Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha was an Ottoman military commander and Grand Vizier, a central character in the Ottoman Empire's last attempts at expansion into both Central and Eastern Europe. Born to Albanian parents in Merzifon, Mustafa was educated in the household of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha and married into the powerful Köprülü family. In 1659, he subsequently held a number of important posts. Within ten years, he was acting as deputy for his brother-in-law, the grand vizier Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha when absent from the Sultan's court, he served as a commander of ground troops in a war against Poland, negotiating a settlement with Jan Sobieski in 1676 that added the province of Podolia to the empire. The victory enabled the Ottomans to transform the Cossack regions of the southern Ukraine into a protectorate; when his brother-in-law Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha died that same year, Mustafa succeeded him as grand vizier. Kara Mustafa led several successful campaigns into Ukraine, attempting to shore up the position of the Cossack state of Right-Bank Ukraine an Ottoman vassal.

He established Ottoman garrisons in many of Ukraine's cities, conquered the traditional Cossack capital of Chyhyryn, under Russian occupation. In 1683, he launched a campaign northward into Austria in a last effort to expand the Ottoman Empire after more than 150 years of war. By mid-July, his 100,000-man army had besieged Vienna, following in the footsteps of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1529. By September, he appeared to be on his way to victory, but on 12 September 1683, a Polish army under King Jan Sobieski took advantage of dissent within the Ottoman military command and poor disposition of his troops, winning the Battle of Vienna with a devastating flank attack led by Sobieski's Polish Winged Hussars. The Ottomans retreated into Hungary, much of, subsequently conquered by the Habsburgs and their Holy League allies; the defeat cost Mustafa his position, his life. On 25 December 1683, Kara Mustafa was executed in Belgrade at the order of Mehmed IV, he suffered death by strangulation with a silk cord, the method of capital punishment inflicted on high-ranking persons in the Ottoman Empire.

His last words were, "Am I to die?" and "As God pleases." The Foundation of Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha was one of the largest foundations founded both in Ottoman Empire and Turkey. According to the official records, it was last managed by the descendants of Kara Mustafa Pasha; the last few managers of the foundation were Mustafa Pasha's descendant Ahmed Asım Bey, his son Mehmed Nebil Bey, his son, the Turkish painter Doğan Yılmaz Merzifonlu Karamustafaoğlu, better known as Yılmaz Merzifonlu, until 1976. The "Merzifonlu Karamustafaoğlu" family name ended with the marriage of Yılmaz Merzifonlu's only daughter, Abide Tuğçe Mit. Kara Mustafa Pasha's family and descendant tree can be found via Turkey's Directorate General of Foundations. Kara Mustafa Pasha's legacy in modern Turkey is mixed. Whereas historians describe him either as a capable tactician or reckless commander, Kemal Atatürk held a sympathetic view of the man, it is said that, while attending a lecture at an Ankara institution in 1933, at which a professor spoke disparagingly of Kara Mustafa Pasha, Atatürk spoke up in favour of Kara Mustafa, arguing that marching an army of 173,000 men from Constantinople to Vienna, the "cathedral of Europe", was a colossal undertaking for any commander, that the only other person who came close to such a feat was Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent himself.

In the 2012 Polish and Italian historical drama film September Eleven 1683 about the Battle of Vienna, Kara Mustafa Pasha is portrayed by Italian actor Enrico Lo Verso. Köprülü era of the Ottoman Empire Köprülü family List of Ottoman Grand Viziers Olnon, Merlijn. "'A Most Agreeable and Pleasant Creature'? Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa in the Correspondence of Justinus Colyer". Oriente Moderno. 22: 649–669

Eric D. Thomas, Ph. D. is an American motivational speaker and minister. Speeches by Thomas are popular on YouTube. Thomas was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Born to a single, teenage mother and after various arguments with his parents and aunts, he dropped out of high school and lived homeless on the streets of Detroit for two years. While he was homeless, he met a preacher who inspired him to go back to school and change lives, he took a job at an Olive Garden on the westside of Detroit. Around this time, Thomas met his wife, De-De Mosley, at the Detroit Center Seventh-day Adventist Church, they moved to Huntsville, attended Oakwood University, they were married as college students. Thomas spent twelve years working toward an undergraduate degree at Oakwood and graduated in 2001. While in Huntsville, Thomas set up a program to help underprivileged youth. In 2003, Thomas took a job with Michigan State University along with a fellowship to attend MSU to complete his master's degree in K-12 Administration with an emphasis in Educational Leadership.

He worked as an academic adviser to disadvantaged students at MSU. At MSU, he developed an undergraduate retention program called Advantage, targeting academically high-risk minority students, he served as senior pastor at A Place of Change Ministries in Lansing, Michigan. Thomas attained a master's degree from MSU in 2005, a PhD in Education Administration in 2015. After becoming known as a preacher and motivational speaker, Thomas founded a company to offer education consulting, executive coaching and athletic development. Thomas has given motivational talks to professional athletes. Thomas has appeared on Fox News to discuss his work, portions of his sermons can be heard on the track "Intro" of deep house producers Disclosure's 2013 debut album, Hip-hop/R&B artist Foster's track "Hard Times" in 2016, on the intro track "Wins and Losses" to rapper Meek Mill's 2017 album of the same name; the Secret to Success Greatness Is Upon You: Laying the Foundation ASIN B00NTGO41S Average Skill Phenomenal Will Eric Thomas's Inspires Website Eric Thomas's YouTube channel Eric Thomas on Twitter ET The Hip Hop Preacher on Facebook Eric Thomas Chartwell Speakers Profile

Eiche is a locality of Potsdam with 4480 inhabitants. It was incorporated into the city of Potsdam in 1993. Eiche is situated about 4.5 km west of Potsdam city centre on the road to Golm at the foot of several hills, among them Großer Herzberg north of the village, Kleiner Herzberg and Kahler Berg to the east and Ehrenpfortenberg to the west. Neighbouring places are Golm in the west, Bornim in the north, Bornstedt in the east, Wildpark in the south, all of them are districts of Potsdam. Eiche was first mentioned in a document dating from 1193; until the substantial extensions starting in 1881, it remained a linear settlement. A new church in neo-classical style was built in 1771 on orders from Frederick the Great to plans by the architect Georg Christian Unger; until 1935 the village was part of Osthavelland district. On 1 August 1935 it was incorporated into the city of Potsdam, on 25 July 1952 it was split off again in order to join neighbouring Golm in the joint municipality Eiche-Golm in Potsdam-Land district.

On 1 January 1962 this municipality was split in its constituent parts, making Eiche an independent municipality again until it was re-incorporated into Potsdam on 6 December 1993. A new residential quarter was built in the 1990s on the fields of Altes Rad north of the village. Barracks built on today's Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße in 1890/1891 housed an infantry training battalion. In the era of the Weimar Republic the buildings were used by the Prussian higher police school which educated officer candidates for the Schutzpolizei. In 1935 the barracks were transferred to the German air force, from 1936 on they were rebuilt after a standardised design as a school for non-commissioned officers; the main buildings are still standing. In the era of the GDR the barracks were first used by Kasernierte Volkspolizei by Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft, in particular the counter-terrorist unit Diensteinheit IX. Now units and facilities of the police of the state of Brandenburg are using the premises. From 1935 to 1938 further barracks were built for the German air force after a standardised design.

While police officer candidates were also taught there, the courses and their participants were transferred to the air force from late 1935. After the death of lieutenant general Walther Wever in an airplane crash near Dresden on 3 June 1936, the barracks were named after him; the major part of the espionage and counter-espionage department of the German military intelligence service moved here after bomb damages to its Berlin central in April 1943. From 1956, Nationale Volksarmee used the premises which extend across Ehrenpfortenberg hill until today's campus of Potsdam university in Golm where the MfS college was located from 1951 to 1990. Today, these barracks are named Havellandkaserne and are used by Bundeswehr