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.
Palais Schaumburg (band)
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Palais Schaumburg was a new wave band from Hamburg, Germany. The style was classified as Neue Deutsche Welle, and strongly characterized by their avant garde music and dadaistic attitude, the band was originally formed in 1980, featuring Timo Blunck, Holger Hiller, Thomas Fehlmann, and percussionist F. M. The groups name stands for Das Palais Schaumburg in Bonn, the Cold War era residence of the German chancellor, shortly after it was released, Hiller left the band and started his solo career. He was replaced with Moritz von Oswald and vocalist Walther Thielsch, the group made several singles and albums throughout early 80s, where their avant garde sounds were heavily influenced by funk, especially in albums Lupa and Parlez-Vous Schaumburg. They eventually split up in 1984, all the members have been working on their solo careers. On Thursday November 21st,2013, Palais Schaumburg appeared live beside Laibach in Bern, albums Das Single Kabinett Palais Schaumburg Lupa Parlez-Vous Schaumburg. Singles Rote Lichter Telefon Wir bauen eine neue Stadt Hockey Palais Schaumburg biography Palais Schaumburg discography
3.
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
4.
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
5.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
6.
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
7.
Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe
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Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe was the regent of the Principality of Lippe from 1895 till 1897. Born at Bückeburg Palace in Bückeburg the seventh child of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Hermine of Waldeck and he continued to act as regent until 1897 when he was replaced by Count Ernst of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Prince Adolf was married on the 19 November 1890 in Berlin to Princess Viktoria of Prussia and she was a daughter of Frederick III, German Emperor, and as such Adolf was a brother-in-law to the last German Emperor, Wilhelm II. The wedding was attended by the Emperor Wilhelm, along with his wife Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein and Victorias mother, as Princess Victorias mother was a member of the British royal family, many of her relatives also attended, including Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. After the ceremony, the couple held a banquet, at which Emperor Wilhelm feelingly assured the pair of his protection, the marriage was childless, though Princess Viktoria had a miscarriage within the first few months of marriage
8.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
9.
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
10.
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
11.
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
12.
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
13.
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
14.
German reunification
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The end of the unification process is officially referred to as German unity, celebrated on 3 October. Following German reunification, Berlin was once designated as the capital of united Germany. The East German regime started to falter in May 1989, when the removal of Hungarys border fence with Austria opened a hole in the Iron Curtain and it caused an exodus of thousands of East Germans fleeing to West Germany and Austria via Hungary. The united Germany is the continuation of the Federal Republic. For political and diplomatic reasons, West German politicians carefully avoided the term reunification during the run-up to what Germans frequently refer to as die Wende, after 1990, the term die Wende became more common. The term generally refers to the events led up to the actual reunification, in its usual context. When referring to the events surrounding unification, however, it carries the connotation of the time. However, anti-communist activists from Eastern Germany rejected the term Wende as it was introduced by SEDs Secretary General Egon Krenz, the capital city of Berlin was divided into four occupied sectors of control, under the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Germans lived under such imposed divisions throughout the ensuing Cold War, into the 1980s, the Soviet Union experienced a period of economic and political stagnation, and they correspondingly decreased intervention in Eastern Bloc politics. In 1987, US President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at Brandenburg Gate challenging Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down this wall that had separated Berlin. The wall had stood as an icon for the political and economic division between East and West, a division that Churchill had referred to as the Iron Curtain. In early 1989, under a new era of Soviet policies of glasnost, perestroika and taken to more progressive levels by Gorbachev. Further inspired by images of brave defiance, a wave of revolutions swept throughout the Eastern Bloc that year. In May 1989, Hungary removed their border fence and thousands of East Germans escaped to the West, however, events rapidly came to a head in early 1990. First, in March, the Party of Democratic Socialism—the former Socialist Unity Party of Germany—was heavily defeated in East Germanys first free elections. A grand coalition was formed under Lothar de Maizière, leader of the East German wing of Kohls Christian Democratic Union, on a platform of speedy reunification, second, East Germanys economy and infrastructure underwent a swift and near-total collapse. While East Germany had long been reckoned as having the most robust economy in the Soviet bloc, the East German mark had been practically worthless outside East Germany for some time before the events of 1989–90 further magnified the problem. Discussions immediately began for a merger of the German economies
15.
Haus der Geschichte
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Haus der Geschichte is a museum of contemporary history in Bonn, Germany. With around one million visitors every year, it is one of the most popular German museums, the foundations place of business is Bonn. In its permanent exhibition, the Haus der Geschichte presents German history from 1945 until the present, numerous temporary exhibitions emphasize different features. The Haus der Geschichte also organizes guided tours of the Palais Schaumburg, the Chancellors bungalow, moreover, the museum maintains a cartoon gallery with over 75,000 political cartoons and caricatures. The Haus der Geschichte is located on Bundesstraße 9 and is part of the Museumsmeile in Bonn and it is located north of the Kunstmuseum Bonn and the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, which are also part of the Museumsmeile. The Haus der Geschichte can be accessed from the subway station. In his government statement of October 13,1982, right after taking office, Chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl called for a collection of German history, the German Bundestag confirmed the institution in 1989. Helmut Kohl opened the permanent exhibition on June 14,1994, the first president of the foundation was Hermann Schäfer. In June 2007, Hans Walter Hütter, his representative, was appointed as his successor. The building was designed in 1985 by the architects Ingeborg and Hartmut Rüdiger from Braunschweig, construction works began in September 1989. The building has a floor space of around 22,000 square meters,4,000 square meters for the permanent exhibition. The independent foundation under public law, Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, is owned by the public purse, the four entities of the foundation are the board of trustees, the academic advisory council, the committee of social groups and the president. The board of trustees as supervisor approves the budget and the basic program composition and it is composed of representatives of the factions of the German Bundestag, the federal government, and all federal states. Since June 18,2013, Günter Winands has been chairman of the board of trustees as successor of Ingeborg Berggreen-Merkel, the president of the foundation, Hans Walter Hütter, manages the business of the foundation and decides matters which are not the responsibility of the board of trustees. The museum puts special emphasis on the orientation of visitors and a presentation of historical events. Under the slogan “Experience History”, the concept is to draw attention to historical objects and this happens also through the use of historical film and sound records. Aside from exhibitions, numerous conventions and events take place at the Haus der Geschichte. An information center with a reference library affords the opportunity to enlarge upon historical subjects individually, tränenpalast Museum in the Kulturbrauerei Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig Official site
16.
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
17.
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
18.
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
19.
Sequoiadendron giganteum
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The common use of the name sequoia generally refers to Sequoiadendron giganteum, which occurs naturally only in groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. The etymology of the name has been presumed—initially in The Yosemite Book by Josiah Whitney in 1868—to be in honor of Sequoyah. Giant sequoias are the worlds largest single trees and largest living thing by volume, Giant sequoias grow to an average height of 50–85 m and 6–8 m in diameter. Record trees have been measured to be 94.8 m in height, claims of 17 m diameter have been touted by taking an authors writing out of context, but the widest known at chest height is closer to 8.2 m. Between 2014 and 2016, specimens of coast redwood were found to have larger trunk diameters than all known giant sequoias, the oldest known giant sequoia based on ring count is 3,500 years old. Giant Sequoias are among the oldest living things on Earth, Sequoia bark is fibrous, furrowed, and may be 90 cm thick at the base of the columnar trunk. It provides significant fire protection for the trees, the leaves are evergreen, awl-shaped, 3–6 millimetres long, and arranged spirally on the shoots. The seed is brown, 4–5 millimetres long and 1 millimetre broad, with a 1-millimetre wide. Some seeds are shed when the cone scales shrink during hot weather in late summer, the giant sequoia regenerates by seed. Young trees start to bear cones at the age of 12 years, Trees up to about 20 years old may produce stump sprouts subsequent to injury, but unlike coast redwoods, shoots do not form on the stumps of mature trees. Giant sequoias of all ages may sprout from their boles when branches are lost to fire or breakage, at any given time, a large tree may be expected to have about 11,000 cones. Cone production is greatest in the portion of the canopy. A mature giant sequoia has been estimated to disperse 300, 000–400,000 seeds per year, the winged seeds may be carried up to 180 metres from the parent tree. Lower branches die fairly readily from shading, but trees less than 100 years old retain most of their dead branches, trunks of mature trees in groves are generally free of branches to a height of 20–50 metres, but solitary trees will retain low branches. Because of its size, the tree has been studied for its water pull, Sequoias supplement water from the soil with fog, taken up through air roots, at heights to where the root water cannot be pulled. The natural distribution of giant sequoias is restricted to an area of the western Sierra Nevada. They occur in scattered groves, with a total of 68 groves, nowhere does it grow in pure stands, although in a few small areas, stands do approach a pure condition. The northern two-thirds of its range, from the American River in Placer County southward to the Kings River, has only eight disjunct groves, the remaining southern groves are concentrated between the Kings River and the Deer Creek Grove in southern Tulare County
20.
Kurt Georg Kiesinger
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Kurt Georg Kiesinger was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1 December 1966 to 21 October 1969. Before he became Chancellor he served as Minister President of Baden-Württemberg from 1958 to 1966 and he was Chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1967 to 1971. Kiesinger studied law and worked as a lawyer in Berlin from 1935 to 1940, to avoid conscription, he found work at the Foreign Office in 1940, and became deputy head of the Foreign Offices broadcasting department. During his service at the Foreign Office, he was denounced by two colleagues for his anti-Nazi stance and he had nevertheless joined the Nazi Party in 1933, but remained a largely inactive member. In 1946 he became a member of the Christian Democratic Union and he was elected to the Bundestag in 1949, and was a member of the Bundestag until 1958 and again from 1969 to 1980. Kiesinger was considered an outstanding orator and mediator, and was dubbed Silver Tongue and he was an author of poetry and various books, and founded the universities of Konstanz and Ulm as Minister President of Baden-Württemberg. Born in Ebingen, Kingdom of Württemberg, Kiesinger studied law in Berlin, as a student, he joined the Roman Catholic corporations K. St. V. He became a member of the Nazi Party in February 1933, after the war, he was interned and spent 18 months in the Ludwigsburg camp before being released as a case of mistaken identity. They accused Kiesinger specifically of hampering anti-Jewish actions within his department, Kiesinger joined the Christian Democratic Union in 1946. From 1946 he gave lessons to law students, and in 1948 he resumed his practice as a lawyer. In 1947 he also became unpaid secretary-general of CDU in Württemberg-Hohenzollern, in the federal election in 1949 he was elected to the Bundestag. In 1951 he became a member of the CDU executive board, during that time, he became known for his rhetorical brilliance, as well as his in-depth knowledge of foreign affairs. However, despite the recognition he enjoyed within the Christian Democrat parliamentary faction, consequently, he decided to switch from federal to state politics. Kiesinger became Minister President of the state of Baden-Württemberg on 17 December 1958, as Minister President he founded two universities, the University of Konstanz and the University of Ulm. In 1966 following the collapse of the existing CDU/CSU-FDP coalition, Kiesinger was elected to replace Ludwig Erhard as Chancellor, the government formed by Kiesinger remained in power for nearly three years with the SPD leader Willy Brandt as Deputy Federal Chancellor and Foreign Minister. Kiesinger reduced tensions with the Soviet bloc nations establishing diplomatic relations with Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia, a number of progressive reforms were also realised during Kiesingers time as Chancellor. Pension coverage was extended in 1967 via the abolition of the income-ceiling for compulsory membership, vocational training legislation was also introduced, while a reorganisation of unemployment insurance promoted retraining schemes, counselling and advice services and job creation places. In addition, under the “Lohnfortzahlunggesetz” of 1969, employers had to pay all employees’ wages for the first 6 weeks of sickness, in August 1969, the Landabgaberente was introduced
21.
Acer platanoides
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Acer platanoides is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from France east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It is a member of the soapberry and lychee family, Acer platanoides is a deciduous tree, growing to 20–30 m tall with a trunk up to 1.5 m in diameter, and a broad, rounded crown. The bark is grey-brown and shallowly grooved, unlike many other maples, mature trees do not tend to develop a shaggy bark. The shoots are green at first, soon becoming pale brown, the winter buds are shiny red-brown. The leaves are opposite, palmately lobed with five lobes, 7–14 cm long and 8–20 cm or 3 1⁄4–7 3⁄4 in across, the leaf petiole is 8–20 cm long, and secretes a milky juice when broken. The autumn colour is yellow, occasionally orange-red. The flowers are in corymbs of 15–30 together, yellow to yellow-green with five sepals, the fruit is a double samara with two winged seeds. The seeds are disc-shaped, strongly flattened, 10–15 mm across and 3 mm thick, the wings are 3–5 cm long, widely spread, approaching a 180° angle. It typically produces a quantity of viable seeds. Under ideal conditions in its range, Norway maple may live up to 250 years. Especially when used on streets, it can have insufficient space for its network and is prone to the roots wrapping around themselves. Norway maples often cause significant damage and cleanup costs for municipalities and homeowners when branches break off in storms as it is fast-growing, the Norway maple is a member of the section Platanoidea Pax, characterised by flattened, disc-shaped seeds and the shoots and leaves containing milky sap. Other related species in section include Acer campestre, Acer cappadocicum, Acer lobelii. From the field maple, the Norway maple is distinguished by its leaves with pointed, not blunt, lobes. It is also confused with the more distantly related Acer saccharum. The sugar maple is easy to differentiate by clear sap in the petiole, the tips of the points on Norway maple leaves reduce to a fine hair, while the tips of the points on sugar maple leaves are, on close inspection, rounded. On mature trees, sugar maple bark is shaggy, while Norway maple bark has small. The fruits of Norway maple are paired samaras with widely diverging wings, distinguishing them from those of sycamore, Norway maple seeds are flattened, while those of sugar maple are globose
22.
Willy Brandt
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He was the first Social Democrat chancellor since 1930. Brandt was originally considered one of the leaders of the wing of the SPD. He served as Foreign Minister and as Vice Chancellor in Kurt Georg Kiesingers cabinet, Brandt was controversial on both the right wing, for his Ostpolitik, and on the left wing, for his support of American policies, including the Vietnam War, and right-wing authoritarian regimes. The Brandt Report became a measure for describing the general North-South divide in world economics and politics between an affluent North and a poor South. Brandt was also known for his fierce anti-communist policies at the domestic level, Brandt resigned as chancellor in 1974, after Günter Guillaume, one of his closest aides, was exposed as an agent of the Stasi, the East German secret service. Willy Brandt was born Herbert Ernst Carl Frahm in the Free City of Lübeck on 18 December 1913 and his mother was Martha Frahm, a single parent, who worked as a cashier for a department store. His father was an accountant from Hamburg named John Möller, whom Brandt never met, as his mother worked six days a week, he was mainly brought up by his mothers stepfather, Ludwig Frahm, and his second wife, Dora. After passing his Abitur in 1932 at Johanneum zu Lübeck, he became an apprentice at the shipbroker and he joined the Socialist Youth in 1929 and the Social Democratic Party in 1930. He left the SPD to join the left wing Socialist Workers Party, which was allied to the POUM in Spain. In 1933, using his connections with the port and its ships and it was at this time that he adopted the pseudonym Willy Brandt to avoid detection by Nazi agents. In 1934, he took part in the founding of the International Bureau of Revolutionary Youth Organizations, Brandt was in Germany from September to December 1936, disguised as a Norwegian student named Gunnar Gaasland. The real Gunnar Gaasland was married to Gertrud Meyer from Lübeck in a marriage of convenience to protect her from deportation, Meyer had joined Brandt in Norway in July 1933. In 1937, during the Civil War, Brandt worked in Spain as a journalist, in 1938, the German government revoked his citizenship, so he applied for Norwegian citizenship. In 1940, he was arrested in Norway by occupying German forces, on his release, he escaped to neutral Sweden. In August 1940, he became a Norwegian citizen, receiving his passport from the Norwegian legation in Stockholm, in exile in Norway and Sweden Brandt learned Norwegian and Swedish. Brandt spoke Norwegian fluently, and retained a relationship with Norway. In late 1946, Brandt returned to Berlin, working for the Norwegian government, in 1948, he joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany and became a German citizen again, formally adopting the pseudonym Willy Brandt as his legal name. In 1950, Brandt, being a member of the federal parliament, being confronted with this during his life, Brandt always denied
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.
Ginkgo biloba
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Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo or gingko, also known as the ginkgo tree or the maidenhair tree, is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta, all others being extinct. It is found in dating back 270 million years. Native to China, the tree is cultivated and was introduced early to human history. It has various uses in medicine and as a source of food. The genus name Ginkgo is regarded as a misspelling of the Japanese gin kyo, the species was initially described by Carl Linnaeus in 1771, the specific epithet biloba derived from the Latin bis, two and loba, lobed, referring to the shape of the leaves. Two names for the species recognise the botanist Richard Salisbury, a placement by Nelson as Pterophyllus salisburiensis, the epithet of the latter may have been intended to denote a characteristic resembling Adiantum, the genus of maidenhair ferns. The relationship of ginkgo to other plant groups remains uncertain and it has been placed loosely in the divisions Spermatophyta and Pinophyta, but no consensus has been reached. Since its seeds are not protected by a wall, it can morphologically be considered a gymnosperm. The apricot-like structures produced by female ginkgo trees are technically not fruits, but are seeds that have a shell consisting of a soft and fleshy section, and a hard section. It is one of the examples of a living fossil. Chinese scientists published a draft genome of Ginko biloba in 2016, the tree has an exceptionally large genome of 10.6 billion DNA letters and about 41,840 predicted genes which enable a considerable number of antibacterial and chemical defense mechanisms. The spelling pronunciation /ˈɡɪŋkɡoʊ/ is however so widespread that it is recorded in some dictionaries, especially British ones, the older Chinese name for this plant is 銀果, meaning silver fruit, pronounced yínguǒ in Mandarin or Ngan-gwo in Cantonese. The most usual names today are 白果, meaning white fruit, the former name was borrowed directly in Vietnamese as bạch quả. The latter name was borrowed in Japanese ぎんなん and Korean 은행, the scientific name Ginkgo is the result of a spelling error that occurred three centuries ago. Kanji typically have multiple pronunciations in Japanese, and the characters 銀杏 used for ginnan can also be pronounced ginkyō, linné, who relied on Kaempfer when dealing with Japanese plants, adopted the spelling given in Kaempfers Flora Japonica. An extract of Ginkgo biloba leaf is marketed in dietary supplement form with claims it can enhance cognitive function in people without known cognitive problems, studies have failed to find such effects on memory or attention in healthy people. A standardized medicinal extract of Ginkgo biloba leaf originally called EGb 761 has been studied as a treatment for dementia and Alzheimers disease. Some reviews have concluded there is no evidence supporting the use of Ginkgo in dementia
25.
Helmut Schmidt
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Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt was a German statesman and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, who served as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming Chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence, in the latter role he gained credit for his financial policies. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting Foreign Minister, as Chancellor, he focused on international affairs, seeking political unification of Europe in partnership with the United States. He was a diplomat who sought European co-operation and international economic co-ordination. He was re-elected chancellor in 1976 and 1980, but his coalition fell apart in 1982 with the switch by his coalition allies and he retired from Parliament in 1986, after clashing with the SPDs left wing, who opposed him on defence and economic issues. In 1986 he was a proponent of European monetary union. Helmut Schmidt was born as the eldest of two sons of teachers Ludovica Koch and Gustav Ludwig Schmidt in Barmbek, a rough working-class district of Hamburg, Schmidt studied at Hamburg Lichtwark School, graduating in 1937. This was confirmed publicly by Schmidt in 1984, after Valéry Giscard dEstaing revealed the fact to journalists, Schmidt himself was a non-practising Lutheran. Schmidt was a leader in the Hitler Youth organization until 1936. On 27 June 1942, he married his childhood sweetheart Hannelore Loki Glaser and they had two children, Helmut Walter, and Susanne, who works in London for Bloomberg Television. Schmidt resumed his education in Hamburg after the war, graduating in economics, Schmidt was conscripted into military service in 1937, and began serving with an anti-aircraft battery at Vegesack near Bremen during World War II. During his service in World War II, Schmidt was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, toward the end of the war, from December 1944 onwards, he served as an Oberleutnant in the Flakartillery on the Western Front during the Battle of the Bulge and the Ardennes Offensive. He was captured by the British in April 1945 on Lüneburg Heath, Schmidt joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1946, and from 1947 to 1948 was the leader of the Socialist German Student League, the student organisation of the SPD. Upon graduating from the University of Hamburg, where he read economics, he worked for the government of the city-state of Hamburg, beginning in 1952, under Karl Schiller, he was a senior figure heading up the Behörde für Wirtschaft und Verkehr. He was elected to the Bundestag in 1953, and in 1957 he became a member of the SPD parliamentary party executive, a vocal critic of conservative government policy, his outspoken rhetoric in parliament earned him the nickname Schmidt-Schnauze. In 1958, he joined the board of the SPD, and campaigned against nuclear weapons. He alarmed some in his party by taking part in manoeuvres as a officer in the newly formed Bundeswehr. In 1962, he gave up his seat in parliament to concentrate on his tasks in Hamburg, the government of the city-state of Hamburg is known as the Senate of Hamburg, and from 1961 to 1965, Schmidt was the Innensenator, the senator of the interior
26.
Salix babylonica
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Salix babylonica is a species of willow native to dry areas of northern China, but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in Asia, being traded along the Silk Road to southwest Asia and Europe. Salix babylonica is a medium- to large-sized deciduous tree, growing up to 20–25 m tall and it grows rapidly, but has a short lifespan, between 40 and 75 years. The shoots are yellowish-brown, with small buds, the leaves are alternate and spirally arranged, narrow, light green, 4–16 cm long and 0. 5–2 cm broad, with finely serrate margins and long acuminate tips, they turn a gold-yellow in autumn. The flowers are arranged in catkins produced early in the spring, it is dioecious and these distinctive trees were subsequently introduced into England from Aleppo in northern Syria in 1730. These plants are all females, readily propagated vegetatively, and capable of hybridizing with other kinds of willows. Of these possibilities, S. × fragilis is itself a hybrid, with S. alba, Salix × sepulcralis, is a hybrid between S. alba and S. babylonica. Cultivars derived from either of these hybrids are generally better adapted than S. babylonica to the more humid climates of most heavily populated regions of Europe and North America. A similar willow species also native to northern China, Salix matsudana, is now included in Salix babylonica as a synonym by many botanists, including the Russian willow expert Alexey Skvortsov. In the more humid climates of much of Europe and eastern North America, it is susceptible to a disease, willow anthracnose. Salix babylonica has many cultivars, including, Babylon is the most widely grown cultivar of S. babylonica, crispa is a mutant of Babylon, with spirally curled leaves. Tortuosa is a tree with twisted and contorted branches. Yet other weeping willow cultivars are derived from interspecific Salix hybrids, the most widely grown weeping willow cultivar is Salix × sepulcralis Chrysocoma, with bright yellowish branchlets. In salicibus in medio ejus suspendimus organa nostra, here, salicibus is the dative plural of the Latin noun salix, the willows, used by Linnaeus as the name for the willow genus Salix. From the King James Version, By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept and we hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. From the Revised Standard Version, By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, both Populus and Salix are in the plant family Salicaceae, the willow family. Flora of China, eFloras, Salix babylonica,4, p.186
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Helmut Kohl
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Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German statesman, who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and as the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998. From 1969 to 1976, Kohl was the 3rd Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate, Kohls 16-year tenure was the longest of any German Chancellor since Otto von Bismarck, and by far the longest of any democratically elected Chancellor. Kohl oversaw the end of the Cold War, and is regarded as the main architect of the German reunification. Together with French President François Mitterrand, Kohl is also considered to be the architect of the Maastricht Treaty, which established the European Union. Kohl has been described as the greatest European leader of the half of the 20th century by U. S. Presidents George H. W. Bush. With the death of Helmut Schmidt in November 2015, he became the oldest living former German chancellor, Helmut Kohl was born on 3 April 1930 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany, the third child of Hans Kohl, a civil servant, and his wife, Cäcilie. Kohls family was conservative and Roman Catholic, and remained loyal to the Catholic Centre Party before and his older brother died in the Second World War as a teenage soldier. At the age of ten, Kohl was obliged, like any child in Germany at the time, to join the Deutsches Jungvolk, a section of the Hitler Youth. Aged 15, on 20 April 1945, Adolf Hitlers birthday, Kohl was sworn in to the Hitler Youth by leader Artur Axmann at Berchtesgaden, just days before the end of the war. Kohl was also drafted for service in 1945, however, he was not involved in any combat. Kohl attended the Ruprecht Elementary School, and continued at the Max-Planck-Gymnasium, after graduating in 1950, Kohl began to study law in Frankfurt am Main, spending two semesters commuting between Ludwigshafen and Frankfurt. Here, Kohl heard lectures from Carlo Schmid and Walter Hallstein among others, in 1951, Kohl switched to the University of Heidelberg, where he majored in History and Political Science. Kohl was the first in his family to attend university, after graduating in 1956, Kohl became a fellow at the Alfred Weber Institute of the University of Heidelberg under Dolf Sternberger where he was an active member of the student society AIESEC. In 1958, Kohl received his degree for his thesis The Political Developments in the Palatinate. After that, Kohl entered business, first as an assistant to the director of a foundry in Ludwigshafen and, in April 1960, as a manager for the Industrial Union for Chemistry in Ludwigshafen. In 1960, Kohl married Hannelore Renner, after he had asked for her hand in marriage in 1953. Both had known each other since 1948, when met in a dancing class. They had two sons, born in 1963 and 1965, in 1946, Kohl joined the recently founded CDU, becoming a full member once he turned 18 in 1948
28.
Fagus sylvatica
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Fagus sylvatica, the European beech or common beech, is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Fagus sylvatica is a tree, capable of reaching heights of up to 50 m tall and 3 m trunk diameter, though more typically 25–35 m tall. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 4 m tall and it has a typical lifespan of 150–200 years, though sometimes up to 300 years. In cultivated forest stands trees are harvested at 80–120 years of age. 30 years are needed to attain full maturity, like most trees, its form depends on the location, in forest areas, F. sylvatica grows to over 30 m, with branches being high up on the trunk. In open locations, it will become shorter and more massive. The leaves are alternate, simple, and entire or with a crenate margin, 5–10 cm long and 3–7 cm broad. When crenate, there is one point at each vein tip, the buds are long and slender, 15–30 mm long and 2–3 mm thick, but thicker where the buds include flower buds. The leaves of beech are often not abscissed in the autumn and this particularly occurs when trees are saplings or when plants are clipped as a hedge, but it also often continues to occur on the lower branches when the tree is mature. Small quantities of seeds may be produced around 10 years of age, F. sylvatica male flowers are borne in the small catkins which are a hallmark of the Fagales order. Flower and seed production is abundant in years following a hot, sunny and dry summer. In the Balkans, it shows some hybridisation with oriental beech, in the southern part of its range around the Mediterranean, it grows only in mountain forests, at 600–1,800 m altitude. Although often regarded as native in southern England, recent evidence suggests that F, the beech is classified as a native in the south of England and as a non-native in the north where it is often removed from native woods. Localised pollen records have recorded in the North of England from the Iron Age by Sir Harry Godwin. It is often planted in Britain, similarly, the nature of Norwegian beech populations is subject to debate. If native, they would represent the range of the species. However, molecular analyses support the hypothesis that these populations represent intentional introduction from Denmark before. However, the beech in Vestfold and at Seim north of Bergen in Norway is now spreading naturally, though not demanding of its soil type, the European beech has several significant requirements, a humid atmosphere and well-drained soil
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Quercus robur
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Quercus robur, commonly known as pedunculate oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family Fagaceae. It is native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus, the tree is widely cultivated in temperate regions and has escaped into the wild in scattered parts of China and North America. Quercus robur is the species of the genus, and a member of the white oak section Quercus section Quercus. The populations in Italy, southeast Europe, and Asia Minor, a close relative is the sessile oak, which shares much of its range. Q. robur is distinguished from this species by its leaves having only a short stalk 3–8 mm long. The two often hybridise in the wild, the hybrid being known as Quercus × rosacea, Q. robur should not be confused with Q. rubra, the red oak, which is a native of North America and only distantly related. Quercus robur is a deciduous tree, with circumference of grand oaks from 4 m to exceptional 12 m. The Majesty Oak with a circumference of 12.2 m is the thickest tree in Great Britain, Quercus robur has lobed and nearly sessile leaves 7–14 cm long. Flowering takes place in mid spring, and their fruit, called acorns, the acorns are 2–2.5 cm long, pedunculate with one to four acorns on each peduncle. Q. robur is very tolerant to soil conditions and the climate but it prefers fertile. It is a tree, with a large wide spreading crown of rugged branches. While it may live to an age of a few centuries, many of the oldest trees are pollarded or coppiced. Yet another can be found in Kvilleken, Sweden, that is over 1,000 years old and 14 metres around, of maiden specimens, one of the oldest is the great oak of Ivenack, Germany. Tree-ring research of this tree and other oaks nearby gives an age of 700 to 800 years. Also the Bowthorpe Oak in Lincolnshire, England is estimated to be 1,000 years old, making it the oldest in the UK, highest density of the grand oak trees Q. robur with a circumference 4 metres and more is in Latvia. Within its native range Q. robur is valued for its importance to insects, numerous insects live on the leaves, buds, and in the acorns. Q. robur supports the highest biodiversity of insect herbivores of any British plant, the acorns form a valuable food resource for several small mammals and some birds, notably Eurasian jays Garrulus glandarius. Mammals, notably squirrels who tend to hoard acorns and other nuts most often leave them too abused to grow in the action of moving or storing them
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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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Integrated Authority File
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The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format
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Virtual International Authority File
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The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
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