1.
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
2.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
3.
States of Germany
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Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen federal states. Since todays Germany was formed from a collection of several states, it has a federal constitution. The remaining 13 states are called Flächenländer, the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 was through the unification of the western states created in the aftermath of World War II. West Berlin, while not part of the Federal Republic, was largely integrated and considered as a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, in 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as the Saarland. Federalism is one of the constitutional principles of Germany. After 1945, new states were constituted in all four zones of occupation, in 1949, the states in the three western zones formed the Federal Republic of Germany. This is in contrast to the development in Austria, where the Bund was constituted first. The use of the term Länder dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, before this time, the constituent states of the German Empire were called Staaten. Today, it is common to use the term Bundesland. However, this term is not used officially, neither by the constitution of 1919 nor by the Basic Law of 1949, three Länder call themselves Freistaaten, Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia. He summarizes the arguments for boundary reform in Germany. The German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation, too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated. But several proposals have failed so far, territorial reform remains a topic in German politics. Federalism has a tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states numbering more than 300 around 1796, the number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars. After the Congress of Vienna,39 states formed the German Confederation, the new German Empire included 25 states and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The empire was dominated by Prussia, which controlled 65% of the territory, after the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles, the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation
4.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
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Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is a federal state in northern Germany. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the sixth largest German state by area, and the least densely populated, three of Germanys fourteen national parks are in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in addition to several hundred nature conservation areas. Major cities include Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Greifswald, Wismar, the University of Rostock and the University of Greifswald are among the oldest in Europe. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was the site of the 33rd G8 summit in 2007, due to its lengthy name, the state is often abbreviated as MV or shortened to MeckPomm. In English, it is translated as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania or literally Mecklenburg-Cispomerania. Inhabitants are called either Mecklenburger or Pomeranians, the form is never used. The full name in German is pronounced and this is because the digraph <ck> marks a preceding short vowel in High German. Mecklenburg however is within the historical Low German language area, another explanation is that the c comes from a mannerism in High German officialese of writing unnecessary letters, a so-called Letternhäufelung. Human settlement in the area of modern Mecklenburg and Vorpommern began after the Ice Age, about two thousand years ago, Germanic peoples were recorded in the area. Most of them left during the Migration Period, heading towards Spain, Italy, in the 6th century Polabian Slavs populated the area. While Mecklenburg was settled by the Obotrites, Vorpommern was settled by the Veleti, along the coast, Vikings and Slavs established trade posts like Reric, Ralswiek and Menzlin. In the 12th century, Mecklenburg and Vorpommern were conquered by Henry the Lion and incorporated into the Duchy of Saxony, all of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was settled with Germans in the Ostsiedlung process, starting in the 12th century. In the late 12th century, Henry the Lion, Duke of the Saxons, conquered the Obotrites, subjugated its Nikloting dynasty, in the course of time, German monks, nobility, peasants and traders arrived to settle here. After the 12th century, the territory remained stable and relatively independent of its neighbours, Mecklenburg first became a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire in 1348. Though later partitioned and re-partitioned within the dynasty, Mecklenburg always shared a common history. The states of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz became Grand Duchies in 1815, Vorpommern, litererally Fore-Pomerania, is the smaller, western part of the former Prussian Province of Pomerania, the eastern part became part of Poland after the end of World War II. In the Middle Ages, the area was ruled by the Pomeranian dukes as part of the Duchy of Pomerania, Pomerania was under Swedish rule after the Peace of Westphalia from 1648 until 1815 as Swedish Pomerania. Pomerania became a province of Prussia in 1815 and remained so until 1945, wartime In May 1945, the armies of the Soviet Union and the Western allies met east of Schwerin
5.
Districts of Germany
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A German district is an administrative subdivision known as Landkreis, except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where it is known simply as Kreis. Most major cities in Germany are not part of a rural district, in this context, those cities are referred to as Kreisfreie Stadt or Stadtkreis. Rural districts are at a level of administration between the German states and the municipal governments. They correspond to level 3 administrative units of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, previously, the similar title Reichskreis was given to groups of states in the Holy Roman Empire. The related term Landeskommissariat was used for administrative divisions in some German territories until the 19th century. The majority of German districts are rural districts of which there are 295, cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not usually belong to a district, but take over district responsibilities themselves, similar to the concept of independent cities. These are known as urban districts —cities which constitute a district in their own there are currently 107 of them. As of 2011, approximately 25 million people live in these 107 urban districts, in North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Recklinghausen, Siegen, Paderborn, Bergisch Gladbach, Neuss and Moers. Nevertheless, these cities take over many district responsibilities themselves, although they are part of a larger rural district. Midsize towns can perform particular administrative functions of the district as well, the classification as midsize town is usually based on a towns registered population, but varies from state to state. Aachen, Hanover and Göttingen retain certain rights of an urban district, urban districts have these responsibilities and also those of the municipalities. The district council is the highest institution of a district and is responsible for all fundamental guidelines of regional self-administration. This council is elected every five years, except in Bavaria where it is elected every six years. Usually the administrative seat of a district is located in one of its largest towns. However, district council and administrative seat of rural districts are not situated within the district proper. Most of those districts are named after this central city as well. Moers is the biggest city in Germany that is neither an urban district, in parts of northern Germany, Landrat is also the name of the entire district administration, which in southern Germany is known as Kreisverwaltung or Landratsamt. In urban districts similar administrative functions are performed by a mayor, rural districts in some German states have an additional administrative commission called Kreisausschuss
6.
Vorpommern-Greifswald
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Vorpommern-Greifswald is a district in the east of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte and Vorpommern-Rügen, the Baltic Sea, Poland, the name of the district was decided by referendum on 4 September 2011. The project name for the district was Südvorpommern
7.
Burgomaster
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The name in English was derived from the Dutch burgemeester. In some cases, Burgomaster was the title of the head of state and head of government of a sovereign city-state, contemporary titles are commonly translated into English as mayor. Bürgermeister, in German, in Germany, Austria, and formerly in Switzerland, in Switzerland, the title was abolished mid-19th century, various current titles for roughly equivalent offices include Gemeindepräsident, Stadtpräsident, Gemeindeamtmann, and Stadtamtmann. Oberbürgermeister is the most common version for a mayor in a big city in Germany, the Ober- prefix is used in many ranking systems for the next level up including military designations. The mayors of cities, which comprise one of Germanys 112 urban districts usually bear this title. Urban districts are comparable to independent cities in the English-speaking world, however, also the mayors of some cities, which do not comprise an urban district, but often used to comprise one until the territorial reforms in the 1970s, bear the title Oberbürgermeister. In the Netherlands nominated by the council but appointed by the crown. In theory above the parties, in practice a high-profile party-political post, bourgmestre in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Democratic Republic of the Congo Bürgermeister Burmistras, derived from German. Burmistrz, a title, derived from German. The German form Oberbürgermeister is often translated as Nadburmistrz, the German-derived terminology reflects the involvement of German settlers in the early history of many Polish towns. Borgmästare, kommunalborgmästare, the title is not used in Sweden in present times, boargemaster Pormestari In history in many free imperial cities the function of burgomaster was usually held simultaneously by three persons, serving as an executive college. One of the three being burgomaster in chief for a year, the second being the prior burgomaster in chief, präsidierender Bürgermeister is now an obsolete formulation sometimes found in historic texts
8.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
9.
Vehicle registration plate
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A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or a license plate, is metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the owner within the issuing regions database. The first two letters indicate the state to which the vehicle is registered, the next two digit numbers are the sequential number of a district. Due to heavy volume of vehicle registration, the numbers were given to the RTO offices of registration as well, the third part indicates the year of registration of the vehicle and is a 4 digit number unique to each plate. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, the government holds a monopoly on the manufacturing of vehicle registration plates for that jurisdiction. Thus, it is illegal for private citizens to make and affix their own plates. Alternately, the government will merely assign plate numbers, and it is the owners responsibility to find an approved private supplier to make a plate with that number. In some jurisdictions, plates will be assigned to that particular vehicle for its lifetime. If the vehicle is destroyed or exported to a different country. Other jurisdictions follow a policy, meaning that when a vehicle is sold the seller removes the current plate from the vehicle. Buyers must either obtain new plates or attach plates they already hold, as well as register their vehicles under the buyers name, a person who sells a car and then purchases a new one can apply to have the old plates put onto the new car. One who sells a car and does not buy a new one may, depending on the laws involved, have to turn the old plates in or destroy them. Some jurisdictions permit the registration of the vehicle with personal plates, in some jurisdictions, plates require periodic replacement, often associated with a design change of the plate itself. Vehicle owners may or may not have the option to keep their original plate number, alternately, or additionally, vehicle owners have to replace a small decal on the plate or use a decal on the windshield to indicate the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Plates are usually fixed directly to a vehicle or to a frame that is fixed to the vehicle. Sometimes, the plate frames contain advertisements inserted by the service centre or the dealership from which the vehicle was purchased. Vehicle owners can also purchase customized frames to replace the original frames, in some jurisdictions licence plate frames are illegal
10.
Western Pomerania
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The name Pomerania comes from Slavic po more, which means Land at the Sea. The adjective for the region is Pomeranian, inhabitants are called Pomeranians, forming part of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, Western Pomeranias boundaries have changed through the centuries and it belonged to countries such as Poland, Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia. Before 1945, it embraced the whole area of Pomerania west of the Oder River, today the cities of Szczecin, Świnoujście and Police are part of Poland, with the remainder of the region staying part of Germany. German Vorpommern now forms about one-third of the present-day north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, German Western Pomerania had a population of about 470,000 in 2012 - while the Polish districts of the region had a population of about 520,000 in 2012. So overall, about 1 million people live in the region of Western Pomerania today. Towns on the German side include Damgarten, Bergen, Anklam, Wolgast, Demmin, Pasewalk, Grimmen, Sassnitz, Ueckermünde, Torgelow, the German prefix Vor- denotes a location closer to the speaker, and is the equivalent of Hither in English and Citerior/Cis- in Latin. Historically the name Hither Pomerania has been used, but in modern English the German region is commonly called Western Pomerania or by its native name. The local dialect term is Low German, Vörpommern, the toponym Pomerania comes from Slavic po more, which means Land at the Sea. Poland has both a historic and geographic term Western Pomerania as well as a province called West Pomerania, the major feature of Western Pomerania is its long Baltic Sea and lagoons coastline. Typical is a distinct double coast, whereby offshore islands separate lagoons from the open sea, the islands Rügen and Usedom are located in Western Pomerania The largest town in Western Pomerania is Szczecin on the Polish side and Stralsund on the German side. Today it is still an important town economically, the towns of Stralsund and Greifswald together, after Rostock, are the second largest centres of population in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In addition the region has the highest population density of the four planning regions in the state, consideration was given during an unsuccessful district reform project in 1994 to restoring the old boundary, but this was not implemented. The Ribnitz, Marlow and Fischland area of Vorpommern-Rügen were historically part of Mecklenburg, the old western boundary line is preserved in the division between the two Protestant church bodies of the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg and the Pomeranian Evangelical Church. Major cities and towns in Vorpommern include Stralsund, Greifswald, Bergen auf Rügen, Demmin, Anklam, Wolgast, Sassnitz, heringsdorf does not have city rights, but is a semi-urban center. With Polish entry into the European Union and the opening of borders and you can sort the table of the 20 largest towns by clicking one of the upper columns. Popular tourist resorts can be all along the Baltic beaches of the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula. The old Haneseatic towns are popular tourist destinations due to their brick gothic medieval architecture. In Mukran near Sassnitz on Rügen, there is a ferry terminal linking Western Pomerania to Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania
11.
Peene
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The Peene is a river in Germany. The Westpeene, with Ostpeene as its tributary, and Kleine Peene/Teterower Peene flow into Kummerower See. From Kommerower See, inclusively, to the mouth, the ground of the water is five feet and this makes water level and flows liable to the water level of Baltic Sea and Oder, including reverse flows. The Peene Valley is one of the largest contiguous fen regions in central Europe, thanks to its wilderness and intact nature, the river Peene and its valley is sometimes superstitiously referred to as the Amazon of the North. The western branch of the Oder River, which separates the island of Usedom from the German mainland, is also called Peene. It is one of three connecting the Oder Lagoon with the Bay of Pomerania of the Baltic Sea. Major towns at the Peene river are Malchin, Teterow, Demmin, media related to Peene at Wikimedia Commons www. peenetal-landschaft. de - Association for natural protection of the Peene river valley
12.
Szczecin Lagoon
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Szczecin Lagoon, Stettin Lagoon, Bay of Szczecin, or Stettin Bay, also Oder lagoon, is a lagoon in the Oder estuary, shared by Germany and Poland. It is separated from the Pomeranian Bay of the Baltic Sea by the islands of Usedom, the lagoon is subdivided into the Kleines Haff in the West and the Wielki Zalew in the East. An ambiguous historical German name was Frisches Haff, which later exclusively referred to the Vistula Lagoon, from the South, the lagoon is fed by several arms of the Oder river and smaller rivers like Ziese, Peene, Zarow, Uecker, and Ina. In the North, the lagoon is connected to the Baltic Seas Bay of Pomerania with the three straits Peenestrom, Świna and Dziwna, which divide the mainland and the islands of Usedom and Wolin. The lagoon covers an area of 687 km², its depth is an average 3.8 metres. The depth of shipping channels however can exceed 10.5 metres, thus, the lagoon holds about 2.58 km3 of water. All other confluences contribute a combined annual 1 km3, the nutrients thereby transported into the lagoon have made it hypertrophic to eutrophic. The straits Peenestrom, Świna and Dziwna are responsible for 17%, 69%, the average salinity is between 0.5 and 2 psu, yet at times more salt water penetrates through the Świna locally raising the salinity to 6 psu. The canal, approximately 12 km long and 10 metres deep, was dug by the German Empire between 1874 and 1880, during the reign of the first Kaiser Wilhelm after whom it was named. Also, the resulted in a new island named Kaseburg being cut off from Usedom. After 1945, the areas east of Oder Neisse line became part of Poland, including the former German seaport cities of Stettin, the Kaiserfahrt was renamed Piast Canal, after the Polish Piast dynasty. The German-Polish border also divides the bight called Neuwarper See near Rieth, the lagoon has served as an important fishing grounds for centuries, as a major transportation pathway since the 18th century, and as a tourist destination since the 20th century. Today the lagoon offers a selection of passenger ship tours, a range of water sports. Tourists can discover winegrowing, the railway, museums, castles, many hiking and cycling routes. The lagoon suffers from pollution, mainly from the Oder river. High concentrations of aluminium and iron sediments have been found in the river causing rapid algae growth inside the lagoon, however, long-term nutrient concentrations show a high inter-annual variability and have declined during recent years. Curonian Lagoon Vistula Lagoon Glasby GP, Szefer P, Geldon J, Warzocha J. Heavy-metal pollution of sediments from Szczecin Lagoon and the Gdansk Basin, Poland
13.
Ostvorpommern
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Ostvorpommern was a Kreis in the eastern part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The district was created on June 12,1994 by merging the districts of Anklam, Greifswald. It was merged into Vorpommern-Greifswald on 4 September 2011, neighboring districts were Uecker-Randow, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Demmin and Nordvorpommern. The Hanseatic city of Greifswald was enclosed by the district, the subdivisions of the district were, Official website Touristic website of Usedom Regional Tourist Board Vorpommern
14.
Brick Gothic
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Brick Gothic is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northern Europe, especially in the regions around the Baltic Sea, which do not have natural stone resources. The buildings are built using bricks. Buildings classified as Brick Gothic are found in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Sweden and Finland. As the use of baked red brick arrived in Northern Europe in the 12th century, in the 16th century, Brick Gothic was superseded by Brick Renaissance architecture. Many of the old town centres dominated by Brick Gothic, as well as individual structures, have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Different from other styles, the definition of Brick Gothic is based on the material, and by a strict definition. In 1158, Henry the Lion founded Lübeck, in 1160 he conquered the Slavic principality of Schwerin and this partially violent colonisation was accompanied by the Christianisation of the Slavs and the foundation of dioceses at Ratzeburg, Schwerin, Cammin, Brandenburg and elsewhere. The newly founded cities soon joined the Hanseatic League and formed the Wendic Circle, with its centre at Lübeck, in rural areas, the monastic architecture of monks orders had a major influence on the development of brick architecture, especially through the Cistercians and Premonstratensians. Between Prussia and Estonia, the Teutonic Knights secured their rule by erecting numerous Ordensburgen, Brick architecture became prevalent in the 12th century, still within the Romanesque architecture period. Wooden architecture had long dominated in northern Germany but was inadequate for the construction of monumental structures, throughout the area of Brick Gothic, half-timbered architecture remained typical for smaller buildings, especially in rural areas, well into modern times. The techniques of building and decorating in bricks were imported from Lombardy, also some decorative forms of Lombard architecture were adopted. In the areas dominated by the Welfs, the use of brick to replace natural stone began with cathedrals and parish churches at Oldenburg, Segeberg, Ratzeburg, Henry the Lion laid the foundation stone of the Cathedral in 1173. In the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the lack of natural stone, Brick architecture here started with the Cathedral of Brandenburg, begun in 1165 under Albert the Bear. Jerichow Monastery, with construction started as early as 1148, plays a key role regarding Brick Gothic in Brandenburg, Romanesque brick architecture remained closely connected with contemporary stone architecture and simply translated the latters style and repertoire into the new material. Nonetheless, they were influenced by the cathedrals of France. Furthermore, special shaped bricks were produced to facilitate the imitation of architectural sculpture, since the bricks used were made of clay, available in copious quantities in the Northern German Plain, they quickly became the normal replacement for building stone. The so-called monastic format became the standard for bricks used in representative buildings and its bricks measure circa 28 x 15 x 9 cm to 30 x 14 x 10 cm, with interstices of about 1.5 cm. In contrast to hewn-stone Gothic, the bricks and shaped bricks were not produced locally by lodges, the use of shaped bricks for tracery and friezes also can be found in some buildings of northwestern Gothic brick architecture
15.
Early Middle Ages
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The Early Middle Ages marked the start of the Middle Ages of European history, lasting from the 6th to the 10th century CE. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire, the Early Middle Ages largely overlap with Late Antiquity. The term Late Antiquity is used to emphasize elements of continuity with the Roman Empire, the period saw a continuation of trends begun during late classical antiquity, including population decline, especially in urban centres, a decline of trade, and increased immigration. The period has been labelled the Dark Ages, a characterization highlighting the relative scarcity of literary and cultural output from this time, especially in Northwestern Europe. However, the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire, continued to survive, many of these trends were reversed later in the period. In 800 the title of emperor was revived in Western Europe by Charlemagne, whose Carolingian Empire greatly affected later European social structure, Europe experienced a return to systematic agriculture in the form of the feudal system, which introduced such innovations as three-field planting and the heavy plow. Barbarian migration stabilized in much of Europe, although Northern Europe was greatly affected by the Viking expansion, starting in the 2nd century, various indicators of Roman civilization began to decline, including urbanization, seaborne commerce, and population. Archaeologists have identified only 40 percent as many Mediterranean shipwrecks from the 3rd century as from the first, estimates of the population of the Roman Empire during the period from 150 to 400 suggest a fall from 65 million to 50 million, a decline of more than 20 percent. Some scholars have connected this de-population to the Dark Ages Cold Period, Early in the 3rd century Germanic peoples migrated south from Scandinavia and reached the Black Sea, creating formidable confederations which opposed the local Sarmatians. In Dacia and on the north of the Black Sea the Goths. The arrival of the Huns in 372–375 ended the history of these kingdoms, the Huns, a confederation of central Asian tribes, founded an empire with a Turkic-speaking aristocracy. They had mastered the art of shooting composite recurve bows from horseback. The Goths sought refuge in Roman territory, agreeing to enter the Empire as unarmed settlers, however many bribed the Danube border-guards into allowing them to bring their weapons. The discipline and organization of a Roman legion made it a fighting unit. The Romans preferred infantry to cavalry because infantry could be trained to retain the formation in combat, while cavalry tended to scatter when faced with opposition. While a barbarian army could be raised and inspired by the promise of plunder, the legions required a government and taxation to pay for salaries, constant training, equipment. The decline in agricultural and economic activity reduced the empires taxable income, in the Gothic War, the Goths revolted and confronted the main Roman army in the Battle of Adrianople. The general decline in discipline also led to the use of smaller shields, not wanting to share the glory, Eastern Emperor Valens ordered an attack on the Therving infantry under Fritigern without waiting for Western Emperor Gratian, who was on the way with reinforcements
16.
Scandinavia
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Scandinavia /ˌskændᵻˈneɪviə/ is a historical and cultural region in Northern Europe characterized by a common ethnocultural North Germanic heritage and mutually intelligible North Germanic languages. The term Scandinavia always includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the remote Norwegian islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are usually not seen as a part of Scandinavia, nor is Greenland, an overseas territory of Denmark. This looser definition almost equates to that of the Nordic countries, in Nordic languages, only Denmark, Norway and Sweden are commonly included in the definition of Scandinavia. In English usage, Scandinavia sometimes refers to the geographical area, the name Scandinavia originally referred vaguely to the formerly Danish, now Swedish, region Scania. Icelanders and the Faroese are to a significant extent descended from the Norse, Finland is mainly populated by Finns, with a minority of approximately 5% of Swedish speakers. A small minority of Sami people live in the north of Scandinavia. The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish languages form a continuum and are known as the Scandinavian languages—all of which are considered mutually intelligible with one another. Faroese and Icelandic, sometimes referred to as insular Scandinavian languages, are intelligible in continental Scandinavian languages only to a limited extent, Finnish and Meänkieli are closely related to each other and more distantly to the Sami languages, but are entirely unrelated to the Scandinavian languages. Apart from these, German, Yiddish and Romani are recognized minority languages in Scandinavia, the southern and by far most populous regions of Scandinavia have a temperate climate. Scandinavia extends north of the Arctic Circle, but has mild weather for its latitude due to the Gulf Stream. Much of the Scandinavian mountains have a tundra climate. There are many lakes and moraines, legacies of the last glacial period, Scandinavia usually refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Some sources argue for the inclusion of the Faroe Islands, Finland and Iceland, though that broader region is known by the countries concerned as Norden. Before this time, the term Scandinavia was familiar mainly to classical scholars through Pliny the Elders writings, and was used vaguely for Scania, as a political term, Scandinavia was first used by students agitating for Pan-Scandinavianism in the 1830s. After a visit to Sweden, Andersen became a supporter of early political Scandinavism, the term is often defined according to the conventions of the cultures that lay claim to the term in their own use. More precisely, and subject to no dispute, is that Finland is included in the broader term Nordic countries, various promotional agencies of the Nordic countries in the United States serve to promote market and tourism interests in the region. The official tourist boards of Scandinavia sometimes cooperate under one umbrella, Norways government entered one year later. All five Nordic governments participate in the joint promotional efforts in the United States through the Scandinavian Tourist Board of North America, Scandinavia can thus be considered a subset of the Nordic countries
17.
Wends
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Wends is a historical name for the West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where. In the Middle Ages the term Wends often referred to Western Slavs living within the Holy Roman Empire, mieszko I, the first historical ruler of Poland, also appeared as Dagome, King of the Wends. The name has survived in Finnic languages denoting Russia. According to one theory, Germanic peoples first applied this name to the ancient Veneti, and then after the period they transferred it to their new neighbours. The Germans in the south used the term Winde instead of Wende and applied it, just as the Germans in the north, to Slavs they had contact with, following the 8th century, the Frankish kings and their successors organised nearly all Wendish land into marches. This process later turned into the series of crusades, by the 12th century, all Wendish lands had become part of the Holy Roman Empire. In the course of the Ostsiedlung, which reached its peak in the 12th to 14th centuries, due to the process of assimilation following German settlement, many Slavs west of the Oder adopted the German culture and language. Only some rural communities which did not have an admixture with Germans. With the gradual decline of the use of these local Slavic tongues, some sources claim that in the 13th century there were actual historic people called Wends or Vends living as far as northern Latvia around the city of Wenden. Henry of Livonia in his 13th-century Latin chronicle described a tribe called the Vindi, today, only one group of Wends still exists, the Lusatian Sorbs in present-day eastern Germany. The term Wends derived from the Roman-era people called in Latin Veneti, Venedi or Venethi and this people was mentioned by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy as inhabiting the Baltic coast. There they assimilated the remaining Germanic population that had not left the area in the Migration period. Their German neighbours adapted the term they had been using for peoples east of the River Elbe before to the Slavs, calling them Wends as they called the Venedi before and probably the Vandals also. In his late sixth century work History of Armenia, Movses Khorenatsi mentions their raids into the lands named Vanand after them and their tribal names were derived from local place names, sometimes adopting the Germanic tradition. Settlements were secured by round burghs made of wood and clay, some tribes unified into larger, duchy-like units. For example, the Obotrites evolved from the unification of the Holstein, the Lutici were an alliance of tribes living between Obotrites and Pomeranians. They did not unify under a duke, but remained independent and their leaders met in the temple of Rethra
18.
Altes Lager (Menzlin)
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Altes Lager is a site 1.5 kilometres south of the village of Menzlin near Anklam, Western Pomerania, Germany. The site, on the banks of the river Peene, was an important Viking trading-post during the Viking Age, at that time, Pomerania was inhabited by Slavic Wends, yet several Viking trading-posts were set up along the coast. The settlement covered an area of approximately 18 hectares in the 9th century, remnants of a bridge and a cemetery have been excavated. Some artifacts found in the graves originated in Ireland and in the lands east of the Baltic, following Scandinavian customs, the dead were buried either in stone ships, i. e. ship-like graves, or within stone circles. The graves excavated so far have been found to be the tombs of women, most findings date back to the 9th and 10th centuries. The ancient name of the site is unknown, altes Lager, the current name, dates back to Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburgs 1676 siege of Anklam. J. Hermann, Archäologie in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, stuttgart 1989 Ulrich Schoknecht, Menzlin, Ein frühgeschichtlicher Handelsplatz an der Peene. Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte der Bezirke Rostock, Schwerin und Neubrandenburg 1977 H. Keiling, Menzlin, frühstädtisches Zentrum der Slawen mit Niederlassung skandinavischer Händler. In, H. Keiling, Archäologische Freilichtmuseum Groß Raden, museumskatalog 7, Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Schwerin 1989 Pomerania during the Early Middle Ages
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Duchy of Pomerania
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The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania. During the High Middle Ages, it comprised the northern Neumark and Uckermark areas as well as Circipania. Most of the time, the duchy was ruled by several Griffin dukes in common, after the last Griffin duke had died during the Thirty Years War in 1637, the duchy was partitioned between Brandenburg-Prussia and Sweden. The Kings of Sweden and the Margraves of Brandenburg, later Kings of Prussia, the name Pomerania comes from Slavic po more, which means Land by the Sea. In the 12th century, Poland, the Holy Roman Empires Duchy of Saxony and Denmark variously conquered Pomerania, the Stolp and Schlawe areas were ruled by Ratibor I and his descendants until the Danish occupation and extinction of the Ratiboride branch in 1227. The areas stretching from Kolberg to Stettin were ruled by Ratibors brother Wartislaw I, the terms of surrender after the Polish conquest were that Wartislaw had to accept Polish sovereignty, convert his people to Christianity, and pay an annual tribute to the Polish duke. In several expeditions mounted between 1102 and 1121, most of Pomerania had been invaded by the Polish duke Bolesław III Wrymouth, from 1102 to 1109, Boleslaw campaigned in the Netze and Persante area. The Pomeranian residence in Belgard was taken already in 1102, from 1112 to 1116, Boleslaw subdued all of Pomerelia. From 1119 to 1122, the area towards the Oder were subdued, Stettin was taken in the winter of 1121–1122. The conquest resulted in a death toll and devastation of vast areas of Pomerania. Polands influence vanished in the next decade, in 1135, Boleslaw had accepted overlordship of Holy Roman Emperor Lothair III and in turn received his Pomeranian gains as well as the still undefeated Principality of Rügen as a fief. Wartislaw I also accepted the Emperor as his overlord, with Boleslaws death in 1138, Polish overlordship ended, triggering competition of the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark for the area. Already in 1120, he had expanded west into the areas near the Oder Lagoon, most notably Demmin, the Principality of Gützkow and Wolgast were conquered in the following years. The major stage of the expansion into Lutici territory occurred between Otto of Bambergs two missions,1124 and 1128. In 1128, Demmin, the County of Gützkow and Wolgast were already incorporated into Wartislaw Is realm, captured Lutici and other war loot, including livestock, money, and clothes were apportioned among the victorious. These gains were not subject to Polish over lordship, but were placed under over lordship of Nordmark margrave Albrecht the Bear a dedicated enemy of Slavs, by Lothair III, thus, the western territories contributed to making Wartislaw significantly independent from the Polish dukes. Wartislaw was not the only one campaigning in these areas, the Polish duke Boleslaw III, during his Pomeranian campaign launched an expedition into the Müritz area in 1120–21, before he turned back to subdue Wartislaw. The later Holy Roman Emperor Lothair III in 1114 initiated massive campaigns against the local Lutici tribes resulting in their defeat in 1228
20.
Ostsiedlung
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The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia in the south to Estonia in the north, and extended into Transylvania in the southeast. In part, Ostsiedlung followed the expansion of the Empire. German historians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries often exaggerated the importance of the adoption of Salic law and settlement in Central, thus Ostsiedlung is part of a process termed Ostkolonisation or Hochmittelalterlicher Landesausbau, although these terms are sometimes used synonymously. Ethnic conflicts erupted between the newly arrived settlers and local populations and expulsions of native populations are known of. In several areas subject to the Ostsiedlung, the population was later discriminated against. Central Europe underwent dramatic changes after the Migration period of 300 to 700 CE, the Roman Empire had lost its dominant position. The Franks had created an empire that, besides former Roman Gallia, had united the former West Germanic tribes, East Francia, an early predecessor of Germany, aimed to be the successor to the Christian Western Roman Empire, and developed into the Holy Roman Empire. In Scandinavia, the former North Germanic tribes entered the Viking Age, affecting the whole of Europe through trade, some former East Germanic tribes had entered and merged into Rome, their own culture ceasing to exist. The Slavs living within the reach of the Frankish Empire were collectively called Wends and they seldom formed larger political entities, but rather constituted various small tribes, dwelling as far west as to a line from the Eastern Alps and Bohemia to the Saale and Elbe rivers. As the Frankish Empire expanded, various Wendish tribes were conquered or allied with the Franks, such as the Obodrites, the conquered Wendish areas were organized by the Franks into marches, which were administered by an entrusted noble who collected the tribute, reinforced by military units. The establishing of marches was also accompanied by missionary efforts, Frankish kings initiated numerous, yet not always successful, military campaigns to maintain their authority. Weakened by ongoing conflicts and constant warfare, the independent Wendish territories finally lost the capacity to provide effective military resistance. From 1119 to 1123, Pomerania invaded and subdued the northeastern parts of the Liutizian lands, in 1124 and 1128, the Pomeranian duke Wartislaw I, at that time a vassal of Poland, invited bishop Otto von Bamberg to Christianize the Pomeranians and Liutizians of his duchy. In 1147, as a campaign of the Northern Crusade, the Wendish Crusade was mounted in the Duchy of Saxony to retake the marches lost in 983, the crusaders also headed for Pomeranian Demmin and Stettin, despite these areas having already been successfully Christianized. The Havelberg bishopric was set up again to Christianize the Wends, after Henry the Lion lost an internal struggle with Emperor Frederick I, Mecklenburg and Pomerania became part of the Holy Roman Empire in 1181. Terra Mariana was the name for Medieval Livonia or Old Livonia which was formed in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade in the territories comprising present day Estonia and Latvia. It was established on February 2,1207 as a principality of the Holy Roman Empire, the nominal head of Terra Mariana as well as the city of Riga was the Archbishop of Riga as the apex of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. In 1561, during the Livonian war, Terra Mariana ceased to exist, the island of Saaremaa became part of Denmark
21.
Hanseatic League
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The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns. Growing from a few North German towns in the late 1100s and it stretched from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. Hanse, later spelled as Hansa, was the Middle Low German word for a convoy, the League was created to protect the guilds economic interests and diplomatic privileges in their affiliated cities and countries, as well as along the trade routes the merchants visited. The Hanseatic cities had their own system and furnished their own armies for mutual protection. The hegemony of Lübeck peaked during the 15th century, Lübeck became a base for merchants from Saxony and Westphalia trading eastward and northward. This area was a source of timber, wax, amber, resins, the towns raised their own armies, with each guild required to provide levies when needed. The Hanseatic cities came to the aid of one another, and commercial ships often had to be used to carry soldiers, Visby functioned as the leading centre in the Baltic before the Hansa. Sailing east, Visby merchants established a trading post at Novgorod called Gutagard in 1080, Merchants from northern Germany also stayed in the early period of the Gotlander settlement. Later they established their own trading station in Novgorod, known as Peterhof, in 1229, German merchants at Novgorod were granted certain privileges that made their position more secure. Hansa societies worked to remove restrictions to trade for their members, before the official foundation of the League in 1356, the word Hanse did not occur in the Baltic language. The earliest remaining documentary mention, although without a name, of a specific German commercial federation is from London 1157. That year, the merchants of the Hansa in Cologne convinced Henry II, King of England, to them from all tolls in London. The allied cities gained control over most of the trade, especially the Scania Market. In 1266, Henry III of England granted the Lübeck and Hamburg Hansa a charter for operations in England, much of the drive for this co-operation came from the fragmented nature of existing territorial government, which failed to provide security for trade. Over the next 50 years the Hansa itself emerged with formal agreements for confederation and co-operation covering the west and east trade routes. The principal city and linchpin remained Lübeck, with the first general Diet of the Hansa held there in 1356, other such alliances formed throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Yet the League never became a closely managed formal organisation, over the period, a network of alliances grew to include a flexible roster of 70 to 170 cities. The league succeeded in establishing additional Kontors in Bruges, Bergen and these trading posts became significant enclaves
22.
Thirty Years' War
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The Thirty Years War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, as well as the deadliest European religious war, resulting in eight million casualties. Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers. These states employed relatively large mercenary armies, and the war became less about religion, in the 17th century, religious beliefs and practices were a much larger influence on an average European than they are today. The war began when the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to impose uniformity on his domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights to choose that had granted in the Peace of Augsburg. Ferdinand II was a devout Roman Catholic and relatively intolerant when compared to his predecessor and his policies were considered strongly pro-Catholic. They ousted the Habsburgs and elected Frederick V, Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate as their monarch, Frederick took the offer without the support of the union. The southern states, mainly Roman Catholic, were angered by this, led by Bavaria, these states formed the Catholic League to expel Frederick in support of the Emperor. The Empire soon crushed this rebellion in the Battle of White Mountain. After the atrocities committed in Bohemia, Saxony finally gave its support to the union, Spain, wishing to finally crush the Dutch rebels in the Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, intervened under the pretext of helping its dynastic Habsburg ally, Austria. No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its borders, Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants in order to counter the Habsburgs. Both mercenaries and soldiers in fighting armies traditionally looted or extorted tribute to get operating funds, the war also bankrupted most of the combatant powers. The Thirty Years War ended with the treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, the war altered the previous political order of European powers. Lutherans living in a prince-bishopric could continue to practice their faith, Lutherans could keep the territory they had taken from the Catholic Church since the Peace of Passau in 1552. Those prince-bishops who had converted to Lutheranism were required to give up their territories and this added a third major faith to the region, but its position was not recognized in any way by the Augsburg terms, to which only Catholicism and Lutheranism were parties. The Dutch revolted against Spanish domination during the 1560s, leading to a war of independence that led to a truce only in 1609. This dynastic concern overtook religious ones and led to Catholic Frances participation on the otherwise Protestant side of the war, Sweden and Denmark-Norway were interested in gaining control over northern German states bordering the Baltic Sea
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Swedish Empire
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The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Swedens territorial control of much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries, a time when Sweden was one of the great European powers. The beginning of the Empire is usually taken as the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, who ascended the throne in 1611, in Swedish history, the period is referred to as stormaktstiden, literally meaning the Great Power era. The interests of the high nobility contrasted with the uniformity policy, in territories acquired during the periods of de facto noble rule, serfdom was not abolished, and there was also a trend to set up respective estates in Sweden proper. The Great Reduction of 1680 put an end to efforts of the nobility. However, in the course of this war as well as in the subsequent Scanian War, Sweden was able to maintain her empire only with support of her closest ally. Charles XI of Sweden consolidated the empire and ensured a period of peace, before Russia, Saxony and Denmark started an attack on his successor. Sweden emerged as a great European power under Axel Oxenstierna and King Gustavus Adolphus, during the Thirty Years War, Sweden managed to conquer approximately half of the member states of the Holy Roman Empire. After France had intervened on the side as Sweden, the fortunes would shift again. As the war continued, it turned more and more grim, although exact population estimates do not exist, historians estimate that as many as one-third of the people in the Holy Roman Empire may have died as a result of the war. At the same time, Sweden joined the other important northern European nations in founding overseas colonies, New Sweden was founded in the valley of the Delaware River in 1638, and Sweden later laid claim to a number of Caribbean islands. A string of Swedish forts and trading posts was constructed along the coast of West Africa as well, at the conclusion of the Thirty Years War, the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 granted Sweden territories as war reparations. Sweden demanded Silesia, Pomerania pay a sum of 200,000 Riksdaler out of the lands they would receive, or 2) surrender a fourth of the property itself. Against this, the over-taxed lower estates protested, and the Diet had to be suspended, the king intervened, not to quell the commons, as the senate insisted, but to compel the nobility to give way. He proposed a committee to investigate the matter before the meeting of the next Riksdag. Charles X Gustav had done his best to recover from the extravagance of Christina. However, his own desire for military glory may have caused problems for his country, in three days, he persuaded the Swedish estates of the potential of his attack on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, when he left Stockholm for Warsaw on July 10,1654, the Polish-Swedish War expanded into a general European war. He achieved passage over the Belts and emerged triumphant, only to die of sheer exhaustion, immediately after his death, a regency was appointed to govern Sweden during the minority of his only son and successor, Charles XI of Sweden, who was four years old
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Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
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Capitulation of Franzburg
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The Capitulation of Franzburg was a treaty providing for the capitulation of the Duchy of Pomerania to the forces of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years War. Stralsund resisted with Danish, Swedish and Scottish support, another Danish intervention failed, Imperial occupation lasted until Swedish forces invaded in 1630, and subsequently cleared all of the Duchy of Pomerania of imperial forces until 1631. The Duchy of Pomerania adopted Protestantism in 1534, Pomerania was a member of the internally divided Protestant Upper Saxon Circle, that most prominently included the electorates of Saxony and Brandenburg, and had declared neutrality in 1620. Facing a victorious Catholic League, the Saxon electorate switched to the side in 1624, while Brandenburg. Aware of the Leagues military superiority however, they refused an alliance offered by Protestant Denmark, wallensteins army had been raised to support the Leagues forces commanded by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly. In November 1626, the Swedish Empire recruited troops in Pomerania even though the duke had disapproved, in February 1627, Swedish troops crossed the duchy for Poland, an imperial ally Sweden was at war with. In July, imperial troops crossed into the duchy near Pyritz, to prevent the pending occupation, duke Bogislaw XIV offered 60,000 Talers in October, later raised to 200,000 Talers. Unimpressed Albrecht von Wallenstein instead ordered Hans-Georg von Arnim to occupy all Pomeranian ports, the occupation of Pomerania was a strategical measure rather than punishment for prior disobedience. The treaty ruled on the conditions of the billeting of the Imperial troops, sources vary on whether Bogislaw XIV obliged himself to the intake of eight or ten regiments. According to Herbert Langer, twenty multi-ethnic regiments with a total of 31,000 infantry and 7,540 cavalry were actually counted, to this number added military staff and civilian baggage of unknown number. Contributions, which were to pay to the forces by the duchy, were fixed at a weekly 407 Reichstalers per company. The towns of Anklam, Demmin, Greifswald and Kolberg were made seats of a garrison each, while in other towns, cavalry was stationed primarily in villages due to both the easier handling of the horses and the lower proportion of desertion compared to infantry. In theory, food had to be paid for, the soldiers were to compensate their hosts or buy their victuals in special depots set up by the military. Wallenstein had promised Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor to fund his army himself, in practice, this meant that the army was fed and paid by contributions of the occupied territories and war loot. In addition to noncompliance with the provisions by the military, hardship resulted from more frequent epidemics caused by the quartering. By 7 May 1628, Pomerania had already paid 466,981 Reichstaler as contributions – twice as much as the whole Upper Saxon Circle’s annual output, suffering in Pomerania was undescribable and became proverbial. Stralsund was the town in the Duchy of Pomerania to resist imperial occupation. Wallenstein laid siege to the town, and in July 1628 commanded several assaults in person
26.
Treaty of Stettin (1630)
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The Treaty of Stettin or Alliance of Stettin was the legal framework for the occupation of the Duchy of Pomerania by the Swedish Empire during the Thirty Years War. Concluded on 25 August or 4 September 1630, it was predated to 10 July or 20 July 1630, Sweden assumed military control, and used the Pomeranian bridgehead for campaigns into Central and Southern Germany. Some of the Pomeranian nobility had changed sides and supported Brandenburg, following the Capitulation of Franzburg in 1627, the Duchy of Pomerania was occupied by forces of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, under command of Albrecht von Wallenstein. Sweden and Stralsund concluded an alliance scheduled for twenty years, the Danish campaigns in Pomerania and other parts of the Holy Roman Empire ended with the Battle of Wolgast in 1628 and the subsequent Treaty of Lübeck in 1629. Except for Stralsund, all of Northern Germany was occupied by forces of the emperor, in 1629, the emperor initiated the Re-Catholization of these Protestant territories by issuing the Edict of Restitution. The Truce of Altmark ended the Polish–Swedish War in September 1629, plans of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden for such an intervention were approved of by a Riksdag commission already in the winter of 1627/28, approval by the Riksråd followed in January 1629. On 26 June or 6 July 1630, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden with a fleet of 27 ships arrived at the island of Usedom, the core of the invasion force consisted of trained peasants, recruited to the Swedish army following Gustavus Adolphus military reforms of 1623. The western flank of the Swedish invasion force was cleared from Stralsund, which served as the basis for Swedish forces clearing Rügen, the Swedish landing force faced Albrecht von Wallensteins imperial occupation forces in Pomerania, commanded by Torquato Conti. Large parts of the army were pinned down in Italy. Wallenstein, who two years before had expelled the Danish landing forces at the place was about to be dismissed. On 9 July, Swedish forces took Stettin, but throughout 1630 were content with establishing themselves in the Oder estuary, the first draft of a Swedish-Pomeranian alliance, which the Pomeranian ducal councillors had worked out since 20 July 1630, was rejected by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. A second draft was returned to the council together with a list of modifications Sweden insisted on, on 22 August, actual Swedish-Pomeranian negotiations started, which Gustavus Adolphus on 1 September joined in person. The final negotiations lasted from 2–4 September, the actual agreement was made on 25 August or 4 September, but pre-dated to 10 July or 20 July 1630. The alliance was to be eternal, the treaty also included the alliance with Stralsund of 1628, which was concluded when the town resisted the Capitulation of Franzburg and was thus besieged by Albrecht von Wallensteins army. Subsequent treaties were the Pomeranian Defense Constitution of 30 August 1630, the Swedish king and the high-ranking officers were given absolute control over the duchys military affairs, while the political and ecclesial power remained with the dukes, nobles, and towns. The duchys foreign affairs were to be within the responsibility of the Swedish crown, the amending treaties were necessary because the Pomeranian nobility had insisted on having the shift in military control of the duchy to Sweden separate from the Swedish-Pomeranian alliance. The Pomeranian contributions detailed in the treaties amounted to an annual 100,000 Talers, furthermore, Pomerania was obliged to supply four Swedish garrisons. Bogislaw XIV further blamed the barbarities and cruelties of the Imperial soldiers for leaving him no choice, yet, Ferdinand II did not forgive Bogislaw XIV, and instead the imperial occupation forces in Pomerania were instructed to act even more harshly
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Swedish Pomerania
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Swedish Pomerania was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815, situated on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts of Livonia and Prussia. Sweden, present in Pomerania with a garrison at Stralsund since 1628, had gained control of the Duchy of Pomerania with the Treaty of Stettin in 1630. At the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 and the Treaty of Stettin in 1653, Sweden received Western Pomerania, with the islands of Rügen, Usedom, and Wolin, and a strip of Farther Pomerania. The peace treaties were negotiated while the Swedish queen Christina was a minor, instead, it remained part of the Holy Roman Empire, making the Swedish rulers Reichsfürsten and leaving the nobility in full charge of the rural areas and its inhabitants. These areas were ceded to Brandenburg-Prussia and were integrated into Brandenburgian Pomerania, also in 1720, Sweden regained the remainder of her dominion in the Treaty of Frederiksborg, which had been lost to Denmark in 1715. The largest cities in Swedish Pomerania were Stralsund, Greifswald and, until 1720, Rügen is today Germanys largest island. On 10 July 1630, the treaty was extended into a pact in the Treaty of Stettin. By the end of year the Swedes had completed the military occupation of Pomerania. As a consequence Pomerania lapsed into a state of anarchy, thereby forcing the Swedes to act, from 1641 the administration was led by a council from Stettin, until the peace treaty in 1648 settled rights to the province in Swedish favour. At the peace negotiations in Osnabrück, Brandenburg-Prussia received Farther Pomerania, the recess of Stettin in 1653 settled the border with Brandenburg in a manner favourable to Sweden. The border against Mecklenburg, along the Trebel and the Recknitz, the nobility of Pomerania was firmly established and held extensive privileges, as opposed to the other end of the spectrum which was populated by a class of numerous serfs. Even by the end of the 18th century, the made up two-thirds of the population of the countryside. The estates owned by the nobility were divided into districts and the royal domains, one fourth of the knightly estates in Swedish Pomerania were held by Swedish nobles. The ducal estates, initially distributed among Swedish nobles and officials, Swedish and Pomeranian nobility intermarried and became ethnically indistinguishable in the course of the 18th century. The position of Pomerania in the Swedish Realm came to depend on the talks that were opened between the Estates of Pomerania and the Government of Sweden. The talks showed few results until the Instrument of Government of 17 July 1663 could be presented, when circumstances demanded, the estates, nobility, burgesses, and — until the 1690s — the clergy could be summoned for meetings of a local parliament called the Landtag. The nobility was represented by one deputy per district, and these deputies were in turn mandated by their respective district convents of nobles, the estate of the burgesses consisted of one deputy per politically franchised city, particularly Stralsund
28.
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
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Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is known as the Great Elector because of his military. Frederick William was a pillar of the Calvinist faith, associated with the rising commercial class. He saw the importance of trade and promoted it vigorously, Elector Frederick William was born in Berlin to George William, Elector of Brandenburg, and Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate. His inheritance consisted of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the Duchy of Cleves, the County of Mark, and the Duchy of Prussia. During the Thirty Years War, George William strove to maintain, with a minimal army, out of these unpromising beginnings Frederick William managed to rebuild his war-ravaged territories. In contrast to the disputes that disrupted the internal affairs of other European states. With the help of French subsidies, he built up an army to defend the country, in the conflict for Pomerania inheritance, Frederick William had to accept two setbacks, one in the Northern War and one in the Scanian War. Though militarily successful in Swedish Pomerania, he had to bow to Frances demands, Frederick William was a military commander of wide renown, and his standing army would later become the model for the Prussian Army. He later destroyed another Swedish army that invaded the Duchy of Prussia during the Great Sleigh Drive in 1678, Frederick William is notable for raising an army of 40,000 soldiers by 1678, through the General War Commissariat presided over by Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal. He was an advocate of mercantilism, monopolies, subsidies, tariffs, on Blumenthals advice he agreed to exempt the nobility from taxes and in return they agreed to dissolve the Estates-General. Dorothea, Christian Ludwig, recipient of Bachs Brandenburg Concertos, media related to Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg at Wikimedia Commons
29.
Margraviate of Brandenburg
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The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg, it played a role in the history of Germany. Brandenburg developed out of the Northern March founded in the territory of the Slavic Wends and its ruling margraves were established as prestigious prince-electors in the Golden Bull of 1356, allowing them to vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. The state thus became known as Electoral Brandenburg or the Electorate of Brandenburg. The House of Hohenzollern came to the throne of Brandenburg in 1415, under Hohenzollern leadership, Brandenburg grew rapidly in power during the 17th century and inherited the Duchy of Prussia. The resulting Brandenburg-Prussia was the predecessor of the Kingdom of Prussia, although the electors highest title was King in/of Prussia, their power base remained in Brandenburg and its capital Berlin. Although the Margraviate of Brandenburg ended with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, despite its meager beginnings in the Holy Roman Empire, the Hohenzollern Kingdom of Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the creation of the German Empire in 1871. The Mark Brandenburg is still used today to refer to the federal state of Brandenburg in the Federal Republic of Germany. The territory of the margraviate, commonly known as the Mark Brandenburg, lies in present-day eastern Germany. Geographically it encompassed the majority of the present-day German states Brandenburg and Berlin, the Altmark, parts of the present-day federal state Brandenburg, such as Lower Lusatia and territory which had been Saxon until 1815, were not parts of the Mark. Colloquially but not accurately, the federal state Brandenburg is sometimes identified as the Mark or Mark Brandenburg, the region was formed during the ice age and characterized by moraines, glacial valleys, and numerous lakes. The territory is known as a Mark or march because it was a county of the Holy Roman Empire. The Mark is defined by two uplands and two depressions, the depressions are taken up by rivers and chains of lakes with marsh and boggy soil along the shores, once used for peat collection, the riverbanks are now mostly drained and dry. The Northern or Baltic Uplands of the Mecklenburg Lake Plateau have only minor extensions into Brandenburg, the southern depression is generally to the north of this ridge and appears strikingly in the Spreewald. Between these two depressions is a low plateau that extends from the Poznań area westward to Brandenburg through Torzym, the Spree plateau, the region is predominantly marked by dry, sandy soil, wide stretches of which have pine trees and erica plants, or heath. However, the soil is loamy in the uplands and plateaus and, Mark Brandenburg has a cool, continental climate, with temperatures averaging near 0 °C in January and February and near 18 °C in July and August. Precipitation averages between 500 mm and 600 mm annually, with a modest summer maximum, by the 8th century, Slavic Wends, such as the Sprevjane and Hevelli, started to move into the Brandenburg area. They intermarried with Saxons and Bohemians, the Bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg were established at the beginning of the 10th century
30.
Russian Empire
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The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation
31.
Peter the Great
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Peter the Great, Peter I or Peter Alexeyevich ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 7 May 1682 until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his elder half-brother, Ivan V. Through a number of successful wars he expanded the Tsardom into a larger empire that became a major European power. He led a revolution that replaced some of the traditionalist and medieval social and political systems with ones that were modern, scientific, westernized. Peters reforms made an impact on Russia and many institutions of Russian government trace their origins to his reign. From an early age, Peters education was put in the hands of tutors, most notably Nikita Zotov, Patrick Gordon. On 29 January 1676, Tsar Alexis died, leaving the sovereignty to Peters elder half-brother and this position changed when Feodor died in 1682. As Feodor did not leave any children, a dispute arose between the Miloslavsky family and Naryshkin family over who should inherit the throne, Peters other half-brother, Ivan V, was next in line for the throne, but he was chronically ill and of infirm mind. Consequently, the Boyar Duma chose the 10-year-old Peter to become Tsar with his mother as regent and this arrangement was brought before the people of Moscow, as ancient tradition demanded, and was ratified. Sophia Alekseyevna, one of Alexis daughters from his first marriage, in the subsequent conflict some of Peters relatives and friends were murdered, including Matveev, and Peter witnessed some of these acts of political violence. The Streltsy made it possible for Sophia, the Miloslavskys and their allies, to insist that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint Tsars, Sophia acted as regent during the minority of the sovereigns and exercised all power. For seven years, she ruled as an autocrat, a large hole was cut in the back of the dual-seated throne used by Ivan and Peter. Sophia would sit behind the throne and listen as Peter conversed with nobles, while feeding him information and giving him responses to questions and this throne can be seen in the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow. Peter was not particularly concerned that others ruled in his name and he engaged in such pastimes as shipbuilding and sailing, as well as mock battles with his toy army. Peters mother sought to force him to adopt a conventional approach. The marriage was a failure, and ten years later Peter forced his wife to become a nun, by the summer of 1689, Peter planned to take power from his half-sister Sophia, whose position had been weakened by two unsuccessful Crimean campaigns. When she learned of his designs, Sophia conspired with the leaders of the Streltsy, Sophia was eventually overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to act as co-tsars. Peter forced Sophia to enter a convent, where she gave up her name, still, Peter could not acquire actual control over Russian affairs. Power was instead exercised by his mother, Natalya Naryshkina and it was only when Nataliya died in 1694 that Peter became an independent sovereign
32.
Kingdom of Prussia
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It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the kings of Prussia were from the House of Hohenzollern. Prussia was a power from the time it became a kingdom, through its predecessor, Brandenburg-Prussia. Prussia continued its rise to power under the guidance of Frederick II, more known as Frederick the Great. After the might of Prussia was revealed it was considered as a power among the German states. Throughout the next hundred years Prussia went on to win many battles and it was because of its power that Prussia continuously tried to unify all the German states under its rule. Attempts at creation of a federation remained unsuccessful and the German Confederation collapsed in 1866 when war ensued between its two most powerful states, Prussia and Austria. The North German Confederation which lasted from 1867–1871, created a union between the Prussian-aligned states while Austria and most of Southern Germany remained independent. The North German Confederation was seen as more of an alliance of military strength in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War, the German Empire lasted from 1871–1918 with the successful unification of all the German states under Prussian hegemony. This was due to the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, in 1871, Germany unified into a single country, minus Austria and Switzerland, with Prussia the dominant power. Prussia is considered the predecessor of the unified German Reich. The Kingdom left a significant cultural legacy, today notably promoted by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, in 1415 a Hohenzollern Burgrave came from the south to the March of Brandenburg and took control of the area as elector. In 1417 the Hohenzollern was made an elector of the Holy Roman Empire, after the Polish wars, the newly established Baltic towns of the German states including Prussia, suffered many economic setbacks. Many of the Prussian towns could not even afford to attend political meetings outside of Prussia, the towns were poverty stricken, with even the largest town, Danzig, having to borrow money from elsewhere to pay for trade. Poverty in these towns was partly caused by Prussias neighbors, who had established and developed such a monopoly on trading that these new towns simply could not compete and these issues led to feuds, wars, trade competition and invasions. However, the fall of these gave rise to the nobility, separated the east and the west. It was clear in 1440 how different Brandenburg was from the other German territories, not only did it face partition from within but also the threat of its neighbors. It prevented the issue of partition by enacting the Dispositio Achillea which instilled the principle of primogeniture to both the Brandenburg and Franconian territories, the second issue was solved through expansion
33.
Seven Years' War
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The Seven Years War was a war fought between 1754 and 1763, the main conflict occurring in the seven-year period from 1756 to 1763. It involved every European great power of the time except the Ottoman Empire and spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines. The conflict split Europe into two coalitions, led by the Kingdom of Great Britain on one side and the Kingdom of France on the other. Meanwhile, in India, the Mughal Empire, with the support of the French, faced with this sudden turn of events, Britain aligned herself with Prussia, in a series of political manoeuvres known as the Diplomatic Revolution. Conflict between Great Britain and France broke out in 1754–1756 when the British attacked disputed French positions in North America, meanwhile, rising power Prussia was struggling with Austria for dominance within and outside the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. In 1756, the major powers switched partners, realizing that war was imminent, Prussia preemptively struck Saxony and quickly overran it. The result caused uproar across Europe, because of Austrias alliance with France to recapture Silesia, which had been lost in a previous war, Prussia formed an alliance with Britain. Reluctantly, by following the diet, most of the states of the empire joined Austrias cause. The Anglo-Prussian alliance was joined by smaller German states, Sweden, seeking to re-gain Pomerania joined the coalition, seeing its chance when virtually all of Europe opposed Prussia. Spain, bound by the Pacte de Famille, intervened on behalf of France, the Russian Empire was originally aligned with Austria, fearing Prussias ambition on the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but switched sides upon the succession of Tsar Peter III in 1762. Naples, Sicily, and Savoy, although sided with the Franco-Spanish alliance, like Sweden, Russia concluded a separate peace with Prussia. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain and the Treaty of Hubertusburg between Saxony, Austria and Prussia, in 1763. The Native American tribes were excluded from the settlement, a subsequent conflict, Prussia emerged as a new European great power. Although Austria failed to retrieve the territory of Silesia from Prussia its military prowess was noted by the other powers. The involvement of Portugal, Spain and Sweden did not return them to their status as great powers. France was deprived of many of its colonies and had saddled itself with heavy war debts that its inefficient financial system could barely handle. Spain lost Florida but gained French Louisiana and regained control of its colonies, e. g. Cuba and the Philippines, France and Spain avenged their defeat in 1778 when the American Revolutionary War broke out, with hopes of destroying Britains dominance once and for all. The Seven Years War was perhaps the first true world war, having taken place almost 160 years before World War I and it was characterized in Europe by sieges and the arson of towns as well as open battles with heavy losses
34.
Berlin
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Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, politics, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras, museums and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions. The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln
35.
Szczecin
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Szczecin is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea, it is a major seaport, as of June 2011, the population was 407,811. Szczecin is located on the Oder, south of the Szczecin Lagoon, the city is situated along the southwestern shore of Dąbie Lake, on both sides of the Oder and on several large islands between the western and eastern branches of the river. The citys recorded history began in the 8th century as a Slavic Pomeranian stronghold, in the 12th century, when Szczecin had become one of Pomeranias main urban centres, it lost its independence to Piast Poland, the Duchy of Saxony, the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark. At the same time, the House of Griffins established themselves as rulers, the population was Christianized. The native Slavic population was subjected to discrimination and Germanization in the following centuries, between 1237 and 1243, the town was rebuilt, granted extensive autonomy rights and eventually joined the Hanseatic League. After the Treaty of Stettin in 1630, the town came under the control of the Swedish Empire, in the late-19th century Stettin became an industrial town, vastly increasing in size and population, and served as a major port for Berlin. During the Nazi era, opposition groups and minorities were persecuted and treated as enemies, by the end of World War II Stettins status was in doubt, and the Soviet occupation authorities at first appointed officials from the citys almost entirely German pre-war population. In July 1945, however, Polish authorities were permitted to take power, Stettin was renamed Szczecin and became part of the newly established the Polish Peoples Republic, and from 1989 the Republic of Poland. From 1999 onwards, Szczecin has served as the site of the headquarters of NATOs Multinational Corps Northeast, the names Szczecin and Stettin are of Slavic origin, though the exact etymology is the subject of ongoing research. Other medieval names for the town are Burstaborg and Burstenburgh and these names, which literally mean brush burgh, are likely derived from the translation of the citys Slavic name. The recorded history of Szczecin began in the century, when West Slavs settled Pomerania. Since the 9th century, the stronghold was fortified and expanded toward the Oder bank, Mieszko I of Poland took control of Pomerania between 960 and 967, and the region with the city of Szczecin became part of Poland in 967. Subsequent Polish rulers, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Liutician federation all aimed to control the territory, after the decline of the neighbouring regional centre Wolin in the 12th century, the city became one of the more important and powerful seaports of the Baltic Sea. In a campaign in the winter of 1121–1122, Bolesław III Wrymouth, the inhabitants were Christianized by two missions of Bishop Otto of Bamberg in 1124 and 1128. At this time, the first Christian church of Saints Peter, Polish minted coins were commonly used in trade in this period. The population of the city at that time is estimated to be at around 5, Polish rule ended with Boleslaws death in 1138. There, a Polish contingent supplied by Mieszko III the Old joined the crusaders, however, the citizens had placed crosses around the fortifications, indicating they already had been Christianised
36.
Woolens
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Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air and it is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast to worsted yarn, in which the fibers are combed to lie rather than carded, producing a hard. The woolen and worsted process both require that the wool be cleaned before mechanical processing, woolen and worsted nomenclatures apply only to the textile processing of animal fibers, but it has become common to include fiber blends under these terms. The resultant fabrics will be classified as being either woolen or worsted and this feels like the fibers are directionally arranged. Woolen yarn formation is very common for knitwear, where the resultant garment has some bulk. The worsted processing route is complex and requires the removal of short fibers. The yarn formation process is more comprehensive and results in a very sleek yarn which will offer a clean looking woven fabric. The worsted process is more expensive and is seldom used for knitwear. Woolen yarn is handspun using the long draw technique, and the yarn is spun from a rolag, most handspinners make a blend of a woolen and worsted yarn, using techniques from both categories, and thus ending up with a mix. The first step to spin a true woolen yarn, however, is to card the fiber into a rolag using handcarders, the rolag is spun without much stretching of the fibers from the cylindrical configuration. This is done by allowing twist into a section of the rolag. The twist will concentrate in the thinnest part of the roving, thus when the yarn is pulled, once the yarn is the desired thickness, enough twist is added to make the yarn strong. Then the yarn is wound onto the bobbin, and the process starts again, barber, E. J. W. Prehistoric Textiles. Warp and Weft, A Textile Terminology, woolen, Semi-Woolen, Semi-Worsted, and Worsted Spinning - Gives a detailed explanation on the different ways fiber preparation and technique can create different yarns
37.
Leather
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Leather is a durable and flexible material created by tanning animal rawhide and skin, often cattle hide. It can be produced at manufacturing scales ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry, people use leather to make various goods—including clothing, bookbinding, leather wallpaper, and as a furniture covering. It is produced in a variety of types and styles. Several tanning processes transform hides and skins into leather, Chrome-tanned leather, invented in 1858, is tanned using chromium sulfate and it is more supple and pliable than vegetable-tanned leather and does not discolor or lose shape as drastically in water as vegetable-tanned. It is also known as wet-blue for its color derived from the chromium, more exotic colors are possible when using chrome tanning. The chrome tanning method usually only takes a day to finish, and it is reported that chrome-tanned leather adds up to 80% of the global leather supply. Vegetable-tanned leather is tanned using tannins and other found in different vegetable matter, such as tree bark prepared in bark mills, wood, leaves, fruits. It is supple and brown in color, with the exact shade depending on the mix of chemicals and it is the only form of leather suitable for use in leather carving or stamping. Vegetable-tanned leather is not stable in water, it tends to discolor, so if left to soak and then dried it shrinks, in hot water, it shrinks drastically and partly congeals—becoming rigid, and eventually brittle. Boiled leather is an example of this, where the leather has been hardened by being immersed in hot water, historically, it was occasionally used as armour after hardening, and it has also been used for book binding. Aldehyde-tanned leather is tanned using glutaraldehyde or oxazolidine compounds and this is the leather that most tanners refer to as wet-white leather due to its pale cream or white color. It is the type of chrome-free leather, often seen in shoes for infants. Formaldehyde tanning is another aldehyde tanning method, brain-tanned leathers fall into this category, and are exceptionally water absorbent. Brain tanned leathers are made by a process that uses emulsified oils, often those of animal brains such as deer, cattle. They are known for their softness and washability. Chamois leather also falls into the category of aldehyde tanning, and like brain tanning, produces a porous, chamois leather is made using marine oils that oxidize easily to produce the aldehydes that tan the leather to color it. Rose-tanned leather is a variation of oil tanning and brain tanning. Rose-tanned leather tanned leaves a powerful rose fragrance even years from when it is manufactured and it has been called the most valuable leather on earth, but this is mostly due to the high cost of rose otto and its labor-intensive tanning process
38.
Beer
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Beer is the worlds oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drink, it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. Most beer is flavoured with hops, which add bitterness and act as a natural preservative, the fermentation process causes a natural carbonation effect, although this is often removed during processing, and replaced with forced carbonation. Beer is sold in bottles and cans, it may also be available on draught, particularly in pubs, the brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. The strength of beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume, archaeologists speculate that beer was instrumental in the formation of civilisations. Approximately 5000 years ago, workers in the city of Uruk were paid by their employers in beer, the earliest known chemical evidence of barley beer dates to circa 3500–3100 BC from the site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. The Ebla tablets, discovered in 1974 in Ebla, Syria, a fermented beverage using rice and fruit was made in China around 7000 BC. Unlike sake, mould was not used to saccharify the rice, almost any substance containing sugar can naturally undergo alcoholic fermentation. It is likely that many cultures, on observing that a liquid could be obtained from a source of starch. Bread and beer increased prosperity to a level that allowed time for development of other technologies, Beer was spread through Europe by Germanic and Celtic tribes as far back as 3000 BC, and it was mainly brewed on a domestic scale. The product that the early Europeans drank might not be recognised as beer by most people today, alongside the basic starch source, the early European beers might contain fruits, honey, numerous types of plants, spices and other substances such as narcotic herbs. What they did not contain was hops, as that was an addition, first mentioned in Europe around 822 by a Carolingian Abbot. Beer produced before the Industrial Revolution continued to be made and sold on a scale, although by the 7th century AD, beer was also being produced. During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from artisanal manufacture to industrial manufacture, the development of hydrometers and thermometers changed brewing by allowing the brewer more control of the process and greater knowledge of the results. Today, the industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies. As of 2006, more than 133 billion litres, the equivalent of a cube 510 metres on a side, of beer are sold per year, the process of making beer is known as brewing. A dedicated building for the making of beer is called a brewery, a company that makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company. Beer made on a scale for non-commercial reasons is classified as homebrewing regardless of where it is made. Brewing beer is subject to legislation and taxation in developed countries, however, the UK government relaxed legislation in 1963, followed by Australia in 1972 and the US in 1978, allowing homebrewing to become a popular hobby
39.
Soap
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In chemistry, a soap is a salt of a fatty acid. Household uses for soaps include washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping, in industry they are also used in textile spinning and are important components of some lubricants. Metal soaps are also included in modern artists oil paints formulations as a rheology modifier, soaps for cleaning are obtained by treating vegetable or animal oils and fats with a strong base, such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide in an aqueous solution. Fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, three molecules of fatty acids attach to a molecule of glycerol. The alkaline solution, which is often called lye, induces saponification, the glycerin, a useful byproduct, can remain in the soap product as a softening agent, or be isolated for other uses. Soaps are key components of most lubricating greases, which are usually emulsions of calcium soap or lithium soap, many other metallic soaps are also useful, including those of aluminium, sodium, and mixtures of them. Such soaps are also used as thickeners to increase the viscosity of oils, in ancient times, lubricating greases were made by the addition of lime to olive oil. When used for cleaning, soap allows insoluble particles to become soluble in water, for example, oil/fat is insoluble in water, but when a couple of drops of dish soap are added to the mixture, the oil/fat solubilizes into the water. Anything that is soluble will be washed away with the water, the type of alkali metal used determines the kind of soap product. Sodium soaps, prepared from sodium hydroxide, are firm, whereas potassium soaps, historically, potassium hydroxide was extracted from the ashes of bracken or other plants. Lithium soaps also tend to be hard—these are used exclusively in greases, soaps are derivatives of fatty acids. Traditionally they have made from triglycerides. Triglyceride is the name for the triesters of fatty acids. Tallow, i. e. rendered beef fat, is the most available triglyceride from animals and its saponified product is called sodium tallowate. Typical vegetable oils used in soap making are palm oil, coconut oil, olive oil, each species offers quite different fatty acid content and hence, results in soaps of distinct feel. The seed oils give softer but milder soaps, Soap made from pure olive oil is sometimes called Castile soap or Marseille soap, and is reputed for being extra mild. The term Castile is also applied to soaps from a mixture of oils. The earliest recorded evidence of the production of soap-like materials dates back to around 2800 BC in ancient Babylon, a formula for soap consisting of water, alkali, and cassia oil was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 BC
40.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
41.
Wehrmacht
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The Wehrmacht was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1946. It consisted of the Heer, the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe, after the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler’s most overt and audacious moves was to establish the Wehrmacht, a modern armed forces fully capable of offensive use. In December 1941, Hitler designated himself as commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht, the Wehrmacht formed the heart of Germany’s politico-military power. In the early part of World War II, Hitlers generals employed the Wehrmacht through innovative combined arms tactics to devastating effect in what was called a Blitzkrieg, the Wehrmachts new military structure, unique combat techniques, newly developed weapons, and unprecedented speed and brutality crushed their opponents. Closely cooperating with the SS, the German armed forces committed war crimes and atrocities. By the time the war ended in Europe in May 1945, only a few of the Wehrmacht’s upper leadership were tried for war crimes, despite evidence suggesting that more were involved in illegal actions. The German term Wehrmacht generically describes any nations armed forces, for example, the Frankfurt Constitution of 1848 designated all German military forces as the German Wehrmacht, consisting of the Seemacht and the Landmacht. In 1919, the term Wehrmacht also appears in Article 47 of the Weimar Constitution, establishing that, from 1919, Germanys national defense force was known as the Reichswehr, a name that was dropped in favor of Wehrmacht on 21 May 1935. In January 1919, after World War I ended with the signing of the armistice of 11 November 1918, in March 1919, the national assembly passed a law founding a 420, 000-strong preliminary army, the Vorläufige Reichswehr. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were announced in May, the army was limited to one hundred thousand men with an additional fifteen thousand in the navy. The fleet was to consist of at most six battleships, six cruisers, submarines, tanks and heavy artillery were forbidden and the air-force was dissolved. A new post-war military, the Reichswehr, was established on 23 March 1921, General conscription was abolished under another mandate of the Versailles treaty. The Reichswehr was limited to 115,000 men, and thus the armed forces, under the leadership of Hans von Seeckt, though Seeckt retired in 1926, the army that went to war in 1939 was largely his creation. Germany was forbidden to have an air-force by the Versailles treaty, nonetheless and these officers saw the role of an air-force as winning air-superiority, tactical and strategic bombing and providing ground support. That the Luftwaffe did not develop a strategic bombing force in the 1930s was not due to a lack of interest, but because of economic limitations. The leadership of the Navy led by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, officers who believed in submarine warfare led by Admiral Karl Dönitz were in a minority before 1939. By 1922, Germany had begun covertly circumventing the conditions of the Versailles Treaty, a secret collaboration with the Soviet Union began after the treaty of Rapallo. Major-General Otto Hasse traveled to Moscow in 1923 to further negotiate the terms, Germany helped the Soviet Union with industrialization and Soviet officers were to be trained in Germany
42.
Wehrmacht prison Anklam
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The Wehrmacht prison Anklam was one of eight military prisons of the Wehrmacht in Nazi Germany. The listed building is located west of the Friedlander Straße in the part of Anklam. Since 2005 it has been the seat of the foundation, Center for Peace Work - Otto Lilienthal - Hanseatic City of Anklam and it serves as an educational resource center and a memorial to victims of the Nazi military justice system during 1933-1945. The prison, which was designed for 600 prisoners, was built during 1939-1940 in the yard of the Anklam military academy, there were both group and individual cells. In the basement of the wing was the death row. The administrative offices were in the adjacent military school in which the officers were housed. The prisoners were convicted by courts of the military districts I, II, and XX, the Marineoberkommando Baltic Sea Naval forces. The jurisdiction also extended to Army Group North and the Heer in Scandinavia, convictions resulted from both military and criminal offenses. The first prisoners arrived late in 1940 and continued to arrive until 1945, several thousand convicts passed through the prison. Some of them were used for details in armament factories such as the Arado aircraft factory in Anklam. At times, the prison, with up to 1,500 prisoners, was overcrowded, in 1944 several hundred inmates were transferred to the SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger, which was used for the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising. Executions of at least 139 condemned prisoners occurred from November 5,1941 until April 26,1945, approximately 100 of the executions occurred during the period from January to April 1945. About 120 clemency requests to death sentences were granted, the evacuation of the Wehrmacht prison took place on April 28,1945. Guards and the prisoners marched in three groups toward Küstrin, Friedland, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Jarmen in the direction of Bützow. The last group was captured on May 1 by the Red Army, under the GDR government, use of the northern wing of the building was discontinued and the rest was used for the storage of grain. A working group of the Cultural Association of the GDR began research into the history of the Wehrmacht prison, the death cellblock was transformed in the mid-1970s as a memorial. Between 1990 and 2005 the building remained unused, in 2005, the newly established Foundation Center for Peace Work - Otto Lilienthal - Hanseatic City of Anklam took over the prison. After a partial restoration, the building is used as a center of national and international peace work, a permanent exhibition describes the historical significance of the facility
listen)], formerly known as Tanglim and Wendenburg,[2] is a town in the Western Pomerania region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the banks of the Peene river, just 8 km from its mouth in the Kleines Haff, the western part of the Stettin Lagoon. Anklam has a population of 14,603 (2005) and was the capital of the former Ostvorpommern district, since September 2011, it has been part of the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald.
Baynes, T.S., ed. (1878), "Anklam", Encyclopædia Britannica, 2 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 59
Baynes, T.S., ed. (1878), "
