1.
Geographic coordinate system
–
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
2.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
–
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region. Nearby is Germanys highest mountain, Zugspitze, at 2,962 m, the town was the site of the 1936 Winter Olympic Games. Garmisch and Partenkirchen were separate towns for centuries, and still maintain quite separate identities. Partenkirchen originated as the Roman town of Partanum on the route from Venice to Augsburg and is first mentioned in the year A. D.15. Its main street, Ludwigsstrasse, follows the original Roman road, Garmisch is first mentioned some 800 years later as Germaneskau, suggesting that at some point a Teutonic tribe took up settlement in the western end of the valley. During the late 13th century, the valley, as part of the County of Werdenfels, the area was governed by a prince-bishops representative known as a Pfleger from Werdenfels Castle situated on a crag north of Garmisch. The discovery of America at the turn of the 16th century led to a boom in shipping and a decline in overland trade. The valley floor was swampy and difficult to farm, bears, wolves and lynxes were a constant threat to livestock. The population suffered from epidemics, including several serious outbreaks of bubonic plague. Adverse fortunes from disease and crop failure occasionally led to a witch hunt, most notable of these were the trials and executions of 1589–1596, in which 63 people — more than 10 percent of the population at the time — were burned at the stake or garroted. Werdenfels Castle, where the accused were held, tried and executed and it was largely torn down in the 1750s and its stones used to build the baroque Neue Kirche on Marienplatz, which was completed in 1752. It replaced the nearby Gothic Alte Kirche, parts of which predated Christianity, used as a storehouse, armory and haybarn for many years, it has since been re-consecrated. Some of its frescoes are still visible. Garmisch and Partenkirchen remained separate until their respective mayors were forced by Adolf Hitler to combine the two towns in 1935 in anticipation of the 1936 Winter Olympic games. Today, the town is casually referred to as Garmisch, much to the dismay of Partenkirchens residents. Most visitors will notice the slightly more modern feel of Garmisch while the fresco-filled, cobblestoned streets of Partenkirchen offer a glimpse into times past. Early mornings and late afternoons in pleasant weather often find local traffic stopped while the cows are herded to
3.
Mittenwald
–
Mittenwald is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. Mittenwald is located approximately 16 kilometres to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the most significant landmark in the village is the pink colored Roman Catholic church of Saints Peter and Paul, which is typical of the region. The church and many of the buildings, both businesses and private residences, are decorated with elaborate paintings on the exterior walls. Near the Luttenseekaserne there is a monument honoring the participants of the Slutsk Defence Action, official website Virtual tour of Mittenwald Museum of violin manufacturing
4.
Bavaria
–
Bavaria is a free state and one of 16 federal states of Germany. Located in the German southeast with an area of 70,548 square kilometres and its territory comprises roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany, and, with 12.9 million inhabitants, it is Germanys second most populous state. Munich, Bavarias capital and largest city, is the third largest city in Germany, the Duchy of Bavaria dates back to the year 555. In the 17th century CE, the Duke of Bavaria became a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806 to 1918, when Bavaria became a republic. In 1946, the Free State of Bavaria re-organised itself on democratic lines after the Second World War, Bavaria has a unique culture, largely because of the states Catholic majority and conservative traditions. Bavarians have traditionally been proud of their culture, which includes such as Oktoberfest. The state also has the second largest economy among the German states by GDP figures, modern Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia, Upper Palatinate and Swabia. The Bavarians emerged in a north of the Alps, previously inhabited by Celts. The Bavarians spoke Old High German but, unlike other Germanic groups, rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century. These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii, some remaining Romans, Marcomanni, Allemanni, Quadi, Thuringians, Goths, Scirians, Rugians, the name Bavarian means Men of Baia which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni. They first appear in written sources circa 520, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the diocese was named after an ancient Bohemian king, Boiia, in the 14th century BCE. From about 554 to 788, the house of Agilolfing ruled the Duchy of Bavaria and their daughter, Theodelinde, became Queen of the Lombards in northern Italy and Garibald was forced to flee to her when he fell out with his Frankish overlords. Garibalds successor, Tassilo I, tried unsuccessfully to hold the frontier against the expansion of Slavs. Tassilos son Garibald II seems to have achieved a balance of power between 610 and 616, after Garibald II little is known of the Bavarians until Duke Theodo I, whose reign may have begun as early as 680. From 696 onwards he invited churchmen from the west to organize churches and his son, Theudebert, led a decisive Bavarian campaign to intervene in a succession dispute in the Lombard Kingdom in 714, and married his sister Guntrud to the Lombard King Liutprand. At Theodos death the duchy was divided among his sons, at Hugberts death the duchy passed to a distant relative named Odilo, from neighbouring Alemannia. He was defeated near Augsburg in 743 but continued to rule until his death in 748, saint Boniface completed the peoples conversion to Christianity in the early 8th century. Bavaria was in ways affected by the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century
5.
Germany
–
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
6.
Wetterstein
–
The Wetterstein mountains, also simply called the Wetterstein, is a mountain group in the Northern Limestone Alps within the Eastern Alps. It is a compact range located between Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Mittenwald, Seefeld in Tirol and Ehrwald. Part of it is in the German free state of Bavaria, the main summit of the Wetterstein, the Zugspitze, is also the highest mountain in Germany. The Wetterstein mountains are a region for mountaineers and climbers. Mountain walkers sometimes need to allow for significant differences in elevation, there are, however, places in the Wetterstein that are rarely or never visited by people. The River Loisach forms the boundary of the range to the west and north, to the northeast the boundary runs from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Mittenwald along the Kankerbach and Kranzbach streams and the Isar river. To the east the Isar forms the boundary from Mittenwald to Scharnitz, south of Scharnitz it continues along the Drahnbach stream to Seestadeln. The saddle between the Kankerbach and the Kranzbach links the Wetterstein with the Bavarian Prealps, the saddle near the Ehrwalder Alm is the link between the Wetterstein and Mieming Chain. Amongst the best known are, The Zugspitze is very frequently climbed using various routes, the ridge of Jubiläumsgrat is a high alpine climbing route that links these two summits. The climbing along the Blassenkamm ridge over the tops of the Innere, Mittlere and Äußere Höllentalspitze has sections that are classified as UIAA grade III-. The region around the Oberreintal Hut and the side of the Schüsselkarspitze and Scharnitzspitze are well known for alpine climbing routes of all levels up the solid. The south side above the Gaistal is markedly quieter than the north side, for climbers, the mountains north of Leutasch are very interesting, especially the Oberreintal-Schrofen, the Scharnitzspitze and the Schüsselkarspitze. On the south faces of three border mountains are alpine climbing routes aplenty. In recent years several alpine classics were renovated by Heinz Zak and this has attracted ever more climbers to the region. In addition, are the privately run Schachenhaus and the Wiener Neustädter Hut offer food, refuge, the Munich Branch of the German Alpine Club has rented the Waxenstein Hut since 1920 and operates it as self-catered accommodation. In the Oberreintalkar lies the Oberreintal Hut, which is the point for Wetterstein climbers. In winter the Stuiben Hut is used as a hut for ski tourers. In addition there are privately owned huts in the Wetterstein mountains
7.
Naturschutzgebiet
–
A Naturschutzgebiet is a category of protected area within Germanys Federal Nature Conservation Act. Although often translated as Nature Reserve in English, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation refers to them as Nature Conservation Areas, the use of the term Naturschutzgebiet or terms that could be confused with it, for anything other than the legally protected areas is forbidden under this law. Because legal restrictions are placed on activity within German nature reserves they have to be signed on the ground, only by this means can e. g. walkers know that they are entering a nature reserve and may not e. g. leave the tracks and paths. For historical reasons there is no standard sign used across Germany, Nature reserves in the old states of the Federal Republic of Germany are marked by green signs with the silhouette of a white-tailed eagle. In the new states of the former East Germany they are marked with a pentagonal yellow sign bearing an image of a long-eared owl. The reunification of Germany the 36th Environmental Ministers Conference in 1991 recommended the use of the owl symbol in future in the whole of Germany to designate nature reserves and this recommendation was not universally adopted by the states, in whom the jurisdiction for conservation policy was vested. For that reason there are de facto three different signs being used alongside one another in Germany today, schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony use the owl on a pentagon, Saxony-Anhalt employing a white background instead of the usual yellow. Berlin, Lower Saxony and Bremen use the owl in a green triangle, hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, the Saarland, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria use the white-tailed eagle in a green triangle. At the end of 2008 there were 8,413 nature reserves in Germany with an area of 1,271,582 hectares. That corresponds to 3. 6% of the area of Germany, the lowest percentage areas are in the states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. The percentage coverage in the old and new states is identical, about 60% of all nature reserves are smaller than 50 hectares in area. In such small areas experts say that the achievement of goals is at risk. The number and size of reserves has increased considerably in recent decades. In 1995 there were only 5,314 Naturschutzgebiete in Germany with an area of 6,845 km2, even the current coverage is seen by experts as too low to preserve the variety of species in Germany
8.
Lutheranism
–
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity which identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer and theologian. Luthers efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone and this is in contrast to the belief of the Catholic Church, defined at the Council of Trent, concerning authority coming from both the Scriptures and Tradition. In addition, Lutheranism accepts the teachings of the first seven ecumenical councils of the undivided Christian Church, unlike Calvinism, Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Church, with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist, or Lords Supper. Lutheran theology differs from Reformed theology in Christology, the purpose of Gods Law, the grace, the concept of perseverance of the saints. Today, Lutheranism is one of the largest denominations of Protestantism, with approximately 80 million adherents, it constitutes the third most common Protestant denomination after historically Pentecostal denominations and Anglicanism. The Lutheran World Federation, the largest communion of Lutheran churches, Other Lutheran organizations include the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well as independent churches. The name Lutheran originated as a term used against Luther by German Scholastic theologian Dr. Johann Maier von Eck during the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. Eck and other Catholics followed the practice of naming a heresy after its leader. Martin Luther always disliked the term Lutheran, preferring the term Evangelical, which was derived from euangelion, the followers of John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and other theologians linked to the Reformed tradition also began to use that term. To distinguish the two groups, others began to refer to the two groups as Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed. As time passed by, the word Evangelical was dropped, Lutherans themselves began to use the term Lutheran in the middle of the 16th century, in order to distinguish themselves from other groups such as the Philippists and Calvinists. In 1597, theologians in Wittenberg defined the title Lutheran as referring to the true church, Lutheranism has its roots in the work of Martin Luther, who sought to reform the Western Church to what he considered a more biblical foundation. Lutheranism spread through all of Scandinavia during the 16th century, as the monarch of Denmark–Norway, through Baltic-German and Swedish rule, Lutheranism also spread into Estonia and Latvia. Since 1520, regular Lutheran services have been held in Copenhagen, under the reign of Frederick I, Denmark-Norway remained officially Catholic. Although Frederick initially pledged to persecute Lutherans, he adopted a policy of protecting Lutheran preachers and reformers. During Fredericks reign, Lutheranism made significant inroads in Denmark, at an open meeting in Copenhagen attended by the king in 1536, the people shouted, We will stand by the holy Gospel, and do not want such bishops anymore. Fredericks son Christian was openly Lutheran, which prevented his election to the throne upon his fathers death, however, following his victory in the civil war that followed, in 1537 he became Christian III and advanced the Reformation in Denmark-Norway
