1.
German Chancellery
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The Federal Chancellery is an agency serving the executive office of the Chancellor of Germany, the head of the federal government, currently Angela Merkel. The Chancellerys primary function is to assist the Chancellor in coordinating the activities of the federal government, the chief of the Chancellery holds the rank of either a Secretary of State or a Federal Minister, currently held by Peter Altmaier. Bundeskanzleramt is also the name of the building in Berlin that houses the offices of the Chancellor. Palais Schaumburg in Bonn is the official seat of the German Federal Chancellery. The Berlin Chancellery is one of the largest government headquarters buildings in the world, by comparison, the new Chancellery building is ten times the size of the White House. When the North German Confederation was created as a federally organised country, in 1867, there was no collegial government with ministers. Federal Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the only established a Bundeskanzleramt as his office. It was the ministry of the country until in early 1870 the Prussian foreign office became the North German foreign office. At that occasion, the Bundeskanzleramt lost some tasks to the foreign office, when the North German Confederation became the German Empire in 1871, the Bundeskanzleramt was renamed to Reichskanzleramt. It originally had its seat in the Radziwiłł Palace, originally built by Prince Antoni Radziwiłł on Wilhelmstraße 77 in Berlin, more and more imperial offices were separated from the Reichskanzleramt, e. g. the Reichsjustizamt in 1877. What remained of the Reichskanzleramt became in 1879 the Reichsamt des Innern, in 1878 Imperial Chancellor Bismarck created a new office for the chancellors affairs, the Reichskanzlei. It kept its name over the years, also in the republic since 1919, in 1938–39, the building Neue Reichskanzlei, designed by Albert Speer, was built, its main entrance was located at Voßstraße 6, while the building occupied the entire northern side of the street. It was damaged during World War II and later demolished by Soviet occupation forces, a couple of years after the war, in 1949 the Federal Republic was created. Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer used the Museum Koenig for the first two months and then moved the Bundeskanzleramt into Palais Schaumburg until a new Chancellery building was completed in 1976. The then new West German Chancellery building was a structure completed in the International Style. A separate building Kanzlerbungalow served as residence of the Chancellor. Nearly ten years after German reunification in 1990, in the summer of 1999, the Chancellery was temporarily housed in the former GDR State Council building as the new Chancellery building was not yet finished at the time. The design went through three versions between 1995 and 1997, occupying 12,000 square meters, it is also the largest government headquarters building in the world
2.
Bonn
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The Federal City of Bonn is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of 311,287. About 24 km south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region, Germanys largest metropolitan area, the title of Federal City reflects its particular political status within Germany. Founded in the 1st century BC as a Roman settlement, Bonn is one of Germanys oldest cities, from 1597 to 1794, Bonn was the capital of the Electorate of Cologne, and residence of the Archbishops and Prince-electors of Cologne. Composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born here in 1770, from 1949 to 1990, Bonn was the capital of West Germany, and it is here where Germanys present constitution, the Grundgesetz, was declared in 1949. From 1990 to 1999, Bonn served as the seat of government, two DAX-listed corporations, Deutsche Post DHL and Deutsche Telekom, have headquarters in Bonn. The city is the location of the University of Bonn, spanning an area of more 141.2 km2 on both sides of the River Rhine, almost three quarters of the city lie on the rivers left bank. To the south and to the west, Bonn is bordering the Eifel region which encompasses the Rhineland Nature Park, to the north, Bonn borders the Cologne Lowland. Natural borders are constituted by the River Sieg to the north-east, the largest extension of the city in north-south dimensions is 15 km and 12.5 km in west-east dimensions. The city borders have a length of 61 km. The geographical centre of Bonn is the Bundeskanzlerplatz in Bonn-Gronau, the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia is divided into five governmental districts, and Bonn is part of the governmental district of Cologne. Within this governmental district, the city of Bonn is an district in its own right. The urban district of Bonn is then divided into four administrative municipal districts. These are Bonn, Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Bonn-Beuel and Bonn-Hardtberg, in 1969, the independent towns of Bad Godesberg and Beuel as well as several villages were incorporated into Bonn, resulting in a city more than twice as large as before. In the south of the Cologne lowland in the Rhine valley, the history of the city dates back to Roman times. In about 12 BC, the Roman army appears to have stationed a small unit in what is presently the historical centre of the city, even earlier, the army had resettled members of a Germanic tribal group allied with Rome, the Ubii, in Bonn. The Latin name for that settlement, Bonna, may stem from the population of this and many other settlements in the area. The Eburoni were members of a tribal coalition effectively wiped out during the final phase of Caesars War in Gaul. After several decades, the gave up the small camp linked to the Ubii-settlement
3.
Chancellor of Germany
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The Chancellor of Germany is the head of government of Germany. The official title in German is Bundeskanzler, sometimes shortened to Kanzler, the term, dating from the early Middle Ages, is derived from the Latin term cancellarius. In German politics, the Chancellor is equivalent to that of a minister in many other countries. German has two equivalent translations of prime minister, Premierminister and Ministerpräsident, while Premierminister usually refers to heads of governments of foreign countries, Ministerpräsident may also refer to the heads of government of most German states. The current Chancellor is Angela Merkel, who is serving her term in office. She is the first female chancellor, thus being known in German as Bundeskanzlerin, the role of the Chancellor has varied greatly throughout Germanys modern history. Today, the Chancellor is the effective leader. The office of Chancellor has a history, stemming back to the Holy Roman Empire. The title was, at times, used in several states of German-speaking Europe, the modern office of Chancellor was established with the North German Confederation, of which Otto von Bismarck became Chancellor in 1867. After the Unification of Germany in 1871, the became known in German as Reichskanzler. With Germanys constitution of 1949, the title Bundeskanzler was revived in German, during the various eras, the role of the Chancellor has varied. From 1871 to 1918, the Chancellor was only responsible to the Emperor, with the founding of the republic and the constitutional reform in 1918, the Parliament was granted the right to dismiss the Reichskanzler. According to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, the Chancellor was appointed by the President and responsible to Parliament, when the Nazis came to power on 30 January 1933, the Weimar Constitution was de facto set aside. After the death of President Hindenburg in 1934, Adolf Hitler, the 1949 constitution gave the Chancellor much greater powers than during the Weimar Republic, while strongly diminishing the role of the President. Since 1867,33 individuals have served as heads of government of Germany or its predecessor, due to his administrative tasks, the head of the clerics at the chapel of an Imperial palace during the Carolingian Empire was called Chancellor. The chapels college acted as the Emperors chancery issuing deeds and capitularies and these three Prince-Archbishops were also Prince-electors of the Empire electing the King of the Romans. Already in medieval times, the German Chancellor had political power like Archbishop Willigis or Rainald von Dassel under Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. In 1559, Emperor Ferdinand I established the agency of an Imperial chancellery at the Vienna Hofburg Palace, upon the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, Emperor Ferdinand II created the office of an Austrian Court Chancellor in charge of the internal and foreign affairs of the Habsburg Monarchy
4.
Neoclassical architecture
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Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century. In its purest form, it is a style derived from the architecture of classical antiquity, the Vitruvian principles. In form, Neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall rather than chiaroscuro, Neoclassical architecture is still designed today, but may be labelled New Classical Architecture for contemporary buildings. In Central and Eastern Europe, the style is referred to as Classicism. Many early 19th-century neoclassical architects were influenced by the drawings and projects of Étienne-Louis Boullée, the many graphite drawings of Boullée and his students depict spare geometrical architecture that emulates the eternality of the universe. There are links between Boullées ideas and Edmund Burkes conception of the sublime, the baroque style had never truly been to the English taste. The most popular was the four-volume Vitruvius Britannicus by Colen Campbell, the book contained architectural prints of famous British buildings that had been inspired by the great architects from Vitruvius to Palladio. At first the book featured the work of Inigo Jones. Palladian architecture became well established in 18th-century Britain, at the forefront of the new school of design was the aristocratic architect earl, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, in 1729, he and William Kent, designed Chiswick House. This House was a reinterpretation of Palladios Villa Capra, but purified of 16th century elements and this severe lack of ornamentation was to be a feature of the Palladianism. In 1734 William Kent and Lord Burlington designed one of Englands finest examples of Palladian architecture with Holkham Hall in Norfolk, the main block of this house followed Palladios dictates quite closely, but Palladios low, often detached, wings of farm buildings were elevated in significance. This classicising vein was also detectable, to a degree, in the Late Baroque architecture in Paris. This shift was even visible in Rome at the redesigned façade for S, by the mid 18th century, the movement broadened to incorporate a greater range of Classical influences, including those from Ancient Greece. The shift to neoclassical architecture is conventionally dated to the 1750s, in France, the movement was propelled by a generation of French art students trained in Rome, and was influenced by the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann. The style was adopted by progressive circles in other countries such as Sweden. A second neoclassic wave, more severe, more studied and more consciously archaeological, is associated with the height of the Napoleonic Empire, in France, the first phase of neoclassicism was expressed in the Louis XVI style, and the second in the styles called Directoire or Empire. The Scottish architect Charles Cameron created palatial Italianate interiors for the German-born Catherine II the Great in St. Petersburg, indoors, neoclassicism made a discovery of the genuine classic interior, inspired by the rediscoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum. These had begun in the late 1740s, but only achieved an audience in the 1760s
5.
Belgian Land Component
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The Land Component is the land-based branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Jean-Paul Deconinck, for a detailed history of the Belgian Army from 1830 to post 1945 see Belgian Armed Forces. Ranks in use by the Belgian Army are listed at Belgian military ranks, at the outbreak of war this reorganisation was nowhere near complete and only 117,000 men could be mobilised for the field forces, with the other branches equally deficient. In this way the King secured his control of the command, 4th Division - Namur and Charleroi. In addition, there were garrisons at Antwerp, Liège and Namur, each division contained three mixed brigades, one cavalry regiment, and one artillery regiment, as well as various support units. Each infantry regiment contained three battalions, with one regiment in each brigade having a company of six guns. An artillery regiment had three batteries of four guns, the nominal strength of a division varied from 25,500 to 32,000 all ranks, with a total strength of eighteen infantry battalions, a cavalry regiment, eighteen machine-guns, and forty-eight guns. Two divisions each had an artillery regiment, for a total of sixty guns. In 1940, the King of Belgium was the commander in chief of the Belgian Army which had 100,000 active duty personnel, its strength could be raised to 550,000 when fully mobilized. The army was composed of seven corps, that were garrisoned at Brussels, Antwerp, and Liege. Each infantry divisions had a divisional staff along with three regiments, each of 3,000 men. Each regiment had 108 light machine guns,52 heavy machine guns, nine heavy mortars or infantry gun howitzers, plus six antitank guns. Within the Free Belgian Forces that were formed in Great Britain during the occupation of Belgium between 1940–45, there was a land formation, the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade. An additional three divisions were raised and trained in Northern Ireland, but the war ended before they could see action, however, they joined the initial Belgian occupation force in Germany, I Belgian Corps, whose headquarters moved to Luedenscheid in October 1946. Of the 75,000 troops that found themselves in Germany on 8 May 1945, there were also two reserve brigades, slightly bigger than the four active brigades, which were intended as reinforcements for the two divisions. After the end of the Cold War, forces were reduced, initial planning in 1991 called for a Belgian-led corps with 2 or 4 Belgian brigades, a German brigade, and possibly a U. S. brigade. However, by 1992 this plan was looking unlikely and in 1993 a single Belgian division with two brigades became part of the Eurocorps, the Land Component is organised using the concept of capacities, whereby units are gathered together according to their function and material. Within this framework, there are five capacities, command, combat, support, services, the command capacity groups the following levels of command, COMOPSLAND, Medium Brigade at Leopoldsburg and Light Brigade at Marche-en-Famenne
6.
Konrad Adenauer
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Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman who served as the first post-war Chancellor of Germany from 1949 to 1963. He led his country from the ruins of World War II to a productive and prosperous nation that forged close relations with France, the United Kingdom, during his years in power West Germany achieved democracy, stability, international respect and economic prosperity. He was the first leader of the Christian Democratic Union, a Christian Democratic party that under his leadership became one of the most influential parties in the country, Adenauer, the Chancellor till age 87 was dubbed Der Alte. British historian Roy Jenkins says he was the oldest statesman ever to function in elected office and he belied his age by his intense work habits and his uncanny political instinct. He displayed a strong dedication to a vision of market-based liberal democracy. A shrewd politician, Adenauer was deeply committed to a Western-oriented foreign policy and he worked to restore the West German economy from the destruction of World War II to a central position in Europe, presiding over the German Economic Miracle. He reestablished the German military in 1955 and he came to terms with France, which made possible the economic unification of Western Europe. Adenauer opposed rival East Germany and made his nation a member of NATO, a devout Roman Catholic, he had been a leading Centre Party politician in the Weimar Republic, serving as Mayor of Cologne and as president of the Prussian State Council. Konrad Adenauer was born as the third of five children of Johann Konrad Adenauer and his wife Helene in Cologne, Rhenish Prussia and his siblings were August, Johannes, Lilli and Elisabeth, who died shortly after birth in c. In 1894, he completed his Abitur and began studying law and politics at the universities of Freiburg, Munich and Bonn. In 1896, at the age of 20, he was conscripted into the German army and he was a member of several Roman Catholic students associations under the K. St. V. He graduated in 1900 and afterwards worked as a lawyer at the court in Cologne and he was strongly interested in the use of medicinal herbs, according to famous French herbalist Maurice Messugue, whom he met and befriended. These were his favorite medicinal plants according to Messugue, though he had knowledge of a wide range of plants. He agreed with Messugue that plants had to be free of sprays and he told Messugue that he owed his good health to the plants, to nature. Adenauer found relaxation and great enjoyment in the Italian game of bocce, as a devout Catholic, he joined the Centre Party in 1906 and was elected to Colognes city council in the same year. In 1909, he became Vice-Mayor of Cologne, a metropolis with a population of 635,000 in 1914. From 1917 to 1933, he served as Mayor of Cologne, Adenauer headed Cologne during World War I, working closely with the army to maximize the citys role as a rear base of supply and transportation for the Western Front. He paid special attention to the food supply, enabling the residents to avoid the worst of the severe shortages that beset most German cities during 1918–19
7.
West Germany
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West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation on 23 May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990. During this Cold War era, NATO-aligned West Germany and Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany were divided by the Inner German border, after 1961 West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. With the reunification of West and East Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, enlarged now to sixteen states and this period is referred to as the Bonn Republic by historians, alluding to the interwar Weimar Republic and the post-reunification Berlin Republic. The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, US and British forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Its population grew from roughly 51 million in 1950 to more than 63 million in 1990, the city of Bonn was its de facto capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone was held by the Soviet Union, as a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interbellum democratic Weimar Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs, Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories, the Saarland and divided Berlin. The Federal Republic of Germany claimed a mandate for all of Germany. It took the line that the GDR was an illegally constituted puppet state, though the GDR did hold regular elections, these were not free and fair. For all practical purposes the GDR was a Soviet puppet state, from the West German perspective the GDR was therefore illegitimate. Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, in addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto 11th state. It recognised the GDR as a de facto government within a single German nation that in turn was represented de jure by the West German state alone. From 1973 onward, East Germany recognised the existence of two German countries de jure, and the West as both de facto and de jure foreign country, the Federal Republic and the GDR agreed that neither of them could speak in the name of the other. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for an alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union, when the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. With the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and accede to the Federal Republic in 1990. Its five post-war states were reconstituted along with the reunited Berlin and they formally joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany
8.
Robert Schuman
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Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman was a Luxembourg-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist, the 1964–1965 academic year at the College of Europe was named in his honour. Schuman was born in June 1886, in Clausen, Luxembourg, Schumans secondary schooling from 1896 to 1903 was at Athénée de Luxembourg, followed in 1904 by the Lycée impérial in Metz. In 1912 Schuman set up practice as a lawyer in Metz, when war broke out in 1914 he was called up for the auxiliary troops by the German army in Metz but excused from military service on health grounds. From 1915 to 1918 he served in the administration of the Boulay district, after the First World War, Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France and Schuman became a French citizen in 1919. Schuman became active in French politics, in 1919 he was first elected as député to parliament on a regional list, and later serving as the député for Thionville until 1958 with an interval during the war years. This harmonization of the law with the French law was called Lex Schuman. In 1940, because of his expertise on Germany, Schuman was called to become a member of Paul Reynauds wartime government and he kept that charge during the first Pétain government. On July 10, he voted to give power to Hitlers ally Marshal Pétain. Later that year, on September 14, he was arrested for acts of resistance and he was interrogated by the Gestapo but thanks to the intervention of a German lawyer, he was saved from being sent to Dachau. Transferred as a prisoner of Gauleiter Joseph Buerckel, he escaped in 1942. He addressed large conferences in the Free Zone explaining why the defeat of Germany was inevitable and this was at a time when Nazi Germany was at the peak of its power. The Germans then invaded the Free Zone, although his life was still at risk, he spoke to friends about a Franco-German and European reconciliation that must take place after the end of hostilities, as he had already done in 1939–40. After the war, Schuman rose to great prominence and he initially had difficulties because of his 1940 vote and his tenure as Pétains minister. The Defense minister Andre Diethelm stated that this Vichy product should be kicked out. As all those who had voted for Pétain, he was ineligible and he was stricken with Indignité nationale. On July 24,1945, Schuman wrote to General de Gaulle to ask him to intervene, de Gaulle answered favorably, and on September 15, Schuman regained his full civic rights, becoming able to again play an active role in French politics. He was Minister of Finance, then Prime Minister from 1947–1948, assuring parliamentary stability during a period of revolutionary strikes, in the last days of his first administration, his government proposed plans that later resulted in the Council of Europe and the European Community single market
9.
Sep Ruf
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Sep Ruf was a German architect and designer, belonging to the Bauhaus group. He was one of the representatives of modern architecture in Germany after World War II and his elegant buildings received high credits in Germany and Europe and his German pavilion of the Expo 58 in Brussels, built together with Egon Eiermann, achieved worldwide recognition. His best known building was the residence for the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, built for Ludwig Erhard and his father was Josef Ruf and his mother was Wilhelmine Mina Ruf. The family of his father came from Dinkelsbühl and his mothers family lived in Weißenburg in Bayern and he had a brother Franz Ruf born 1909. His first years at school he spent in a school in Munich. Until his years of study he went to the Luitpold-Oberrealschule and he loved skiing and climbing in the mountains, during this time he met his later fiancée, Aloisia Ruf, née Mayer, born in Munich,2 April 1910, a daughter of a factory owner. They married 1938, built a home in Gmund am Tegernsee and had two children, Ruf loved to travel and he visited Austria, Italy, Greece, France, Belgium, Switzerland, the United States and Norway. 1969 he bought a winery in Italy and renovated the house and he became friend with many artists like Marino Marini and Bruno Pulga and had guests in Italy such as Henry Moore. He also kept in touch with Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Richard Neutra and he is called to be the German architect, who realized the ideas of the Bauhaus most consequent. In 1982 he died in Munich and was buried at the cemetery of Gmund am Tegernsee. He studied architecture and city planning at the Technical University Munich from 1926 until 1931, then he opened his own bureau. One year later his brother spent a year in his bureau before he opened his own, Ruf began to build houses for doctors, actors and manufacturers and they loved his light and bright buildings. He continued building houses and now he had to them with pitched roofs. From 1936-1938 he was ordered to build parts of the Werdenfels, as soon as possible he went back to the building of private houses. In 1939 Ruf had to go to war, from 1940 to 1942 he was allowed to stay at home because he worked as an independent architect with the family of Hugo Junkers. From 1934 to 1936, one year before his death, Junkers had allowed the 26-year-old architect to build an estate for his workers in Grünwald, Bavaria. Hugo Junkers, who had lost nearly all of his inventions and his factory in Dessau to the new authorities and now lived near Munich under surveillance, now did research for metal-housing. In 1942 Ruf had to go to the Russian front and after the war had ended, he went back to Germany by foot, the tower-building of the HICOG went to be the Embassy of the United States in Bonn from 1955 until 1999
10.
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
11.
Paulownia tomentosa
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Paulownia tomentosa is a deciduous tree in the family Paulowniaceae, native to central and western China. Paulownia tomentosa is an extremely fast-growing tree, and is a persistent exotic invasive in North America, the generic name Paulownia honors Anna Pavlovna of Russia. The specific epithet tomentosa is a Latin word meaning ‘covered in hairs’ and this tree grows 10–25 m tall, with large heart-shaped to five-lobed leaves 15–40 cm across, arranged in opposite pairs on the stem. On young growth, the leaves may be in whorls of three and be much bigger than the leaves on more mature growth, the leaves can be mistaken for those of the catalpa. The very fragrant flowers are produced before the leaves in spring, on panicles 10–30 cm long. The fruit is a dry egg-shaped capsule 3–4 cm long, containing tiny seeds. The seeds are winged and disperse by wind and water, pollarded trees do not produce flowers, as these only form on mature wood. Paulownia tomentosa can survive wildfire because the roots can regenerate new and it is tolerant of pollution and it is not fussy about soil type. For this reason it functions ecologically as a pioneer plant and its nitrogen-rich leaves provide good fodder and its roots prevent soil erosion. Eventually, Paulownia is succeeded by taller trees that shade it and it cannot thrive in the shade of other trees. Paulownia tomentosa is cultivated as a tree in parks and gardens. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit, the characteristic large size of the young growth is exploited by gardeners, by pollarding the tree and ensuring there is vigorous new growth every year, massive leaves are produced. These are popular in the style of gardening which uses large-foliaged. In China, the tree is planted at the birth of a girl, the fast-growing tree matures when she does. When she is eligible for marriage the tree is cut down, carving the wood of Paulownia is an art form in Japan and China. In legend, it is said that the phoenix will only land on the Empress Tree, several Asian string instruments are made from P. tomentosa, including the Japanese koto and Korean gayageum zithers. The soft, lightweight seeds were used as a packing material by Chinese porcelain exporters in the 19th century. Packing cases would often leak or burst open in transit and scatter the seeds along rail tracks, some geranylflavonoids can be found in P. tomentosa
12.
Ludwig Erhard
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Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard was a German politician affiliated with the CDU and the second Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is often famed for leading German postwar economic reforms and economic recovery in his role as Minister of Economics under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer from 1949 to 1963. During that period he promoted the concept of the market economy. In his tenure as chancellor, however, Erhard failed to win confidence in his handling of a deficit and his direction of foreign policy. He resigned his chancellorship on 1 December 1966, born in Fürth, Kingdom of Bavaria, Erhard was a commercial apprentice from 1913 to 1916. After his apprenticeship he worked as retail salesman in his fathers drapers shop, in 1916, during World War I, he joined the German forces as an artilleryman. He fought in Romania and was injured near Ypres in 1918. Because of his injury he could no longer work as a draper and he received his Ph. D. from the University of Frankfurt in 1925, for a dissertation written under Franz Oppenheimer. During his time in Frankfurt he married Luise Lotter, widow Schuster, after his graduation they moved to Fürth and he became executive in his parents company in 1925. After three years he became assistant at the Institut für Wirtschaftsbeobachtung der deutschen Fertigware, a research institute. Later, he became deputy director of the institute, during World War II, he worked on concepts for a postwar peace, however, officially such studies were forbidden by the Nazis, who had declared total war. As a result, Erhard lost his job in 1942 but continued to work on the subject by order of the Reichsgruppe Industrie, in 1944 he wrote War Finances and Debt Consolidation. In this study he assumed that Germany had already lost the war and he sent his thoughts to Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, a central figure in the German resistance to Nazism, who recommended Erhard to his comrades. Erhard also discussed his concept with Otto Ohlendorf, deputy secretary of state in the Reichsministerium für Wirtschaft, Ohlendorf himself spoke out for active and courageous entrepreneurship, which was intended to replace bureaucratic state planning of the economy after the war. After the war Erhard became an economic consultant, in April 1948 Erhard was elected director of economics by the Bizonal Economic Council. On 20 June 1948, the Deutsche Mark was introduced, Erhard abolished the price-fixing and production controls that had been enacted by the military administration. This exceeded his authority, but he succeeded with this step, in the first free elections following the Nazi era, Erhard stood for election in a Baden-Württemberg district and was elected. He was appointed Minister for Economics, a position he would hold for the next 14 years, some of the societys members were members of the Allied High Commission and Erhard was able to make his case directly to them
Media related to Palais Schaumburg at Wikimedia Commons
