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Meteorite fall
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Meteorite falls, also called observed falls, are meteorites collected after their fall from space was observed by people or automated devices. All other meteorites are called finds, there are more than 1,100 documented falls listed in widely used databases, most of which have specimens in modern collections. As of early 2017, the Meteoritical Bulletin Database has 1,149 confirmed falls, observed meteorite falls are interesting for several reasons. Material from observed falls has not been subjected to weathering, making the find a better candidate for scientific study. Historically, observed falls were the most compelling evidence supporting the extraterrestrial origin of meteorites, furthermore, observed fall discoveries are a better representative sample of the types of meteorites which fall to Earth. For example, iron meteorites take much longer to weather and are easier to identify as unusual objects and this may explain the increased proportion of iron meteorites among finds, over that among observed falls. There is also detailed statistics on falls such as based on meteorite classification, the German physicist Ernst Cladni, sometimes considered as the father of meteoritics, was the first to publish the then audacious idea that meteorites were rocks from space. There were already several documented cases, one of the earliest was the Aegospotami meteorite of 467 BC, below is a list of 8 confirmed falls pre-1600 AD. However, unlike the Loket and Ensisheim meteorites, not all are as well-documented, while most confirmed falls involve masses between less than one kg to several kg, some reach 100 kg or more. A few are more than one metric ton. The six largest falls are listed below and five occurred during the 20th century, presumably, events of such magnitude may happen a few times per century but, especially if it occurred in remote areas, may have gone unreported. These 14 have been found in 2010 and after, since in the modern period around half a dozen falls are normally found each year, the table needs some updating. These have all been found between 1610-2010 and arranged alphabetically, glossary of meteoritics Meteorite fall statistics
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Verl
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Verl is a town in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 15 km south of Bielefeld and 10 km east of Gütersloh, in the 19th century two citizens of Verl, Johannes Otto and Ferdinand Bredeik, founded two towns in Ohio, USA, Delphos and Ottoville. Since the 1990s Verl has been a sister city of both towns. The name Verl was first mentioned in the expression Henricus de Verlo, the designation probably relates to the farm estate Meier zu Verl, which belonged to a group of four estates that presumably came into existence around the turn of the first millennium. Some earlier documented references to estates in this area can be dated back to the year 1188, in 1512, a chapel was built in the farming community. This chapel was turned into a church in 1577 and, since then, has marked the social center for the communities of Verl, Sende. Count Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz-Rietberg sponsored the building of the church of St. Anna at the location of the chapel in 1792. The construction of this classical hall church was completed in 1801, until the establishment of the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807 during the Napoleonic period, Verl belonged to the County of Rietberg. From 1807 on, the county was divided into two administrative districts -- Rietberg and Neuenkirchen—comprising the now independent municipalities of Verl, Bornholte, Sende, Liemke, after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the districts where incorporated into the newly created district of Wiedenbrück. With the introduction of a new local government code in the Kingdom of Prussia on October 31,1841, by this time, Verl already had 6,786 inhabitants. Another adjustment to the local government code was carried out on January 1,1970, now simply called Verl, the municipality consists of five administrative units and belongs to the district of Gütersloh. Verl is a town as of 1 January 2010
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Rietberg
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Rietberg is a town in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km south of Gütersloh and 25 km north-west of Paderborn in the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe, the town is located at the river Ems. There are 28,878 people living in Rietberg, Rietberg was first mentioned as Rietbike around the year 1100. This name refers to Ried which is an old name for reed, there was a castle that dated back to the 11th century. From 1237, it was home to the family of Wenzel Adam von Kaunitz, from this time on the part Berg in the name Rietberg refers to the existence of a castle which is called Burg in German. Since that time Rietberg was an independent German territory until the year 1807, in the Middle Ages the Rietberg county was a very small state. Nevertheless, Rietberg had its own militia, its own currency, even foreign policy, on a small scale, was conducted independently. Until the 17th century Rietberg coined its own money, until the 18th century the government was located in the Palace, built in the 14th century. At the beginning of the 19th century the Palace was torn down because it was not needed anymore, only the St. Johns Chapel from 1748 can still be visited today. The village itself was not independent anymore, in the year 1843 the municipality Rietberg was established, since 1970 Rietberg has been organised politically as it is today. There are several other interesting buildings in the town like the Altes Progymnasium. In the historical Town centre there are around 60 old renovated half-timbered houses, thats why Rietberg is also known as the town of beautiful gables. Its still possible to see where the former rampart surrounded the town, today there is no rampart anymore, but a promenade next to the river Ems and the Umflut on which it is possible to have a nice walk around the town centre. In the ward Varensell there is the Varensell Abbey from 1902, in Rietberg carnival is the biggest event throughout the year. Every year around 50,000 people watch the Parade at Carnival Monday, after the parade people party in the streets and the bars for the whole night. Other events are the Maikirmes Fair and the Stoppelkirmes Fair, and there are some traditional Schützenfeste, which are fairs featuring shooting matches in Rietberg. Since 2004, there has been a summer Guitar Festival every year, in Rietberg itself there is a big galvanizing plant and a schnapps destillery. General facts, percentage of employees, Industry,54. 5% Commerce,18. 8% Service,18. 3% Agriculture,1. 0% Other,7, the Landesgartenschau of the year 2008 took place in Rietberg
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Steinhagen, North Rhine-Westphalia
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Steinhagen is a municipality in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the slope of the Teutoburg Forest. 10 km west of Bielefeld and 15 km north of Gütersloh, the village is well known for producing Schnaps made from juniper berries which are distilled three times. The Schnaps is called Steinhäger or Schinkenhäger and can be clear or dark when unfiltered, steinhagen is in the Ems River basin on the southern slopes of the Teutoburg Forest, which runs through the northwestern portion of the municipality. This mountain range is the boundary of the Munsterland and of the Westphalian Bay. Steinhagens highest point is 306 meters above sea level, the Kotte pond is 70 meters at the deepest. The city of Bielefeld is 10 km to the west and Gütersloh is 15 km to the south
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Halle (Westfalen)
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Halle, officially Halle or Halle Westfalen to distinguish it from the larger Halle, is a town in the German Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia and belongs to the district of Gütersloh. Halle is situated on the plain of the river Ems on the southern slopes of the Teutoburg Forest. This mountain range delimits the eastern part of the Münsterland and the Westphalian Bay and is the divide between the rivers Ems and Weser here. The highest points are the Hengeberg and the Eggeberg, the lowest point, at 70 m, is at the south-western outskirts of the borough. There three streams, the Hessel, Rhedaer Bach and Ruthebach, leave the territory, while the Ruthebach joins the Lodenbach. All of the streams have their source in the Teutoburg Forest, the 52nd line of latitude crosses the southern part of the town area in its southern part. The northern part of the area of Halle is situated in the Teutoburg Forest mountain range. Towards the south the borough levels off into the plains of the river Ems. Halle is part of the rim of the Westphalian Bay. Here the stones of the subsoil are steeply erected and they consist of marlstone with a high share of clay, marlstone with a high share of limestone, as well as limestone and marl themselves, but also of sandstone and sandy marl of the Mesozoic era. These stones lie above a base of folded stones of the Paleozoic era, with respect to soil, the Halle territory can be geomorphologically structured into three sections. The soils of the ditches, dells and lowlands in the southwest are filled with close to the surface. These gley soils are natural locations for grasslands, peaks and ridges are rising from the lowlands consisting of dune sands und meltwater sands, which are sediments and sedimentary rock of the quaternary. These sands have decomposed to nutrient-poor, acidic soils, partly with hardpan in the subsoil. On the south-western slope of the Teutoburg Forest, for example near Künsebeck, as a consequence of historic tillage techniques and long-term agricultural usage these soils are partly composed of deeply rooting humus, in scattered areas with a sod coat. Some isolated dells are located in south-westerly direction of the ridge of the Teutoburg Forest. Slim clay-loam soils have developed here from limestone and marlstone of the Cretaceous and these basic soils are typical locations for precious hardwood. The main ridge, for example represented by the Große Egge, is composed of sandstone of the Cretaceous, on this stone thick, acidic and rocky heather soils have built up
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Borgholzhausen
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Borgholzhausen is a town in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Teutoburg Forest, approx, Borgholzhausen is a sister city to New Haven, Missouri in the Missouri Rhineland of the United States. Borgholzhausen lies in the middle of a clearing in the Teutoburg Forest, the mountain range bisects the towns area roughly NW-SE, and is in turn bisected by the mountain pass at which the town of Borgholzhausen was founded. The mountainous part of the Borgholzhausen area generally reaches heights of 200–300 meters ASL, while the pass area, the town centre is about one kilometer east of Mount Johannisegge and south of Mount Hankenüll. Thus, the parts of Borgholzhausen are located in the Ravensberg Hills. The bedrock in the part is a thick layer of mainly Cretaceous sediments. The Borgholzhausen pass was an important route for crossing the Teutoburg Forest in Bronze Age times, as early as 1,500 BC, there was extensive settlement in the pass area. Numerous urnfield cemeteries have been unearthed in and around the town
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Versmold
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Versmold or Vassem in Westphalian Platt is a town in Gütersloh District in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located some 30 km west of Bielefeld, in 1096 Versmold was first mentioned in a document, and is thus one of the oldest known settlements in the region. The name -mold alludes to melle, mal a location of a court, situated between the bishoprics Osnabrück and Münster, the possession of Versmold was disputed for a long time in the high Middle Ages. The population tried to protect themselves as well as they could, the St. Petri church was built as a Wehrkirche for defense. After 1277, when the counts of Ravensberg acquired possession of the region of Versmold, Versmold formed the western most town of the historic county of Ravensberg with its capital Bielefeld. After the War of the Jülich Succession in 1614 the county came to Brandenburg, within predominantly Catholic Westphalia, the county of Ravensberg became Protestant. In 1719 the King of Prussia granted city rights in order to raise more taxes, until the late nineteenth century the county was poor and subsistence oriented. Only the linen production is worthy to note, between 1650 and 1914, during the harvest season many people who did not found any other income in the county sought for an additional income in the Netherlands. For the same reasons the city saw an emigration to America, especially during the 1850s and 1860s. Many of them settled in the Midwest, especially in Missouri, after 1871 when the newly united Germany built up a navy, the linen-industry became prosperous by providing sailing canvases. Most notably engaged in the linen-industry was the family Delius, in the 1820s some members of the family emigrated to Mexico where they established a flourishing import-export business. By the late nineteenth century they had representations in Berlin and Hamburg, the 1930s saw an almost unnoticed cultural change. The language of the county and Versmold was for centuries Westphalian Platt, the Hollandgänger conversed in their own vernacular when they were abroad. As in many regions under Prussian rule, Ravensberg and Versmold lost its native language almost within one generation, Westphalian Platt is currently only preserved in circle of local preservation societies and some childrens rhymes of the local Halloween tradition. Since World War II the city flourished due to its meat-packing factories. After World War II larger companies and factories sold what they could not process often to small one-man meat dealers and they in turn sold it on weekly markets mostly in the underprovisioned but prosperous industrial region of the Ruhrgebiet. Sometimes they created also their own specialties and this profession was called Kleinfleischhaendler which became typical profession for Versmold in the 1950s and 1960s. This peculiarity faded out during the 1980s and 1990s, supply industries evolved around meat processing
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Paderborn (district)
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Paderborn is a Kreis in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Gütersloh, Lippe, Höxter, Hochsauerland, Paderborn was part of the Bishopric of Paderborn until it was included into Prussia in 1802. After the Napoleonic wars when Prussia created the province Westphalia it also created five districts covering the area of the previous state - Brakel, Büren, Höxter, Paderborn. In 1975 Paderborn and Büren districts were merged to the current Paderborn district, at the same time the towns and municipalities in the district were merged to form the todays ten towns municipalities. It is a district with urban municipalities. The Paderborn district is located at the slope of the Teutoburg Forest, west of the Eggegebirge. The highest elevation is on the side of the Totenkopf at the border near Bleiwäsche. The main river in the district is the Lippe, which has its source in Bad Lippspringe, the red cross in chief of the coat of arms symbolizes the clerical state Paderborn, the historic precursor of todays district. The wave line stands for the rivers in the district. The symbol in the field derives from the Lords of Büren, media related to Kreis Paderborn at Wikimedia Commons Official website
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Lippe (district)
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Lippe is a Kreis in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, the district of Lippe is named after the Lords of Lippe and their Principality of Lippe. It was a state within the Holy Roman Empire and retained statehood until 1947, the Lippe district nearly covers the same area as the historic county of Lippe. The first mention of this country was in 1123, it grew in power slowly in the following centuries, in 1528 it became a county, in 1789 it was elevated to a principality. Unlike many other countries of the Holy Roman Empire in the area, Lippe kept its independence in the Napoleonic era and it was one of the smaller member states of the German empire. After the death of Prince Woldemar in 1895, the two lines of the House of Lippe fought over the regency for over a decade. The last prince of Lippe was forced to abdicate in 1918 after the end of World War I when Germany became a republic, in 1932 the Free State of Lippe was subdivided into two districts, Detmold and Lemgo. In 1969/70 the 168 cities and municipalities were merged to 16, the Lippe district covers the northern part of the Teutoburg Forest, which also contain the highest elevation of the district, the 496 meter high Köterberg near Lügde. The lowest elevation is at the Weser river with 45.5 m, the main river is the Werre, and at the northern border of the district the Weser. The Lippe River, which shares the name, does not flow through Lippe. The small territories of Lippstadt, Lipperode, and Cappel that belonged to Lippe until the mid 19th century, the most famous dish served in Lippe is the Pickert. In the past it was known as a meal for poor people, the main ingredients are potatoes, flour and raisins. - Religious history of Lippe from the Reformation until the twentieth century
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Soest (district)
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Soest is a Kreis in the middle of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Warendorf, Gütersloh, Paderborn, Hochsauerland, Märkischer Kreis, Unna, in 1975 the district was merged with the neighbouring district of Lippstadt and parts of the former district of Arnsberg. Geographically it covers the part of the Sauerland hills and the lower land north of it. The rather flat land and very fertile soil have made it an agricultural area from ancient times. The main rivers through the district are the Ruhr, the Lippe and the Möhne, the highest elevation is in the area of Warstein at 580m, while the lowest is the Lippe valley at 65m. Media related to Kreis Soest at Wikimedia Commons Official website
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Bielefeld
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Bielefeld is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 336,352, it is also the most populous city in the Regierungsbezirk Detmold, the historical centre of the city is situated north of the Teutoburg Forest line of hills, but modern Bielefeld also incorporates boroughs on the opposite side and on the hills. Bielefeld is home to a significant number of operating companies, including Dr. Oetker, Gildemeister. It has a university and several Fachhochschulen, Bielefeld is also famous for the Bethel Institution, and for the Bielefeld Conspiracy, which satirises conspiracy theories by claiming that Bielefeld does not exist. This concept has been used in the marketing and alluded to by Chancellor Angela Merkel. Founded in 1214 by Count Hermann IV of Ravensberg to guard a crossing the Teutoburg Forest. After the Cologne-Minden railway opened in 1849, the Bozi brothers constructed the first large mechanised spinning mill in 1851, the Ravensberg Spinning Mill was built from 1854 to 1857, and metal works began to open in the 1860s. Between 1904 and 1930, Bielefeld grew, opening a railway station, a municipal theatre, and finally. The Dürkopp car was produced 1898-1927 and these pieces were issued by the Bielefeld Stadtsparkasse and were sent all around the world in the early 1920s. These pieces are known as Stoffgeld – that is, money made from fabric, nazi Germany The towns synagogue was burned in 1938. In 1944, B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed Bielefeld on September 20 and October 7, american troops entered the city in April 1945. The British presence was scaled back after the reunification of Germany. In 1973 the first villages on the side of the Teutoburg Forest were incorporated. In Bielefeld, the annual high temperature is 14 °C, the annual low temperature is 6 °C. Bielefeld was a town, and in the early 1920s the Towns Savings Bank issued money made of linen, silk. These items were known as stoffgeld, in addition to the manufacture of home appliances and various heavy industries, Bielefeld companies include Dr. Oetker, Möller Group, Seidensticker and Bethel Institution with 17.000 employees. Bielefeld University was founded in 1969, among its first professors was the notable contemporary German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. Two major autobahns, the A2 and A33, intersect in the south east of Bielefeld, the Ostwestfalendamm expressway connects the two parts of the city, naturally divided by the Teutoburg Forest
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Herford (district)
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Herford is a Kreis in the northeastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Minden-Lübbecke, Lippe, the district of Bielefeld. The region is known as Wittekinds land, as the last fights of Wittekinds Saxon tribes against Charlemagne took place here. He is believed to be buried in the town of Enger, when the area became part of the Prussian province Westphalia, the first district Herford was created in 1816. In 1832 it was merged with the district Bünde, in 1911, the city of Herford left the district, however, it lost its status as an independent urban district in 1969. The district reached its current size in 1973 when the municipality Uffeln, the district is located between the three mountain chains of the Wiehen Hills in the north and the Teutoburg Forest in the south. To the northeast it is bounded by the Weser river, media related to Kreis Herford at Wikimedia Commons Official website
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Warendorf (district)
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Warendorf is a Kreis in the northern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Steinfurt, Osnabrück, Gütersloh, Soest, district-free city Hamm, Coesfeld, in medieval times the region was part of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster. When it became part of the Prussian Province of Westphalia, the new government in 1816 created the districts of Warendorf, in 1975 these two districts were merged to form todays district. The district is located east of the city of Münster, the Ems river runs through the district from east to west. The Lippe River forms part of the border of the district. Media related to Kreis Warendorf at Wikimedia Commons Official website
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Lower Saxony
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Lower Saxony is a German state situated in northwestern Germany and is second in area, with 47,624 square kilometres, and fourth in population among the sixteen Länder of Germany. In rural areas Northern Low Saxon, a dialect of Low German, and Saterland Frisian, a variety of Frisian, are still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining. Lower Saxony borders on the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other, its city of Bremerhaven. In fact, Lower Saxony borders more neighbours than any other single Bundesland, the states principal cities include the state capital Hanover, Braunschweig, Lüneburg, Osnabrück, Oldenburg, Hildesheim, Wolfenbüttel, Wolfsburg and Göttingen. The northwestern area of Lower Saxony, which lies on the coast of the North Sea, is called East Frisia, in the extreme west of Lower Saxony is the Emsland, a traditionally poor and sparsely populated area, once dominated by inaccessible swamps. The northern half of Lower Saxony, also known as the North German Plains, is almost invariably flat except for the hills around the Bremen geestland. Towards the south and southwest lie the northern parts of the German Central Uplands, the Weser Uplands, between these two lie the Lower Saxon Hills, a range of low ridges. Thus, Lower Saxony is the only Bundesland that encompasses both maritime and mountainous areas, Lower Saxonys major cities and economic centres are mainly situated in its central and southern parts, namely Hanover, Braunschweig, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg, Salzgitter, Hildesheim and Göttingen. Oldenburg, near the coastline, is another economic centre. To the north, the Elbe river separates Lower Saxony from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the banks just south of the Elbe are known as Altes Land. Due to its local climate and fertile soil, it is the states largest area of fruit farming. Most of the territory was part of the historic Kingdom of Hanover. It was created by the merger of the State of Hanover with several states in 1946. Lower Saxony has a boundary in the north in the North Sea. The state and city of Bremen is an enclave surrounded by Lower Saxony. The Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region is a body for the enclave area. To the southeast the state border runs through the Harz, low mountains that are part of the German Central Uplands, in northeast Lower Saxony is Lüneburg Heath
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North Rhine-Westphalia
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North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with a population of approximately 18 million, and the fourth largest by area. Its capital is Düsseldorf, the most populous city is Cologne, four of Germanys ten largest cities—Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, and Essen—are located within the state, as well as the largest metropolitan area on the European continent, Rhine-Ruhr. North Rhine-Westphalia was formed in 1946 as a merger of the provinces of North Rhine and Westphalia, the state has been run by a coalition of the Social Democrats and Greens since 2010. The Ubii and some other Germanic tribes such as the Cugerni were later settled on the west side of the Rhine in the Roman province of Germania Inferior, North of the Sigambri and the Rhine region were the Bructeri. By the 8th century the Frankish dominion was established in western Germany. But at the time, to the north, Westphalia was being taken over by Saxons pushing south. The Merovingian and Carolingian Franks eventually built an empire which controlled first their Ripuarian kin, the Ottonian dynasty had both Saxon and Frankish ancestry. As the central power of the Holy Roman Emperor weakened, the Rhineland split into small independent principalities, each with its separate vicissitudes. Such struggles as the War of the Limburg Succession therefore continued to create military, Aachen was the place of coronation of the German emperors, and the ecclesiastical principalities of the Rhine bulked largely in German history. Prussia first set foot on the Rhine in 1609 by the occupation of the Duchy of Cleves and about a century later Upper Guelders and Moers also became Prussian. At the peace of Basel in 1795 the whole of the bank of the Rhine was resigned to France. In 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium, around 1 AD there were numerous incursions through Westphalia and perhaps even some permanent Roman or Romanized settlements. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest took place near Osnabrück and some of the Germanic tribes who fought at this came from the area of Westphalia. Charlemagne is thought to have spent considerable time in Paderborn and nearby parts and his Saxon Wars also partly took place in what is thought of as Westphalia today. Popular legends link his adversary Widukind to places near Detmold, Bielefeld, Lemgo, Osnabrück, Widukind was buried in Enger, which is also a subject of a legend. Along with Eastphalia and Engern, Westphalia was originally a district of the Duchy of Saxony, in 1180 Westphalia was elevated to the rank of a duchy by Emperor Barbarossa. The Duchy of Westphalia comprised only an area south of the Lippe River. Parts of Westphalia came under Brandenburg-Prussian control during the 17th and 18th centuries, the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, signed in Münster and Osnabrück, ended the Thirty Years War
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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
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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
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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
19.
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
20.
Detmold (region)
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Detmold is one of the five Regierungsbezirks of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the north-east of the state. It is congruent with the administratively not existent area of Ostwestfalen-Lippe, the Regierungsbezirk was created in 1947 when the former state of Lippe was incorporated into North Rhine-Westphalia by merging the former Regierungsbezirk Minden with the territory of Lippe-Detmold. The Regierungsbezirk Minden dates back to 1815, when the municipality type Regierungsbezirk was created initially, the Regierungsbezirk Detmold is located in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia and therefore it forms the area where the German low mountains are divided from the North German Plain. As the Regierungsbezirk has an expanse of circa 6,500 km² it is one fifth of the area of North Rhine-Westphalia, North and east of the Regierungsbezirk there is the German state of Lower Saxony, south there is the state of Hessen. At the western border there is the Regierungsbezirk of Arnsberg and the Regierungsbezirk of Münster, the administration is located in Detmold in the district of Lippe. Since 21 July 2005 Marianne Thomann-Stahl is the leader of the administration, the Regierungsbezirk consists of six districts with 69 municipalities, and of one district-free city. The Regierungsbezirk Detmold has two roots, the East Westphalian part belonged to the former Prussian Province of Westphalia. In 1946 the Prussian Province formed the new state of North Rhine-Westphalia along with the northern Rhineland, the region roughly around the todays district of Lippe was called Land Lippe until 1947 and it was a separate German State just like Prussia. Until 1918 it had been a principality, then a Free State and so it has a different historical background than East Westphalia
21.
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
22.
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
23.
Social Democratic Party of Germany
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The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany. The party, led by Chairman Martin Schulz since 2017, has one of the two major contemporary political parties in Germany, along with the Christian Democratic Union. The SPD has governed at the level in Germany as part of a grand coalition with the CDU. The SPD participates in 14 state governments, nine of them governed by SPD Minister-Presidents, the SPD is a member of the Party of European Socialists and of the Socialist International, and became a founding member of the Progressive Alliance on 22 May 2013. Established in 1863, the SPD is the oldest extant political party represented in the German Parliament and was one of the first Marxist-influenced parties in the world. The General German Workers Association, founded in 1863, and the Social Democratic Workers Party, founded in 1869, merged in 1875, under the name Socialist Workers Party of Germany. From 1878 to 1890, any grouping or meeting that aimed at spreading socialist principles was banned under the Anti-Socialist Laws, in 1890, when the ban was lifted and it could again present electoral lists, the party adopted its current name. In the years leading up to World War I, the party remained ideologically radical in official principle, by 1912, the party claimed the most votes of any German party. Despite the agreement of the Second International to oppose the First World War, after 1918 the SPD played an important role in the political system of the Weimar Republic, although it took part in coalition governments only in few years. Adolf Hitler prohibited the party in 1933 under the Enabling Act – party officials were imprisoned, killed or went into exile, in exile, the party used the name Sopade. In the Soviet Zone of Occupation, the Soviets forced the Social Democrats to form a party with the Communists. In the Western zones, the Communist Party was later banned by West Germanys Federal Constitutional Court, since 1949, in the Federal Republic of Germany, the SPD has been one of the two major parties, with the other being the Christian Democratic Union. From 1969 to 1982 and 1998 to 2005 the Chancellors of Germany were Social Democrats whereas the other years the Chancellors were Christian Democrats, the SPD was established as a Marxist party in 1875. After World War II, under the leadership of Kurt Schumacher, the SPD re-established itself as a socialist party, representing the interests of the working class and the trade unions. With the Godesberg Program of 1959, however, the party evolved from a socialist working-class party to a modern social-democratic party working within capitalism. The current party platform of the SPD espouses the goal of social democracy, according to the party platform, freedom, justice, and social solidarity, form the basis of social democracy. The coordinated social market economy should be strengthened, and its output should be distributed fairly, the party sees that economic system as necessary in order to ensure the affluence of the entire population. The SPD also tries to protect the poor with a welfare state
24.
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
25.
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
26.
Broxtowe
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Broxtowe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England, west of the City of Nottingham. The population of the district as taken at the 2011 Census was 109,487 and it is part of the Greater Nottingham metropolitan area. Broxtowes neighbour to the west is the borough of Erewash, which is in Derbyshire, additionally a small part of Wollaton falls within Broxtowe. The Broxtowe Estate is not within the borough, but within the boundaries of the City of Nottingham, Broxtowe has ten civil parishes of which three have town councils. The district formed on 1 April 1974 by a merger of the Beeston and Stapleford urban district, the boroughs name was derived from the old Broxtowe wapentake of Nottinghamshire, which covered a larger area. The district was granted borough status in 1977, the first elections to the council took place in 1973, with the Conservatives gaining control. The party held power until 1995 when it lost control to the Labour party, from 2003 no party had overall control. After the 2009 elections the Liberal Democrats led the council with Labour support, following the 2011 elections Labour led the council with Liberal Democrat support, but the Conservatives had the largest representation on the council. In the 2015 elections the Conservatives gained a majority, since boundary changes in 2015,44 councillors have been elected from 20 wards. Each ward returns one to three councillors to the Borough Council, depending on the wards electorate/population, below is a summary list of the 20 wards and the number of councillors they each elect in brackets. Since 1983 Broxtowe has also been a parliamentary constituency, the constituency boundaries do not exactly match the borough boundaries, with some wards of Broxtowe borough being in the Ashfield constituency. The area of the constituency was very different, including Hucknall and Kirkby in Ashfield. Broxtowe is twinned with Gütersloh in Germany, broxtowes main attraction that receives visitors from all over the world is D. H. Lawrence Heritage in Eastwood. A small local attraction is the Hemlock Stone in Stapleford
27.
Westphalia
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Westphalia is a region in northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of 7,802 sq mi and 7.9 million inhabitants, the region is almost identical with the Province of Westphalia which was a part of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1918 and the Free State of Prussia from 1918 to 1946. In 1946, Westphalia merged with the Northern Rhineland, another part of Prussia. In 1947, the state with its two parts was joined by a third one, Lippe, a former principality and free state. All of the 17 districts and 9 independent cities of Westphalia, the Westphalian language, a variant of the German language, spreads north of Westphalias borders into southwest Lower Saxony. Being a part of the North German Plain, most of Westphalias north is flat, in the south the German Central Uplands emerge. Westphalia is divided into the following landscapes, other important rivers are the Ems and the Lippe. The Langenberg and the Kahler Asten in the Sauerlands part of the Rothaar Mountains are Westphalias, Westphalia is divided into three governmental districts. These are subdivided into districts and independent cities. All districts and independent cities of the districts of Arnsberg. The District of Lippe as successor of the Free State of Lippe in the Governmental District of Detmold is rather considered to be a historic region. The traditional symbol of Westphalia is the Westphalian Steed, a horse on a red field. It is derived from the Saxon Steed in the coat of arms of the medieval Duchy of Saxony which most of todays Westphalia was part of. In official contexts the coat of arms of Westphalia is being used by the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association which represents these two historic parts of North Rhine-Westphalia. The coat of arms of Lower Saxony uses a different version of the Saxon Steed since the state also covers parts of the Old Saxons duchy. The colors of Westphalia are white and red, the flag of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association uses these colors with the Westphalian coat of arms in its center. The flag of North Rhine-Westphalia is a combination of the Northern Rhinelands colors green/white, the flag of the Prussian Province of Westphalia already displayed the colors white and red. The flag of Lower Saxony shows the colors of Germany and the Saxon Steed, composed in Iserlohn in 1886 by Emil Rittershaus, the Westfalenlied is an unofficial anthem of Westphalia
28.
Detmold
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Detmold is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of about 73,400. It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918, today it is the administrative center of the district of Lippe and of the Regierungsbezirk Detmold. The Church of Lippe has its administration located in Detmold. The Reformed Redeemer Church is the venue of the state superintendent of the Lippe church. About 5 kilometres to the southwest of Detmold is the Grotenburg hill with a circular rampart. The monument commemorates the so-called Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, a battle in 9 AD which may or may not have been close to the present location of Detmold. In this encounter, Germanic tribes led by Hermann defeated Roman legions under the command of Publius Quinctilius Varus, Detmold was first mentioned as Theotmalli in 783, the year of a battle between the Saxons and Charlemagnes forces nearby. This was an event in the Saxon Wars, in 1005 a Tietmelli or Theotmalli region is referred to in documents. In 1263, Bernard III of Lippe fortified the settlement at the crossing of the route from Paderborn to Lemgo over the Werre River with stone walls. Its population was reported in 1305 as 305, market rights granted in 1265 led to rapid economic development. Its defenses were strengthened after severe damage had been inflicted on the town during the conflict with Soest in 1447. A major fire in 1547 destroyed more than 70 houses, in 1550, Detmold became the permanent residence of Count Simon III of Lippe. Today, Armin, Prince of Lippe is the owner of Detmold Castle, street lighting was introduced in 1809, with oil-fired lanterns. By 1835, the town had become the most populous in Lippe and it grew to 12,000 in 1900 and over 30,000 in 1950. From 1919 to 1947, Detmold was the capital of the Free State of Lippe, with the administrative reform of 1970,25 nearby villages were incorporated into the city. Donoper Teich Hasselbachteich Vogelpark Heiligenkirchen The town supports the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie for regular symphony concerts, amongst the honorary citizens of Detmold, besides politicians are scientists and artists who have served in Detmold. The best-known are the builder of the Hermannsdenkmal, Ernst von Bandel, Reich Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, and Reich President, Paul von Hindenburg
29.
Teutoburg Forest
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Until the 19th century the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. South of the city centre of Bielefeld, a gap called the Bielefeld Pass bisects the range into the Northern Teutoburg Forest, in addition, the northeastern and southwestern ridges are cut by the exits of the longitudinal valleys between the ridges. The geologically oldest ridge is the one, which consists of limestone of the Triassic. Most of the ridges and part of the valley are covered by deciduous forest, parts of the valley areas are used for agriculture, especially production of cereals. The highest elevation in the Southern Teutoburg Forest is the Velmerstot, in the Northern Teutoburg Forest the highest elevation is the Dörenberg. The river Ems has its source at the base of the southernmost portion of the Teutoburg Forest. The southern half of the range, situated about 30 km southwest of the Weser valley, is part of the watershed between the Ems basin in the west and the Weser basin in the east, the drainage towards the Weser is effected by the Werre river. The northwestern half of the range is drained to the river Ems on both sides. The neighbouring landscapes are the Westphalian Lowland in the west, Hase valley in the north, the hilly Ravensberg Basin in the northeast, Lippe Uplands in the east, and Egge Range in the south. Except for an area south of Osnabrück, which belongs to the Bundesland of Lower Saxony. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest in 9 A. D. occurred in or near this region, the Roman historian Gaius Cornelius Tacitus identified the location of the battle as saltus Teutoburgiensis. Recent excavations suggest that at least the final stages of the battle took place further northwest, at Kalkriese, as of 2011 the Teutoburg Forest comprises two separate nature parks, TERRA. During the period of renaissance in the wake of the Napoleonic wars, German people saw him as an early protagonist of German resistance to foreign rule. Emperor William I, the first Kaiser of the unified German Empire, a monumental statue of the emperor himself was erected on the hill of Wittekindsberg in Wiehen Hills. In order to create a national landscape the Osning Hills were given the name Teutoburg Forest, however, the old name survived among the local population and the part of the ridge around the Ebberg near Bielefeld is still known as the Osning today. The composer Johannes Brahms liked to take walks in this forest during his stay in Detmold
30.
Ems (river)
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The Ems is a river in northwestern Germany. It runs through the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony and its total length is 371 kilometres. The source of the river is in the southern Teutoburg Forest in North Rhine-Westphalia, in Lower Saxony the brook becomes a comparatively large river. Here the swampy region of Emsland is named after the river, in Meppen the Ems is joined by its largest tributary, the Hase River. It then flows northwards, close to the Dutch border, into East Frisia, near Emden it flows into the Dollart bay and then continues as a tidal river towards the Dutch city of Delfzijl. As the parties are now friendly states with an open border and it became an active issue in late July,1914, when the Imperial German government began plans to mine the whole of the estuary that they claimed, in preparation for the launching of the Great War. The Dutch government endorsed the declaration, thus relieving itself of an obligation to declare war on Germany for violating its neutrality. After the war, the dispute was resumed, past Delfzijl, the Ems discharges into the Wadden Sea, part of the North Sea. The two straits that separate the German island of Borkum from its neighbours Rottumeroog and Memmert continue the name Ems, ptolemys name for it was the Amisios potamos, and in Latin Amisius fluvius. The others used the same, or Amisia, or Amasia or Amasios, the identification is certain, as it always is listed between the Rhine and the Weser, and was the only river leading to the Teutoburg Forest. The Amisius flowed from the Teutoburg Forest, home of the Cherusci, with the Bructeri and these tribes were among the initial Franks. The Romans were quite interested in adding them to the empire, as the river was navigable to their ships, they hoped to use it to access the tribes at its upper end. Surrounding the river for most of its length, however, were swamps, bogs and marshes. The Romans found they had no place to stand, could not pick the most favourable ground, because there was none and they were stopped at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest,9 AD, and were checked again 6 years later. The Ems became a road leading nowhere for them, nor were they able to bridge the swamps satisfactorily with causeways. Construction of canals in more modern times connected the Ems to other waterways, opening it as a highway of industrial transportation
31.
City council
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A city council, town council, town board, or board of aldermen is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area. Because of the differences in legislation between the states, the definition of a City Council varies. However, it is only those local government areas which have been specifically granted city status that are entitled to refer to themselves as cities. The official title is Corporation of the City of ------ or similar, some of the larger urban areas of Australia are governed mostly by a single entity, while others may be controlled by a multitude of much smaller city councils. Also some significant urban areas can be under the jurisdiction of rural local governments. Periodic re-alignments of boundaries attempt to rationalize these situations and adjust the deployment of assets, the 2001 Local Government Act restyled the five county boroughs of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, and Limerick as city councils, with the same status in law as county councils. For many decades until the government reforms of 1989, a borough with more than 20,000 people could be proclaimed a city. The boundaries of councils tended to follow the edge of the built-up area, as a result, the term city began to take on two meanings. The word city came to be used in a formal sense to describe major urban areas independent of local body boundaries. This informal usage is jealously guarded, gisborne, for example, adamantly described itself as the first city in the world to see the new millennium. Gisborne is administered by a council, but its status as a city is not generally disputed. Under the current law the minimum population for a new city is 50,000, in the Republic of China, a city council represents a provincial city. Members of the councils are elected through local elections for provincial cities which are held every 4–5 years, Councils for the provincial cities in Taiwan are Chiayi City Council, Hsinchu City Council and Keelung City Council. In the UK, a city council is, In England, a parish council that has been granted city status. The council of a London borough that has been granted city status, in Wales, The council of a principal area that has been granted city status. A community council that has been granted city status, in Scotland, The council of one of four council areas designated a City by the Local Government etc. City councils and town boards generally consist of elected aldermen or councillors. In the United States, members of city councils are typically called council member or council man/woman, while in Canada they are typically called councillor
32.
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
Châteauroux in France (since 1977)[2]
Broxtowe in the United Kingdom (1978),
Grudziądz in Poland (1989),
Falun in Sweden (1994) and with
Rzhev in Russia (2008).
"Gütersloh". Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). 1911.
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