Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg, its total length is 1,094 kilometres. The Elbe's major tributaries include the rivers Vltava, Havel, Schwarze Elster, Ohře; the Elbe river basin, comprising the Elbe and its tributaries, has a catchment area of 148,268 square kilometres, the fourth largest in Europe. The basin spans four countries, with its largest parts in the Czech Republic. Much smaller parts lie in Poland; the basin is inhabited by 24.4 million people. The Elbe rises at an elevation of about 1,400 metres in the Krkonoše on the northwest borders of the Czech Republic near Labská bouda. Of the numerous small streams whose waters compose the infant river, the most important is the Bílé Labe, or White Elbe. After plunging down the 60 metres of the Labský vodopád, or Elbe Falls, the latter stream unites with the steeply torrential Malé Labe, thereafter the united stream of the Elbe pursues a southerly course, emerging from the mountain glens at Jaroměř, where it receives Úpa and Metuje.
Here the Elbe enters the vast vale named Polabí, continues on southwards through Hradec Králové and to Pardubice, where it turns to the west. At Kolín some 43 kilometres further on, it bends towards the north-west. At the village of Káraný, a little above Brandýs nad Labem, it picks up the Jizera. At Mělník its stream is more than doubled in volume by the Vltava, or Moldau, a major river which winds northwards through Bohemia. Upstream from the confluence the Vltava is in fact much longer, has a greater discharge and a larger drainage basin. Nonetheless, for historical reasons the river retains the name Elbe because at the confluence point it is the Elbe that flows through the main, wider valley while the Vltava flows into the valley to meet the Elbe at a right angle, thus appears to be the tributary river; some distance lower down, at Litoměřice, the waters of the Elbe are tinted by the reddish Ohře. Thus augmented, swollen into a stream 140 metres wide, the Elbe carves a path through the basaltic mass of the České Středohoří, churning its way through a picturesque, deep and curved rocky gorge.
Shortly after crossing the Czech-German frontier, passing through the sandstone defiles of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, the stream assumes a north-westerly direction, which on the whole it preserves right to the North Sea. The river rolls through Dresden and beyond Meißen, enters on its long journey across the North German Plain passing along the former western border of East Germany, touching Torgau, Dessau, Magdeburg and Hamburg on the way, taking on the waters of the Mulde and Saale from the west, those of the Schwarze Elster and Elde from the east. In its northern section both banks of the Elbe are characterised by flat fertile marshlands, former flood plains of the Elbe now diked. At Magdeburg there is a viaduct, the Magdeburg Water Bridge, that carries a canal and its shipping traffic over the Elbe and its banks, allowing shipping traffic to pass under it unhindered. From the sluice of Geesthacht on downstream the Elbe is subject to the tides, the tidal Elbe section is called the Low Elbe.
Soon the Elbe reaches Hamburg. Within the city-state the Unterelbe has a number of branch streams, such as Dove Elbe, Gose Elbe, Köhlbrand, Northern Elbe, Southern Elbe; some of which have been disconnected for vessels from the main stream by dikes. In 1390 the Gose Elbe was separated from the main stream by a dike connecting the two then-islands of Kirchwerder and Neuengamme; the Dove Elbe was diked off in 1437/38 at Gammer Ort. These hydraulic engineering works were carried out to protect marshlands from inundation, to improve the water supply of the Port of Hamburg. After the heavy inundation by the North Sea flood of 1962 the western section of the Southern Elbe was separated, becoming the Old Southern Elbe, while the waters of the eastern Southern Elbe now merge into the Köhlbrand, bridged by the Köhlbrandbrücke, the last bridge over the Elbe before the North Sea; the Northern Elbe passes the Elbe Philharmonic Hall and is crossed under by the old Elbe Tunnel, both in Hamburg's city centre.
A bit more downstream the Low Elbe's two main anabranches Northern Elbe and the Köhlbrand reunite south of Altona-Altstadt, a locality of Hamburg. Right after both anabranches reunited the Low Elbe is passed under by the New Elbe Tunnel, the last structural road link crossing the river before the North Sea. At the bay Mühlenberger Loch in Hamburg at kilometre 634, the Northern Elbe and the Southern Elbe used to reunite, why the bay is seen as the starting point of the Lower Elbe. Leaving the city-state the Lower Elbe passes between Holstein and the Elbe-Weser Triangle with Stade until it flows into the North Sea at Cuxhaven. Near its mouth it passes the entrance to the Kiel Canal at Brunsbüttel before it debouches into the North Sea; the Elbe has been navigable by commercial ve
Písek
Písek is a middle-sized town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. In 2011, Pisek has a population of 29,729, its semi-urban agglomeration has a population of 36,791 people. Písek is colloquially called "Athens of Southern Bohemia", because it has many high schools and schools of higher education, including the Film School in Písek. Up to the last decades of 19th century Písek was a centre of the large autonomous Prácheň Region; the city, spreading on slopes of several hills, sits along the river Otava. There are several steep streets and some suburbs lie more than 70–90 metres above the city centre. Much of its surroundings is covered by deciduous woodlands mixed with high number of various coniferous trees. Flow of several local brooks is slowed down by artificial tiny lakes and dikes, creating mozaic of wetter and drier places, a safe haven for nesting and migrating birds; this South Bohemian town was, up to its serious damage in 1620, one of the biggest towns in Bohemia. It is considered to be of prehistorical origin, when it was established as a royal city in the beginning of the 13th century - but in these times one part of to-be town had been still inhabited by descendants of German-Celtic predecessors.
The oldest town in the area of modern Písek was Hradiště. Close to this place remnants of two graves of Celtic kings can be found. Pisek was called Meliodunum on Ptolemaios`map of the 2nd Century - Germanic city at that time. In the 12th century, Germans were called back as settlers. Písek has still his unique atmosphere and has a well-preserved, picturesque medieval centre with number of narrow alleys. A large part of Písek encircling its city core was built in the 19th century, so one can still find there many buildings built in classical or neo-styles around tree-lined boulevards. In Písek is the oldest bridge in the Czech Republic; the climate in Písek is known to have a milder and drier microclimate because it is well protected from all sides against winds. Písek enjoys a cool inland version of a humid continental climate with rather balanced temperatures year round and rare deep negative extremes. Lying in a rainshadow causes low precipitations, vastly in form of rain. There are four distinctive seasons with cold and wet winter starting in late November and ending abruptly in the first half of March, changing into much sunnier and warmer spring which ends during May.
Local summer, sunny and wet continues up to its end in the first half of September. Autumn cooling and much drier lasts into the end of November. Weather can be changeable with year-round rotation of two main patterns - continental fronts and more extreme-prone, oceanic fronts, bringing in murkier, wetter yet equable conditions. Average round the clock temperatures in July stay on 19.14 °C and January mean temperatures stay on −0.91 °C. The whole year average is 8.98 °C. The town is sunnier than its wind-prone high-grounded vicinity with some 1,750 hours of sunshine with the most sunlight occurring between March and September, murky period between November–January. While last spring frost was recorded on May 18 and the first autumn frost was recorded on 18 September, i.e. 121 days without any frost, most years have frost-free period between early-April until mid of October. Extreme cold weather has reached -22.9 °C and extreme hot +42.0 °C. Písek falls into 7a zone according to USDA zoning with average year absolute minimal temperature at −16.4 °C and into AHS heat zone 4 with only 15 days annually with temperatures crossing 86 °F - normal year has maximal temperature of 34.83 °C.
Number of days with at least 25 °C is 56 per a year. Písek has great differences between daily minimal and maximal temperatures due to its position far inland. Písek is shielded from the northeastern winds by the Písek Mountains whose highest peak 633 metres high is located 5 kilometres to southeast from Pisek. Otava river, still bearing the ancient Celtic name, flows through the city and the lowest point is located on its shores. Písek is connected by the D4 motorway by the I/20 and I/29 highways; the I/20 travels northwest to Plzeň and southeast to České Budějovice, while the I/29 travels east to Tábor. Písek railway station lies on the Zdice -- Tábor -- Ražice rail lines; the Plzeň-České Budějovice line passes through nearby Ražice. Charles IV – 14th-century king of Kingdom of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor John I of Bohemia – 14th-century king of Kingdom of Bohemia Přemysl Otakar II – 13th-century king of Kingdom of Bohemia Václav IV – 15th-century king of Kingdom of Bohemia Mikoláš Aleš – painter Jan Čarek - poet, literary critic George Mraz - bassist Ferdinand Hart - actor Franz Hedrich - poet Adolf Heyduk – poet Josef Holeček – writer Janek Juzek – major exporter of orchestral string instruments to New York City Jan Mukařovský - literature theorist Kateřina Neumannová – cross-country skier August Sedláček – historian Otakar Ševčík – violin teacher Fráňa Šrámek – poet Tomáš Verner - figure skater, European champion 2008 Tomáš Zíb - tennis-player Caerphilly, United Kingdom Lemvig, Denmark Smiltene, Latvia Velky Krtis, Slovakia Wetzlar, Germany Church of the Nativity of the Bl
Velence
Velence is a town in the county of Fejér, Hungary, on the shore of Lake Velence. Its name is the same in Hungarian as that of the Italian city of Venice, though they are suffixed differently. Klára Somogyi, Hungarian tennis player Zsolt Szekeres, Hungarian football player Péter Kun, Hungarian hard rock guitarist Anita Kulcsár, Hungarian handball player Alajos Hauszmann, Hungarian architect, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Official website in Hungarian
Vienna Offensive
The Vienna Offensive was launched by the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in order to capture Vienna, during World War II. The offensive lasted from 2 April to 13 April 1945; the Soviets placed the city under siege. After a few days’ street fighting, the defenders had destroyed all but two of the Danube bridges, the Panzers escaped encirclement; the incoming Soviets devastated the old city, there was much brutality against civilians. Stalin approved the restoration of Austria as a sovereign country. Joseph Stalin reached an agreement with the Western Allies prior to April 1945 concerning the relative postwar political influence of each party in much of Eastern and Central Europe; as a result, the victory of a Soviet offensive toward Austria and the liberation by the Red Army of a large part of this country would have been beneficial for subsequent postwar negotiations with the Western Allies. After the failure of Operation Spring Awakening, Sepp Dietrich's 6th SS Panzer Army retreated in stages to the Vienna area.
The Germans prepared defensive positions in an attempt to guard the city against the arriving Soviets. In Spring 1945, the advance of Soviet General Fyodor Tolbukhin's 3rd Ukrainian Front through western Hungary gathered momentum on both sides of the Danube.. After they took Sopron and Nagykanizsa crossed the border between Austria. On 25 March, the 2nd Ukrainian Front launched the Bratislava–Brno Offensive by crossing the Hron river. On 30 March the Front crossed the Nitra River and rushed across the Danubian Lowland towards Bratislava. Having secured his right wing by 2nd Ukrainian Front, Tolbukhin was now ready to advance into Austria and take Vienna. On 2 April, Vienna Radio denied. On the same day, Soviet troops approached Vienna from the south after they overran Wiener Neustadt, Eisenstadt and Gloggnitz. Baden and Bratislava were overrun on 4 April. After arriving in the Vienna area, the armies of the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front surrounded and attacked the city. Involved in this action were the Soviet 4th Guards Army, the Soviet 6th Guards Tank Army, the Soviet 9th Guards Army, the Soviet 46th Army.
The "O-5 Resistance Group," Austrians led by Carl Szokoll, wanting to spare Vienna destruction attempted to sabotage the German defenses and to aid the entry of the Red Army. The only major German force facing the Soviet attackers was the German II SS Panzer Corps of the 6th SS Panzer Army, along with ad hoc forces made up of garrison and anti-aircraft units. Declared a defensive region, Vienna's defense was commanded by General Rudolf von Bünau, with the II SS Panzer Corps units under the command of SS General Wilhelm Bittrich; the battle for the Austrian capital was characterized in some cases by fierce urban combat, but there were parts of the city the Soviets advanced into with little opposition. Defending in the Prater Park was the 6th Panzer Division, along the south side of the city were the 2nd and 3rd SS Panzer Divisions, in the north was the Führer-Grenadier Division; the Soviets assaulted Vienna's eastern and southern suburbs with the 4th Guards Army and part of the 9th Guards Army.
The German defenders kept the Soviets out of the city’s southern suburbs until 7 April. However, after achieving several footholds in the southern suburbs, the Soviets moved into the western suburbs of the city on 8 April with the 6th Guards Tank Army and the bulk of the 9th Guards Army; the western suburbs were important to the Soviets because they included Vienna's main railway station. The Soviet success in the western suburbs was followed by infiltration of the eastern and northern suburbs the same day. North of the Danube River, the 46th Army pushed westward through Vienna's northern suburbs. Central Vienna was now cut off from the rest of Austria. By the 9th of April, the Soviet troops began to infiltrate the center of the city, but the street fighting continued for several more days. On the night of 11 April, the 4th Guards Army stormed the Danube canals, with the 20th Guards Rifle Corps and 1st Mechanized Corps moving on the Reichsbrücke Bridge. In a coup de main on 13 April, the Danube Flotilla landed troops of the 80th Guards Rifle Division and 7th Guards Airborne Division on both sides of the bridge, cutting demolition cables and securing the bridge.
However, other important bridges were destroyed. Vienna fell when the last defenders in the city surrendered on the same day. Bittrich's II SS Panzer Corps, pulled out to the west on the evening of 13 April to avoid encirclement; the same day, the 46th Army took Essling and the Danube Flotilla landed naval infantry up the river by Klosterneuburg. While the street fighting was still intensifying in the southern and western suburbs of Vienna on 8 April, other troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front by-passed Vienna altogether and advanced on Linz and Graz. On the 10th, all but two of the bridges in the city had been destroyed; the Floridsdorf bridge had been left intact by a Fuehrer Order dictating that the bridge be held at all costs. The 2nd SS Panzer, "Das Reich" left a dozen artillery pieces including 37mm anti-aircraft guns to hold off enemy attacks; that night, the "Das Reich", including their last remaining three dozen armored vehicles, pulled out of the city for the last time. Vienna had fallen, the Germans now moved northwest to hold the next defensive line.
By 15 April, armies of the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front pushed further into Austria. The ex
Retz
Retz is a town with a population of 4,168 in the Hollabrunn District in Lower Austria, Austria. Retz is located in the north western Weinviertel in Lower Austria; the municipality's area covers 45,01 km². 11.83 percent of this area is forested. Cadastral municipalities are Hofern, Kleinhöflein, Obernalb and Unternalb. In the area around the present-day Anger of Retz a village was formed, first mentioned in 1180 as „Rezze“. Rudolf von Habsburg awarded Count Berthold of Rabenswalde shire and sovereignty of Hardegg as a fiefdom; the count did not stay for long in Hardegg, moved to Retz, where he founded the monastery of the Dominican Order. The monastery was finished in 1295, he founded the city of Retz around 1300. Around 1343 the preacher Franz von Retz was born, he reformed the Dominican Order, taught at the University of Vienna, was their Dean for five times, represented the university at the Council of Pisa. He died on September 1427, in Vienna. In 1425, the Hussites conquered Retz, only a few days Schrattenthal and Pulkau.
The city was destroyed and many people were killed. A chronicle from Klosterneuburg reported of 6000 captives, among them Count Heinrich of Maidburg, who were led to Prague. Nearly 8000 men were said to be over 30 Catholic churches destroyed. In 1431 the Hussites came to raid Retz for a second time. In 1467 the Burgerspitalkapelle, located between the Verderberhaus and the Znaimer Tor,was consecrated, it was secularized in 1783. Today it serves as a museum for the South Moravian gallery. After the reconstruction of the city Retz was conquered by Matthias Corvinus on October 10, 1486, after a six-day siege; until 1492 Retz belonged to his dominion. During that time the city received the privileges concerning the trade of wine which were responsible for its future wealth; as a consequence of these privileges the huge and multi-storied wine cellar system was built. Today it serves as the location for a Christmas market during Advent. From 1568 to 1569 the former church on the main square was transformed into the city's town hall by implementing an intermediate ceiling.
In the first floor the Marienkapelle was built. The cabinetmaker Jakob Barth of Retz was working for over 30 years on the carvings. In 1576, the Sgraffitohaus was built. In 1928, the overpainted paintings were uncovered again; the eye-catching Verderberhaus originates to the year 1583. It has its name from a family named Verderber, a wealthy family in Retz at that time; the family acquired the building in 1848. The Thirty Years' War brought destruction to the town, did the Swedes under Lennart Torstensson, who set up his headquarters in Schrattenthal. Between 1660 and 1670 the castle of the Suttner-Gatterburg family was built. Today it is home to the bicycle museum of Retz. During the shootings for the TV series Julia - eine außergewöhnliche Frau between 1998 and 2002, the fictional police station was situated there. In 1680 the bubonic plague came to the town; the Pestsäule on the main square still recalls this dramatic event. After 1696 it was permitted to build buildings higher than the city's defensive wall.
This was the reason for the Dominican Order to increase the size of their monastery by a third story. In the years 1701 to 1713 the spire was revamped in the baroque style. Between 1721 and 1728 the church as a whole was enlarged and revamped in the baroque style; the altarpiece showing Saint Stephen, painted by Leopold Kupelwieser, dates from the year 1852. The first windmill in Retz was built out of wood in 1772. A second windmill, built out of stone, was erected nearby; the second windmill is not used as a windmill anymore, now serves as a residential house. In 1831 the wooden windmill was removed and a new windmill was built on the same spot; this is still one of the town's landmarks today, for it is the only functional windmill left in Austria. There was a bricklayer from Lesná u Znojma involved in this project, he used the knowledge he acquired to build a windmill in his hometown, inherited by the son of the miller of Retz. In 1927, the windmill was shut down. Not far from the windmill the Kalvarienberg is located.
It was erected in the years 1727–37 by Jakob Seer. On November 1, 1871, Retz was connected to the international railway system by the Austrian Northwestern Railway. In 1896, a Jewish house of prayer was built; the local post office dates from the year 1897. Mayor of the town is Karl Heilinger, chief officer is Andreas Sedlmayer. In the municipal council there are 25 seats and the distribution of mandates after the municipal council election from March 6, 2005 is as follows: ÖVP 16, SPÖ 8, Greens 1, other parties no seats. Retz is twinned with the following cities: Rötz, Germany Hainburg, Germany Znojmo, Czech Republic Hauptplatz with Pranger, town hall and Sgraffitohaus. Beneath the Hauptplatz is the extensive wine cellar system Gatterburg castle Dominikanerkirche and monastery Parish church Saint Stephen Windmill of Retz Calvary Military cemetery built in 1979 where all German soldiers who fell in the Weinviertel are buried together since Fahrradmuseum at Gatterburg castle Retzer Erlebniskeller, one of the biggest cellar systems in Mitteleuropa Museum Retz Weintage - annual, 10 days from Corpus Christi on Weinlesefest - annual, Friday to Sunday on the last weekend of September Kürbisfest im Retzer L
Zámoly
Zámoly is a village in Fejér county, Hungary. Media related to Zámoly at Wikimedia Commons Street map
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army shortened to Red Army was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, after 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established after the 1917 October Revolution; the Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. Beginning in February 1946, the Red Army, along with the Soviet Navy, embodied the main component of the Soviet Armed Forces; the Red Army provided the largest land force in the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War II, its invasion of Manchuria assisted the unconditional surrender of Imperial Japan. During operations on the Eastern Front, it accounted for 75–80% of casualties the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS suffered during the war and captured the Nazi German capital, Berlin. In September 1917, Vladimir Lenin wrote: "There is only one way to prevent the restoration of the police, and, to create a people's militia and to fuse it with the army."
At the time, the Imperial Russian Army had started to collapse. 23% of the male population of the Russian Empire were mobilized. The Tsarist general Nikolay Dukhonin estimated that there had been 2 million deserters, 1.8 million dead, 5 million wounded and 2 million prisoners. He estimated the remaining troops as numbering 10 million. While the Imperial Russian Army was being taken apart, "it became apparent that the rag-tag Red Guard units and elements of the imperial army who had gone over the side of the Bolsheviks were quite inadequate to the task of defending the new government against external foes." Therefore, the Council of People's Commissars decided to form the Red Army on 28 January 1918. They envisioned a body "formed from the class-conscious and best elements of the working classes." All citizens of the Russian republic aged 18 or older were eligible. Its role being the defense "of the Soviet authority, the creation of a basis for the transformation of the standing army into a force deriving its strength from a nation in arms, furthermore, the creation of a basis for the support of the coming Socialist Revolution in Europe."
Enlistment was conditional upon "guarantees being given by a military or civil committee functioning within the territory of the Soviet Power, or by party or trade union committees or, in extreme cases, by two persons belonging to one of the above organizations." In the event of an entire unit wanting to join the Red Army, a "collective guarantee and the affirmative vote of all its members would be necessary." Because the Red Army was composed of peasants, the families of those who served were guaranteed rations and assistance with farm work. Some peasants who remained at home yearned to join the Army. If they were turned away they would prepare care-packages. In some cases the money they earned would go towards tanks for the Army; the Council of People's Commissars appointed itself the supreme head of the Red Army, delegating command and administration of the army to the Commissariat for Military Affairs and the Special All-Russian College within this commissariat. Nikolai Krylenko was the supreme commander-in-chief, with Aleksandr Myasnikyan as deputy.
Nikolai Podvoisky became the commissar for Pavel Dybenko, commissar for the fleet. Proshyan, Steinberg were specified as people's commissars as well as Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich from the Bureau of Commissars. At a joint meeting of Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, held on 22 February 1918, Krylenko remarked: "We have no army; the demoralized soldiers are fleeing, panic-stricken, as soon as they see a German helmet appear on the horizon, abandoning their artillery and all war material to the triumphantly advancing enemy. The Red Guard units are brushed aside like flies. We have no power to stay the enemy; the Russian Civil War occurred in three periods: October 1917 – November 1918: From the Bolshevik Revolution to the First World War Armistice, developed from the Bolshevik government's nationalization of traditional Cossack lands in November 1917. This provoked the insurrection of General Alexey Maximovich Kaledin's Volunteer Army in the River Don region; the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk aggravated Russian internal politics.
The situation encouraged direct Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, in which twelve foreign countries supported anti-Bolshevik militias. A series of engagements resulted, amongst others, the Czechoslovak Legion, the Polish 5th Rifle Division, the pro-Bolshevik Red Latvian Riflemen. January 1919 – November 1919: Initially the White armies advanced: from the south, under General Anton Denikin; the Whites defeated the Red Army on each front. Leon Trotsky reformed and counterattacked: the Red Army repelled Admiral Kolchak's army in June, the armies of General Denikin and General Yudenich in October. By mid-Nove
Soviet Union
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