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.
Hesse
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Hesse or Hessia is a federal state of the Federal Republic of Germany, with just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden, the largest city is Frankfurt am Main, the English name Hesse originates in the Hessian dialects. The variant Hessia comes from the medieval Latin Hassia, the German term Hessen is used by the European Commission because their policy is to leave regional names untranslated. The term Hesse ultimately derives from a Germanic tribe called the Chatti, an inhabitant of Hesse is called a Hessian. The synthetic element hassium, number 108 on the table, is named after the state of Hesse. As early as the Paleolithic period, the Central Hessian region was inhabited, due to the favorable climate of the location, people lived there about 50,000 years ago during the last glacial period, as burial sites show from this era. Finds of paleolitical tools in southern Hesse in Rüsselsheim suggest Pleistocene hunters about 13,000 years ago, the Züschen tomb is a prehistoric burial monument, located between Lohne and Züschen, near Fritzlar, Hesse, Germany. Classified as a grave or a Hessian-Westphalian stone cist, it is one of the most important megalithic monuments in Central Europe. Dating to the fourth millennium BC, it belongs to the Late Neolithic Wartberg culture. An early Celtic presence in what is now Hesse is indicated by a mid-fifth-century BC La Tène style burial uncovered at Glauberg, the region was later settled by the Germanic Chatti tribe around the first century BC, and the name Hesse is a continuation of that tribal name. The ancient Romans had a camp in Dorlar, and in Waldgirmes directly on the eastern outskirts of Wetzlar was a civil settlement under construction. Presumably, the government for the occupied territories of the right bank of Germania was planned at this location. The governor of Germania, at least temporarily, likely had resided here, the settlement appears to have been abandoned by the Romans after the devastating Battle of the Teutoburg Forest failed in the year 9 AD. The Chatti were also involved in the Revolt of the Batavi in 69 AD, Hessia occupies the northwestern part of the modern German state of Hesse, its borders were not clearly delineated. Its geographic center is Fritzlar, it extends in the southeast to Hersfeld on the Fulda river, in the north to past Kassel and up to the rivers Diemel, to the west, it occupies the valleys of the rivers Eder and Lahn. It measured roughly 90 kilometers north-south, and 80 north-west, the area around Fritzlar shows evidence of significant pagan belief from the first century on. Excavations have produced a horse burial and bronze artifacts, a possible religious cult may have centered on a natural spring in Geismar, called Heilgenbron, the name Geismar itself may be derived from that spring. By 650, the Franks were establishing themselves as overlords, which is suggested by evidence of burials
5.
Regierungsbezirk
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Regierungsbezirk is an administrative region at federal state level in Germany. The regional authority is called a Regierungspräsidium or Bezirksregierung and is headed by a Regierungspräsident, the Regierungsbezirke do not pass any legislation. Within the federal authority, they act as a mid-level agency. Regierungsbezirk is variously translated as district, administrative district or province. By German unification in 1871, the concept of Regierungsbezirke had been adopted by most States of the German Empire, the Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia are in direct continuation of those created in the Prussian Rhine and Westphalia provinces in 1816. Similar entities in other states were initially named Kreishauptmannschaft or Kreis or province in Hesse, in Nazi Germany the naming was unified to Regierungsbezirk. Currently, only four large-area states out of 16 in total are divided into Regierungsbezirke, on 1 January 2004, Saxony-Anhalt disbanded its three Regierungsbezirke, Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg. The responsibilities are now covered by a Landesverwaltungsamt with three offices at the seats of the Bezirksregierungen. On 1 January 2005, Lower Saxony disbanded its remaining four Regierungsbezirke, Brunswick, Hanover, Lüneburg, on 1 August 2008, Saxony restructured its districts and changed the name of its Regierungsbezirke to Direktionsbezirke. This was necessary because one of the new districts did not fit with the borders of the old Regierungsbezirke, the Direktionsbezirke are still named Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig. As of 1 March 2012, the Direktionsbezirke were merged into one Landesdirektion, four of the new federal states re-established in 1990, Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringia, decided not to implement Regierungsbezirke. In Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland they never existed, stettin, dissolved in 1945, Province of Pomerania Media related to Regierungsbezirk at Wikimedia Commons
6.
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
7.
Lahn-Dill-Kreis
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Lahn-Dill is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, in 1977 the district Gießen was merged with the districts Wetzlar and Dillkreis to the new Lahn-Dill-Kreis. However this big district wasnt popular, so in 1979 Giessen was split from it, the main rivers of the district are the Lahn and the Dill, which also gave it the name. It is mountain landscape with the Westerwald in the west, the Taunus in the south, the Lahn-Dill-Bergland in the east, the highest elevation with 671 m is near Rittershausen, the lowest with 135 is in the Lahn valley in Biskirchen
8.
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
9.
Christian Democratic Union of Germany
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The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. The CDU forms the CDU/CSU grouping, also known as the Union, the leader of the CDU, Angela Merkel, is the current Chancellor of Germany. The CDU is a member of the Centrist Democrat International, International Democrat Union, immediately following the collapse of the Nazi dictatorship at the end of World War II, the need for a new political order in Germany was paramount. Simultaneous yet unrelated meetings began occurring throughout Germany, each with the intention of planning a Christian-democratic party, the Christlich-Demokratische Union was established in Berlin on 26 June 1945, and in Rheinland and Westfalen in September of the same year. The founding members of the CDU consisted primarily of members of the Centre Party, German Democratic Party, German National Peoples Party. In the Cold War years, after World War II up to the 1960s, a prominent anti-Nazi member was theologian Eugen Gerstenmaier who became Acting Chairman of the Foreign Board. One of the lessons learned from the failure of the Weimar Republic was that disunity among the parties ultimately allowed for the rise of the Nazi Party. It was therefore crucial to create a party of Christian Democrats – a Christian Democratic Union. The result of meetings was the establishment of an inter-confessional party influenced heavily by the political tradition of liberal conservatism. The latter was more nationalist and sought German reunification, even at the expense of concessions to the Soviet Union, the Western powers appreciated the CDUs moderation, its economic flexibility and its value as an oppositional force to the Communists, which appealed to European voters at the time. Also, Adenauer was trusted by the British, the party was split over issues of rearmament within the Western alliance and German unification as a neutral state. Adenauer staunchly defended his position and outmanoeuvred some of his opponents. He also refused to consider the SPD as a party of the coalition until he felt sure that they shared his anti-Communist position, the CDU was the dominant party for the first two decades following the establishment of West Germany in 1949. Konrad Adenauer remained the leader until 1963, at which point the former minister of economics Ludwig Erhard replaced him. As the Free Democratic Party withdrew from the coalition in 1966 due to disagreements over fiscal and economic policy. Consequently, a coalition with the SPD took over government under CDU Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger. The CDU continued its role as opposition until 1982, when the FDP’s withdrawal from the coalition with the SPD allowed the CDU to regain power, CDU Chairman Helmut Kohl became the new Chancellor of West Germany and his CDU-FDP coalition was confirmed in the 1983 federal election
10.
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
11.
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
12.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
13.
House of Orange-Nassau
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Several members of the house served during this war and after as governor or stadtholder during the Dutch Republic. However, in 1815, after a period as a republic. The dynasty was established as a result of the marriage of Henry III of Nassau-Breda from Germany and their son René inherited in 1530 the independent and sovereign Principality of Orange from his mothers brother, Philibert of Châlon. As the first Nassau to be the Prince of Orange, René could have used Orange-Nassau as his new family name, however, his uncle, in his will, had stipulated that René should continue the use of the name Châlon-Orange. History knows him therefore as René of Châlon, after the death of René in 1544 his cousin William of Nassau-Dillenburg inherited all his lands. This William I of Orange, in English better known as William the Silent, the Castle of Nassau was founded around 1100 by Count Dudo-Henry of Laurenburg, the founder of the House of Nassau. In 1120, Dudo-Henrys sons and successors, Counts Robert I and Arnold I of Laurenburg and they renovated and extended the castle complex in 1124. The first man to be called the count of Nassau was Robert I of Nassau, the Nassau family married into the family of the neighboring Counts of Arnstein. His sons Walram and Otto split the Nassau possessions, the descendants of Walram became known as the Walram Line, which became Dukes of Nassau, and in 1890, the Grand Dukes of Luxembourg. This line also included Adolph of Nassau, who was elected King of the Romans in 1292, the descendants of Otto became known as the Ottonian Line, which inherited parts of Nassau County, and properties in France and the Netherlands. The House of Orange-Nassau stems from the younger Ottonian Line, the first of this line to establish himself in the Netherlands was John I, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, who married Margareta of the Marck. The real founder of the Nassau fortunes in the Netherlands was Johns son and he became counsellor to the Burgundian Dukes of Brabant, first to Anton of Burgundy, and later to his son Jan IV of Brabant. He also would later serve Philip the Good, in 1403 he married the Dutch noblewoman Johanna van Polanen, and so inherited lands in the Netherlands, with the Barony of Breda as the core of the Dutch possessions and the family fortune. A nobles power was based on his ownership of vast tracts of land. It also helped that much of the lands that the House of Orange and Nassau controlled sat under one of the commercial and mercantile centers of the world (see below under Lands and Titles. The importance of the Nassaus grew throughout the 15th and 16th centuries as they became councilors, generals, Engelbert II of Nassau served Charles the Bold and Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, who had married Charless daughter Mary of Burgundy. In 1496 he was appointed stadtholder of Flanders and by 1498 he had been named President of the Grand Conseil, in 1501, Maximilian named him Lieutenant-General of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands. From that point forward, Engelbert was the representative of the Habsburg Empire to the region
14.
German Timber-Frame Road
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The German Timber-Frame Road is a German tourist route leading from the river Elbe in the north to Lake Constance in the south. Along this road are numerous cities and towns each with examples of the vernacular timber-framed houses traditional to the German states, the route is divided into seven sections, each of which follow the traditional areas of, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Hesse, Thuringia, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. The total length is nearly 3,000 km, in 1975 the ARGE Historische Fachwerkstädte e. V. was founded. Its aim is to preserve the heritage of a huge variety of different styles of half-timbering in Germany. To share this knowledge with other interested people the German Timber-Frame Road was founded in 1990, in the meantime 98 timber-framed towns have joined up under the slogan Timber-framed houses unite. The German Timber-Frame Road runs to almost the length of Germany and therefore links many varied landscapes, historic cities and carefully restored sites. Numerous events, festivals and markets throughout the year are publicised as part of the routes attractions
15.
Rothaarsteig
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The Rothaarsteig is a 154.80 km long hiking trail along the crest of the Rothaargebirge mountain range in Germany in the border region between the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse. The main route of the Rothaarsteig trail runs from Brilon, mainly in a southerly direction over the Kahler Asten to Dillenburg, most of the Rothaarsteig is located in the Rothaargebirge Nature Park. Between Schmallenberg and Bad Berleburg the Rothaarsteig meets the Waldskulpturenweg, despite its route inside a range of high hills, the Rothaarsteig generally easy to walk. It passes several towns including Winterberg, through which it runs, the signpost symbol for the Rothaarsteig is a white R on its side on a red background. The paths leading to the trail from the valleys along the way have the same sign, the 154.80 kilometre long main trail of the Rothaarsteig runs over mountains, past springs and natural and cultural monuments and through nature reserves. -Georg-Schanze. The path then runs past the mountains of Poppenberg and Bremberg to the Kahler Asten, on which the Asten Tower and e. g. the source of the river Lenne may be found. From the Lenne spring the Rothaarsteig runs by the villages of Lenneplätze, Neuastenberg, Langewiese and Hoheleye to Albrechtsplatz. Initially it runs in a southerly direction past the hamlet of Kühhude, then the Bergweg runs westwards over the Großer Kopf to the Millionenbank, where it rejoins the Talweg or valley path. The Talweg, also called the Hochsauerlandvariante, is the most important branch of the Rothaarsteig and it runs initially westwards past a war cemetery and the cultural monument of the Wegsperre to the village of Schanze. Thereafter the Talweg runs south around the mountains of Große- and Kleine Bamicke to the Millionenbank. The walking path runs past the refuge hut on the Margaretenstein to the Rhine-Weser Tower on the Westerberg. From the Rhine-Weser Tower the Rothaarsteig runs in a direction to the source region of the Schwarzbach. Just under 1 km further southeast it runs past the Panorama-Park Sauerland before following the valley of the Schwarzbach, after crossing that stream the walking trail runs along the Schwarzbach tributary, the Habecker Bach, to its origin and then continues to the mountain hut at Rastplatz Hochheide. The Rothaarsteig runs past the summit of the Riemen about 150 m to the east to the valley of the Elberndorfer Bach, thereafter the Rothaarsteig runs eastwards over the Giller to Lützel southeast of Hilchenbach. Next the trail runs along the Eder to its source and over the old road to Waldheim in Benfe, south of Erndtebrück, where it crosses the Eder tributary. Through Rodenbach, north of Haiger, it continues to Manderbach, north of Dillenburg, the Rothaarsteig runs through or past the following towns and villages, The use of the Rothaarsteig by bicycle is problematic but possible. The gradients reach 15 % in many places, in addition there are stretches that have been damaged or turned to mud by forestry vehicles. Bicycles therefore need to be capable and the fitness of the cyclist sufficient for the challenge
16.
Hiking
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Hiking is the preferred term, in Canada and the United States, for a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails, in the countryside, while the word walking is used for shorter, particularly urban walks. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, the word hiking is also often used in the UK, along with rambling, hillwalking, and fell walking. The term bushwalking is endemic to Australia, having been adopted by the Sydney Bush Walkers club in 1927, in New Zealand a long, vigorous walk or hike is called tramping. It is an activity with numerous hiking organizations worldwide. In the United States, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, a day hike refers to a hike that can be completed in a single day. However, in the United Kingdom, the walking is also used, as well as rambling. In Northern England, Including the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, fellwalking describes hill or mountain walks, hiking sometimes involves bushwhacking and is sometimes referred to as such. This specifically refers to walking through dense forest, undergrowth, or bushes. In extreme cases of bushwhacking, where the vegetation is so dense that human passage is impeded, the Australian term bushwalking refers to both on and off-trail hiking. Common terms for hiking used by New Zealanders are tramping, walking or bushwalking, trekking is the preferred word used to describe multi-day hiking in the mountainous regions of India, Pakistan, Nepal, North America, South America, Iran and in the highlands of East Africa. Hiking a long-distance trail from end-to-end is also referred to as trekking, in North America, multi-day hikes, usually with camping, are referred to as backpacking. The idea of taking a walk in the countryside for pleasure developed in the 18th-century, in earlier times walking generally indicated poverty and was also associated with vagrancy. Thomas West, an English priest, popularized the idea of walking for pleasure in his guide to the Lake District of 1778. To this end he included various stations or viewpoints around the lakes, published in 1778 the book was a major success. Another famous early exponent of walking for pleasure, was the English poet William Wordsworth, in 1790 he embarked on an extended tour of France, Switzerland, and Germany, a journey subsequently recorded in his long autobiographical poem The Prelude. His famous poem Tintern Abbey was inspired by a visit to the Wye Valley made during a tour of Wales in 1798 with his sister Dorothy Wordsworth. Wordsworths friend Coleridge was another keen walker and in the autumn of 1799, he and Wordsworth undertook a three weeks tour of the Lake District. John Keats, who belonged to the generation of Romantic poets began, in June 1818, a walking tour of Scotland, Ireland
17.
Westerwald
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The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif and its highest elevation, at 657 m above sea level, is the Fuchskaute in the High Westerwald. Tourist attractions include the Dornburg, site of some Celtic ruins from La Tène times, found in the community of the name, and Limburg an der Lahn. The geologically old, heavily eroded range of the Westerwald is in its northern parts overlaid by a volcanic upland made of Neogene basalt layers. It covers an area of some 50 ×70 km, and thereby roughly 3000 km², in areas of subsidence, it has in its flatter western part the characteristics of rolling hills. Despite its relatively slight elevation, the Westerwald has for a low mountain range a typical agreeable climate, economically and culturally, it belongs among Germany’s best known mountain ranges. Only since the mid 19th century has the name come into usage for the whole range. The High Westerwald has since the Middle Ages formed the heart of the Herrschaft zum Westerwald and this comprised the three court districts of Marienberg, Emmerichenhain and Neukirch. The Lordship later fell under the governance of the Lordship or County of Beilstein, in its centre lie Bad Marienberg and Hachenburg. Geomorphologically, the Westerwald belongs to the Rhenish Massif, which forms the part of that range’s eastern half on the Rhine’s right bank. The subsidence areas found within are known for their clay deposits, indeed, the name for this small region is the Kannenbäckerland, or “Jug Bakers’ Land”, a reference to the traditional ceramics industry here. In the southwest, in the richly wooded Montabaur Heights is found a monadnock made of quartzite, the Siebengebirge joining the range in the northwest near Bonn is, however, regionally grouped with the Middle Rhine area. To the south, as part of the Lahn valley, the hilly Limburg Basin abuts the Upper Westerwald, hoher Westerwald, The High Westerwald is an undulating and basalt-rich tableland decked with woodlands that has a distinctly agreeable climate, and elevations ranging from roughly 450 to 657 m. Here is found the Fuchskaute, the Westerwald’s highest peak, district seats in the Westerwald are, Altenkirchen, Montabaur and Neuwied. Furthermore, the Lahn-Dill-Kreis, the Mayen-Koblenz district, the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, if Sieg is taken as the Westerwald’s northernmost limit, then the Rhein-Sieg district likewise belongs here, at least in parts. The Westerwald and its edges are crossed by stretches of Bundesstraßen 8,42,49,54,62,255,256,277,413 and 414, over which there are connections to the Autobahnen A3, A45. Several railway lines lead through the Westerwald, among them the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line with stops in Montabaur. Moreover, the Westerwald can also be reached by air through the Siegerland Airport, the Devonian bedrock is covered by volcanic masses from the Tertiary, particularly basalt and tuffs
18.
Dill (river)
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The Dill is a 55 km long river, flowing through central Hesse in Germany. It is a tributary to the Lahn, joining it on the bank at the town of Wetzlar. The Dill flows exclusively through the Lahn-Dill-Kreis district in Hesse, the river originates at about 567 m above sea-level north of Haiger-Offdilln on the eastern slope of the Haincher Höhe, where the mountain ranges Rothaargebirge and Westerwald meet. During its course, roughly north to south, the Dill passes the towns of Haiger, Dillenburg, Herborn, Aßlar. Many places on the banks of the river draw their names from it, on the rivers upper reaches these are Offdilln, Dillbrecht, Fellerdilln, Dillenburg, and further downstream Dillheim. Dillenburg was the seat of the former Dillkreis district and residence town of the House of Orange-Nassau, going downstream, the Dills largest tributaries are, Roßbach, Haigerbach, Aubach, Donsbach, Dietzhölze, Nanzenbach, Schelde, Aar, Ambach, Rehbach, Lemp, and Blasbach. River statistics – Aßlar River statistics – Dillenburg River statistics – Haiger
19.
Wetzlar
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The city of Wetzlar, located in the state of Hesse, Germany, is a former Free imperial city that owed much of its fame to being the seat of the Imperial Supreme Court of the Holy Roman Empire. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, Wetzlar straddles the river Lahn and is on the German Timber-Frame Road which passes mile upon mile of half-timbered houses, historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis on the north edge of the Taunus. The city is known for its ancient town and its medieval cathedral, notable architectural features include the Eisenmarkt and the steep gradients and tightly packed street layout of a medieval town. The sandstone cathedral of St. Mary was commenced in the 12th century as a Romanesque building, in the later Middle Ages the construction was continued under a master plan in Gothic style. The church was never finished, as one still remains uncompleted. The cathedral suffered damage in the Second World War from aerial bombing. On the outskirts of town the ruins of stone towers are to be found. In 1975, the hosted the 15th Hessentag state festival. Wetzlar lies in the Lahn-Dill area in Middle Hesse on the river Lahn, the highest point within town limits is the Stoppelberg at 401 m above sea level. Wetzlar and Gießen are the two cores of this urban agglomeration in Middle Hesse. Along the valleys of the Lahn and Dill are heavily built-up neighbouring communities, the low mountain ranges around Wetzlar to the northwest, northeast and south, on the other hand, are heavily wooded and very thinly populated. Niedergirmes is with over 6,000 inhabitants the largest municipality, furthermore, there are 8 districts outside the core area. Five of them have long since been swallowed up in Wetzlars main built-up area, all, however, became part of Wetzlar with the dissolution of the city of Lahn in 1979, excluding Blasbach, Dutenhofen and Münchholzhausen which have long belonged to the city. These are east of the towns of Naunheim, Garbenheim. Nauborn is located south of the area and Steindorf follows on from the west central area. North of the area are Blasbach and Hermannstein. Wetzlar has a temperate seasonal climate of the middle latitudes. Between the different elevations there are different small climatic conditions, the daily mean temperature in summer is about 17 to 18 °C and in winter about 1 to 2 °C
20.
Lahn
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The Lahn River is a 245. 6-kilometer -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse. It has its source in the Rothaargebirge, the highest part of the Sauerland and it meets the Rhine at Lahnstein, near Koblenz. Important cities along the Lahn include Marburg, Gießen, Wetzlar, Limburg an der Lahn, Weilburg, tributaries to the Lahn include the Dill, the Weil and the Aar Rivers. The lower Lahn has many dams with locks, allowing regular shipping from its mouth up to Runkel, riverboats also operate on a small section north of the dam in Gießen. The Lahn River is a 245. 6-kilometer -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany and its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, and Rhineland-Palatinate. The Lahn originates at the Lahnhof, a locality of Nenkersdorf, the source area is situated along the Eisenstraße scenic highway and the Rothaarsteig hiking trail. The river arises in the southeastern Rothaargebirge in the Ederkopf-Lahnkopf-Rücken ridge-line natural area and this ridge is the drainage divide between the Rhine and Weser, and, within the Rhine system, the watershed between the Lahn and Sieg rivers. The source is at an elevation of 600 meters and is located southwest of the 624 m high Lahnkopf, in the vicinity are also the origins of the Eder and the Sieg. Whereas the Sieg takes the shortest route to the Rhine, the Lahn first runs in the opposite direction, the Lahn first flows in a northeasterly direction through the southeastern Rothaargebirge and its foothills. From about the Bad Laasphe community of Feudingen, it primarily to the east. The section of the Lahn below the town of Bad Laasphe is geographically known as the Upper Lahn Valley. Above Bad Laasphe, where the flows between the Rothaargebirge on the left and the Gladenbach Uplands on the right, the Lahn Valley is simply considered part of these mountains. Between Niederlaasphe and Wallau, the crosses the border between North-Rhine Westphalia and Hesse. It then flows in a direction through some districts of Biedenkopf. It is joined from the right by the Perf at Wallau, shortly after the village of Caldern, the ridgeline of the Rothaargebirge on the north ends with the Wollenberg and that of the Gladenbach Bergland with the Hungert. Where the Wetschaft flows into it from the Burgwald forest in the north, the now southward-flowing Lahn then enters the Marburg-Gießen Lahntal. Shortly before Cölbe, the Ohm enters from the left, flowing from the Vogelsberg, the Ohm is the Lahn’s longest tributary, with a length of 59.7 kilometres
21.
Eschenburg
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Eschenburg is a community in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. The community inherited its name from nearby Eschenburg mountain, about 20 km², or 43. 8%, of the municipal area is wooded,9.85 km² of this being municipal forest, and the rest state forest. The individual communities within Eschenburg lie on the river Dietzhölze and in its side valleys, Eschenburg lies in the northern Lahn-Dill-Kreis, some 10 km northeast of Dillenburg and 23 km east of Siegen. Eschenburg comprises the centres of Eibelshausen – which is also the administrative seat – Eiershausen, Roth, Simmersbach, Wissenbach, Hirzenhain Ort and it is known from archaeological finds that there were settlers in what is today Eschenburg as far back as Celtic times. Eschenburg had its first documentary mention in the 13th century, quite early on in its history, ores such as silver, nickel, copper and iron were being mined in various places, and slate and diabase were being quarried. This resulted in metalworking and hammering mills being established in the area, only recently have archaeological digs shown the groundwork of a mediaeval forest smithy in Wissenbach. The founding of the community came on 1 October 1971 through a voluntary merger of Eibelshausen, Eiershausen. The 589 m-high mountain Eschenburg, seven kilometres northeast of Dillenburg, is the communitys namesake, among the six constituent communities, Eibelshausen is the biggest. The Heimatmuseum in Eibelshausen as well as the Eschenburg-Dietzhölztal Culture Group offer interesting exhibits, worth seeing is the more than 750-year-old village of Hirzenhain with its gliderport and downhill skiing run. Hirzenhain is the second oldest gliderport. Glider flying is maintained by the Hirzenhain Gliding Club, but even non-members can take part for a small fee, in the countryside around Simmersbach, the Philippsbuche recalls Landgrave Philip Is homecoming after a five-year Spanish-Dutch imprisonment on 10 September 1552. In Eschenburg there are many clubs in which one can practise almost any discipline, from football and handball to athletics, gymnastics, tennis. Nature trails through the woods, hiking trails, and protected areas for birds, from Wissenbach came the violinist, violist, concert director and radical pietist religion founder Johann Daniel Müller, also known as Elias or Elias Artista first predicted by Paracelsus. His wife was a relative of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, BBT Thermotechnik GmbH Werk Eibelshausen Rittal Großschaltschränke GmbH & Co
22.
Herborn (Hesse)
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Herborn is a historic town on the Dill in the Lahn-Dill district of Hesse in Germany. Before World War I, it was granted its own title as Nassauisches Rothenburg, the symbol or mascot of this town is a bear. Scenic attractions include its half-timbered houses, Herborn is located on the German Timber-Frame Road, in 1986, the town hosted the 26th Hessentag state festival. The 56th Hessentag will be held in Herborn in 2016 again, the town can be located at these coordinates, 50°41′4″N 8°18′15″E. It has an area of 63.82 km², of which 28.0122 km² is forest and it is connected by the A45 motorway with Siegen, Wetzlar, and Gießen. Herborn is divided into the communities of Amdorf, Burg, Guntersdorf, Hirschberg, Hörbach, Merkenbach, Schönbach, Seelbach and Uckersdorf as well as the main town of Herborn. In 1584, a Reformed institution, the Herborn Academy, was founded by John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg, William the Silents younger brother, in Herborn, as of 1602, the Reformed Churchs first translation of the Bible was made by Johannes Piscator. This work has had an effect in shaping church life among followers of the Reformed movement in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland. It was printed in Herborn in the akademische Druckerei von Corvinus, known today as the Corvinsche Druckerei or Pauls Hof, in 1626, the town lost 214 houses in a fire started by accident in soldiers quarters. Not long after this, Herborn and the area were the scene of a number of witch trials. After the Congress of Vienna, Herborn ended up in an area next to Prussia. Only in 1836 Hesse-Nassau joined the Zollverein, and in 1866 it was annexed by Prussia. In the Second World War, Herborn was mostly spared by the bombers, but its Jewish community was obliterated in 1942, during much of the Cold War there was a small American military garrison in the community, district Seelbach. The town became known for a truck disaster that happened on 7 July 1987. After losing control because of faulty brakes, a truck carrying about 34000 L of fuel ran into a house containing an ice cream parlour. The escaping fuel flowed into the sewers and exploded, setting several houses on fire, all together, six people lost their lives, and 40 were injured. The municipal elections on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results, Note, particularly worthy of note is the frieze around the building showing local family coats of arms. Many half-timbered houses dating from the 15th to 18th century, the constituent community of Uckersdorf has a widely known attraction with its bird park
23.
Breitscheid, Hesse
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Breitscheid is a community in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Breitscheid lies from 266 to 600 m above sea level on the slope of the Westerwald range at the point shared by three German states, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. Erdbach, a constituent community, lies in a place with regards to Earths history, in the eastern part of the Westerwald, near that ranges highest peak. In the Erdbach area are limestone deposits from various geological time periods. Erdbach limestone from Lower Carboniferous times gave an era the name Erdbachium, the Erdbach – the villages namesake brook – disappears into a karst system, and does not appear again for 1.5 km where it can be seen in a quarry. Not far from there, the Homberg fossil reserve was instituted, the older limestone formation near Breitscheid stems from a subtropical coral reef from the Devonian period. In the stone chambers of the Rolsbach valley, some gravesites from Hallstatt times were unearthed in 1884, in archaeology, there is a special burial ornament called an Erdbach coil torc. It is also believed that Neanderthal people once lived nearby, aside from the main centre, which bears the same name as the whole, there are outlying centres called Erdbach, Gusternhain, Medenbach and Rabenscheid. The community came into being on 1 January 1977 as part of Hesses municipal reforms, the constituent communities were formerly independent municipalities. The municipal elections on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results, Note, töpfermuseum Breitscheid displays the development of pottery and has pottery products on display from the last 250 years. The old Fortress church in Breitscheid, erdbacher Höhlen, karst caves and a karst spring
24.
Haiger
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Haiger is a country town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. The nearest city is Siegen, about 25 km north of Haiger and it is the districts northernmost town. The river Dill rises north of the constituent community of Offdilln and these are culturally diverse and speak different versions of the local dialect. 1998 -20,2981999 -20,2122000 -20,2222001 -20,2012002 -20,1692003 -20,1912004 -19,9592005 -19,942 Haiger is the oldest of three towns on the river Dill. It was first mentioned in 778 in a deed of Lorsch monastery. The towns most famous son was Johann Textor who was here in 1582. Between 1608 and 1619 he was clerk in Haiger and subsequently wrote the Nassauische Chronik. One of the most famous depictions of the town is an engraving by Matthäus Merian. On 8 May 1729, the still fully walled town perished in a fire that destroyed all buildings within a few hours. Even the towns church, built on an outcrop rising within the centre of town, was left in ruins, the nobles of Haiger were influential in the Haigermark. The Haigermark was also known as the Land of the Free Men, the familys influence gradually waned with the rise of the house of Nassau-Dillenburg. The towns name, Haiger, is derived from old middle German. The great number of herons on the Haigerbach, Aubach and Dill may have helped to give the town the name Reiherbach and this name came from the words Heiger and Ahe. Over the centuries, the spelling changed many times, → Heigrahe → Heigera → Heigere → Heigerin → Heigre → Heigeren → Hegere → Hegera → Heygere → Heyger → Heiger → Häger → Häyer. The bird in the coat of arms may likewise be a reference to the herons, haigers civic coat of arms was granted in 1908 and confirmed in 1934. The design goes back to a seal used in the 15th century. The lion somehow changed into a jay, possibly as a misinterpretation, the jay nonetheless serves as a canting symbol. A structure has grown up around the jay replete with spires, crosses
25.
Mining
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Mining is extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually from an orebody, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposits. These deposits form a mineralized package that is of economic interest to the miner, ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, chalk, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. Mining is required to obtain any material that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water. Mining of stones and metal has been a human activity since pre-historic times, Mining operations usually create a negative environmental impact, both during the mining activity and after the mine has closed. Hence, most of the nations have passed regulations to decrease the impact. Work safety has long been a concern as well, and modern practices have significantly improved safety in mines, levels of metals recycling are generally low. Unless future end-of-life recycling rates are stepped up, some rare metals may become unavailable for use in a variety of consumer products, due to the low recycling rates, some landfills now contain higher concentrations of metal than mines themselves. Since the beginning of civilization, people have used stone, ceramics and, later and these were used to make early tools and weapons, for example, high quality flint found in northern France, southern England and Poland was used to create flint tools. Flint mines have been found in areas where seams of the stone were followed underground by shafts. The mines at Grimes Graves and Krzemionki are especially famous, other hard rocks mined or collected for axes included the greenstone of the Langdale axe industry based in the English Lake District. The oldest-known mine on archaeological record is the Lion Cave in Swaziland, at this site Paleolithic humans mined hematite to make the red pigment ochre. Mines of an age in Hungary are believed to be sites where Neanderthals may have mined flint for weapons. Ancient Egyptians mined malachite at Maadi, at first, Egyptians used the bright green malachite stones for ornamentations and pottery. Later, between 2613 and 2494 BC, large building projects required expeditions abroad to the area of Wadi Maghareh in order to secure minerals and other resources not available in Egypt itself. Quarries for turquoise and copper were found at Wadi Hammamat, Tura, Aswan and various other Nubian sites on the Sinai Peninsula. Mining in Egypt occurred in the earliest dynasties, the gold mines of Nubia were among the largest and most extensive of any in Ancient Egypt. These mines are described by the Greek author Diodorus Siculus, who mentions fire-setting as one used to break down the hard rock holding the gold. One of the complexes is shown in one of the earliest known maps, the miners crushed the ore and ground it to a fine powder before washing the powder for the gold dust
26.
Spring (hydrology)
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A spring is any natural situation where water flows from an aquifer to the Earths surface. It is a component of the hydrosphere, a spring may be the result of karst topography where surface water has infiltrated the Earths surface, becoming part of the area groundwater. The groundwater then travels through a network of cracks and fissure—openings ranging from intergranular spaces to large caves, the water eventually emerges from below the surface, in the form of a karst spring. The forcing of the spring to the surface can be the result of an aquifer in which the recharge area of the spring water table rests at a higher elevation than that of the outlet. Spring water forced to the surface by elevated sources are artesian wells and this is possible even if the outlet is in the form of a 300-foot-deep cave. In this case the cave is used like a hose by the higher elevated area of groundwater to exit through the lower elevation opening. Non-artesian springs may simply flow from a higher elevation through the earth to a lower elevation, still other springs are the result of pressure from an underground source in the earth, in the form of volcanic activity. The result can be water at elevated temperature such as a hot spring, the action of the groundwater continually dissolves permeable bedrock such as limestone and dolomite, creating vast cave systems. The term seep refers to springs with small flow rates in which the water has filtered through permeable earth. Fracture springs, discharge from faults, joints, or fissures in the earth, tubular springs, in which the water flows from underground caverns. Spring discharge, or resurgence, is determined by the springs recharge basin, factors that affect the recharge include the size of the area in which groundwater is captured, the amount of precipitation, the size of capture points, and the size of the spring outlet. Water may leak into the system from many sources including permeable earth, sinkholes. In some cases entire creeks seemingly disappear as the water sinks into the ground via the stream bed, grand Gulf State Park in Missouri is an example of an entire creek vanishing into the groundwater system. The water emerges 9 miles away, forming some of the discharge of Mammoth Spring in Arkansas, human activity may also affect a springs discharge--withdrawal of groundwater reduces the water pressure in an aquifer, decreasing the volume of flow. Springs are often classified by the volume of the water they discharge, the largest springs are called first-magnitude, defined as springs that discharge water at a rate of at least 2800 liters or 100 cubic feet of water per second. The scale for spring flow is as follows, Minerals become dissolved in the water as it moves through the underground rocks and this may give the water flavor and even carbon dioxide bubbles, depending on the nature of the geology through which it passes. This is why spring water is bottled and sold as mineral water. Springs that contain significant amounts of minerals are sometimes called mineral springs, Springs that contain large amounts of dissolved sodium salts, mostly sodium carbonate, are called soda springs
27.
Iron
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Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series and it is by mass the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earths outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earths crust, like the other group 8 elements, ruthenium and osmium, iron exists in a wide range of oxidation states, −2 to +6, although +2 and +3 are the most common. Elemental iron occurs in meteoroids and other low oxygen environments, but is reactive to oxygen, fresh iron surfaces appear lustrous silvery-gray, but oxidize in normal air to give hydrated iron oxides, commonly known as rust. Unlike the metals that form passivating oxide layers, iron oxides occupy more volume than the metal and thus flake off, Iron metal has been used since ancient times, although copper alloys, which have lower melting temperatures, were used even earlier in human history. Pure iron is soft, but is unobtainable by smelting because it is significantly hardened and strengthened by impurities, in particular carbon. A certain proportion of carbon steel, which may be up to 1000 times harder than pure iron. Crude iron metal is produced in blast furnaces, where ore is reduced by coke to pig iron, further refinement with oxygen reduces the carbon content to the correct proportion to make steel. Steels and iron alloys formed with metals are by far the most common industrial metals because they have a great range of desirable properties. Iron chemical compounds have many uses, Iron oxide mixed with aluminium powder can be ignited to create a thermite reaction, used in welding and purifying ores. Iron forms binary compounds with the halogens and the chalcogens, among its organometallic compounds is ferrocene, the first sandwich compound discovered. Iron plays an important role in biology, forming complexes with oxygen in hemoglobin and myoglobin. Iron is also the metal at the site of many important redox enzymes dealing with cellular respiration and oxidation and reduction in plants. A human male of average height has about 4 grams of iron in his body and this iron is distributed throughout the body in hemoglobin, tissues, muscles, bone marrow, blood proteins, enzymes, ferritin, hemosiderin, and transport in plasma. The mechanical properties of iron and its alloys can be evaluated using a variety of tests, including the Brinell test, Rockwell test, the data on iron is so consistent that it is often used to calibrate measurements or to compare tests. An increase in the content will cause a significant increase in the hardness. Maximum hardness of 65 Rc is achieved with a 0. 6% carbon content, because of the softness of iron, it is much easier to work with than its heavier congeners ruthenium and osmium. Because of its significance for planetary cores, the properties of iron at high pressures and temperatures have also been studied extensively
28.
Easter
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It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. In Western Christianity, Eastertide, or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the fiftieth day, Pentecost Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, the season of Pascha begins on Pascha and ends with the coming of the fortieth day, the Feast of the Ascension. The First Council of Nicaea established two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, which were the rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the council. No details for the computation were specified, these were worked out in practice and it has come to be the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March, but calculations vary. Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, in many languages, the words for Easter and Passover are identical or very similar. Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church. The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection, traditionally decorates the area of churches on this day. Additional customs that have associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades. There are also various traditional Easter foods that vary regionally, however, it is possible that Bede was only speculating about the origin of the term since there is no firm evidence that such a goddess actually existed. In Greek and Latin, the Christian celebration was, and still is, called Πάσχα, Pascha, the word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as Passover, commemorating the Jewish Exodus from slavery in Egypt. In most of the non-English speaking world, the feast is known by names derived from Greek, Pascha is also a name by which Jesus himself is remembered in the Orthodox Church, especially in connection with his resurrection and with the season of its celebration. The New Testament states that the resurrection of Jesus, which Easter celebrates, is a foundation of the Christian faith, the resurrection established Jesus as the powerful Son of God and is cited as proof that God will judge the world in righteousness. For those who trust in Jesus death and resurrection, death is swallowed up in victory, any person who chooses to follow Jesus receives a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Through faith in the working of God those who follow Jesus are spiritually resurrected with him so that they may walk in a new way of life and receive eternal salvation. Easter is linked to the Passover and Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper, sufferings and crucifixion of Jesus that preceded the resurrection. According to the New Testament, Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as in the room during the Last Supper he prepared himself. He identified the matzah and cup of wine as his soon to be sacrificed
29.
Plateau
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Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, and erosion by water and glaciers. Magma rises from the mantle, causing the ground to swell upward, in way, large, flat areas of rock are uplifted. Plateaus can also be built up by lava spreading outward from cracks, plateaus can also be formed by the erosional processes of glaciers on mountain ranges, leaving them sitting between the mountain ranges. Water can also erode mountains and other landforms down into plateaus, volcanic plateaus are produced by volcanic activity. The Columbia Plateau in the northwestern United States is an example, dissected plateaus are highly eroded plateaus cut by rivers and broken by deep narrow valleys. Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment, intermontane plateaus are the highest in the world, bordered by mountains. The Tibetan Plateau is one such plateau, Piedmont plateaus are bordered on one side by mountains and on the other by a plain or a sea. The Piedmont Plateau of the Eastern United States between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Coastal Plain is an example, continental plateaus are bordered on all sides by plains or oceans, forming away from the mountains. The Tibetan plateau covers approximately 2,500,000 km2, the plateau is sufficiently high enough to reverse the Hadley cell convection cycles and to drive the monsoons of India towards the south. The second-highest plateau is the Deosai Plateau of the Deosai National Park at an elevation of 4,114 m. It is located in the Astore and Skardu districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, Deosai means the land of giants. The park protects an area of 3,000 km2 and it is known for its rich flora and fauna of the Karakoram-West Tibetan Plateau alpine steppe ecoregion. In spring it is covered by sweeps of wildflowers and a variety of butterflies. The highest point in Deosai is Deosai Lake, or Sheosar Lake from the Shina language meaning Blind lake near the Chilim Valley. The lake lies at an elevation of 4,142 m, one of the highest lakes in the world, and is 2.3 km long,1.8 km wide, and 40 m deep on average. Some other major plateaus in Asia are, Armenian Highlands, Iranian plateau, Anatolian Plateau, Mongolian Plateau, and the Deccan Plateau. This polar ice cap is so massive that the echolocation sound measurements of ice thickness have shown that parts of the Antarctic dry land surface have been pressed below sea level. Thus, if that same ice cap were removed, the large areas of the frozen white continent would be flooded by the surrounding Antarctic Ocean or Southern Ocean
30.
Blast furnace
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A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron, but also others such as lead or copper. The end products are usually molten metal and slag phases tapped from the bottom, the downward flow of the ore and flux in contact with an upflow of hot, carbon monoxide-rich combustion gases is a countercurrent exchange and chemical reaction process. In contrast, air furnaces are naturally aspirated, usually by the convection of hot gases in a chimney flue, according to this broad definition, bloomeries for iron, blowing houses for tin, and smelt mills for lead would be classified as blast furnaces. Blast furnaces existed in China from about 1st century AD and in the West from the High Middle Ages and they spread from the region around Namur in Wallonia in the late 15th century, being introduced to England in 1491. The fuel used in these was invariably charcoal, the successful substitution of coke for charcoal is widely attributed to Abraham Darby in 1709. The efficiency of the process was enhanced by the practice of preheating the combustion air. The oldest extant blast furnaces were built during the Han Dynasty of China in the 1st century AD. However, cast iron tools and weapons were widespread in China by the 5th century BC. These early furnaces had clay walls and used phosphorus-containing minerals as a flux, the effectiveness of the Chinese blast furnace was enhanced during this period by the engineer Du Shi, who applied the power of waterwheels to piston-bellows in forging cast iron. He suggests that early blast furnace and cast iron production evolved from furnaces used to melt bronze, certainly, though, iron was essential to military success by the time the State of Qin had unified China. Usage of the blast and cupola furnace remained widespread during the Song and Tang Dynasties and this may have happened as early as the 4th century AD. The Chinese blast furnace remained in use well until the 20th century, the backyard furnaces favoured by Mao Zedong during the Great Leap Forward were of this type. In the regions with strong traditions of metallurgy, the production actually increased during this period. In most places in the other than in China, there is no evidence of the use of the blast furnace. Instead, iron was made by reduction in bloomeries. The bloomery process was invented probably in modern-day Xinjiang or other parts of Western China by Hans or Mongols around 800 BC. Iron finds in China proper are few before bloomeries were supplanted by the blast furnace in the 5th century BC which seems to have developed independently in the southern Chinese cultural sphere, in Europe, the Greeks, Celts, Romans, and Carthaginians all used this process. Several examples have found in France, and materials found in Tunisia suggest they were used there as well as in Antioch during the Hellenistic Period
31.
Industrial park
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An industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a park or office park. Industrial parks are located on the edges of, or outside the main residential area of a city. One such example would be the number of industrial estates located along the River Thames in the Thames Gateway area of London. Industrial parks are located close to transport facilities, especially where more than one transport modes coincide, including highways, railroads. Such infrastructure includes roadways, railroad sidings, ports, high-power electric supplies, high-end communications cables, large-volume water supplies, to be able to attract new business by providing an integrated infrastructure in one location. Eligibility of Industrial Parks for benefits To set aside industrial uses from urban areas to try to reduce the environmental and social impact of the industrial uses, to provide for localized environmental controls that are specific to the needs of an industrial area. Different industrial parks fulfill these criteria to differing degrees, many small communities have established industrial parks with only access to a nearby highway, and with only the basic utilities and roadways. Public transportation options may be limited or non-existent, there may be few or no special environmental safeguards. An industrial park specializing in biotechnology is called an industrial park. It may also be known as a park or eco-industrial cluster. Flatted factories exist in cities like Singapore and Hong Kong, where land is scarce and these are typically similar to flats, but house individual industries instead. Flatted factories have cargo lifts and roads that serve each level, UNIDO Viet Nam has compiled a list of Industrial Parks in the ASEAN Economic Community in a report titled Economic Zones in the ASEAN written by Arnault Morisson
32.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
33.
Allies of World War II
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The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
34.
Airstrike
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An airstrike or air strike is an offensive operation carried out by attack aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft. The official definition includes all sorts of targets, including enemy air targets, weapons used in an airstrike can range from machine gun bullets and missiles to various types of bombs. It is also referred to as an air raid. In close air support, air strikes are controlled by trained observers for coordination with friendly ground troops in a manner derived from artillery tactics. On November 1,1911, Italian aviator Second Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti dropped four bombs on two Turkish-held oases in Libya, carrying out the worlds first air strike as part of the Italo-Turkish War, the use of air strikes was extended in World War I. For example, at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915, however, it was not until World War II that the Oxford English Dictionary first records usage of the term air strike, which remained two separate words for some time thereafter. However, the climate played havoc with the Mosquitos wooden airframe. This period also marked the last combat deployment of British Spitfires, today, airstrike terminology has extended to the concept of the strike aircraft, what earlier generations of military aviators referred to as light bombers or attack aircraft. g. Airstrikes can be carried out for strategic purposes outside of general warfare, operation Opera was a single eight-ship Israeli airstrike against the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor, criticized by world opinion but not leading to a general outbreak of war. Such an example of the strike has created new questions for international law. Airstrike campaigns often cause the deaths of non-combatants, including civilians, international law apply the principles of military necessity, distinction, and proportionality. Aerial bombing of cities Aerial warfare Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Strategic bombing Time On Target
35.
V-2 rocket
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The V-2, technical name Aggregat 4, was the worlds first long-range guided ballistic missile. The V-2 rocket also became the first artificial object to cross the boundary of space with the launch of MW18014 on 20 June 1944. Research into military use of long range rockets began when the studies of graduate student Wernher von Braun attracted the attention of the German Army, a series of prototypes culminated in the A-4, which went to war as the V-2. Beginning in September 1944, over 3,000 V-2s were launched by the German Wehrmacht against Allied targets during the war, first London and later Antwerp and Liège. As Germany collapsed, teams from the Allied forces—the United States, the United Kingdom, Wernher von Braun and over 100 key V-2 personnel surrendered to the Americans. Eventually, many of the original V-2 team ended up working at the Redstone Arsenal, the US also captured enough V-2 hardware to build approximately 80 of the missiles. The Soviets gained possession of the V-2 manufacturing facilities after the war, re-established V-2 production, in the late 1920s, a young Wernher von Braun bought a copy of Hermann Oberths book, Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen. Starting in 1930, he attended the Technical University of Berlin, von Braun was working on his doctorate when the Nazi Party gained power in Germany. An artillery captain, Walter Dornberger, arranged an Ordnance Department research grant for von Braun, von Brauns thesis, Construction, Theoretical, and Experimental Solution to the Problem of the Liquid Propellant Rocket, was kept classified by the German Army and was not published until 1960. By the end of 1934, his group had launched two rockets that reached heights of 2.2 and 3.5 km. At the time, Germany was highly interested in American physicist Robert H. Goddards research, before 1939, German engineers and scientists occasionally contacted Goddard directly with technical questions. Von Braun used Goddards plans from various journals and incorporated them into the building of the Aggregat series of rockets, during 28–30 September 1939, Der Tag der Weisheit conference met at Peenemünde to initiate the funding of university research to solve rocket problems. By late 1941, the Army Research Center at Peenemünde possessed the essential to the success of the A-4. The four key technologies for the A-4 were large liquid-fuel rocket engines, supersonic aerodynamics, gyroscopic guidance, at the time, Adolf Hitler was not particularly impressed by the V-2, he pointed out that it was merely an artillery shell with a longer range and much higher cost. Hitler was sufficiently impressed by the enthusiasm of its developers, and needed a weapon to maintain German morale. The V-2s were constructed at the Mittelwerk site by prisoners from Mittelbau-Dora, the A-4 used a 74% ethanol/water mixture for fuel and liquid oxygen for oxidizer. The rocket reached a height of 80 km after shutting off the engine, the fuel and oxidizer pumps were driven by a steam turbine, and the steam was produced by concentrated hydrogen peroxide with sodium permanganate catalyst. Both the alcohol and oxygen tanks were an aluminium-magnesium alloy, the combustion burner reached a temperature of 2,500 to 2,700 °C
36.
House of Nassau
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The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate. The lords of Nassau were originally titled Count of Nassau, then elevated to the class as Princely Counts. The Duchy was annexed in 1866 after the Austrian-Prussian War as an ally of Austria by Prussia and it was subsequently incorporated into the newly created Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau. Today, the term Nassau is used in Germany as a name for a geographical, historical and cultural region, all Dutch and Luxembourgish monarchs since 1815 have been senior members of the House of Nassau. According to German tradition, the name is passed on only in the male line of succession. The House would therefore, from this German perspective, be extinct since 1985, Count Dudo-Henry of Laurenburg is considered the founder of the House of Nassau. He is first mentioned in the purported founding-charter of Maria Laach Abbey in 1093, the Castle Laurenburg, located a few kilometres upriver from Nassau on the Lahn, was the seat of his lordship. His family probably descended from the Lords of Lipporn, in 1159, Nassau Castle became the ruling seat, and the house is now named after this castle. The Counts of Laurenburg and Nassau expanded their authority under the brothers Robert I, Robert was the first person to call himself Count of Nassau, but the title was not confirmed until 1159, five years after Roberts death. Roberts son Walram I was the first person to be legally titled Count of Nassau, the chronology of the Counts of Laurenburg is not certain and the link between Robert I and Walram I is especially controversial. Also, some sources consider Gerhard, listed as co-Count of Laurenburg in 1148, to be the son of Robert Is brother, the descendants of Walram became known as the Walram Line, which became important in the County of Nassau and Luxembourg. The descendants of Otto became known as the Ottonian Line, which would inherit parts of Nassau, France, both lines were themselves often divided over the next few centuries. Count Walram II began the Countship of Nassau-Weilburg, which existed to 1816, the sovereigns of this house afterwards ruled the Duchy of Nassau until 1866 and from 1890 the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The branch of Nassau-Weilburg ultimately became rulers of Luxembourg, the Walram line received the lordship of Merenberg in 1328 and Saarbrücken in 1353. In 1890, Duke Adolf would become Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg, had they not been excluded from the succession, they would have inherited the headship of the house in 1912. The princely titles continued to be used, however, evidenced by the carrying of the title Prince of Nassau-Weilburg by the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, following Frederick Augustus death, the princely title was adopted by his half brother through an unequal marriage, Karl Philip. Henry received Nassau-Siegen, John received Nassau-Dillenburg and Emicho I received Nassau-Hadamar, in 1343, Nassau-Beilstein was split off from Nassau-Dillenburg
37.
William the Silent
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He was born in the House of Nassau as Count of Nassau-Dillenburg. He became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the branch House of Orange-Nassau, a wealthy nobleman, William originally served the Habsburgs as a member of the court of Margaret of Parma, governor of the Spanish Netherlands. The most influential and politically capable of the rebels, he led the Dutch to several successes in the fight against the Spanish, declared an outlaw by the Spanish king in 1580, he was assassinated by Balthasar Gérard in Delft in 1584. William was born on 24 April 1533 at Dillenburg castle then in the County of Nassau-Dillenburg and he was the eldest son of William, Count of Nassau by his second wife Juliana of Stolberg-Werningerode. Williams father had one surviving daughter by his previous marriage, and his parents had twelve children together, of whom William was the eldest, he had four younger brothers and seven younger sisters. The family was devout and William was raised a Lutheran. In 1544, Williams agnatic first cousin, René of Châlon, Prince of Orange, in his testament, René of Chalon named William the heir to all his estates and titles, including that of Prince of Orange, on the condition that he receive a Roman Catholic education. Williams father acquiesced to this condition on behalf of his 11-year-old son, besides the principality of Orange and significant lands in Germany, William also inherited vast estates in the Low Countries from his cousin. Because of his age, Emperor Charles V, who was the overlord of most of these estates. In Brussels, he was taught foreign languages and received a military and diplomatic education under the direction of Champagney, on 6 July 1551, William married Anna van Egmond en Buren, daughter and heiress of Maximiliaan van Egmond, an important Dutch nobleman. Annas father had died in 1548, and therefore William became Lord of Egmond, the marriage was a happy one and produced three children, one of whom died in infancy. Anna died on 24 March 1558, leaving William much grieved, being a ward of Charles V and having received his education under the tutelage of the Emperors sister, William came under the particular attention of the imperial family, and became a favorite. He was appointed captain in the cavalry in 1551 and received rapid promotion thereafter and this was in 1555, when Charles V sent him to Bayonne with an army to take the city in a siege from the French. William was also made a member of the Raad van State, in 1559, Phillip appointed William stadtholder of the provinces of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht, thereby greatly increasing his political power. A stadtholdership over Franche-Comté followed in 1561, William was also dissatisfied with the increasing persecution of Protestants in the Netherlands. Brought up as a Lutheran and later a Catholic, William was very religious but was still a proponent of freedom of religion for all people, lastly, the opposition wished to see an end to the presence of Spanish troops. On 25 August 1561, William of Orange married for the second time, in early 1565, a large group of lesser noblemen, including Williams younger brother Louis, formed the Confederacy of Noblemen. On 5 April, they offered a petition to Margaret of Parma, from August to October 1566, a wave of iconoclasm spread through the Low Countries
38.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
39.
Bad Ems
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Bad Ems is a town in Rheinland Pfalz, Germany. It is the county seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is known as a bathing resort on the river Lahn. Bad Ems is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Bad Ems, the town is built on both sides of the River Lahn, the natural border between the Taunus and the Westerwald, two parts of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. The town and its districts are also within the Nassau Nature Reserve. The town is linked to a point at the Bismarckturm by the Kurwaldbahn funicular railway. Bad Ems station lies on the Lahn Valley Railway, in Roman times, a castle was built at Bad Ems as part of the Upper Germanic Limes, but today not much of the structure remains. In the woods around the town, however, there are traces of the former Roman border. The town was first mentioned in documents in 880 and received its town charter in 1324. The Counts of Nassau and Katzenelnbogen rebuilt the bath, the high noble Counts loved to use it inviting friends. Days in the bath were often days with musicians and all kinds of food even swimming in the pool, in the 17th and 18th centuries it was considered one of Germanys most famous bathing resorts. In 1870 the town, then part of Prussian Hesse-Nassau, became famous as the place where the Ems Dispatch originated, in 1876, in the Haus Vier Türme, the Ems Edict was signed by Alexander II of Russia, banning the use of the Ukrainian language. Today, a monument at the spot commemorates this historical event, in the 19th and 20th centuries a lot of mining for metal ores took place in the town, concentrated on lead, silver, zinc and copper. The Romans had already dug for ores using open cast mining, the many indentations on Blöskopf Hill bear witness to this period of history. As time went by, the changed from open cast mining to underground mining with tunnels. Mining of this kind is first mentioned in a document dated 1158, the advent of the Industrial Revolution led to the expansion of the mine, which from 1871 operated under the name of Emser Blei- und Silberwerk AG. In 1909 the company was taken over by what became the Stolberger Zink AG. After the war, the no longer received any subsidies. Today, the mine is known as Mercur, the collective name for various individual pits
40.
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
41.
Georg Ludwig Hartig
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Georg Ludwig Hartig was a German forester. Hartig was born at Gladenbach, in present-day Hesse, in 1786, Hartwig was appointed as Manager of Forests for the Prince of Solms-Braunfels at Hungen, in the Wetterau, Hesse. While in this position, he founded a school for the teaching of forestry, after a decade in Hungen, in 1797, he received an appointment as Inspector of Forests to the Prince of Orange-Nassau and moved to Dillenburg, continuing his school of forestry there. On the dissolution of the principality by Napoleon I of France in 1805 he lost his position, in 1806, Hartig went to Stuttgart as Chief Inspector of Forests. Five years later, in 1811, he was called to Berlin in a similar capacity, there he reestablished his school once again, succeeding in connecting it with the University of Berlin. Hartwig received an appointment as Honorary Professor at the University of Berlin in 1830 and he died at Berlin on 2 February 1837. His son Theodor Hartig and grandson Robert Hartig also were distinguished for their contributions to the study of forestry, Anweisung zur Holzzucht für Förster, Marburg 1791 Physicalische Versuche über das Verhältniß der Brennbarkeit der meisten deutschen Wald-Baum-Hölzer. etc. 1794 Anweisung zur Taxation der Forste oder zur Bestimmung des Holzertrags der Wälder. etc, gießen 1795 Grundsätze der Forst-Direktion, Hadamer, Neue Gelehrten Buchhandlung 1803 Lehrbuch für Förster und die es werden wollen. etc. Stuttgart 1808 Kubiktabellen für geschnittene, beschlagene und runde Hölzer. etc,1815 Lehrbuch für Jäger und die es werden wollen. etc. Stuttgart 1810/1812 Beitrag zur Lehre von der Ablösung der Holz-, Streu- und Weideservituten, Wiesbaden 1990 ders, Georg Ludwig Hartig in, Biographien bedeutender hessischer Forstleute. Georg-Ludwig-Hartig-Stiftung & J. D. Sauerländer, Wiesbaden und Frankfurt am Main 1990, ISBN 3-7939-0780-5 Theodora Hartig, Karl Hasel, Wilhelm Mantel, Georg Ludwig Hartig im Kreise seiner Familie. Kurze Lebens- und Familiengeschichte des Staatsrats und Oberlandforstmeisters Georg Ludwig Hartig, göttingen 1976 Autorenkollektiv, Georg Ludwig Hartig zum 150. Mitteilungen der Hessischen Landesforstverwaltung, Band 21, Sauerländer, Frankfurt am Main 1987, ISBN 3-89051-064-7 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Hartig, Georg Ludwig
