Strasbourg tramway
The Strasbourg tramway, run by the CTS, consists of six tramlines, A, B, C, D, E and F that operate in the city of Strasbourg in Alsace, France. The first tram line in Strasbourg, which was originally horse-drawn, after 1894, when an electric powered tram system was introduced, a widespread network of tramways was built, including several longer distance lines on both sides of the Rhine. The decline of the system began in the 1930s, and ended with the retirement of the service in 1960 in parallel to the closure of many such systems in France. Lines A and D were opened in 1994, lines B and C were opened in 2000, line E was opened in 2007 and it is regarded as a remarkable example of the tramways rebirth in the 1990s. The first tram line in Strasbourg, which was originally horse-drawn, the decline of the tramways system began in the 1930s, and ended with the retirement of the service in 1960. After a long drawn out communal political decision process, the tram was reintroduced in 1994, as part of the redevelopment of the city, a track of a total 33 km distance was built, on which 5 tram line services have been developed.
On 5 April 1877 the Strasbourg Horse Railway Company was founded, since May 1897, the AEG electrical manufacturing company was the main shareholder. In 1912 the company was transferred to the possession of the city of Strasbourg, when Alsace became part of France in November 1918, the name of the company was translated into French, Compagnie des tramways strasbourgeois“. In this form it exists today. Public transport in Strasbourg had begun in 1848 with horse-drawn omnibuses and carriages, the first standard gauge tracks of the Horse/Railway Company were opened on 20 July 1878. These passed through the areas of Hönheim and zur Kehler Brücke, in the inner city, horses were used. In the suburbs, small steam locomotives drew the carriages, by 1885 further lines to the suburbs of Königshofen, Robertsau and Wolfisheim were opened, and in 1886 the meter gauge was first used in extending the track to Grafenstaden. The electric company of AEG was engaged to install electric traction of that line in December 1894, though the contract between town and company had included the maintaining of standard gauge, since 1897, the standard gauge tracks were converted to one-meter gauge.
New lines were built and run to Kronenburg and Breuschwickersheim, in addition to the network in town, an overland network was built, mainly worked with steam traction, extending from Strasbourg to the Vosges Mountains and across the Rhine into Baden. In 1930, the network comprised 234 km of track, about 100 km in town and 130 km overland lines, there were 55 million passengers in 1930 and 71.5 million passengers in 1943. In the 1950s, the tram, already weakened by World War II, faced competition from other modes of such as the bus, the bicycle. The tram system was abandoned in 1960 and replaced by buses, much of the traffic was absorbed by the private automobile. Due to increasing traffic and pollution, the Urban Community of Strasbourg considered building a Véhicule Automatique Léger network with two lines
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg
The Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg is a non-metropolitan archdiocese, of Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in France, first mentioned in 343. It is one of nine archbishoprics in France which have no suffragans and it is currently headed by Archbishop Luc Ravel, in office since February 2017. The Diocese of Strasbourg was first mentioned in 343, belonging to the province of the Archbishopric of Mainz since Carolingian times. It is supposed that this was the first seat of the diocese, the diocese may thus have been founded around 300. The bishop was the ruler of a principality in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages. For this state, see Prince-Bishopric of Strasbourg, since the 15th century, the diocesan seat has been the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Strasbourg. On 29 November 1801 it gained territory from the Diocese of Basel, Diocese of Metz, on 25 February 1803 it lost territory to the Diocese of Konstanz, on 26 April 1808 it gained territory from the same and in 1815 lost territory to that Diocese of Konstanz.
In 1871 the bulk of the diocese became part of German Empire, after World War I, Alsace along with the diocese was returned to France, but the concordatary status has been preserved since as part of the Local law in Alsace-Moselle. The diocese was elevated to Archdiocese of Strasbourg on 1 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II but not as Metropolitan of a province and remains exempt. The bishop of this see is appointed by the French president according to the Concordat of 1801, the concordat further provides for the clergy being paid by the government and Catholic pupils in public schools can receive religious instruction according to archdiocesan guide lines. It enjoyed papal visits from Pope John Paul II in October 1988, the archiepsicopal cathedral seat is the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France, as mother church, a World Heritage Site. As per 2014, it pastorally served 1,380,000 Catholics on 8,280 km² in 767 parishes and 5 missions with 722 priests,80 deacons,1,332 lay religious and 17 seminarians.
As of 31 December 2003, the area of the archdiocese comprised a total of 1,713,416 inhabitants of which 75. 9% are Catholics, also,619 diocese priests,50 deacons,288 ordained priests and 1,728 nuns belonged to the archdiocese
Archduchy of Austria
The Archduchy of Austria was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empires southeastern periphery, the Archduchy developed out of the Bavarian Margraviate of Austria, elevated to the Duchy of Austria according to the 1156 Privilegium Minus by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The House of Habsburg came to the Austrian throne in Vienna in 1282 and in 1453 Emperor Frederick III, Austrian ruler, the Archduchys history as an Imperial State ended with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. It was replaced with the Lower and Upper Austria crown lands of the Austrian Empire, located in the Danube basin, Austria bordered on the Kingdom of Hungary beyond the March and Leitha rivers in the east. In the west, the Upper Austrian part bordered on the Bavarian stem duchy, in the course of the German mediatisation in 1803, the Austrian archdukes acquired the rule over the Electorate of Salzburg and the Berchtesgaden Provostry.
After Austria was detached from Bavaria and established as an Imperial estate in 1156, in 1358/59 the Habsburg duke Rudolf IV, in response of the Golden Bull of 1356, already claimed the archducal title by forging the Privilegium Maius. By the 1379 Treaty of Neuberg, his heirs divided the Habsburg lands, on Epiphany 1453 Emperor Frederick III, regent of Austria for his minor Albertinian cousin Ladislaus the Posthumous, finally acknowledged the archducal title. It was conferred to all Habsburg emperors and rulers, as well as to the princes of the dynasty, however. Frederick further promoted the rise of the Habsburg dynasty into European dimensions with the arrangement of the marriage between his son Maximilian I and Mary the Rich, heiress of Burgundy in 1477. After Maximilians son Philip the Handsome in 1496 had married Joanna the Mad, Queen of Castile, by marrying Princess Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, Ferdinand inherited both kingdoms in 1526. The Archduchy of Austria continued to exist as a constituent crown land within the empire, history of Austria List of rulers of Austria
German town law
The German town law or German municipal concerns was a set of early town privileges based on the Magdeburg rights developed by Otto I. The Magdeburg Law became the inspiration for regional town charters not only in Germany, the German town law was used in the founding of many German cities and villages beginning in the 13th century. As Germans began establishing towns throughout northern Europe as early as the 10th century, such privileges often included the right to self-governance, economic autonomy, criminal courts, and militia. Town laws were more or less copied from neighboring towns, such as the Westphalian towns of Soest, Minden. The granting of German city rights modelled after a town to a new town regarded the original model as a Rechtsvorort. For instance, Magdeburg became the sponsor of towns using Magdeburg Rights, as territorial borders changed through the passage of time, changes to German city rights were inevitable. During the course of the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, the older towns laws, along with local autonomy and jurisdiction, gave way to landed territorial rulers.
The only remnants of medieval town rights included in the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch of 1 January 1900 were single articles concerning family, the cities of Hamburg and Berlin are currently administered under Landesrechte, or laws of the federal states of Germany. Many towns granted German city rights had existed for some time. Many European localities date their foundation to their reception of a town charter, German town law was frequently applied during the Ostsiedlung of Central and Eastern Europe by German colonists beginning in the early 13th century. Because many areas were considered underpopulated or underdeveloped, local rulers offered urban privileges to peasants from German lands to them to immigrate eastward. Some towns which received a German town law charter were based on pre-existing settlements, many towns were formed in conjunction with the settlement of nearby rural communities, but the towns urban rights were jealously guarded. Initially German town law was applied only to ethnic Germans, but gradually in most localities all town-dwellers were regarded as citizens, regardless of ethnic origin.
Lübeck law spread rapidly among the settlements along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and was used in northern Mecklenburg, Western Pomerania. It formed the basis of Riga law in Riga, used in the lands of the Livonian Order in Livonia, other variants included Brandenburg, Litoměřice, and Olomouc law. South German law, broadly referring to the codes of Nuremberg and Vienna, was used in Bavaria and Slovenia, jihlava law was a variant used frequently by mining communities in Bohemia, the mountains of Slovakia, and Transylvania. Other town laws were only suitable for or were modified to fit local conditions, such as Głubczyce, Görlitz, Goslar, Lüneburg, Lwówek Śląski, Spiš, and Székesfehérvár laws. Many Transylvanian Saxon settlements in Transylvania, especially in the regions of Altland, Burzenland, in the 16th century Muscovy granted or reaffirmed Magdeburg rights to various towns along the Dnieper acquired from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Battle of France
The Battle of France, known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940 during the Second World War. Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940 and attempted an invasion of France, the German plan for the invasion of France consisted of two main operations. After the withdrawal of the BEF, the German forces began Fall Rot on 5 June, the sixty remaining French divisions made a determined resistance but were unable to overcome the German air superiority and armoured mobility. German tanks outflanked the Maginot Line and pushed deep into France, German forces occupied Paris unopposed on 14 June after a chaotic period of flight of the French government that led to a collapse of the French army. German commanders met with French officials on 18 June with the goal of forcing the new French government to accept an armistice that amounted to surrender and this led to the end of the French Third Republic. France was not liberated until the summer of 1944, in 1939, Britain and France offered military support to Poland in the likely case of a German invasion.
In the dawn of 1 September 1939, the German Invasion of Poland began and the United Kingdom declared war on 3 September, after an ultimatum for German forces to immediately withdraw their forces from Poland was met without reply. Following this, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, on 7 September, in accordance with their alliance with Poland, France began the Saar Offensive with an advance from the Maginot Line 5 km into the Saar. France had mobilised 98 divisions and 2,500 tanks against a German force consisting of 43 divisions, the French advanced until they met the thin and undermanned Siegfried Line. On 17 September, the French supreme commander, Maurice Gamelin gave the order to withdraw French troops to their starting positions, following the Saar Offensive, a period of inaction called the Phoney War set in between the belligerents. Adolf Hitler had hoped that France and Britain would acquiesce in the conquest of Poland, on 6 October, he made a peace offer to both Western powers. On 9 October, Hitler issued a new Führer-Directive Number 6, the plan was based on the seemingly more realistic assumption that German military strength would have to be built up for several years.
For the moment only limited objectives could be envisaged and were aimed at improving Germanys ability to survive a long war in the west. Hitler ordered a conquest of the Low Countries to be executed at the shortest possible notice to forestall the French and it would provide the basis for a long-term air and sea campaign against Britain. On 10 October 1939, Britain refused Hitlers offer of peace and on 12 October, colonel-General Franz Halder, presented the first plan for Fall Gelb on 19 October. This was the codename of plans for a campaign in the Low Countries. Halders plan has been compared to the Schlieffen Plan, the given to the German strategy of 1914 in the First World War. It was similar in both plans entailed an advance through the middle of Belgium
Germany
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, Cologne, 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
Free imperial city
The evolution of some German cities into self-ruling constitutional entities of the Empire was slower than that of the secular and ecclesiastical princes. In the course of the 13th and 14th centuries, some cities were promoted by the emperor to the status of Imperial Cities, essentially for fiscal reasons. The Free Cities were those, such as Basel, Cologne or Strasbourg, like the other Imperial Estates, they could wage war, make peace, and control their own trade, and they permitted little interference from outside. In the Middle Ages, a number of Free Cities formed City Leagues, such as the Hanseatic League or the Alsatian Décapole, to promote and defend their interests. In the course of the Middle Ages, cities gained, and sometimes — if rarely — lost, some favored cities gained a charter by gift. Others purchased one from a prince in need of funds, some won it by force of arms during the troubled 13th and 14th centuries and other lost their privileges during the same period by the same way.
Some cities became free through the created by the extinction of dominant families. Some voluntarily placed themselves under the protection of a territorial ruler, a few, like Protestant Donauwörth, which in 1607 was annexed to the Catholic Duchy of Bavaria, were stripped by the Emperor of their status as a Free City — for genuine or trumped-up reasons. There were approximately four thousand towns and cities in the Empire, during the late Middle Ages, fewer than two hundred of these places ever enjoyed the status of Free Imperial Cities, and some of those did so only for a few decades. The military tax register of 1521 listed eighty-five such cities, from the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 to 1803, their number oscillated at around fifty. These cities were located in small territories where the ruler was weak. They were nevertheless the exception among the multitude of territorial towns, Cities of both latter categories normally had representation in territorial diets, but not in the Imperial Diet.
The cities divided themselves into two groups, or benches, in the Imperial Diet, the Rhenish and the Swabian Bench. To avoid the possibility that they would have the vote in case of a tie between the Electors and the Princes, it was decided that these should decide first and consult the cities afterward. Constitutionally, if in no way, the diminutive Free Imperial City of Isny was the equal of the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Instead, many found it more profitable to maintain agents at the Aulic Council in Vienna. At the opposite end, the authority of Cologne, Worms, Goslar and they were the most economically significant burgher families who had asserted themselves politically over time. The burgher status was usually a privilege renewed pro-forma in each generation of the family concerned
Grand Duchy of Baden
The Grand Duchy of Baden was a state in the southwest of Germany on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918 and it came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subsequently split into different lines, which were unified in 1771. After World War II, the French military government in 1945 created the state of Baden out of the half of the former Baden. This portion of the former Baden was declared in its 1947 constitution to be the successor of the old Baden. The northern half of the old Baden was combined with northern Württemberg, becoming part of the American military zone, both Baden and Württemberg-Baden became states of West Germany upon its formation in 1949. In 1952 Baden merged with Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern to form Baden-Württemberg and this is the only merger of states that has taken place in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. The unofficial anthem of Baden is called Badnerlied and consists of four or five traditional verses, over the years, many more verses have been added – there are collections with up to 591 verses of the anthem.
Baden came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden, in 1803 Baden was raised to Electoral dignity within the Holy Roman Empire. Upon the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Baden became the much-enlarged Grand Duchy of Baden, in 1815 it joined the German Confederation. During the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, Baden was a centre of revolutionist activities, in 1849, in the course of the Baden Revolution, it was the only German state that became a republic for a short while, under the leadership of Lorenzo Brentano. The revolution in Baden was suppressed mainly by Prussian troops, the Grand Duchy of Baden remained a sovereign country until it joined the German Empire in 1871. After the revolution of 1918, Baden became part of the Weimar Republic as the Republic of Baden, when the French Revolution threatened to overflow into the rest of Europe in 1792, Baden joined forces against France, and its countryside was devastated once more. In 1796, the margrave Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden, was compelled to pay an indemnity, however, soon returned to his side.
Changing sides in 1805, he fought for Napoleon, with the result that, by the peace of Pressburg in that year, he obtained the Breisgau and other territories at the expense of the Habsburgs. In 1806, he joined the Confederation of the Rhine, declared himself a prince, became a grand duke. The Baden contingent continued to assist France, and by the Peace of Vienna in 1809, Charles fought for his father-in-law until after the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, when he joined the Allies. In 1815 Baden became a member of the German Confederation established by the Act of 8 June, however, in the haste of winding up the Congress, the question of the succession to the grand duchy did not get settled, a matter that would soon become acute. A controversy between Bavaria and Baden ensued, which was decided in favour of the Höchberg claims by a treaty signed by Baden
States of Germany
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 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 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
Treaty of Ryswick
The Treaty of Ryswick, or Ryswyck, was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick in the Dutch Republic. The treaty settled the War of the League of Augsburg, which pitted France against the Grand Alliance of England, the Holy Roman Empire and the United Provinces. Under the terms of the treaty, France renounced some recent territorial gains, the French representatives had their headquarters at The Hague, and the allies were based in Delft, the conference taking place in between the two towns in the Huis ter Nieuwburg, Ryswick. Soon, Spain gave way, and on 20 September a treaty of peace was signed between France and the three powers, England and the United Provinces. William persuaded Leopold to make peace, and a treaty between France and the Holy Roman Empire was signed on the following 30 October, the basis of the peace was that all towns and districts seized since the Treaty of Nijmegen should be restored. France surrendered Freiburg and Philippsburg to the Holy Roman Empire, on the other hand, France regained Pondichéry, as well as Acadia, and Spain recovered Catalonia and the barrier fortresses of Mons and Kortrijk.
The War of the Grand Alliance played out in North America, the French colonies of Acadia and Canada, along with their Native allies, fought the northern English colonies and their Native allies. Still, the Treaty of Ryswick returned the territorial borders to where they had been before the war, the Iroquois nation, deserted by the English allies, continued to make war on the French colonies until the Great Peace of Montreal of 1701. Needle of Rijswijk Peace of Basel 1795 — Hispaniola Barrier Treaty Treaty of Utrecht Treaty of Ryswick and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Hugh, ed. Treaty Of Ryswick. History of European Diplomacy, 1451–1789324 pages online pp 141-54, eccles, W. J. Canada Under Louis XIV
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century.
The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia.
A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
