by Elias Hill. Lorenzo Mattielli crafted the entrance reliefs and courtyard fountains, upon the death of Prince Eugene in 1736, his niece Anna Viktoria of Savoy inherited the princes property. The palace was acquired by Empress Maria Theresa for the court in 1738
10.
21er Haus
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The 21er Haus or Einundzwanziger Haus is a modernist style steel and glass building designed by Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer. Between 1979 and 2001, the building acted as a depository for contemporary art works. From 2009 to 2011, it was remodeled by the architect Adolf Krischanitz, Karl Schwanzer designed the building in 1954 for the Austrian governments design competition for the national pavilion at the 1958 Worlds fair in Brussels. In 1955 he was awarded the first prize of the jury, Schwanzer explained that maximum effects had to be achieved with minimum effort as the Austrian budget was tighter than those of most other countries participating at Expo 58. The starting point was to put man at the centre of cultural and intellectual progress, in line with the events motto, Striking a balance for a human world. The building was designed as a structure, its upper 40 by 40 metre floor, six meters above the ground. Schwanzer was awarded the Grand Prix dArchitecture for his visionary design, fritz Wotruba created the monumental figural relief which was installed in front of the pavilion, for which he received the award for the Expos best artwork. On 30 January 1958, the daily newspaper Die Presse described the hall as a virtually ideal foundation for a Museum of Modern Art. After the fair, the pavilion was transferred to Vienna to house the Museum of the 20th Century, hence, the building was widely referred to as 20er Haus. The new museum was opened on 20 September 1962 and it immediately became a hot spot of the Viennese art world. Between 1979 and 2001 the building acted as a depository for contemporary art works, the 20er Haus was finally incorporated into the Austrian Gallery Belvedere in the early summer of 2002. However, the Belvedere museum lacked the funds for the necessary restructuring. As a result the building, which is a cultural heritage site stood empty for years. On 13 June 2008, renovation work started under the supervision of Adolf Krischanitz, at a cost of 31.9 million euros, the carrying capacity of the steel structure was adapted to the requirements of the building code. The ceilings were cleaned of asbestos and the glass roof was made shatterproof. The large window profiles were replaced with energy-saving double glazing, a six-storey office tower on the former parking lot was added with lettering describing the buildings purpose. On 20 September 2011 Federal Minister Claudia Schmied attended the celebration of the completion of the building, following the awarding of the BC21 Art Award for young, innovative artists. On 15 November 2011, the building was reopened after Krischanitz fitted it out as a museum with well organized exhibition spaces, the overall effect is an open museum structure with a total of 2,275 m2 exhibition space on the ground and upper floors
11.
Gustav Klimt
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Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, Klimts primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism. In addition to his works, which include allegories and portraits. Among the artists of the Vienna Secession, Klimt was the most influenced by Japanese art, early in his artistic career, he was a successful painter of architectural decorations in a conventional manner. He subsequently accepted no more commissions, but achieved a new success with the paintings of his golden phase. Klimts work was an important influence on his younger contemporary Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt was born in Baumgarten, near Vienna in Austria-Hungary, the second of seven children—three boys and four girls. His mother, Anna Klimt, had an ambition to be a musical performer. His father, Ernst Klimt the Elder, formerly from Bohemia, was a gold engraver, all three of their sons displayed artistic talent early on. Klimts younger brothers were Ernst Klimt and Georg Klimt, Klimt lived in poverty while attending the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, where he studied architectural painting until 1883. He revered Viennas foremost history painter of the time, Hans Makart, Klimt readily accepted the principles of a conservative training, his early work may be classified as academic. In 1877 his brother, Ernst, who, like his father, would become an engraver, the two brothers and their friend, Franz Matsch, began working together and by 1880 they had received numerous commissions as a team that they called the Company of Artists. They also helped their teacher in painting murals in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Klimt began his professional career painting interior murals and ceilings in large public buildings on the Ringstraße, including a successful series of Allegories and Emblems. In 1888 Klimt received the Golden Order of Merit from Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria for his contributions to murals painted in the Burgtheater in Vienna and he also became an honorary member of the University of Munich and the University of Vienna. In 1892 Klimts father and brother Ernst both died, and he had to assume responsibility for his fathers and brothers families. The tragedies also affected his vision and soon he would move towards a new personal style. Historians believe that Klimt with the nuda veritas denounced both the policy of the Habsburgs and the Austrian society, which ignored all political and social problems of that time. In the early 1890s Klimt met Austrian fashion designer Emilie Louise Flöge who was to be his companion until the end of his life and his painting, The Kiss, is thought to be an image of them as lovers. He designed many costumes she created and modeled in his works, during this period Klimt fathered at least fourteen children
12.
Egon Schiele
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Egon Schiele was an Austrian painter. A protégé of Gustav Klimt, Schiele was a figurative painter of the early 20th century. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, the twisted body shapes and the expressive line that characterize Schieles paintings and drawings mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism. Schiele was born in 1890 in Tulln, Lower Austria, as a child, Schiele was fascinated by trains, and would spend many hours drawing them, to the point where his father felt obliged to destroy his sketchbooks. When he was 11 years old, Schiele moved to the city of Krems to attend secondary school. To those around him, Schiele was regarded as a strange child, shy and reserved, he did poorly at school except in athletics and drawing, and was usually in classes made up of younger pupils. When he was sixteen he took the twelve-year-old Gerti by train to Trieste without permission, when Schiele was 15 years old, his father died from syphilis, and he became a ward of his maternal uncle, Leopold Czihaczek, also a railway official. In 1906 Schiele applied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna, where Gustav Klimt had once studied, within his first year there, Schiele was sent, at the insistence of several faculty members, to the more traditional Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna in 1906. In 1907, Schiele sought out Gustav Klimt, who generously mentored younger artists, Klimt took a particular interest in the young Schiele, buying his drawings, offering to exchange them for some of his own, arranging models for him and introducing him to potential patrons. He also introduced Schiele to the Wiener Werkstätte, the arts and crafts workshop connected with the Secession, in 1908 Schiele had his first exhibition, in Klosterneuburg. Schiele left the Academy in 1909, after completing his third year, Klimt invited Schiele to exhibit some of his work at the 1909 Vienna Kunstschau, where he encountered the work of Edvard Munch, Jan Toorop, and Vincent van Gogh among others. Once free of the constraints of the Academys conventions, Schiele began to not only the human form. At the time, many found the explicitness of his works disturbing, in 1913, the Galerie Hans Goltz, Munich, mounted Schieles first solo show. A solo exhibition of his took place in Paris in 1914. Schieles self-portraits helped re-establish the energy of both genres with their level of emotional and sexual honesty and use of figural distortion in place of conventional ideals of beauty. Egon Schiele’s Kneeling Nude with Raised Hands is considered among the most significant nude art pieces made during the 20th century, Schiele’s radical and developed approach towards the naked human form challenged both scholars and progressives alike. This unconventional piece and style went against strict academia and elevated a sexual uproar with its contorted lines, Schiele mastered the craft of contouring sexually charged beings to express emotional revolutions. In 1911, Schiele met the seventeen-year-old Walburga Neuzil, who lived with him in Vienna, very little is known of her, except that she had previously modelled for Gustav Klimt and might have been one of his mistresses
13.
Oskar Kokoschka
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Oskar Kokoschka was an Austrian artist, poet and playwright best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes. He was born in Pöchlarn, second child to Gustav Josef Kokoschka, a Czech goldsmith and his older brother died in infancy in 1887, he had a sister, Berta and a brother, Bohuslav. Oskar had a belief in omens, spurred by a story of a fire breaking out in Pöchlarn shortly after his mother gave birth to him. Kokoschkas life was not easy due to a lack of financial help from his father. They constantly moved into flats, farther and farther from the thriving center of the town. Concluding that his father was inadequate, Kokoschka drew closer to his mother, he felt that he was the head of the household, Kokoschka entered secondary school at Realschule, where emphasis was placed on the study of modern subjects such as science and language. Kokoschka was not interested in subjects, as he found he only excelled in art. This education of classic literature is said to have influenced his artwork, one of Kokoschkas professors suggested he pursue a career in fine art. Against his fathers will, Kokoschka applied to Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna, Kunstgewerbeschule was an extremely progressive school that focused mainly on architecture, furniture, crafts and modern design. Unlike the more prestigious and traditional Academy of Fine Art in Vienna, Kokoschka studied there from 1904 to 1909, and was influenced by his professor Carl Otto Czeschka in developing an original style. Among Kokoschkas early works were drawings of children, which portrayed them as awkward. Kokoschka had no training in painting and so approached the medium without regard to the traditional or correct way to paint. The teachers at Kunstgewerbeschule helped Kokoschka gain opportunities through the Wiener Werkstätte or Viennese Workshops, Kokoschkas first commissions were postcards and drawings for children. Kokoschka said that it gave him the basis of artistic training and his early career was marked by portraits of Viennese celebrities, painted in a nervously animated style. Kokoschka had a passionate, often stormy affair with Alma Mahler and it began in 1912, shortly after the death of her four-year-old daughter Maria Mahler and her affair with Walter Gropius. After several years together, Alma rejected him, explaining that she was afraid of being too overcome with passion and he continued to love her his entire life, and one of his greatest works, The Bride of the Wind, is a tribute to her. The poet Georg Trakl visited the studio while Kokoschka was painting this masterpiece, Kokoschkas poem Allos Makar was inspired by this relationship. He volunteered for service as a cavalryman in the Austrian army in World War I, at the hospital, the doctors decided that he was mentally unstable
14.
House of Habsburg
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The House of Habsburg, also called House of Hapsburg, or House of Austria, was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740, from the sixteenth century, following the reign of Charles V, the dynasty was split between its Austrian and Spanish branches. Although they ruled distinct territories, they maintained close relations. The House takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland, in the canton of Aargau, by Count Radbot of Klettgau. His grandson Otto II was the first to take the name as his own. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum through the 11th, 12th, by 1276, Count Radbots seventh generation descendant Rudolph of Habsburg had moved the familys power base from Habsburg Castle to the Duchy of Austria. Rudolph had become King of Germany in 1273, and the dynasty of the House of Habsburg was truly entrenched in 1276 when Rudolph became ruler of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918. A series of dynastic marriages enabled the family to expand its domains to include Burgundy, Spain and its colonial empire, Bohemia, Hungary. In the 16th century, the separated into the senior Habsburg Spain and the junior Habsburg Monarchy branches. The House of Habsburg became extinct in the 18th century, the senior Spanish branch ended upon the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 and was replaced by the House of Bourbon. It was succeeded by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine, the new successor house styled itself formally as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, although it was often referred to as simply the House of Habsburg. His grandson Radbot, Count of Habsburg founded the Habsburg Castle, the origins of the castles name, located in what is now the Swiss canton of Aargau, are uncertain. There is disagreement on whether the name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg, or from the Middle High German word hab/hap meaning ford, the first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108. The Habsburg Castle was the seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, in the 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They were also able to high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other families such as the House of Kyburg. By the second half of the 13th century, count Rudolph IV had become one of the most influential territorial lords in the area between the Vosges Mountains and Lake Constance
15.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
16.
Museum der Moderne Salzburg
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The Museum der Moderne Salzburg has two buildings at two different locations. The Rupertinum in the old town for new artistic concepts opened in 1983, owing to his personal friendship with Oskar Kokoschka the museum also received a great number of works from the Austrian expressionist. In 1983 the Rupertinum was opened as Salzburg Museum of Modern Art, the museums founding director Otto Breicha also integrated the Austrian Photographic Gallery into the museum, which has become the most important collection of contemporary Austrian photography. The Rupertinum, situated in the centre of the old town, was mentioned for the first time in 1350, under archbishop Paris Lodron, the town palace Collegium Rupertinum was used as seminary. Finished in 1633, the palace was built in early baroque style. The house has a prominent location between Franziskaner Church and Kollegien Church and has used as seminary by the Archdioceses of Salzburg for many centuries. Until 1974 the Rupertinum was used as student dormitory, in 1983 the Rupertinum was opened as Salzburg Museum of Modern Art and Graphic Collection. Over the years the facilities of the Rupertinum have been adapted to comply with international standards, today the building offers ideal conditions for exhibitions of graphics and photographs. On Max-Reinhardt-Square the building opens into a typical for houses of Salzburg’s old town. Perched on top of the cliff of Mönchsberg mountain, sixty metres above Anton-Neumayr-Square. An 11-member jury chaired by Luigi Snozzi, selected the design of the Munich-based team of architects Friedrich Hoff Zwink from among 145 submissions, the museum was built in three and a half years and offers maximum possibilities for a variety of exhibition formats on four levels. The entire outer facade is clad with local Untersberg marble, separated by vertical joints, since September 2013 Dr. Sabine Breitwieser is the new director of the Museum der Moderne Salzburg. She followed Toni Stooss who was more than 7 years director of the Museum, the exhibitions and activities in both museum buildings show modern and contemporary visual arts. Apart from the presentation of works of art, the Museum der Moderne Salzburg also serves as platform for contemporary representatives of the Austrian art scene. Besides paintings and sculptures the museum owns a collection of graphics. A further focus of the collection is Austrian photography after 1945, official website „Museumscheck“ on 3sat. de, Videos und TV-series about the Museum der Moderne
17.
Michael Pacher
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Michael Pacher was an Austrian painter and sculptor from Tyrol active during the second half of the fifteenth century. He was one of the earliest artists to introduce the principles of Renaissance painting into Germany, Pacher was a comprehensive artist with a broad range of sculpting, painting, and architecture skills producing works of complex wood and stone. He painted structures for altarpieces on a scale unparalleled in North European art, Pachers masterpiece, the St. Wolfgang Altarpiece, is considered one of the most remarkable carved and painted altar shrines in all of European art. It contains scenes from the life of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, Pachers other great work, the Altarpiece of the Church Fathers, created in 1483 for Neustift Monastery, combined painting and sculpture to produce a unique art form. Pachers influence was primarily North Italian, and his work shares characteristics with that of such as Andrea Mantegna. German influences, however, are evident in his work. Pachers fusion of Italian Renaissance and Northern Gothic realism helped him to produce a personal style of painting. Though Pachers exact date of birth is not certain, he was born c.1435 near Brixen on the slopes of the Alps in the County of Tyrol. Little is known of his training and his earliest recorded work is an altarpiece that was dated 1465 and signed, but which is now lost. Pacher visited Padua in northern Italy, where he heavily influenced by the modern fresco work of Andrea Mantegna. Mantegna was considered the master of perspective, whose stunning. Pachers Italian influences set him apart from most German artists of the time, by 1467 Pacher was a distinguished artist and sculptor in Bruneck, twenty-five miles east of Brixen in the Puster Valley, where he had a workshop for making altarpieces. His skill in carving and painting provided him with employment for German style altars. They usually consisted of carved figural centerpieces, carved Gothic summits on top, a platform where the stands below. Pacher spent much of his time during the 1470s in Neustift by Brixen, in 1484 he was commissioned by the Franciscan Order in Salzburg, to create an altarpiece, portions of which are still extant. Many of Pachers works have been destroyed or badly damaged, some of them during the hostilities in the late 17th century and his most important surviving works are the St. Wolfgang Altarpiece and the Altarpiece of the Church Fathers. His most famous work, the St. Wolfgang Altarpiece, remains in its original location, the altarpiece is a polyptych, or Wandelaltar, where a painting is divided into four or more segments or panels. There are two pairs of wings, and three different displays for use on different occasions, an everyday display, a Sunday display
18.
Jacob van Schuppen
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Jacob van Schuppen was a painter of Flemish descent who was known for his portraits, history paintings and genre scenes. He was court painter in Vienna, Jacob van Schuppen was born in Fontainebleau, France, as the son of Elisabeth de Mesmaker and the Flemish painter-engraver Pieter van Schuppen, who was originally from Antwerp. He worked in the Netherlands before moving to Vienna and he was taught to paint by his father and his uncle Nicolas de Largillière. In 1719 he was registered in Lunéville, but he moved in the year to Vienna. In 1725 he was appointed director of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, hofakademie der Maler, Bildhauer und Baukunst. In 1730, he taught Adam Friedrich Oeser and he was an influence on Daniel Gran, christian Hilfgott Brand and Carl Heinrich Brandt were among his pupils. Media related to Jacob van Schuppen at Wikimedia Commons
19.
Caspar David Friedrich
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Caspar David Friedrich was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation. He is best known for his mid-period allegorical landscapes which typically feature contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, morning mists, barren trees or Gothic or megalithic ruins. His primary interest as an artist was the contemplation of nature, Friedrich was born in the Pomeranian town of Greifswald at the Baltic Sea, where he began his studies in art as a young man. He studied in Copenhagen until 1798, before settling in Dresden and he came of age during a period when, across Europe, a growing disillusionment with materialistic society was giving rise to a new appreciation of spirituality. Friedrichs work brought him early in his career, and contemporaries such as the French sculptor David dAngers spoke of him as a man who had discovered the tragedy of landscape. Nevertheless, his work fell from favour during his years, and he died in obscurity. The early 20th century brought a renewed appreciation of his work, beginning in 1906 with an exhibition of thirty-two of his paintings and sculptures in Berlin. By the 1920s his paintings had been discovered by the Expressionists and it was not until the late 1970s that Friedrich regained his reputation as an icon of the German Romantic movement and a painter of international importance. Caspar David Friedrich was born on 5 September 1774, in Greifswald, Swedish Pomerania, the sixth of ten children, he was brought up in the strict Lutheran creed of his father Adolf Gottlieb Friedrich, a candle-maker and soap boiler. Records of the financial circumstances are contradictory, while some sources indicate the children were privately tutored. Caspar David was familiar with death from an early age and his mother, Sophie Dorothea Bechly, died in 1781 when he was just seven. A year later, his sister Elisabeth died, while a sister, Maria. Some accounts suggest that Johann Christoffer perished while trying to rescue Caspar David, Quistorp took his students on outdoor drawing excursions, as a result, Friedrich was encouraged to sketch from life at an early age. Through Quistorp, Friedrich met and was influenced by the theologian Ludwig Gotthard Kosegarten. Quistorp introduced Friedrich to the work of the German 17th-century artist Adam Elsheimer, whose works often included religious subjects dominated by landscape, during this period he also studied literature and aesthetics with Swedish professor Thomas Thorild. Four years later Friedrich entered the prestigious Academy of Copenhagen, where he began his education by making copies of casts from antique sculptures before proceeding to drawing from life, living in Copenhagen afforded the young painter access to the Royal Picture Gallerys collection of 17th-century Dutch landscape painting. At the Academy he studied under such as Christian August Lorentzen. Mood was paramount, and influence was drawn from sources as the Icelandic legend of Edda
20.
Hans Makart
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Makart was the son of a chamberlain at the Mirabell Palace, born in the former residence of the prince-archbishops of Salzburg. Initially, he received his training in painting at the Vienna Academy between 1850 and 1851 from Johann Fischbach, Makart, who was a poor draughtsman, but who had a passionate and sensual love of color, was impatient to escape the routine of art school drawing. For his fortune, he was found by his instructors to be devoid of all talent and he went to Munich, and after two years of independent study attracted the attention of Karl Theodor von Piloty, under whose guidance, between 1861 and 1865 he developed his painting style. During these years, Makart also travelled to London, Paris, the first picture he painted under Piloty, Lavoisier in Prison, though it was considered timid and conventional, attracted attention by its sense of color. In his next work, The Knight and the Water Nymphs and his fame became established in the next year, with two works, Modern Amoretti and The Plague in Florence. His painting Romeo and Juliet was soon bought by the Austrian emperor for the Vienna Museum. The prince Von Hohenlohe provided Makart with an old foundry at the Gusshausstraße 25 to use as a studio, eventually his studio looked like a salon and became a social meeting point in Vienna. Cosima Wagner described it as a wonder of decorative beauty, a sublime lumber-room and his luxurious studio served as a model for a great many upper middle-class living rooms. The opulent, semi-public spaces of the Makart atelier were the scene of a rendezvous between the artist and his public. In this way, an artist like Makart lived out the image that high society had created of him. He not only practised painting, but was also a designer, costume designer, furniture designer, and decorator. His work engendered the term Makartstil, or Makart style, which characterized the era. This became known as the Makart-parade, and had given the people of Vienna the chance to dress up in historical costumes, at the head of the parade was a float for artists, led by Makart on a white horse. His festivals became an institution in Vienna which lasted up until the 1960s, in the same year as the first parade he became a Professor at the Vienna Academy. In the United States, the painting fell under the proscription of Anthony Comstock, the American public desired at once to see what Comstock was persecuting, so they could tell whether he was acting correctly or in error. In 1882, emperor Franz Josef ordered the building of the Villa Hermes at Lainz for his empress, Makart designed for him a dreamworld that still exists at the Villa Hermes as a large painting. Unfortunately his design was never executed after his death in 1884. His collection of antiques and art consisted of 1083 pieces and was put up for auction by art-dealer H. O, salzburgs Makart Square, or Makartplatz, was named after the painter
21.
The Kiss (Klimt)
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The Kiss was painted by the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt between 1907 and 1908, the highpoint of his Golden Period, when he painted a number of works in a similar gilded style. The work is composed of oil paint with applied layers of gold leaf, the painting is now in the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum in the Belvedere palace, Vienna, and is widely considered a masterpiece of the early modern period. It is a symbol of Vienna Jugendstil—Viennese Art Nouveau—and is considered Klimts most popular work and it was painted soon after his three-part Vienna Ceiling series which created a scandal and were criticized as both pornography and evidence of perverted excess. The works had recast the artist as an enfant terrible for his anti-authoritarian and he wrote, If you can not please everyone with your deeds and your art, please a few. By contrast, The Kiss was enthusiastically received, and immediately found a buyer, Klimt depicts the couple locked in intimacy, while the rest of the painting dissolves into shimmering, extravagant flat pattern. The patterning suggests the style of Art Nouveau and the forms of the Arts and Crafts movement. At the same time the background evokes the conflict between two- and three-dimensionality intrinsic to the work of Degas and other modernists, paintings such as The Kiss were visual manifestations of fin-de-siecle spirit because they capture a decadence conveyed by opulent and sensuous images. The mans head ends very close to the top of the canvas, the two figures are situated at the edge of a patch of flowery meadow. The man wears a robe with black and white rectangles irregularly placed on gold leaf decorated with spirals and he wears a crown of vines while the woman is shown in a tight-fitting dress with flower-like round or oval motifs on a background of parallel wavy lines. Similarly juxtaposed couples appear in both Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze and Stoclet Frieze and it is thought that Klimt and his companion Emilie Flöge modeled for the work. But there is no evidence or record to prove this, others suggest the female was the model known as Red Hilda, she bears strong resemblance to the model in his Woman with feather boa, Goldfish and Danaë. Klimts use of gold was inspired by a trip he had made to Italy in 1903, when he visited Ravenna he saw the Byzantine mosaics in the Church of San Vitale. For Klimt the flatness of the mosaics and their lack of perspective and depth only enhanced their golden brilliance and it has also been argued that in this picture Klimt represented the moment Apollo kisses Daphne, following the metamorphosis of Ovid narrative. Alfred Weidinger, Stefanie Penck, Gustav Klimt The Kiss, berlin, Jovis Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-86859-310-5 Schwartz, Agatha. Gender and Modernity in Central Europe, the Lady in Gold, The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimts Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, ISBN 0-307-26564-1. Julio Vives Chillida, El significado iconográfico de El beso, de Gustav Klimt, comunicación al primer Coup de Fouet Art nouveau International Congress, Barcelona, Gustav Klimt at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere
22.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
