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.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
3.
Regions of Italy
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The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of Italy, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are 20 regions, of five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes. Each region, except for the Aosta Valley, is divided into provinces, regions are autonomous entities with powers defined in the Constitution. As the administrative districts of the state during the Kingdom of Italy. The original draft list comprised the Salento region, friuli and Venezia Giulia were separate regions, and Basilicata was named Lucania. Abruzzo and Molise were identified as regions in the first draft. They were later merged into Abruzzo e Molise in the constitution of 1948. Implementation of regional autonomy was postponed until the first Regional Elections of 1970, the ruling Christian Democracy party did not want the opposition Italian Communist Party to gain power in the regions, where it was historically rooted. Regions acquired a significant level of autonomy following a reform in 2001. In June 2006 the proposals, which had been associated with Lega Nord. The results varied considerably among the regions, ranging from 55. 3% in favour in Veneto to 82% against in Calabria, number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1995, Macroregions are the first-level NUTS of the European Union. These regions, whose statutes are approved by their councils, were created in 1970. Since the constitutional reform of 2001 they have had residual legislative powers, the regions have exclusive legislative power with respect to any matters not expressly reserved to state law. Yet their financial autonomy is quite modest, they just keep 20% of all levied taxes, Article 116 of the Italian Constitution grants to five regions home rule, acknowledging their powers in relation to legislation, administration and finance. These regions became autonomous in order to take into account cultural differences, moreover, the government wanted to prevent their secession from Italy after the Second World War. Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol constitutes a special case, the region is nearly powerless, and the powers granted by the regions statute are mostly exercised by the two autonomous provinces within the region, Trentino and South Tyrol. In this case, the regional institution plays a coordinating role, the latter is directly elected by the citizens of each region, with the exceptions of Aosta Valley and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, where he is chosen by the regional council. Under the 1995 electoral law, the winning coalition receives a majority of seats on the council
4.
Provinces of Italy
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In Italy, a province is an administrative division of intermediate level between a municipality and a region. There are currently 107 provinces in Italy, a further 4 such cities were added later. The reorganization of the Italian provinces became operative by January 2015, a province of the Italian Republic is composed of many municipalities. Usually several provinces together form a region, the region of Aosta Valley is the sole exception – it is not subdivided into provinces, the three main functions devolved to provinces are, local planning and zoning, provision of local police and fire services, transportation regulation. The number of provinces in Italy has been growing in recent years. Usually, the name is the same as that of its capital city. According to the 2014 reform, each province is headed by a President assisted by a body, the Provincial Council, and an executive body. President and members of Council are elected together by mayors and city councilors of each municipality of the province, the Executive is chaired by the President who appoint others members, called assessori. Since 2015 the President and others members of the Council will not receive a salary, in each province there is also a Prefect, a representative of the central government who heads an agency called prefettura-ufficio territoriale del governo. The Questor is the head of States Police in the province, there is also a provinces police force depending from local government, called provincial police. Sardinia - following the outcome of the referendums of 2012 it was decreed that such institutions should be reformed or abolished by March 2013. In January 2014 the Sardinian Regional Administrative Court declared unconstitutional the abolition of the Sardinian provinces, sicily - provinces were replaced by Free Communal Consortia in 2013. In 1861, at the birth of the Kingdom of Italy, however, at that time the national territory was smaller than the current one, regions of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino Alto Adige and Lazio were not included in the kingdom. In 1866, following the Third Independence War, territories of Veneto, Friuli, there were therefore nine more provinces, Belluno, Mantua, Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona, Vicenza and Udine, all previously part of the Austrian Empire. Eventually, in 1870, following the annexion of Rome and its province from the Papal States, after the First World War, new territories were annexed to Italy. The Province of Trento was created in 1920, Provinces of La Spezia, Trieste and Ionio in 1923. In 1924 the new provinces of Fiume, Pola, and Zara were created, in 1927, following a Royal charter, a general province rearrangement took place. 17 new provinces were created and the province of Caserta was suppressed, in the same year the institution of circondari, sub-provincial wards created before the unification, was abolished
5.
South Tyrol
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South Tyrol, also known by its alternative Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of 7,400 square kilometres and its capital is the city of Bolzano. As of 2011, South Tyrol is among the wealthiest regions in Italy, South Tyrol is the term most commonly used in English for the province, and its usage reflects that it was created from a portion of the southern part of the historic County of Tyrol. German and Ladin speakers usually refer to the area as Südtirol, Alto Adige, one of the Italian names for the province, is also used in English. The term had been the name of political subdivisions along the Adige River in the time of Napoleon Bonaparte and it was reused as the Italian name of the current province after its post-World War I creation, and was a symbol of the subsequent forced Italianization of South Tyrol. The official name of the today in German is Autonome Provinz Bozen — Südtirol. German speakers usually refer to it not as a Provinz, provincial institutions are referred to using the prefix Landes-, such as Landesregierung and Landeshauptmann. The official name in Italian is Provincia autonoma di Bolzano — Alto Adige, South Tyrol as an administrative entity originated during the First World War. The Allies promised the area to Italy in the Treaty of London of 1915 as an incentive to enter the war on their side, with the rise of Fascism, the new regime made efforts to bring forward the Italianization of South Tyrol. The German language was banished from public service, German teaching was officially forbidden, the regime also favored immigration from other Italian regions. The subsequent alliance between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini declared that South Tyrol would not follow the destiny of Austria, the region was de facto annexed to the German Reich until the end of the war. This status ended along with the Nazi regime, and Italian rule was restored in 1945, after the war the Allies decided that the province would remain a part of Italy, under the condition that the German-speaking population be granted a significant level of self-government. Italy and Austria negotiated an agreement in 1946, recognizing the rights of the German minority, alcide De Gasperi, Italys prime minister, a native of Trentino, wanted to extend the autonomy to his fellow citizens. This led to the creation of the region called Trentino-Alto Adige/Tiroler Etschland, German and Italian were both made official languages, and German-language education was permitted once more. Still Italians were the majority in the combined region, in a first phase, only public edifices and fascist monuments were targeted. The second phase was bloodier, costing 21 lives, the South Tyrolean question became an international issue. A fresh round of negotiations took place in 1961 but proved unsuccessful, the issue was resolved in 1971, when a new Austro-Italian treaty was signed and ratified
6.
Demonym
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A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above
7.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
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.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
10.
Ladin language
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Ladin is a Romance language consisting of a group of dialects mainly spoken in the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy in South Tyrol, the Trentino and the province of Belluno by the Ladin people. It exhibits similarities to Swiss Romansh and Friulian, the precise extension of the Ladin language area is the subject of scholarly debates. Ladin should not be confused with Ladino, which, although also Romance, is derived from Old Spanish, Ladin is recognized as a minority language in 54 Italian municipalities belonging to the provinces of South Tyrol, Trentino and Belluno. In the 2011 census,20,548 inhabitants of South Tyrol declared Ladin as their native language, Ladin is an officially recognised language, taught in schools and used in public offices. The following municipalities of South Tyrol have a majority of Ladin speakers and they are spoken in 38 municipalities, but have no official status. Their more precise classification is uncertain, both dialects show a strong resemblance to Trentinian dialect and Eastern Lombard, and scholars debate whether they are Ladin dialects or not. About 23% of the inhabitants from Val di Non and 1. 5% from Val di Sole declared Ladin as their language at the 2011 census. The number of Ladin speakers in those valleys amounts to 8,730, in order to stress the difference between the dialects in Non and Fassa valleys, it has been proposed to distinguish between ladins dolomitiches and ladins nonejes at the next census. As there is no census in the province of Belluno. The provincial administration of Belluno has enacted to identify Ladin as a minority language in additional municipalities, ladinity in the province of Belluno is more ethnic than linguistic. The varieties spoken by Ladin municipalities are Venetian alpine dialects, grammatically no different to those spoken in municipalities that did not declare themselves as Ladin and their language is called Ladino Bellunese. All Ladin dialects spoken in the province of Belluno, including those in the former Tyrolean territories, the name derives from Latin, because Ladin is originally a Vulgar Latin language left over from the Romanized Alps. Ladin is often attributed to be a relic of Vulgar Latin dialects associated with Rhaeto-Romance languages, whether a proto-Romance language ever existed is controversially discussed amongst linguists and historians, a debate known as Questione Ladina. Starting in the 6th century, the Bavarii started moving in from the north, while from the south Gallo-Italic languages started pushing in, only in the more remote mountain valleys did Ladin survive among the isolated populations. Starting in the very early Middle Ages, the area was ruled by the County of Tyrol or the Bishopric of Brixen. The area of Cadore was under the rule of the Republic of Venice, during the period of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and, after 1804, the Austrian Empire, the Ladins underwent a process of Germanization. After the end of World War I in 1918, Italy annexed the part of Tyrol. The programme of Italianization, professed by fascists such as Ettore Tolomei and Benito Mussolini and this included changing Ladin place names into the Italian pronunciation according to Tolomeis Prontuario dei nomi locali dellAlto Adige
11.
Puster Valley
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The Puster Valley is a valley in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy. The municipalities of the Puster Valley constitute the Puster Valley district, East of Sillian, the Puster Valley leaves the Peradriatic Line and turns to the northeast towards Lienz. Half of the valley drains to the west to the Adriatic via the Adige river, the watershed lies in the shallow valley floor called Toblacher Feld. The Rienz river flows westwards through the Puster Valley and the Drau river flows eastwards into East Tyrol, the eastern part of the valley on the upper Drava is called Upper Puster Valley. The towns in the Puster Valley are located between 750 and 1,180 meters above sea level. The most important of these towns in the valley are Toblach, Welsberg-Taisten, Olang, and Bruneck, the most important in the eastern valley are Innichen, Sexten. The largest tributaries of the Rienz river form the Antholzer Bach, the Ahr, the Pragser Bach, the Gsieser Bach, the Gran Ega, the Pfunderer Bach, the Puster Valleys largest side valley is the Tauferer Ahrntal. The Draus largest eastern tributaries are the Sextner Bach and the Villgraten-Bach, the Puster Valley District was founded in 1969 with the merger of 26 municipalities. Its combined area is 2,071 km² and its population is over 73,000, according to the 2001 census,80. 96% of the population of the valley speak German,13. 40% Ladin, and 5. 64% Italian as their native language. The following municipalities are part of the Puster Valley District, Media related to Puster Valley at Wikimedia Commons Puster Valley District
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Rienz
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The Rienz is a river in South Tyrol, Italy. The Rienz flows through the municipalities, Toblach, Niederdorf, Welsberg-Taisten, Olang, Rasen-Antholz, Bruneck, St. Lorenzen, Kiens, Vintl, Mühlbach, Rodeneck. The most significant affluents are, Ahr, forming the Ahrntal, the maximum discharge of the Rienz is around 60 m³/s. Information about the Rienz in German and Italian, media related to Rienz at Wikimedia Commons
13.
Eisack
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The Eisack is a river in Northern Italy, the second largest river in South Tyrol. Its source is near the Brenner Pass, at an altitude of about 1990 m above sea level, the river draws water from an area of about 4,200 km². After about 96 km, it joins the Adige river south of Bolzano, at first the river flows though the Wipptal and after the village of Vahrn through the Eisacktal. Its source is sung of in the Bozner Bergsteigerlied as the frontier of the South Tyrolean homeland. The major towns and villages along the course of the river are Sterzing, Franzensfeste, Brixen, Klausen, Waidbruck, in Brixen it merges with the Rienz. The Eisack is used extensively for the production of electricity, it is dammed near Franzensfeste, Klausen, media related to Eisack at Wikimedia Commons Eisack Water quality report
14.
Tauferer Ahrntal
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The Tauferer Ahrntal denotes the valley of the Ahr River, a tributary valley of the Puster Valley in South Tyrol, Italy. It is commonly divided into the Tauferer Tal, stretching from the confluence with the Rienz River near Bruneck up to Sand in Taufers, the municipalities in the valley are Gais, Sand in Taufers, Ahrntal, and Prettau, the northernmost comune of Italy. The municipality of Mühlwald is congruent with a side valley of the Tauferer Ahrntal including the Neves Reservoir. In the southeast, the Reinbach stream joins the Ahr near Sand in Taufers, the valley is accessible by the state highway that runs from Bruneck northwards to Gais and Sand in Taufers where the entry into the Ahr ravine is marked by Taufers Castle. From hear the valley stretches northeastwards up the course to Prettau. The former Taufers Railway connection from Bruneck to Sand in Taufers was discontinued in 1957, Ahrntal Tourist Board Media related to Tauferer Ahrntal at Wikimedia Commons
15.
Val Badia
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The Val Badia is the valley of the Gran Ega river in South Tyrol, Italy. It stretches from the Sella massif northwards to the Puster Valley, the villages in the Val Badia, whose population are predominantly Ladin-speaking, belong to the following municipalities, Badia, Corvara, La Val, Mareo and San Martin de Tor. The upper part of the valley, starting from the village San Linêrt and including Badia, Corvara, the same area is under the name Alta Badia a renowned ski resort. Media related to Val Badia at Wikimedia Commons
16.
Zillertal Alps
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The Zillertal Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps on the border of Austria and Italy. The range is named after the Zillertal on its north, reichenspitze Group and eastern Ziller ridges This is further subdivided as follows, Reichenspitzkamm, Gerloskamm, Schönachkamm, Wimmerkamm, Schwarzachkamm, Zillerkamm, Klockerkarstock. Pfunderer Mountains This is further subdivided as follows, Kreuzspitzkamm, Plattspitzkamm, Wurmaulkamm, Grubbachkamm, the main peaks of the Zillertal Alps are, The main mountain passes of the Zillertal Alps are, Webcams in the Zillertal Alps
17.
Rieserferner Group
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The Rieserferner Group is a mountain range in the Austrian Central Alps. Together with the Ankogel Group, Goldberg Group, Glockner Group, Schober Group, Kreuzeck Group, Granatspitze Group, Venediger Group, the Rieserferner mountains extend across the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Italian province of South Tyrol. The mountains mainly lie in South Tyrol, where the part is protected within the Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park. The Rieserferner Group forms the southwesternmost part of the High Tauern and its name is derived from the Rieserferner, a glacier on the northern flank between the Hochgall and the Schneebiger Nock. The Rieserferner Group is rather small in comparison with other Alpine ranges and it is, however, popular with climbers and hikers due to its prominent and steep, partly glaciated summits. In the east it runs from there along the valley of the Arventalbach past the Jagdhausalm to its confluence with the Schwarzach, in the west the boundary of the range runs from the Klammljoch along the Klammlbach stream until it joins the Knuttenbach. In the east the boundary continues along the Schwarzach until its confluence with the Staller Almbach, in the southeast and south it runs along the Staller Almbach to the Staller Saddle. From there it goes along the Antholz valley to Olang in the Pustertal, in the west the boundary is formed by the valleys of the Tauferer Tal and the Reintal. It continues along the Knuttental to the confluence with the Klammbach, the Klammljoch links the Rieserferner Group to the Venediger Group. The Staller Saddle is the link to the Villgraten Mountains, in the Rieserferner Group there are about 30 high points over 3,000 metres
18.
High Tauern
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The High Tauern are a mountain range on the main chain of the Central Eastern Alps, comprising the highest peaks east of the Brenner Pass. The crest forms the border of the Austrian state of Salzburg with Carinthia and East Tyrol. The range includes Austrias highest mountain, the Grossglockner at 3,798 metres above the Adriatic, in the east, the range is adjoined by the Lower Tauern. For the etymology of the name, see Tauern, with an area of about 1,834 square kilometres, it is by far the largest of Austrias seven national parks as well as the largest nature reserve in the Alps. It is divided into a zone including the Grossglockner and Grossvenediger massifs, with complete prohibition of agricultural use. Five special nature sanctuaries are protected from any human disturbance, the park of the IUCN II category comprises the Pasterze and numerous further glaciers, the Krimml Waterfalls, several glacial valleys and alluvial fans, as well as extended tundra areas and forests. Among the flora of the Alps, especially Swiss Pines grow along the line, above subshrub, mainly alpenrose but also the endemic saxifraga rudolphiana. The fauna includes chamois, Alpine ibex and red deer, as well as griffon vulture, the formerly extinct bearded vulture and the Alpine marmot have been successfully reintroduced. The adjacent area in Salzburg followed two years later, and Tyrol finally joined in 1992, tourism only increased marginally since the creation of the national park, but has become less harmful to the environment. A particular emphasis is put on environmental protection and the maintenance of ways of life in the Alps. East of it, the Katschberg Pass on B99 Katschberg Straße highway parallel to the Katschberg Tunnel links Sankt Michael, another road crosses the Staller Sattel between Sankt Jakob in Defereggen and Rasen-Antholz at 2,052 metres. Beside there are numerous bridle and foot paths, in part used since ancient times, Hohe Tauern window
19.
Dolomites
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The Dolomites are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form a part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east, the northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley. The Dolomites are nearly equally shared between the provinces of Belluno, South Tyrol and Trentino. There are also groups of similar geological structure that spread over the River Piave to the east – Dolomiti dOltrepiave. There is also another group called Piccole Dolomiti located between the provinces of Trentino, Verona and Vicenza. The Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park and many other parks are located in the Dolomites. In August 2009, the Dolomites were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, during the First World War, the front line between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces ran through the Dolomites and there was fierce mine warfare. There are now open-air war museums at Cinque Torri and Mount Lagazuoi, many people visit the Dolomites to climb the vie ferrate, protected paths created during the First World War. A number of long distance footpaths run across the Dolomites, which are called alte vie, such long trails, which are numbered from 1 to 8, require at least a week to be walked through and are served by numerous Rifugi. The first and, perhaps, most renowned is the Alta Via 1, radiocarbon dating has been used in the Alta Badia region to draw a connection between landslide movement and climate change. The layering of rocks and organic matter make for a trove of material that can used to perform these scientific investigations. Landslides are caused by processes, most notably the humidity of soil. The region is divided into the Western and Eastern Dolomites. Free climbing has been a tradition in the Dolomites since 1887, the Maratona dles Dolomites, an annual single-day road bicycle racing race covering seven mountain passes of the Dolomites, occurs in the first week of July. Other characteristic places are, Mount Pasubio and Strada delle 52 Gallerie Altopiano di Asiago and Calà del Sasso, with 4444 steps, nomination of the Dolomites for inscription on the World Natural Heritage List UNESCO. Walks and Via Ferrata in the Dolomites, franco Grisa Timelapse Italian official cartography, on-line version, www. pcn. minambiente. it
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Hausberg
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Hausberg is German for a prominent mountain or hill in the immediate vicinity of a village, town or city, usually located on its municipal territory, but outside the built up area. It means something like the mountain or local hill closely associated with a settlement by its population. The Hausberg forms a backdrop to its settlement and also offers a prominent viewing point looking over the settlement. As a result, many Hausberge have cable cars or gondola lifts to transport visitors to the top, Hausberg is also the proper name of numerous local mountains and hills in German-speaking countries. A hill within a town or city itself is referred to in German as a Stadtberg. Gallen, the Säntis Thun, the Stockhorn Zermatt, the Matterhorn Zürich, the Uetliberg Rio de Janeiro, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Corcovado Cape Town, Table Mountain
21.
Messner Mountain Museum
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The Messner Mountain Museum or MMM is a museum project created by Italian mountaineer and extreme climber Reinhold Messner in South Tyrol in northern Italy. The museum project consists of five based at six different locations, Firmian, Juval, Dolomites, Ortles, Ripa. MMM Firmian at Sigmundskron Castle near Bozen is the centerpiece of the museum, the museum includes displays on the geology of the mountains, the religious significance of mountains in the lives of people, and the history of mountaineering and alpine tourism. MMM Juval at Juval Castle in the Burggrafenamt in Vinschgau is dedicated to the magic of the mountains, with an emphasis on mystical mountains and their religious significance. MMM Dolomites at Monte Rite, housed in an old fort, is dedicated to the subject of rocks, particularly in the Dolomites and this museum contains a summit observation platform that offers a 360° panorama of the surrounding Dolomites. MMM Ortles at Sulden on the Ortler is dedicated to the history of mountaineering on ice and the great glaciers of the world. MMM Ripa at Bruneck Castle in South Tyrol is dedicated to the peoples from Asia, Africa, South America and Europe, with emphasis on their cultures, religions. MMM Corones on the plateau of Kronplatz, is dedicated to traditional mountaineering. The centrepiece of the Messner Mountain Museum is based in Sigmundskron Castle near Bolzano, Italy, the castle dates to the Late Middle Ages and houses the museums headquarters, administration and event facilities. There is a theatre that seats 200 people. The museum was opened on 11 June 2006 after three years of restoration to the ruined castle. The concept at MMM Firmian, as this hub of the museum is known, is based on three strands, the castle, the restoration and the exhibitions, the appearance of the castle has not been destroyed by modern alterations. The MMM Firmian itself covers an area of 1,100 square metres, the theme of the museum is the history and art of mountaineering. Messner wants to show what effect the mountain has on people, as well as giving an understanding of mountains and mountain peoples. He demonstrates this by means of pictures, sculptures, symbolic objects and memorabilia of various expeditions, Messner also displays the history of alpinism and the impact of alpinism and tourism on nature and the environment. A separate exhibition on the history of the castle and the region is in a tower and this part of the MMM is housed within Juval Castle near Naturns, a late-medieval castle, and was opened in 1995. This castle is owned by Messner and he uses it as his summer residence. This MMM deals with the mountains as places of mystery and spirituality and its main focus is the sacred mountains of the world such as Kailash, Mount Fuji or Ayers Rock
22.
Zaha Hadid
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Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid, DBE, RA was an Iraqi-born British architect. She was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize and she received the UKs most prestigious architectural award, the Stirling Prize, in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, she was made a Dame by Elizabeth II for services to architecture and she was described by the The Guardian of London as the Queen of the curve, who liberated architectural geometry, giving it a whole new expressive identity. Her major works include the centre for the London 2012 Olympics, Michigan State Universitys Broad Art Museum in the US. Hadid was born on 31 October 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq and her father, Muhammad al-Hajj Husayn Hadid, was a wealthy industrialist from Mosul. He co-founded the left-liberal al-Ahali group in 1932, a significant political organisation in the 1930s and 1940s and he was the co-founder of the National Democratic Party in Iraq. Her mother, Wajiha al-Sabunji, was an artist from Mosul, in the 1960s Hadid attended boarding schools in England and Switzerland. Hadid studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut before moving, in 1972, there she studied with Rem Koolhaas, Elia Zenghelis and Bernard Tschumi. Her former professor, Koolhaas, described her at graduation as a planet in her own orbit, Zenghelis described her as the most outstanding pupil he ever taught. ‘We called her the inventor of the 89 degrees, nothing was ever at 90 degrees. All the buildings were exploding into tiny little pieces and he recalled that she was less interested in details, such as staircases. The way she drew a staircase you would smash your head against the ceiling, and the space was reducing and reducing and she couldn’t care about tiny details. Her mind was on the broader pictures – when it came to the joinery she knew we could fix that later. She was right. ’ Her fourth-year student project was a painting of a hotel in the form of a bridge, Hadid became a naturalised citizen of the United Kingdom. She earned her reputation with her lecturing and colorful and radical early designs and projects. Her ambitious but unbuilt projects included a plan for Peak in Hong Kong, and her reputation in this period rested largely upon her teaching and the imaginative and colorful paintings she made of her proposed buildings. In 1989 Fehlbaum had invited Frank Gehry, then little-known, to build a museum at the Vitra factory in Weil-am-Rhein. In 1993, he invited Hadid to design a small station for the factory
23.
Alpine skiing
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Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the sport or recreation of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. It is typically practiced at ski resorts which provide such as ski lifts, artificial snow making and grooming, first aid. Back-country skiers use alpine skiing equipment to ski off the marked pistes, in cases with the assistance of snowmobiles. Alpine skiing has been an event at the Winter Olympic Games since 1936, as of 1994, there were estimated to be 55 million people worldwide, who engaged in Alpine skiing. Approximately 30 million of these were in Europe,15 million in the US, as of 1996, there were reportedly 4,500 ski areas, operating 26,000 ski lifts and enjoying skier visits. The preponderant region for downhills skiing was Europe, followed by Japan, a skier following the fall line will reach the maximum possible speed for that slope. A skier with skis pointed perpendicular to the line, across the hill instead of down it. The speed of descent down any given hill can be controlled by changing the angle of motion in relation to the fall line, downhill skiing technique focuses on the use of turns to smoothly turn the skis from one direction to another. Good technique results in a motion from one descent angle to another one. This looks more like a series of Ss than turns followed by straight sections. The oldest and still form of alpine ski turn is the stem. In doing so, the ski pushes snow forward and to the side, the force backwards directly counteracts gravity, and slows the skier. The force to the sides, if unbalanced, will cause the skier to turn, carving is based on the shape of the ski itself, when the ski is rotated onto its edge, the pattern cut into its side causes it to bend into an arc. The contact between the arc of the ski edges and the snow naturally causes the ski to tend to move along that arc, slowing the skier, modern alpine skis are shaped to enable carve turning, and have evolved significantly since the 1980s. During the 1930s, the Kandahar binding was introduced, which could be locked down at the heel for the downhill portions, the Kandahar remained in widespread use until the 1960s. As more skiers took up the sport, especially in the 1950s, dr. Richard Spademan saw 150 spiral fractures pass through his emergency department near Squaw Valley in three days, an event that led to the development of the Spademan binding. By the early 1950s, several safety bindings were on the market allowed the ski to come off when the ski twisted to the side. This helped reduce the incidence of spiral fractures, originally boots were cut low, just over the ankle, and soft laterally, both of which limited the amount of sideways rotating force that could be applied
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Brixen
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Brixen is a town in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about 40 kilometres north of Bolzano. First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and it is located at the confluence of the Eisack and Rienz rivers,40 kilometres north of Bolzano and 45 kilometres south of the Brenner Pass, on the Italy-Austrian border. It is flanked on the side by the Plose and Telegraph mountains. Brixen is especially known as a skiing resort. Other activities include hydroelectric power, orchards, and vineyards, the area of Brixen has been settled since the Upper Paleolithic. Other settlements from the late Stone Age have been found and in 15 BC, the area was conquered by the Romans and they held it until around 590, when it was occupied by Bavarians. The first mention of Brixen dates to 901 in a document issued by the King of Germany, Louis III the Child, in it a territory called Prihsna is assigned to Zacharias, as time passed, Prihsna turned into the current name of Brixen. The bishops moved here from Säben in 992, after the Cathedral had been finished, in 1039, the Bishop of Brixen, Poppo, was elevated to Pope by emperor Henry III. However his reign lasted for only 23 days, yet in the same century, Brixen became the seat of an independent ecclesiastical principate which, in the following years, struggled for existence against the neighbouring county of Tyrol. In 1115, a first line of walls encircling Brixen was completed, the bishopric was secularized in 1803 and annexed by the Austrian Empire. Between 1851 and 1855, the Czech journalist and writer Karel Havlíček Borovský was exiled by the Austrian government to Brixen, after the end of World War I, Brixen was annexed by Italy. The oldest coat of arms dates back to 1297 with the lamb, on 13 November 1928, a shield with the city walls and a gate on the lawn in the upper half and the lamb in the lower was adopted. The emblem is a turned argent lamb with an or halo on a gules background, the emblem was granted in 1966. The Cathedral, was rebuilt in the 13th century and again in 1745–54 along Baroque lines, the ceiling of the nave has a large fresco by Paul Troger portraying the Adoration of the Lamb. The Hofburg, a Renaissance Bishops Palace, one of the main residences in South Tyrol. The Diocesan Museum has several artworks, including a presepe with 5,000 figures created for Bishop Karl Franz Lodron, the round parish church of Saint Michael. The Gothic choir and the tower are from the 15th century while the nave is from the 16th. The main artwork is a wooden Cireneus from the 15th century, the Pharmacy Museum Pharmaziemuseum Brixen, located in a nearly 500-year-old townhouse, shows the development and changes of the City - Pharmacy
25.
Bolzano
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Bolzano is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 105,713, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol, Bolzano is the seat of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, where lectures and seminars are held in English, German and Italian. The city is home to the Italian Armys Alpini High Command and some of its combat. In 2014 version of the ranking of quality of life in Italian cities. Along with other Alpine towns in South Tyrol, Bolzano engages in the Alpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention, the Convention aims to promote and achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc. Consequently, Bolzano was awarded Alpine Town of the Year 2009, the Romans built a settlement after the area had been conquered in 15 BC by General Nero Claudius Drusus. The military settlement, Pons Drusi, was named after this Roman General, during this time the area became part of the region Venetia et Histria of ancient Italy. In 1948, excavations of the current Cathedral led to the discovery of an ancient Christian basilica from the 4th century. Also discovered was a Roman cemetery, including the tomb of Secundus Regontius with Latin inscriptions dating to the 3rd century, making him the oldest known inhabitant of Bolzano. During the gradual decline of the Romans influence in the 7th century, Bavarian immigration took place, at that time, the Bavarians named the nearby villages around Bolzano Bauzanum or Bauzana. German populations have been present in the region of Tyrol since this time, in 1027 the area of Bolzano and the rest of the diocese was conferred, by the emperor Conrad II from the Salian dynasty, upon the bishops of Trent. In the late-12th century, the bishop founded a market town, the town therefore became an important trading post on the Transalpine Augsburg-Venice route over the Brenner Pass, elevation 1,371 metres above sea level, within the Holy Roman Empire. In 1277 Bolzano was conquered by Meinhard II, the Count of Tyrol, in 1363, the County of Tyrol fell under the influence of Habsburg Austria and the Holy Roman Empire. In 1381, Duke Leopold granted the citizens of Bolzano the privilege of a town council and this gradually eliminated the influence and power previously held by the bishops of Trent over the next few decades. In 1462, the bishops eventually resigned all their rights of jurisdiction over the town, from the 14th and 15th centuries onwards, a large market fair was organised four times per year to greet tradesmen and merchants en-route the Brenner Pass. The Mercantile Magistrate was therefore founded in 1635 by the Austrian duchess Claudia de Medici, during every market season, two Italian and two Germanic officers, who were appointed among the local tradesmen, worked in this magistrate office. The establishment of a trade organisation strengthened Bolzano as a cultural crossroad in the Alps. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Bolzano became briefly part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy and was incorporated into the Dipartimento Alto Adige
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Brenner Pass
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Brenner Pass is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has the lowest altitude among Alpine passes of the area. Dairy cattle graze in alpine pastures throughout the summer in valleys beneath the pass, at lower altitudes, farmers log pine trees, plant crops and harvest hay for winter fodder. Many of the pastures are at an altitude of over 1,500 metres. The central section of Brenner Pass covers a four-lane motorway and railway tracks connecting Bozen/Bolzano in the south, the village of Brenner consists of an outlet shopping centre, fruit stores, restaurants, cafés, hotels and a gas station. It has a population of 400 to 600, Prenner was originally the name of a nearby farm which derived from its former owner. The farm of a certain Prennerius is mentioned in documents in 1288, the name Prenner is traced back to the German word for somebody who clears woodland. A name for the pass itself appears for the first time in 1328 as ob dem Prenner, Roman Empire The Romans regularized the mountain pass at Brenner, which had already been under frequent use during the prehistoric eras after the most recent Ice Age. Brenner Pass, however, was not the first trans-Alpine Roman road to become regularized under the Roman Empire, the first Roman road to cross this Alpine range, Via Claudia Augusta, connected Verona in northern Italy with Augusta Vindelicorum in the Roman province of Raetia. The Roman road that crossed over Brenner Pass did not exist until the 2nd century AD. It took the route through the Puster Valley and descended into Veldidena. The Alamanni crossed the Brenner Pass southward into modern-day Italy in 268 AD, however, the Romans kept control over this mountain pass until their breakup in the 5th century. Since the 12th century, Brenner Pass was controlled by the Counts of Tyrol within the Holy Roman Empire, emperor Frederick Barbarossa made frequent uses of the Brenner Pass in order to cross the Alps during his imperial expeditions of Italy. This 12th-century Brenner Pass was a trackway for mule trains and carts, Austrian Empire Modernisation of Brenner Pass took place under the Austrian Empire. In 1777, a road was laid out at the behest of Empress Maria Theresa. The Brenner Railway, which was completed in stages from 1853 to 1867, became the first trans-Alpine rail route being built without a major tunnel and at high altitude. Completion of this railway has enabled the Austrians to move their troops more efficiently and these areas were lost to Italy following the Milan Uprisings in 1859 and Austro-Prussian Wars in 1866. Post-World War I At the end of the First World War in 1918, Italy was awarded the territories south of Brenner Pass for betraying the Central Powers and switching side to the Entente Powers
27.
Innichen
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Innichen is a market town and comune in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is located in the Puster Valley on the Drava River, about 80 kilometres northeast of Bolzano and it hosts Italy’s International Snow Sculpture Festival each year. As November 2010, it had a population of 3,175, Innichen borders the municipalities of Toblach, Innervillgraten, Sexten, and Sillian. Innichen is home to the Innichen Abbey, founded in the late 8th century, the abbey itself was disestablished in 1785, while the surrounding estates were acquired by the County of Tyrol after the Mediatisation of 1803. According to the Treaty of Saint-Germain terms, Innichen became part of Kingdom of Italy in 1919, Innichen is still the site of a Franciscan monastery founded in 1691. The tower has settled on vert countryside and gules and this kind of representation points out that the site was once under the rule of the Bishops of Freising owners of a large area in the region from 769 to 1803. The coat of arms was granted by King Albert I of Germany in 1303, according to the 2011 census,85. 06% of the population spoke German,14. 64% Italian and 0. 30% Ladin as first language. Innichen is twinned with, Freising, Germany, since 1969 Official website Media related to Innichen at Wikimedia Commons
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East Tyrol
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East Tyrol, occasionally East Tirol, is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, separated from the main North Tyrol part by the short common border of Salzburg and Italian South Tyrol. It is congruent with the district of Lienz. The area around the former Roman municipium of Aguntum was from the 12th century held by the Counts of Gorizia, while Tyrol was lost to the Austrian House of Habsburg in 1363, the Gorizian counts retained Lienz until the extinction of the line in 1500. Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg finally incorporated it into Austrian Tyrol, East Tyrols present-day situation arose from the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I and its subsequent dissolution. After the Austrian Anschluss in 1938 East Tyrol became part of the Reichsgau Kärnten and it was returned to the Tyrol in 1947. After World War II East Tyrol became part of the British occupied zone of Austria and it is separated from the Tyrolean district of Schwaz in North Tyrol by a 9.5 km long common border of South Tyrol with the Salzburg Pinzgau region. The High Tauern National Park is in East Tyrol, along with several mountains including the Großglockner, History of Tyrol History of South Tyrol Trentino Euroregion Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino
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Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
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Bishopric of Brixen
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The Prince-Bishopric of Brixen is a former ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire in the present-day Italian province of South Tyrol. It should not be confused with the diocese of Brixen. The bishopric in the Eisack/Isarco valley was established in the 6th century and it gained imperial immediacy in 1027 and remained an Imperial Estate until 1803, when it was secularised to Tyrol. The diocese however existed until 1964, and is now part of the Diocese of Bolzano-Brixen, the Diocese of Brixen is the continuation of that of Säben Abbey near Klausen, which, according to legend, was founded about 350 as Sabiona by Saint Cassian of Imola. As early as the 3rd century, Christianity had penetrated Sabiona and it may have been a retreat of the bishops of Augusta Vindelicorum, the later Bishopric of Augsburg, during the Migration Period. The first Bishop of Sabiona vouched for by history is Ingenuinus, mentioned about 580, by the late 6th century the region became part of the Agilolfing stem duchy of Bavaria, which in 788 finally fell under Frankish overlordship. Urged by King Charlemagne, Pope Leo III assigned Säben as a diocese to the Archbishopric of Salzburg in 798. After King Louis the Child in 901 had granted Säben the former court of Prichsna, Bishop Hartwig raised Brixen to the rank of a city, and surrounded it with fortifications. The diocese received grants from the Holy Roman Emperors, thus from Conrad II in 1027 the suzerainty in the Norital. In 1179 Frederick I Barbarossa conferred on the bishop the title and this accounts for the fact that during the difficulties between the Papacy and the Empire, the Bishops of Brixen like the neighbouring Trent bishops generally took the part of the emperors. The Counts of Tyrol, in particular, who had fallen heir in large part to the territories of the Duke of Merania, Bishop Bruno had difficulty in asserting his authority over a section of his territory against the claims of Count Meinhard of Gorizia-Tyrol. Likewise Duke Frederick IV of Habsburg, ruler of Tyrol and Further Austria, called of the Empty Pockets, the Reformation was proclaimed in the Diocese of Brixen during the episcopate of Christoph I von Schrofenstein by German emissaries, like Strauss, Urban Regius, and others. In 1525, under Bishop Georg III of Austria, an uprising broke out in the vicinity of Brixen. Although in 1532 these promises were withdrawn, peace remained undisturbed, at this time important services were rendered in safeguarding the Catholic Faith by the Jesuits, Capuchins, Franciscans, and Servites. The Prince-Bishopric of Brixen as such was not affected, under Prince-Bishop Franz Karl, Count von Lodron, the temporal power of the prince-bishopric collapsed. In 1803 the principality was secularized, and annexed to Austria, Brixen Bishopric of Trent Tyrol Roman Catholic Diocese of Bolzano-Brixen This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles, ed. article name needed
31.
Hohenstaufen
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The Hohenstaufen, also called the Staufer or Staufen, were a dynasty of German kings during the Middle Ages. Besides Germany, they ruled the Kingdom of Sicily. In Italian historiography, they are known as the Svevi, since they were dukes of Swabia from 1079, three members of the dynasty—Frederick I, Henry VI and Frederick II—were crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The name Staufen derives from Stauf, meaning chalice, and was applied to conical hills in Swabia in the Middle Ages. The family derives its name from the castle which the first Swabian duke of the lineage built there in the half of the 11th century. Staufen castle was finally called Hohenstaufen by historians in the 19th century. The name of the dynasty followed, but in recent decades the trend in German historiography has been to prefer the name Staufer, the noble family first appeared in the late 10th century in the Swabian Riesgau region around the former Carolingian court of Nördlingen. A local count Frederick is mentioned as progenitor in a pedigree drawn up by Abbot Wibald of Stavelot at the behest of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1153. He held the office of a Swabian count palatine, his son Frederick of Buren married Hildegard of Egisheim-Dagsburg and their son Frederick I was appointed Duke of Swabia at Hohenstaufen Castle by the Salian king Henry IV of Germany in 1079. At the same time, Duke Frederick I was engaged to the kings approximately seventeen-year-old daughter, Fredericks brother Otto was elevated to the Strasbourg bishopric in 1082. Upon Fredericks death, he was succeeded by his son, Duke Frederick II, Frederick II remained a close ally of the Salians, he and his younger brother Conrad were named the kings representatives in Germany when the king was in Italy. Around 1120, Frederick II married Judith of Bavaria from the rival House of Welf, when the last male member of the Salian dynasty, Emperor Henry V, died without heirs in 1125, a controversy arose about the succession. A civil war between Fredericks dynasty and Lothairs ended with Fredericks submission in 1134, after Lothairs death in 1137, Fredericks brother Conrad was elected King as Conrad III. In 1147, Conrad heard Bernard of Clairvaux preach the Second Crusade at Speyer, conrads brother Duke Frederick II died in 1147, and was succeeded in Swabia by his son, Duke Frederick III. When King Conrad III died without heir in 1152, Frederick also succeeded him. As royal access to the resources of the church in Germany was much reduced and he was soon crowned emperor in Italy, but decades of warfare on the peninsula yielded scant results. The Papacy and the prosperous city-states of the Lombard League in northern Italy were traditional enemies, under the skilled leadership of Pope Alexander III, the alliance suffered many defeats but ultimately was able to deny the emperor a complete victory in Italy. During Fredericks long stays in Italy, the German princes became stronger, offers of reduced taxes and manorial duties enticed many Germans to settle in the east in the course of the Ostsiedlung
32.
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Frederick II was a Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily in the Middle Ages, a member of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, however, his enemies, especially the popes, prevailed, and his dynasty collapsed soon after his death. As such, he was King of Germany, of Italy, at the age of three, he was crowned King of Sicily as a co-ruler with his mother, Constance of Hauteville, the daughter of Roger II of Sicily. His other royal title was King of Jerusalem by virtue of marriage, Pope Gregory IX went so far as to call him an Antichrist. Speaking six languages, Frederick was a patron of science. He played a role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry. His Sicilian royal court in Palermo, from around 1220 to his death, saw the first use of a form of an Italo-Romance language. The poetry that emanated from the school had a significant influence on literature and he was also the first king who explicitly outlawed trials by ordeal as they were considered irrational. After his death, his line died out and the House of Hohenstaufen came to an end. Born in Iesi, near Ancona, Italy, Frederick was the son of the emperor Henry VI and he was known as the puer Apuliae. Some chronicles say that his mother, the forty-year-old Constance, gave birth to him in a square in order to forestall any doubt about his origin. In 1196 at Frankfurt am Main the infant Frederick was elected King of the Germans and his rights in Germany were disputed by Henrys brother Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick. At the death of his father in 1197, Frederick was in Italy travelling towards Germany when the bad news reached his guardian, Conrad of Spoleto. Frederick was hastily brought back to his mother Constance in Palermo, Sicily, Constance of Sicily was in her own right queen of Sicily, and she established herself as regent. Upon Constances death in 1198, Pope Innocent III succeeded as Fredericks guardian, Fredericks tutor during this period was Cencio, who would become Pope Honorius III. However, Markward of Annweiler, with the support of Henrys brother, Philip of Swabia, reclaimed the regency for himself, in 1200, with the help of Genoese ships, he landed in Sicily and one year later seized the young Frederick. He thus ruled Sicily until 1202, when he was succeeded by another German captain, William of Capparone, Frederick was subsequently under tutor Walter of Palearia, until, in 1208, he was declared of age. His first task was to reassert his power over Sicily and southern Italy, Otto of Brunswick had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent III in 1209
33.
Bourgeoisie
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A legally defined class of the Middle Ages to the end of the Ancien Régime in France, that of inhabitants having the rights of citizenship and political rights in a city. This bourgeoisie destroyed aristocratic privilege and established civic equality after the French monarchy collapsed, the aristocracy crumbled because it refused to reform institutions and financial systems. An affluent and often opulent stratum of the class who stand opposite the proletariat class. In English, bourgeoisie identified a social class oriented to economic materialism and hedonism, hence, since the 19th century, the term bourgeoisie usually is politically and sociologically synonymous with the ruling upper class of a capitalist society. The 18th century saw a partial rehabilitation of bourgeois values in such as the drame bourgeois and bourgeois tragedy. The bourgeoisie emerged as a historical and political phenomenon in the 11th century when the bourgs of Central and this urban expansion was possible thanks to economic concentration due to the appearance of protective self-organisation into guilds. Guilds arose when individual businessmen conflicted with their feudal landlords who demanded greater rents than previously agreed. In English, the bourgeoisie is often used to denote the middle classes. In fact, the French term encompasses both the upper and middle classes, a misunderstanding which has occurred in other languages as well. The bourgeoisie in France and many French-speaking countries consists of four evolving social layers, petite bourgeoisie, moyenne bourgeoisie, grande bourgeoisie, the petite bourgeoisie consists of people who have experienced a brief ascension in social mobility for one or two generations. It usually starts with a trade or craft, and by the second and third generation, the petite bourgeois would belong to the British lower middle class and would be American middle income. They are distinguished mainly by their mentality, and would differentiate themselves from the proletariat or working class and this class would include artisans, small traders, shopkeepers, and small farm owners. They are not employed, but may not be able to afford employees themselves, the moyenne bourgeoisie or middle bourgeoisie contains people who have solid incomes and assets, but not the aura of those who have become established at a higher level. They tend to belong to a family that has been bourgeois for three or more generations, some members of this class may have relatives from similar backgrounds, or may even have aristocratic connections. The moyenne bourgeoisie is the equivalent of the British and American upper-middle classes, the grande bourgeoisie are families that have been bourgeois since the 19th century, or for at least four or five generations. Members of these tend to marry with the aristocracy or make other advantageous marriages. This bourgeoisie family has acquired an established historical and cultural heritage over the decades, the names of these families are generally known in the city where they reside, and their ancestors have often contributed to the regions history. These families are respected and revered and they belong to the upper class, and in the British class system are considered part of the gentry
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Hospital
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A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized medical and nursing staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the hospital, which typically has an emergency department to treat urgent health problems ranging from fire. A district hospital typically is the health care facility in its region, with large numbers of beds for intensive care. Specialised hospitals can help reduce health care costs compared to general hospitals, a teaching hospital combines assistance to people with teaching to medical students and nurses. The medical facility smaller than a hospital is called a clinic. Hospitals have a range of departments and specialist units such as cardiology, some hospitals have outpatient departments and some have chronic treatment units. Common support units include a pharmacy, pathology, and radiology, Hospitals are usually funded by the public sector, by health organisations, by health insurance companies, or by charities, including direct charitable donations. Historically, hospitals were founded and funded by religious orders, or by charitable individuals. During the Middle Ages, hospitals served different functions from modern institutions, Middle Ages hospitals were almshouses for the poor, hostels for pilgrims, or hospital schools. The word hospital comes from the Latin hospes, signifying a stranger or foreigner, another noun derived from this, hospitium came to signify hospitality, that is the relation between guest and shelterer, hospitality, friendliness, and hospitable reception. By metonymy the Latin word then came to mean a guest-chamber, guests lodging, hospes is thus the root for the English words host hospitality, hospice, hostel and hotel. The German word Spital shares similar roots, the grammar of the word differs slightly depending on the dialect. Some patients go to a hospital just for diagnosis, treatment, or therapy and then leave without staying overnight, while others are admitted and stay overnight or for several days or weeks or months. Hospitals usually are distinguished from other types of facilities by their ability to admit and care for inpatients whilst the others. Larger cities may have several hospitals of varying sizes and facilities, some hospitals, especially in the United States and Canada, have their own ambulance service. A district hospital typically is the health care facility in its region, with large numbers of beds for intensive care. In California, district hospital refers specifically to a class of healthcare facility created shortly after World War II to address a shortage of beds in many local communities. Twenty-eight of Californias rural hospitals and 20 of its critical-access hospitals are District hospitals, Californias District hospitals are formed by local municipalities, have Boards that are individually elected by their local communities, and exist to serve local needs
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Almshouse
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An almshouse is charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community. They are often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain forms of employment, or their widows. Many almshouses are European Christian institutions though some are secular, alms are, in the Christian tradition, money or services donated to support the poor and indigent. Almshouses were established from the 10th century in Britain, to provide a place of residence for poor, old and distressed people. The first recorded almshouse was founded in York by King Athelstan, in the Middle Ages, the majority of European hospitals functioned as almshouses. In 1269 or 1270 an almshouse was established in Stavanger as the first known in Norway, the English tradition of almshouses was introduced to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by its founder, William Penn. The Maryland legislature created almshouses in Anne Arundel County, financed by property taxes on landowners throughout the state, massachusetts also had a long tradition of almshouses. In the United States, aid tended to be limited to the elderly and disabled, Almshouses have been created throughout the period since the 10th century, up to the present day. Many of the almshouses in England were established with the aim of benefiting the soul of the founder or their family. As a result, most were regarded as chantries and were dissolved during the Reformation, Almshouses tend to be characterised by their charitable status and by the aim of supporting the continued independence of their residents. In the Netherlands, a number of hofjes are still functioning as accommodation for elderly people, the economics of almshouses takes the form of the provision of subsidised accommodation, often integrated with social care resources such as wardens. The basis for modern civil almshouses and workhouses came into being in 1597 when the Act for the Relief of the Poor was enacted. These institutions underwent various population, program, and name changes, blockley Almshouse Carroll County Almshouse and Farm, Westminster, Maryland Halfway house Hostel List of British almshouses Poorhouse Heath, Sidney. Old English houses of alms, a record with architectural and historical notes. Almshouses in the West Riding of Yorkshire 1600-1900, goose, Nigel, Caffrey, Helen, Langley, Anne, eds. The British Almshouse, new perspectives on philanthropy ca 1400-1914, the Almshouse Association The Almshouse Residents Action Group List of English Almshouses associated with monastic institutions. Medieval Hospitals of England, by Rotha Mary Clay
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High, middle and low justice
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Low justice regards the level of day-to-day civil actions, including voluntary justice, minor pleas, and petty offences generally settled by fines or light corporal punishment. It was held by many petty authorities, including lords of the manor, who sat in justice over the serfs, unfree tenants. As a rule, each court administered justice in general, as long as the matter was not reserved for a court or by virtue of some privilegium fori. In addition to civil and criminal trials, the notion of justice also included voluntary justice, a right of appeal was not automatically available, only when explicitly established, and if so not always to a court of the superior political level and/or a higher degree of our trio. In the early Holy Roman Empire, high justice was reserved to the king, from the 13th century, it was transferred to the kings vassals along with their fiefs. The first codification of capital punishment was the Halsgerichtsordnung passed by Maximilian I in 1499, both codes formed the basis of the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, passed in 1532 under Charles V. In the Habsburg Monarchy, all codes were superseded by the Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana in 1768. The Blutbanner or Blutfahne was a red flag. It was presented to feudal lords as a symbol of their power of high jurisdiction together with the banner of the fief. Some feudal houses adopted a red field symbolic of the banner into their coat of arms. The Talschaft of Schwyz used the banner as a war flag from ca. 1240, and was incorporated into the flag of Schwyz. Often it is displayed, in the form of relevant status symbols. Thus permanent gallows are often erected in prominent public places, the word for them in French. These privileges indicating its so-called liberty was an enclave in the territorial jurisdiction of the neighboring feudal Lord. Not every Vogt held high justice, up to the 18th century, for example, the blood court of much of what is now the canton of Zürich lay with Kyburg, even in the territory ruled by the counts of Greifensee. The self-administration of the court was an important factor of Imperial immediacy. Private jurisdiction Zwing und Bann Richard J. Evans, Rituals of Retribution, Capital Punishment in Germany, 1600-1987, Oxford University Press
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Augsburg
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Augsburg is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It was a Free Imperial City for over 500 years and it is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is a district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is the third-largest city in Bavaria with a population of 286,000 citizens, after Neuss and Trier, Augsburg is Germanys third oldest city, being founded by the Romans as Augusta Vindelicorum, named after the Roman emperor Augustus. Augsburg is the only German city with its own legal holiday and this gives Augsburg more legal holidays than any other region or city in Germany. Augsburg was the home of two families that rose to great prominence internationally, replacing the Medicis as Europes leading bankers, the Fugger. Augsburg lies at the convergence of the Alpine rivers Lech and Wertach, in the south extends the Lechfeld, an Outwash plain of the post ice age between the rivers Lech and Wertach, where rare primeval landscapes were preserved. The Augsburg city forest and the Lech valley heaths today rank among the most species-rich middle European habitats, on Augsburg borders the nature park Augsburg Western Woods - a large forestland. The city itself is also heavily greened, as a result, in 1997 Augsburg was the first German city to win the Europe-wide contest Entente Florale for Europes greenest and most livable city. Augsburg is surrounded by the counties Landkreis Augsburg in the west, the neighboring towns and cities are Friedberg, Königsbrunn, Stadtbergen, Neusäß, Gersthofen, Rehling, Affing, Kissing, Mering, Merching, Bobingen, Gessertshausen und Diedorf. Augsburg has a continental climate. The city was founded in 15 BC by Drusus and Tiberius as Augusta Vindelicorum, the name means Augusta of the Vindelici. This garrison camp soon became the capital of the Roman province of Raetia, thus, Augsburg was the intersection of many important European east-west and north-south connections, which later evolved as major trade routes of the Middle Ages. Around 120 AD Augsburg became the capital of the Roman province Raetia, Augsburg was sacked by the Huns in the 5th century AD, by Charlemagne in the 8th century, and by Welf of Bavaria in the 11th century, but arose each time to greater prosperity. Augsburg was granted the status of a Free Imperial City on March 9,1276 and from then until 1803, it was independent of its former overlord, the Prince-Bishop of Augsburg. Frictions between the city-state and the prince-bishops were to remain frequent however, particularly after Augsburg became Protestant and curtailed the rights, with a strategic location as intersection of trade routes to Italy, the Free Imperial City became a major trading center. Augsburg produced large quantities of goods, cloth and textiles. Augsburg became the base of two banking families that rose to prominence, the Fuggers and the Welsers
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