1.
Latin
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
2.
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
3.
Czech language
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Czech, historically also Bohemian, is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group. It is spoken by over 10 million people and is the language of the Czech Republic. Czech is closely related to Slovak, to the point of being intelligible to a very high degree. In the later 18th to mid-19th century, the written standard was codified in the context of the Czech National Revival. The main vernacular, known as Common Czech, is based on the vernacular of Prague, the Moravian dialects spoken in the eastern part of the country are mostly also counted as Czech, although some of their eastern variants are closer to Slovak. The Czech phoneme inventory is moderate in size, comprising five vowels, words may contain uncommon consonant clusters, including one consonant represented by the grapheme ř, or lack vowels altogether. Czech orthography is simple, and has used as a model by phonologists. Czech is classified as a member of the West Slavic sub-branch of the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and this branch includes Polish, Kashubian, Upper and Lower Sorbian and Slovak. Slovak is by far the closest genetic neighbor of Czech, the West Slavic languages are spoken in an area classified as part of Central Europe. Around the 7th century, the Slavic expansion reached Central Europe, the West Slavic polity of Great Moravia formed by the 9th century. The Christianization of Bohemia took place during the 9th and 10th centuries, the Bohemian language is first recorded in writing in glosses and short notes during the 12th to 13th centuries. Literary works written in Czech appear in the early 14th century, the first complete Bible translation also dates to this period. Old Czech texts, including poetry and cookbooks, were produced outside the university as well, literary activity becomes widespread in the early 15th century in the context of the Bohemian Reformation. There was no standardization distinguishing between Czech and Slovak prior to the 15th century, the publication of the Kralice Bible between 1579 and 1593 became very important for standardization of the Czech language in the following centuries. In 1615, the Bohemian diet tried to declare Czech to be the official language of the kingdom. After the Bohemian Revolt which was defeated by the Habsburgs in 1620 and this emigration together with other consequences of the Thirty Years War had a negative impact on the further use of the Czech language. In 1627, Czech and German became official languages of the Kingdom of Bohemia and in the 18th century German became dominant in Bohemia and Moravia, the modern standard Czech language originates in standardization efforts of the 18th century. Changes include the shift of í to ej and é to í and the merging of í
4.
States of the Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a complex political entity that existed in central Europe for most of the medieval and early modern periods. In the 18th century, the Holy Roman Empire consisted of approximately 1,800 such territories and this page does not directly contain the list, but it discusses the format of the various lists, and offers some background to understand the complex organisation of the Holy Roman Empire. For a more complete history of the empire, see Holy Roman Empire, while any such list could never be definitive, the list attempts to be as comprehensive as possible. It is sorted alphabetically and split into separate articles linked in the box below, there is also a separate list of Free Imperial Cities, as well as a list of participants in the Imperial Diet as of 1792. The Circle column shows the Imperial Circle that the state belonged to, the Bench column shows where the state was represented in the Imperial Diet. Note that in the Circle column, n/a denotes a state that had ceased to exist before the Reichsreform, Imperial Diet, The Imperial Diet was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire. The same name was used within the North German Confederation and within Germany until 1945, Imperial Estate, An Imperial State or Imperial Estate was an entity in the Holy Roman Empire with a vote in the Imperial Diet. Several states had no seats in the Empire, while officials were non-voting members. Free cities also had independent representation in the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, an immediate city, abbey or territory was under the direct authority of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Imperial Diet, without any intermediary Liege lord. Advantages were that immediate regions had the right to taxes and tolls themselves. De facto immediacy corresponded to a semi-independence with a far-reaching autonomy, Imperial Reform, In 1495, an attempt was made at a Diet in the city of Worms to give the disintegrating Holy Roman Empire a new structure, commonly referred to as Imperial Reform. Imperial State, An Imperial State or Imperial Estate was an entity in the Holy Roman Empire with a vote in the Imperial Diet. Mediatization, defined broadly, is the annexation of one monarchy by another monarchy in such a way that the ruler of the state keeps his or her noble title. Prince of the Empire, A Prince of the Empire is any ruling Prince whose territory is a member of the Holy Roman Empire, the designated abbey may be a monastery or a convent. Thus, because of the possibility of it being a convent, in many cases they were prince of the empire of a Reichsabtei in or near Germany, with a seat in the Imperial Diet. If the see is an archbishopric, the term is prince-archbishop. Secularization, Secularization is a process of transformation as a society slowly migrates from close identification with the institutions of religion to a more clearly separated relationship. In this context, often referring to the transfer of Prince-Bishoprics to the control of lay rulers, the following excerpt from François Veldes Unequal and Morganatic Marriages in German Law provides an excellent overview on what an Estate of the Empire is
5.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
6.
States of Germany
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Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen federal states. Since todays Germany was formed from a collection of several states, it has a federal constitution. The remaining 13 states are called Flächenländer, the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 was through the unification of the western states created in the aftermath of World War II. West Berlin, while not part of the Federal Republic, was largely integrated and considered as a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, in 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as the Saarland. Federalism is one of the constitutional principles of Germany. After 1945, new states were constituted in all four zones of occupation, in 1949, the states in the three western zones formed the Federal Republic of Germany. This is in contrast to the development in Austria, where the Bund was constituted first. The use of the term Länder dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, before this time, the constituent states of the German Empire were called Staaten. Today, it is common to use the term Bundesland. However, this term is not used officially, neither by the constitution of 1919 nor by the Basic Law of 1949, three Länder call themselves Freistaaten, Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia. He summarizes the arguments for boundary reform in Germany. The German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation, too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated. But several proposals have failed so far, territorial reform remains a topic in German politics. Federalism has a tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states numbering more than 300 around 1796, the number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars. After the Congress of Vienna,39 states formed the German Confederation, the new German Empire included 25 states and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The empire was dominated by Prussia, which controlled 65% of the territory, after the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles, the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation
7.
Gera
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Gera is the third-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, located 55 kilometres south of Leipzig,75 km east of Erfurt and 120 km west of Dresden. Gera was first mentioned in 995 and developed to a city during the 13th century, later, it was the residence of several lines of the Reussians until the end of monarchy in Germany in 1918. Over the 19th century, Gera became a centre of the textile industry, in 1952, the city also became an administrative centre in GDR as one of the capitals of Gera administrative district. Since 1990, Gera is again part of Thuringia, the loss of its administrative functions as well as its industrial core, precipitated the citys slide into a deep economic crisis, which continues to today. Since 1990, many of Geras buildings were restored and big urban planning programmes like the Bundesgartenschau 2007 were implemented to stimulate Geras economy. Sights include some retained buildings of the royal residence epoque and a number of public. The famous painter Otto Dix was born in Gera in 1891, Gera lies in a hilly landscape in the east of Thuringia, within the wide valley of the Weiße Elster river. The place name Gera originally referred to the area of the Elster river valley where the city stands now, the name most likely originated before the European Migration Period – the Slavic people who first settled the area during the 8th century adopted the name. The first known mention of Gera dates from 995. In 999 Emperor Otto III assigned the province of Gera to the Quedlinburg Abbey, in turn, the church assigned the protectorship of this area in 1209 to the Vogts of Weida who served as its administrators. The Vogts of Weida were the ancestors of the Reussians, who ruled Gera until 1918, Gera was first mentioned as a town in 1237, though it is unclear in which year Gera got the municipal law. The small town got circumvallated in the 13th century on an area of 350 x 350 m, a municipal seal was first used in 1350, the council was first named in 1360 and the town hall was mentioned in 1426. The abbess of Quedlinburg remained the sovereign of Gera until 1358. The Vogts couldnt emancipate theirselfs from Wettin rule, in 1450, Gera was almost totally destroyed during the Saxon Fratricidal War, but it could recuperate quick because the starting textile manufacture brought wealth to the town. The Reformation was introduced in Gera in 1533 against the will of the Vogts by the Wettins. After the Schmalkaldic War in 1546, the Wettins lost Gera to the Bohemian Crown, during the 16th century, some cloth-makers from the Spanish Netherlands migrated to Gera as religious refugees at Count Henrys invitation and raised the textile business in Gera. In the 18th century, there was a first peak in this industry, in 1673, the Reussians were raised to Imperial Counts which granted them full sovereignty within the Holy Roman Empire, Gera became their royal residence. In 1686 and 1780, big fires destroyed most buildings in Gera
8.
Plauen
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Plauen is a town in the Free State of Saxony, east-central Germany. It is the town of the district Vogtlandkreis. The town is situated near the border of Bavaria and the Czech Republic, Plauen was founded by Polabian Slavs in the 12th century as Plawe and was passed to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1327. The town was captured by the Archbishop of Magdeburg, Lippold von Bredow, in 1466, it was passed to Albertine Saxony and later in 1569 to the Electorate of Saxony. Plauen became incorporated into the Kingdom of Saxony in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars, in the late-19th century, Plauen became a centre of textile manufacturing, specializing in Chemical lace, called Plauen lace. Around 1910, Plauen, as a boomtown of the region. In the 1930s, Plauen hosted the first chapter of the Nazi Party outside of Bavaria, plauens population, however, has shrunk dramatically since the Second World War. It was occupied by American troops on 16 April 1945 but was left to Red Army on 1 July 1945, from 1945 onwards, Plauen fell into the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, which later became the German Democratic Republic. Plauen hosted a large Red Army occupation garrison and, in the last years of the GDR, the exposé Fast Food Nation gives special mention to Plauen as the first town of the GDR to have a McDonalds restaurant following the collapse of the Berlin Wall. In the district reform of 1 July 2008, Plauen lost its district status and was merged into the district Vogtlandkreis. Plauen Oberer station lies on the Leipzig–Hof line, the section of this line through Plauen is part of the Saxon-Franconian trunk line running between Nürnberg, Hof, Plauen, Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden. The town had another station, Plauen Unterer station, on the Elster Valley Railway, there is a plan to rename the Oberer station into Plauen Hauptbahnhof. Vogtlandbahn, a train company, operates services from Plauen to Hof, Werdau, Chemnitz, Zwickau, Falkenstein and Adorf within Germany. At these stations, there are other Vogtlandbahn services to München, Regensburg, Marktredwitz, Dresden and Leipzig within Germany and Karlovy Vary, a Vogtlandbahn Express Bus service runs between Plauen and Berlin Schönefeld Airport and Zoological Garden. The Plauen Straßenbahn is a tramway that has 6 lines connecting the centre of town, Plauen-Tunnel stop, to the surrounding areas, embroidery Machine Museum Museum Plauener Spitze Galerie e. O. O
9.
Bavarian language
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Bavarian, is a major group of Upper German varieties spoken in the southeast of the German language area, largely covered by Bavaria and Austria. It forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants, the Bavarians as a group formed in the early medieval period, as the population of the Duchy of Bavaria, forming the south-eastern part of the kingdom of Germany. The Old High German documents from the area of Bavaria are identified as Altbairisch, the dialectal separation of Upper German into East Upper German and West Upper German becomes more tangible in the Middle High German period, from about the 12th century. Three main dialect groups in Bavarian are, Northern Bavarian, mainly spoken in Upper Palatinate, southern Bavarian in Tyrol, South Tyrol, Carinthia, Styria, and the southern parts of Salzburg and Burgenland. Differences are clearly noticeable within those three subgroups, which in Austria often coincide with the borders of the particular states, for example, each of the accents of Carinthia, Styria, and Tyrol can be easily recognised. Also, there is a difference between eastern and western central Bavarian, roughly coinciding with the border between Austria and Bavaria. In addition, the Viennese dialect has some characteristics distinguishing it from all other dialects, in Vienna, minor, but recognizable, variations are characteristic for distinct districts of the city. In contrast to other varieties of German, Bavarian differs sufficiently from Standard German to make it difficult for native speakers to adopt standard pronunciation. All educated Bavarians and Austrians, however, can read, write and understand Standard German, in those regions, Standard German is restricted to use as the language of writing and the media. It is therefore referred to as Schriftdeutsch rather than the usual term Hochdeutsch. Bavaria and Austria officially use Standard German as the medium of education. This accent usually only exists in families where Bavarian is spoken regularly, families that do not use Bavarian at home usually use Standard German instead. In Austria, some parts of grammar and spelling are taught in Standard German lessons, as reading and writing in Bavarian is generally not taught at schools, almost all literate speakers of the language prefer to use Standard German for writing. Regional authors and literature may play a role in education as well, although there exist grammars, vocabularies, and a translation of the Bible in Bavarian, there is no common orthographic standard. Poetry is written in various Bavarian dialects, and many pop songs use the language as well, although Bavarian as a spoken language is in daily use in its region, Standard German, often with strong regional influence, is preferred in the mass media. On the use of Bavarian and standard German in Austria see Austrian German, ludwig Thoma is a noted author who wrote works such as Lausbubengeschichten in Bavarian. There is a Bavarian Wikipedia, completely in Bavarian, notes, The phoneme /h/ is frequently realised as or word-internally, while it is realised as word-initially. Intervocalic /s/ can be voiced to, Bavarian has an extensive vowel inventory, as is common for Germanic languages
10.
Princes of the Holy Roman Empire
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Prince of the Holy Roman Empire was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Originally, possessors of the title bore it as immediate vassals of the Empire, secular or ecclesiastical. However, by the time the Holy Roman Empire was abolished in 1806, the first came to be reckoned as royalty in the sense of being treated as sovereigns, entitled to inter-marry with reigning dynasties. The second tier consisted of high-ranking nobles whose princely title did not, however, the actual titles used by Imperial princes varied considerably for historical reasons, and included archdukes, dukes, margraves, landgraves, counts palatine, princely counts, as well as princes. The estate of princes or Reichsfürstenstand was first established in a legal sense in the Late Middle Ages. Not all states met all three requirements, so one may distinguish between effective and honorary princes of the Holy Roman Empire, from the 13th century onwards, further estates were formally raised to the princely status by the emperor. The resolutions of the Diet of Augsburg in 1582 explicitly stated that the status was linked with the possession of a particular Imperial territory. Most of the Counts who ruled territories were raised to Princely rank in the decades before the end of the Empire in 1806, ecclesiastical Princes were the Prince-Bishops as well as the actual Prince-abbots. They comprised a number of entities which were secularized and mediatized after the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. The honorary status of prince of the Holy Roman Empire might be granted to certain individuals, sovereigns outside the Empire, such as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The Prince of Piombino was another example, nobles allowed to bear the princely title, but who had neither a vote nor a seat in the Imperial Diet, individual or shared, such as the House of Kinsky. This included nobles who lacked immediacy, but who were allowed, motu proprio, by the Emperor to enjoy the title, although this courtesy tended to become hereditary for families, the right to princely status was called Personalist and could be revoked by the Emperor. List of states in the Holy Roman Empire List of Imperial Diet participants German mediatization Structure of Princes of The Holy Roman Empire
11.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
12.
Bohemia
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Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech lands in the present-day Czech Republic. Bohemia was a duchy of Great Moravia, later an independent principality, a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently a part of the Habsburg Monarchy, after World War I and the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state, Bohemia became a part of Czechoslovakia. Between 1938 and 1945, border regions with sizeable German-speaking minorities of all three Czech lands were joined to Nazi Germany as the Sudetenland, in 1990, the name was changed to the Czech Republic, which become a separate state in 1993 with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Until 1948, Bohemia was a unit of Czechoslovakia as one of its lands. Bohemia was bordered in the south by Upper and Lower Austria, in the west by Bavaria and in the north by Saxony and Lusatia, in the northeast by Silesia, and in the east by Moravia. In the 2nd century BC, the Romans were competing for dominance in northern Italy, the Romans defeated the Boii at the Battle of Placentia and the Battle of Mutina. After this, many of the Boii retreated north across the Alps, much later Roman authors refer to the area they had once occupied as Boiohaemum. The earliest mention was by Tacitus Germania 28, and later mentions of the name are in Strabo. The name appears to include the tribal name Boi- plus the Germanic element *haimaz home and this Boiohaemum was apparently isolated to the area where King Marobods kingdom was centred, within the Hercynian forest. The Czech name Čechy is derived from the name of the Slavic ethnic group, the Czechs, Bohemia, like neighbouring Bavaria, is named after the Boii, who were a large Celtic nation known to the Romans for their migrations and settlement in northern Italy and other places. Another part of the nation moved west with the Helvetii into southern France, to the south, over the Danube, the Romans extended their empire, and to the southeast in Hungaria, were Sarmatian peoples. In the area of modern Bohemia the Marcomanni and other Suebic groups were led by their king Marobodus and he took advantage of the natural defenses provided by its mountains and forests. In late classical times and the early Middle Ages, two new Suebic groupings appeared to the west of Bohemia in southern Germany, the Alemanni, many Suebic tribes from the Bohemian region took part in such movements westwards, even settling as far away as Spain and Portugal. With them were also tribes who had pushed from the east, such as the Vandals, other groups pushed southwards towards Pannonia. These are precursors of todays Czechs, though the amount of Slavic immigration is a subject of debate. The Slavic influx was divided into two or three waves, the first wave came from the southeast and east, when the Germanic Lombards left Bohemia. Soon after, from the 630s to 660s, the territory was taken by Samos tribal confederation and his death marked the end of the old Slavonic confederation, the second attempt to establish such a Slavonic union after Carantania in Carinthia. Other sources divide the population of Bohemia at this time into the Merehani, Marharaii, Beheimare, Christianity first appeared in the early 9th century, but only became dominant much later, in the 10th or 11th century
13.
Margravate of Meissen
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The Margravate of Meissen, sometimes known as the March of Misnia, was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a march of the Holy Roman Empire. The margravate was finally merged into the Saxon Electorate in 1423, the Margravate of Meissen was originally part of a march called the Sorbian march, which was later renamed to the Thuringian March. Thuringia was the name of the land east of the Saale, the eastern part of the Thuringian March around the fortress near the Dresden Basin became the Margravate of Meissen. In 928 and 929, during a campaign against Slavic Glomacze tribes, the fortress was later renamed Meissen after the nearby Meisa stream. A town soon developed around the castle, Henry, however, made no attempts to Germanise the Slavs or to create a chain of burgwards around his fortress. Meissen sat alone, like Brandenburg, with few defenses or towns around it, the town around the fortress grew however, eventually becoming one of the most important cities in the large Marca Geronis region, which included the lands east of the German stem duchy of Saxony. When the marca was divided in 965 upon the death of Margrave Gero, the first Meissen Margrave, Wigbert, is mentioned in the 968 charter of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. That same year, the Meissen fortress also became the see of the newly created Bishopric of Meissen, in 978, the Saxon count Rikdag became the Margrave of Meissen, and incorporated the marches of Merseburg and Zeitz into Meissen. In 983, following the defeat of Emperor Otto II at the Battle of Stilo, the bishoprics of Havelberg and Brandenburg and the March of Zeitz were overrun by Lutici tribes. Nevertheless, large territories of the Northern March were lost, Margrave Eckard I succeeded Rikdag as Margrave of Meissen in 985. His family, the Ekkeharding noble family, would keep the title until 1046, in 1002, King Bolesław I Chrobry of Poland conquered the Thuringian March, starting a German–Polish War. The war ended with the 1018 Peace of Bautzen, and Meissen had to cede the Upper Lusatian region of Milceni to Poland, in 1031 however, King Conrad II of Germany was able to reconquer the Milceni lands, which were returned to Meissen. In 1046, Count Otto of Weimar-Orlamünde became the Margrave, and upon his death in 1067, Emperor Henry IV then granted Meissen to Count Henry of Eilenburg of the Wettin dynasty. Meissen would remain under Wettin rule for the rest of its existence, under Wiprecht von Groitzsch in the 1120s, Meissen underwent a process of Germanisation. He was succeeded by Conrad the Great, Otto the Rich, in 1264, Henry III asserted himself in the War of the Thuringian Succession, where his uncle, Henry Raspe, had died childless. Between 1243 and 1255, Henry III acquired Pleisseland around Altenburg as a security measure, in 1307, the attempt by Emperor Henry VII to once again subdue the Margraves of Meissen failed with his defeat at the Battle of Lucka. By that time the margravate was de facto independent of any sovereign authority, in the years following the Battle of Lucka, there would be joint rule of Meissen by multiple members of the Wettin dynasty at any given time
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Electorate of Saxony
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Upon the extinction of the House of Ascania, it was enfeoffed to the Margraves of Meissen from the Wettin dynasty in 1423, who moved the residence up the Elbe river to Dresden. After the Empires dissolution in 1806, the Wettin electors raised Saxony to a kingdom, when Emperor Frederick Barbarossa deposed the Saxon duke Henry the Lion in 1180, the Wittenberg lands belonged to Alberts youngest son Count Bernhard of Anhalt, who assumed the Saxon ducal title. Bernards eldest son, Albert I, ceded Anhalt to his younger brother Henry, retained the ducal title and his sons divided the possessions into the duchies of Saxe-Wittenberg and Saxe-Lauenburg. Louis was succeeded by the Luxembourg king Charles of Bohemia, after being crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1355, Charles issued the Golden Bull of 1356, the fundamental law of the Empire settling the method of electing the German King by seven Prince-electors. In this way, the country, though small in area, the electoral dignity was connected with it the obligation of male primogeniture, that is, only the eldest son could succeed as ruler. This forbade the division of the territory among several heirs, preventing the disintegration of the country, the importance of this stipulation is shown by the history of most of the fragmented German principalities which were not electorates. Late Alberts Ascanian relative Duke Eric V of Saxe-Lauenburg protested in vain, thus, in 1423, Saxe-Wittenberg, the Margraviate of Meissen and Thuringia were united under one ruler, and the unified territory gradually received the name of Saxony. The partition decisively enfeebled the Wettin dynasty in the rivalry with the rising House of Hohenzollern, the Protestant movement of the 16th century was largely effected under the protection of the Saxon rulers. The Elector did not become at once an adherent of the new opinions, owing to his intervention, Pope Leo X decided against summoning Luther to Rome in 1518, and the Elector secured for Luther Imperial safe-conduct to the 1521 Diet of Worms. When Luther was declared to be under the ban of the empire by Emperor Charles V. Lutheran doctrines spread first in Ernestine Saxony, in 1525, Frederick died and was succeeded by his brother, John the Constant. John was followed in 1532 by his son, John Frederick the Magnanimous, in 1542, he seized the Diocese of Naumburg-Zeitz, and confiscated the secular possessions of the Dioceses of Meissen and Hildesheim. The Catholic faith was forcibly suppressed, after the outbreak of the Schmalkaldic War, Elector John Frederick was placed under the Imperial ban and finally defeated and captured by Emperor Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg on 24 April 1547. In the Capitulation of Wittenberg of May 19, he was obliged to yield former Saxe-Wittenberg with the dignity to his Albertine cousin Duke Maurice. The Saxon Electorate after the Wittenberg Capitulation consisted of former Saxe-Wittenberg and Meissen together, Maurice secretly shared in all the princely conspiracies against the Emperor, who only escaped capture by flight. During the same year, Charles V was obliged by the Peace of Passau to grant freedom of religion to the Protestant Estates, Maurice died in 1553 at the age of 32. His brother and successor Elector Augustus seized the Catholic dioceses of Merseburg, the last Bishop of Merseburg, Michael Helding called Sidonius, died at Vienna in 1561. In the same manner after the death of Julius von Pflug, the last Catholic Bishop of Naumburg, in 1564 and those cathedral canons who were still Catholic were only permitted to exercise their religion for ten years more
15.
Bavaria
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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
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Saxony
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Its capital is Dresden, and its largest city is Leipzig. Saxony is the tenth largest of Germanys sixteen states, with an area of 18,413 square kilometres, located in the middle of a large, formerly all German-speaking part of Europe, the history of the state of Saxony spans more than a millennium. It has been a medieval duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, a kingdom, the area of the modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony, the area inhabited by Saxons. Old Saxony corresponds approximately to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony is divided into 10 districts,1. After a reform in 2008, these regions - with some alterations of their respective areas - were called Direktionsbezirke, in 2012, the authorities of these regions were merged into one central authority, the Landesdirektion Sachsen. The Erzgebirgskreis district includes the Ore Mountains, and the Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district includes Saxon Switzerland, the largest cities in Saxony according to the 31 December 2015 estimate. To this can be added that Leipzig forms a metropolitan region with Halle. The latter city is located just across the border to Saxony-Anhalt, Leipzig shares for instance an S-train system and an airport with Halle. Saxony has, after Saxony Anhalt, the most vibrant economy of the states of the former East Germany and its economy grew by 1. 9% in 2010. Nonetheless, unemployment remains above the German average, the eastern part of Germany, excluding Berlin, qualifies as an Objective 1 development-region within the European Union, and is eligible to receive investment subsidies of up to 30% until 2013. FutureSAX, a business competition and entrepreneurial support organisation, has been in operation since 2002. Microchip makers near Dresden have given the region the nickname Silicon Saxony, the publishing and porcelain industries of the region are well known, although their contributions to the regional economy are no longer significant. Today the automobile industry, machinery production and services contribute to the development of the region. Saxony is also one of the most renowned tourist destinations in Germany - especially the cities of Leipzig and Dresden, new tourist destinations are developing, notably in the lake district of Lausitz. Saxony reported an unemployment of 8. 8% in 2014. By comparison the average in the former GDR was 9. 8% and 6. 7% for Germany overall, the unemployment rate reached 8. 2% in May 2015. The Leipzig area, which recently was among the regions with the highest unemployment rate, could benefit greatly from investments by Porsche. With the VW Phaeton factory in Dresden, and many part suppliers, zwickau is another major Volkswagen location
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Thuringia
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The Free State of Thuringia is a federal state in central Germany. It has an area of 16,171 square kilometres and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area, most of Thuringia is within the watershed of the Saale, a left tributary of the Elbe. Thuringia has been known as the heart of Germany from the late 19th century. It is home to the Rennsteig, Germanys most well-known hiking trail, half of Germanys 136 Winter Olympic gold medals have been won by Thuringian athletes. Johann Sebastian Bach spent the first part of his life and important further stages of his career in Thuringia, goethe and Schiller lived in Weimar and both worked at the University of Jena, which today hosts Thuringias most important science centre. Other Universities in this state are the Ilmenau University of Technology, the University of Erfurt. The name Thuringia or Thüringen derives from the Germanic tribe Thuringii, an older theory claims that they were successors of the Hermunduri, but later research rejected the idea. Other historians argue that the Thuringians were allies of the Huns, came to central Europe together with them, publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus first mentioned the Thuringii around 400, during that period, the Thuringii were famous for their excellent horses. The Thuringian Realm existed until after 531, the Landgraviate of Thuringia was the largest state in the region, after the Treaty of Leipzig, Thuringia had its own dynasty again, the Ernestine Wettins. Their various lands formed the Free State of Thuringia, founded in 1920, the Prussian territories around Erfurt, Mühlhausen and Nordhausen joined Thuringia in 1945. The coat of arms of Thuringia shows the lion of the Ludowingian Landgraves of 12th-century origin, the eight stars around it represent the eight former states which formed Thuringia. The flag of Thuringia is a bicolor, derived from the white. The coat of arms and flag of Hesse are quite similar to the Thuringian ones, symbols of Thuringia in popular culture are the Bratwurst and the Forest, because a large amount of the territory is forested. Named after the Thuringii tribe who occupied it around AD300, Thuringia became a landgraviate in 1130 AD. Most of the remaining Thuringia came under the rule of the Wettin dynasty of the nearby Margraviate of Meissen, in Mühlhausen and elsewhere, the Anabaptists found many adherents. Thomas Müntzer, a leader of some groups of this sect, was active in this city. Some reordering of the Thuringian states occurred during the German Mediatisation from 1795 to 1814, in 1920, after World War I, these small states merged into one state, called Thuringia, only Saxe-Coburg voted to join Bavaria instead. Weimar became the new capital of Thuringia, the coat of arms of this new state was simpler than those of its predecessors
18.
Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
19.
Vogt
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The territory or area of responsibility of a Vogt is called a Vogtei. The term also denotes a mayor of a village, the range of social status and degrees of responsibility of persons so titled varied greatly, from the humble—the equivalents of the English reeve or bailiff—to the very elevated. The concept of the Vogt was related to the Old German idea of the Munt, or guardian, such representatives had been assigned to the church since late antiquity, as it was not supposed to act for itself in worldly affairs. Beyond that, he administered the high justice instead of the count from the Vogt court, in the German-ruled Holy Roman Empire, the term Vogt can refer to two different offices, church vogt or imperial vogt. Imperial vogts are further subdivided into land vogts and city vogts, in addition, the term vogt was used for administrative officers of territorial rulers, such as bailiffs. In private and family monasteries the proprietor himself often also held the office of Vogt, in Austria, the teaching of the Church that, according to canon law individuals were prohibited from exercising authority over Church property, was only with reluctance accepted by the nobles. An imperial Vogt was an officer of the king, who served as administrator and judge of a subdivision of royal property, the seat of an imperial Vogt was often at an imperial city. When the imperial cities gained more independence, the office was split into city Vogt for the cities, the offices of city volts were usually bought by the imperial cities by the late Middle Ages, which led to the independence of the cities. Most land Vogt offices became meaningless as the amount of property was reduced more and more in favor of territorial rulers. The land Vogt office of the Alsace, consisting of the ten cities of the Décapole, was ceded to the king of France in 1648. However, the cities were soon annexed by France. Several small land votes continued to exist until the end of the Empire in 1806, the title of Landvogt appears in the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1415. A Landvogt ruled a Landvogtei, either representing a sovereign canton, or acting on behalf of the Confederacy, or a subset thereof, in the case of condominiums, the cantons took turns in appointing a Landvogt for a period of two years. In exceptional cases, the population of the Landvogtei was allowed to elect their own Landvogt and this concerned Oberhasli in particular, which was nominally a subject territory of Berne, but enjoyed a special status as a military ally. The office of Landvogt was abolished in 1798, with the foundation of the Helvetic Republic, the monarchs reigning in Madrid and Vienna controlled these through governors known variously as landvoogd or gouverneur-generaal. The status of protective lordship, however, in relation to ecclesiastical estates as held, there is no single equivalent in English history. The office of reeve was much the same at a village or peasant level, in France, the office of vidame, the temporal administrator for certain bishoprics, showed some connection. The most frequent translations in that connection are either advocate or lord protector, in medieval Poland the title of Wójt was used to denote hereditary heads of towns
20.
Vogtlandkreis
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The Vogtlandkreis is a Landkreis in the southwest of the Free State of Saxony, Germany, at the borders to Thuringia, Bavaria, and the Czech Republic. Neighboring districts are Hof, Saale-Orla, Greiz, Zwickau and Erzgebirgskreis, Plauen is the administrative center of the district. The Vogtland became part of the Holy Roman Empire under king Conrad IIIin the 12th century, in 1209 the minister dynasty administrating the area was split into three areas, Weida, Greiz and Gera-Plauen. When centralized power over the area decreased, county leaders, local administrators, called in Latin advocatus or in German Vögte, were appointed, the Vogtland war ended this administration and the area changed ownership to Bohemia. In 1546 Henry IV, Burgrave of Plauen got the area from the Bohemian king, 1657-1718 Saxony was split into parts, the Vogtland belonged to Saxe-Zeitz. In 1835 the new constitutional monarchy changed the administration and abolished the old district, and instead the Amtshauptmannschaft Plauen was created,1907 the city of Plauen left the district and became district-free city. 1952 the East German government with the big administrative reform renamed them to Kreise, after the German Reunification the changes of the 1952 reform were mostly undone, and in 1996 the 5 districts were merged to form the Vogtlandkreis. In the district reform of August 1,2008 the city of Plauen was included into the district, the Vogtlandkreis is named after the geographic area it covers, the Vogtland, which was so called because it was governed by Vogts. Located in the Erzgebirge it contains a lot of forests, the main river is the White Elster. The mountain of Bezelberg lies within the district, the first German cosmonaut, Sigmund Jähn was born in the Vogtland. His hometown, the town of Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz, in the municipality Muldenhammer
21.
Temperate coniferous forest
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Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. In most temperate coniferous forests, evergreen conifers predominate, while some are a mix of conifers, Temperate evergreen forests are common in the coastal areas of regions that have mild winters and heavy rainfall, or inland in drier climates or mountain areas. Coniferous forests can be found in the United States, Canada, Europe, many species of tree inhabit these forests including cedar, cypress, Douglas fir, fir, juniper, pine, podocarpus, spruce, redwood and yew. The understory also contains a variety of herbaceous and shrub species. Structurally, these forests are rather simple, generally consisting of two layers, an overstory and understory, some forests may support an intermediate layer of shrubs. Pine forests support an understory that is generally dominated by grasses and herbaceous perennials. The moist conditions of rain forests generally support an understory of mosses, ferns. Temperate rain forests can be temperate coniferous forests or temperate broadleaf and these forests are quite rare, occurring in small areas of North America, southwestern South America and northern New Zealand. The Klamath-Siskiyou forests of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon is known for its variety of plant and animal species. In Russia, a coniferous forest, specifically pine or spruce forest is known as bor, bors typically grow on well-drained sandy soils, sandy clay soils and mild loams. The names of several Russian historical buildings and localities refer to the word bor as the place where they were built. Cedar hemlock douglas-fir forest Waring, Richard H.2002, in, Volume 2, The Earth system, biological and ecological dimensions of global environmental change. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, Temperate forest WWF - Temperate Coniferous Forest Ecoregions
22.
Topaz
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Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO42. Topaz crystallizes in the system, and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal. Pure topaz is colorless and transparent but is usually tinted by impurities, typical topaz is wine red, yellow, pale gray, reddish-orange and it can also be white, pale green, blue, gold, pink, reddish-yellow or opaque to transparent/translucent. Orange topaz, also known as precious topaz, is the traditional November birthstone, the symbol of friendship, Imperial topaz is yellow, pink or pink-orange. Brazilian Imperial Topaz can often have a yellow to deep golden brown hue. Many brown or pale topazes are treated to make them bright yellow, gold, some imperial topaz stones can fade on exposure to sunlight for an extended period of time. Blue topaz is the gemstone of the US state of Texas. Naturally occurring blue topaz is quite rare, typically, colorless, gray or pale yellow and blue material is heat treated and irradiated to produce a more desired darker blue. Mystic topaz is colorless topaz which has been artificially coated giving it the desired rainbow effect, Topaz is commonly associated with silicic igneous rocks of the granite and rhyolite type. It typically crystallizes in granitic pegmatites or in cavities in rhyolite lava flows including those at Topaz Mountain in western Utah. Brazil is one of the largest producers of topaz, some clear topaz crystals from Brazilian pegmatites can reach boulder size, crystals of this size may be seen in museum collections. The Topaz of Aurangzeb, observed by Jean Baptiste Tavernier weighed 157.75 carats, the American Golden Topaz, a more recent gem, weighed a massive 22,892.5 carats. Large, vivid blue topaz specimens from the St. Anns mine in Zimbabwe were found in the late 1980s, colorless and light-blue varieties of topaz are found in Precambrian granite in Mason County, Texas within the Llano Uplift. There is no mining of topaz in that area. Pliny said that Topazos is an island in the Red Sea. Alternatively, the word topaz may be related to the Sanskrit word तपस् tapas, nicols, the author of one of the first systematic treatises on minerals and gemstones, dedicated two chapters to the topic in 1652. In the Middle Ages, the name topaz was used to refer to any yellow gemstone, many modern English translations of the Bible, including the King James Version mention topaz. The masoretic text has pitdah as the gem the stone is made from, more likely, pitdah is derived from Sanskrit words, meaning yellow burn or, metaphorically, fiery
23.
Ore Mountains
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The Ore Mountains or Ore Mountains Range in Central Europe have formed a natural border between Saxony and Bohemia for around 800 years, from the 12th to the 20th centuries. Today, the border between Germany and the Czech Republic runs just north of the main crest of the mountain range, the highest peaks are the Klínovec, which rises to 1,244 metres above sea level and the Fichtelberg. The Ore Mountains are a Hercynian block tilted so as to present a steep face towards Bohemia. They were formed during a process, During the folding of the Variscan orogeny, metamorphism occurred deep underground, forming slate. In addition, granite plutons intruded into the metamorphic rocks, by the end of the Palaeozoic era, the mountains had been eroded into gently undulating hills, exposing the hard rocks. As the rock of the Ore Mountains was too brittle to be folded, it shattered into an independent fault block which was uplifted and tilted to the northwest. This can be clearly seen at a height of 807 m above sea level on the mountain of Komáří vížka which lies on the Czech side, east of Zinnwald-Georgenfeld. This process is known as dissection, the Ore Mountains is geologically considered to be one of the most heavily researched mountain ranges in the world. The main geologic feature in the Ore Mountains is the Late Paleozoic Eibenstock granite pluton and this pluton is surrounded by progressive zones of contact metamorphism in which Paleozoic slates and phyllites have been changed to spotted hornfels, andalusite hornfels, and quartzites. Late Tertiary faulting and volcanism gave rise to basalt and phonolite dikes, Ore veins include iron, copper, tin, tungsten, lead, silver, cobalt, bismuth, uranium, plus iron and manganese oxides. The soils consist of rapidly leaching grus, in the western and central areas of the mountains it is formed from weathered granite. Phyllite results in a loamy, rapidly weathered gneiss in the east of the mountains producing a light soil, today the land is predominantly used for pasture. But it is not uncommon to see near-natural mountain meadows, to the north of the Ore Mountains, west of Chemnitz and around Zwickau lies the Ore Mountain Basin which is only really known geologically. Here there are deposits of coal where mining has already been abandoned. A similar but smaller basin with abandoned coal deposits, the Döhlen Basin, is located southwest of Dresden on the edge of the Ore Mountains. It forms the transition to the Elbe Valley zone, the Ore Mountains are part of a larger mountain system and adjoin the Fichtel Mountains to the west and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains to the east. Past the River Elbe, the chain continues as the Lusatian Mountains. While the mountains slope gently away in the part, the southern slopes are rather steep
24.
Fichtel Mountains
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The Fichtel Mountains, form a small horseshoe-shaped mountain range in northeastern Bavaria, Germany. They extend from the valley of the Red Main River to the Czech border and they continue in a northeasterly direction as the Ore Mountains, and in a southeasterly direction as the Bohemian Forest. The Fichtel Mountains contain an important nature park, the Fichtel Mountain Nature Park, the first person to write about the Fichtel Mountains, Matthias of Kemnath reported in 1476, Ein bergk, hoch, weitt, wolbekant ligt in Beiern, gnant der Fichtelberg. In descriptions of the border in 1499 and 1536, the mountain that is now called the Ochsenkopf was called Vichtelberg and it is also mentioned in old documents, around 1317 the lords of Hirschberg were enfeoffed inter alia with the walt zu dem Vythenberge. By the 14th century iron ore was being extracted in the St. Veith Pit on the foot of the mountain. High-profile local history and name researchers have not had the last word. Together with the Thuringian Forest, Thuringian Highland and Franconian Forest the Fichtel forms a natural region called the Thuringian-Franconian Highlands. The Fichtel Mountains lie between the towns of Hof and Weiden, in the west there is a good transport link to the nearby city of Bayreuth, whilst in the east, in the Egerland, communication is still very limited, a legacy of the Iron Curtain. The Hof–Weiden autobahn provides a good north-south link, however, the county town in the heart of the Fichtel is Wunsiedel with its famous rock labyrinth. The boundary between the Franconian dialect in the north and west and the Bavarian and Upper Palatine dialects in the east, the highest mountain in the Fichtel is the Schneeberg at 1,053 metres. Other major summits are the Ochsenkopf, the Steinwald, the Kösseine, the Großer Waldstein, geomorphologically the Fichtel Mountains are a horseshoe-shaped massif consisting of several linked ridges, hence the term Fichtel Mountain Horseshoe. To the northeast the Fichtel transitions into the Elster Mountains and the Ore Mountains, to the southeast is the Upper Palatine Forest, the Bohemian Forest, to the northwest is a clear geological divide with the Franconian and Thuringian Forests. To the southwest it descends to the very different Franconian fault-block landscape. The European watershed from the North Sea to the Black Sea runs over these mountains, the highest mountain is the Schneeberg at 1,051 metres. Rivers rising from the Fichtelgebirge are the White Main, the Saxon Saale, the Ohře, major towns on the edge of the mountain region are Bayreuth and Hof. While the mountains dip gradually away to the north and the south, the Ochsenkopf is the second highest mountain of the Fichtel range, at 1,024 metres. There are two chair-lifts to the summit, one from Bischofsgrün in the north and one from Fleckl in the south, the Asenturm is an observation tower on the summit with a restaurant attached. The following are the highest and best-known mountains in the Fichtel (listed alphabetically with heights in metres sea level
25.
Franconian Forest
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The Franconian Forest is a mid-altitude mountain range in Northern Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the district of Upper Franconia and forms the connection between the Fichtelgebirge and the Thuringian Forest. Along the centre lies the watershed between the basins of the Main and the Saale, belonging to the systems of the Rhine and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Frankenwald. The Franconian Forest, described by a native Frank
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Thuringian Highland
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The Thuringian Highland Thuringian Highlands or Thuringian-Vogtlandian Slate Mountains is a low range of mountains in the German state of Thuringia. The Thuringian Highland borders on the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, the largest towns in the Thuringian Highland are Saalfeld and Bad Blankenburg which lie on its northern perimeter, Neuhaus am Rennweg in the highest region and Bad Lobenstein on the eastern edge. They are between about 300 m to 500 m above NN high, and comprise gently rolling hills which are part of the backbone of the Central Uplands and they extend for about 75 km from east to west and 50 km from north to south. Typical features of the landscape are the peaks or Kuppen with their wooded crests. These are made from a rock, dolerite, which is harder than the surrounding rocks and so weathers more slowly. As its German name suggests, the Thuringian Highland is mainly made of slate rock, although this region was formed in a similar way to the Harz, it lacks the sharp divisions caused by fault lines. Almost all the way round the region transitions gradually into the surrounding land, the rocks found here are from the Palaeozoic era, i. e. the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian and Lower Carboniferous periods. The most important ones are, Shale, Alaunschiefer, Radiolarite, Limestone, Sandstone, Greywacke, Dolerite, Spilite, karst-forming, and hence cave-forming, limestone only occurs in a few, small, isolated areas. As a result the number of caves is very low, in the Saale Valley there are two of the largest dams in Germany, which form the Hohenwarte and Bleiloch Reservoirs. In the Schwarza Valley there is the Goldisthal Pumped Storage Station, opened in 2003, around the steep-sided valleys of the Schwarza and Saale the height difference between hilltops and valley bottoms is often as much as 300 m or more, which is large for hills of this size. Adolf Hanle, Thüringerwald und Schiefergebirge, Mannheim u. a, ISBN 3-411-07191-5 Thuringian Highland Nature Park
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National park
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A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns, although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea, the conservation of wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride. An international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, although Yellowstone was not officially termed a national park in its establishing law, it was always termed such in practice and is widely held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. The first area to use national park in its legislation was the USs Mackinac Island. Australias Royal National Park, established in 1879, was the third official national park. In 1895 ownership of Mackinac Island was transferred to the State of Michigan as a state park, as a result, Australias Royal National Park is by some considerations the second oldest national park now in existence. The largest national park in the meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park. According to the IUCN,6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006, IUCN is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park. National parks are almost always open to visitors, in 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. In 1810, the English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a sort of property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive. It was known as Hot Springs Reservation, but no authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877, John Muir is today referred to as the Father of the National Parks due to his work in Yosemite. He published two articles in The Century Magazine, which formed the base for the subsequent legislation. President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on July 1,1864, ceding the Yosemite Valley, according to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for use, resort. Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation, a public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there was a heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone at its establishment six years later was put under national control, in 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the United States first national park, being also the worlds first national park. In some European countries, however, national protection and nature reserves already existed, such as Drachenfels, Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory
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White Elster
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The White Elster is a 257-kilometre long river in central Europe, right tributary of the Saale. Its source is in the westernmost part of the Czech Republic, after a few kilometres, it flows into eastern Germany. In Germany, it flows through the states of Saxony, Thuringia, the White Elster flows through the cities of Plauen, Greiz, Gera, Zeitz, Pegau and Leipzig. It flows into the river Saale in Halle, although Elster is German for magpie, the origin of the name has nothing to do with the bird. It is of Slavic origin, alstrawa = hurrying, the White Elster never meets the Black Elster, which flows from Lusatia into the River Elbe. The rivers have the white and black to distinguish between them. The White Elster proved disastrous to the French troops when they retreated from Leipzig in October 1813, józef Poniatowski, Marshal of France, drowned in the river on 19 October 1813
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Zwickauer Mulde
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The Zwickau Mulde is a river in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is the tributary of the Mulde and 166 km in length. The source of the river is in the Ore Mountains, near Schöneck and it runs northeast to Aue, then northwest to Zwickau, and further north through Glauchau, Rochlitz and Colditz. A few kilometers north of Colditz, the Zwickau Mulde is joined by the Freiberger Mulde to form the united Mulde, the Mulde is a tributary of the Elbe. The valleys in the catchment area of the Mulde were presumably used from the end of the last cold stage as access routes into the Ore Mountains that was covered in dense, ancient forests. This is evinced by the remains of artifacts left behind by Old Stone Age hunters, as well as Bronze Age, later, the western Ore Mountains became the territory of Germanic and Slavic tribes. Paths, trade routes and military roads, linked the old settlement areas around Leipzig, the mule tracks, however, avoided the rivers in favour of the ridges. At unavoidable river crossings, and at castles, villages and monasteries were established. Of the palaces and manor houses, Rochburg, Rochlitz, Wolkenburg, Waldenburg, of the castles, Wiesenburg, Stein Castle and the Isenburg remain. Fortifications constructed in the valleys include Hartenstein, Wildenfels and Schwarzenberg. With the discovery of the silver deposits in the late Middle Ages, settlements grew up around the source streams in the upper Ore Mountains. This outcrop of a permanently exposed coal seam is unique in Saxony and it is also a rare example in Europe of an outcrop representing three geological time periods. It is protected as a geotope and geological natural monument
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Spring (hydrology)
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A spring is any natural situation where water flows from an aquifer to the Earths surface. It is a component of the hydrosphere, a spring may be the result of karst topography where surface water has infiltrated the Earths surface, becoming part of the area groundwater. The groundwater then travels through a network of cracks and fissure—openings ranging from intergranular spaces to large caves, the water eventually emerges from below the surface, in the form of a karst spring. The forcing of the spring to the surface can be the result of an aquifer in which the recharge area of the spring water table rests at a higher elevation than that of the outlet. Spring water forced to the surface by elevated sources are artesian wells and this is possible even if the outlet is in the form of a 300-foot-deep cave. In this case the cave is used like a hose by the higher elevated area of groundwater to exit through the lower elevation opening. Non-artesian springs may simply flow from a higher elevation through the earth to a lower elevation, still other springs are the result of pressure from an underground source in the earth, in the form of volcanic activity. The result can be water at elevated temperature such as a hot spring, the action of the groundwater continually dissolves permeable bedrock such as limestone and dolomite, creating vast cave systems. The term seep refers to springs with small flow rates in which the water has filtered through permeable earth. Fracture springs, discharge from faults, joints, or fissures in the earth, tubular springs, in which the water flows from underground caverns. Spring discharge, or resurgence, is determined by the springs recharge basin, factors that affect the recharge include the size of the area in which groundwater is captured, the amount of precipitation, the size of capture points, and the size of the spring outlet. Water may leak into the system from many sources including permeable earth, sinkholes. In some cases entire creeks seemingly disappear as the water sinks into the ground via the stream bed, grand Gulf State Park in Missouri is an example of an entire creek vanishing into the groundwater system. The water emerges 9 miles away, forming some of the discharge of Mammoth Spring in Arkansas, human activity may also affect a springs discharge--withdrawal of groundwater reduces the water pressure in an aquifer, decreasing the volume of flow. Springs are often classified by the volume of the water they discharge, the largest springs are called first-magnitude, defined as springs that discharge water at a rate of at least 2800 liters or 100 cubic feet of water per second. The scale for spring flow is as follows, Minerals become dissolved in the water as it moves through the underground rocks and this may give the water flavor and even carbon dioxide bubbles, depending on the nature of the geology through which it passes. This is why spring water is bottled and sold as mineral water. Springs that contain significant amounts of minerals are sometimes called mineral springs, Springs that contain large amounts of dissolved sodium salts, mostly sodium carbonate, are called soda springs
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Saale
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The Saale, also known as the Saxon Saale and Thuringian Saale, is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale, a tributary of the Main, or the Saale in Lower Saxony. The Saale originates on the slope of the Großer Waldstein mountain near Zell in the Fichtelgebirge in Upper Franconia and it pursues a winding course in a northern direction, and after passing the manufacturing town of Hof, enters Thuringia. It flows amid well-wooded low mountains of the Thuringian Forest until it reaches the valley of Saalfeld, after leaving Saalfeld the Saale reaches Rudolstadt. Here it receives the waters of the Schwarza, in whose valley lies the castle of Schwarzburg. From Saalfeld the Saale enters the hill region north of the Thuringian Forest. It finally joins the Elbe just above Barby, after traversing a distance of 413 kilometres —shortened 14 kilometres by a bypass from its length of 427 kilometres. The Saale is navigable from Naumburg and is also planned connected from Leuna with the White Elster near Leipzig by an unfinished canal, the soil of the lower part of its valley is exceptionally fertile, and produces, amongst other crops, large supplies of sugar beet. Among its tributaries are the White Elster, Regnitz and Orla on the bank. Its valley, down to Merseburg, contains many castles which crown the enclosing heights, saale-Unstrut, a wine-growing region Ernst-Otto Luthardt, Reinhard Feldrapp, An der Saale. Vom Fichtelgebirge durch Thüringen bis zur Elbe, ISBN 3-8035-1335-9 Wolf Thieme, Markus Altmann, Mitten ins Herz. Sie entspringt in Bayern, durchquert Thüringen und fließt in Sachsen-Anhalt in die Elbe – die Saale ist ein Fluss, und jedem Spaß macht, dem Sportler, dem Kulturfreund, dem Faulenzer. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
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Elster Viaduct
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The Elster Viaduct is a railway bridge in the German state of Saxony. It carries the Leipzig–Hof line near Jocketa over the valley of the White Elster, after the Göltzsch Viaduct it is the second largest brick bridge in the world. The Elster Valley Railway passes under the 68 metre-high bridge, the viaduct was built in the course of the construction of the Leipzig–Hof line of the Saxon-Bavarian State Railway. The foundation stone was laid on 7 November 1846, up to 800 workers worked on the bridge from 1846 to 1851, laying 12 million bricks. In contrast to the Göltzsch Viaduct, which is nine metres higher. The lower level has five piers, four of which are built as double piers, the foundations of the piers and the deck were built out of slabs of granite. In the last days of the Second World War on 16 April 1945 the German Wehrmacht partially demolished the bridge and this meant that trains from the southwest could only run as far as Röttis and from the northeast only as far as Jocketa. A temporary bridge was erected by attaching a steel truss to the remains of the central supporting pier. This important bridge was reopened to traffic in February 1946, the final reconstruction of the two collapsed masonry brick arches was completed in October 1950. The top of the lower arches carries a hiking trail, there are plaques on this level showing the reconstruction after the Second World War. Der Bau der Göltzschtal- und Elstertalbrücke 1846 bis 1851, seine Beziehungen zu den Produktivkräften und der Umwelt im sächsischen Vogtland und dessen Nachbargebieten. Media related to Elster Viaduct at Wikimedia Commons Elstertalbrücke Jocketa
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Dresden
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Dresden is the capital city and, after Leipzig, the second-largest city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the border with the Czech Republic, Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendour. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its baroque, the controversial American and British bombing of Dresden in World War II towards the end of the war killed approximately 25,000, many of whom were civilians, and destroyed the entire city centre. After the war restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of the inner city, including the Katholische Hofkirche, the Zwinger. Since German reunification in 1990 Dresden is again a cultural, educational and political centre of Germany, the Dresden University of Technology is one of the 10 largest universities in Germany and part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative. The economy of Dresden and its agglomeration is one of the most dynamic in Germany and it is dominated by high-tech branches, often called as “Silicon Saxony”. The city is one of the most visited in Germany with 4,3 million overnight stays per year. The royal buildings are among the most impressive buildings in Europe, main sights are also the nearby National Park of Saxon Switzerland, the Ore Mountains and the countryside around Elbe Valley and Moritzburg Castle. The most prominent building in the city of Dresden is the Frauenkirche, built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed during World War II. The remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial, the church was rebuilt from 1994 to 2005. Although Dresden is a relatively recent city of Germanic origin followed by settlement of Slavic people, Dresdens founding and early growth is associated with the eastward expansion of Germanic peoples, mining in the nearby Ore Mountains, and the establishment of the Margraviate of Meissen. Its name etymologically derives from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the forest, Dresden later evolved into the capital of Saxony. Around the late 12th century, a Slavic settlement called Drežďany had developed on the southern bank, another settlement existed on the northern bank, but its Slavic name is unknown. It was known as Antiqua Dresdin by 1350, and later as Altendresden, dietrich, Margrave of Meissen, chose Dresden as his interim residence in 1206, as documented in a record calling the place Civitas Dresdene. After 1270, Dresden became the capital of the margraviate and it was given to Friedrich Clem after death of Henry the Illustrious in 1288. It was taken by the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1316 and was restored to the Wettin dynasty after the death of Valdemar the Great in 1319, from 1485, it was the seat of the dukes of Saxony, and from 1547 the electors as well. The Elector and ruler of Saxony Frederick Augustus I became King Augustus II the Strong of Poland in personal union and he gathered many of the best musicians, architects and painters from all over Europe to the newly named Royal-Polish Residential City of Dresden. His reign marked the beginning of Dresdens emergence as a leading European city for technology, during the reign of Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland the Zwinger Royal Palace, the Hofkirche and the Frauenkirche were built
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Nuremberg
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Nuremberg is a city on the river Pegnitz and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia, about 170 kilometres north of Munich. It is the second-largest city in Bavaria, and the largest in Franconia, the population as of February 2015, is 517,498, which makes it Germanys fourteenth-largest city. The urban area also includes Fürth, Erlangen and Schwabach with a population of 763,854. The European Metropolitan Area Nuremberg has ca.3.5 million inhabitants, Nuremberg was, according to the first documentary mention of the city in 1050, the location of an Imperial castle between the East Franks and the Bavarian March of the Nordgau. From 1050 to 1571, the city expanded and rose dramatically in importance due to its location on key trade routes, Nuremberg is often referred to as having been the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire, particularly because Imperial Diet and courts met at Nuremberg Castle. The Diets of Nuremberg were an important part of the structure of the empire. The increasing demand of the court and the increasing importance of the city attracted increased trade. Nuremberg soon became, with Augsburg, one of the two great trade centers on the route from Italy to Northern Europe. In 1298, the Jews of the town were accused of having desecrated the host, behind the massacre of 1298 was also the desire to combine the northern and southern parts of the city, which were divided by the Pegnitz. The Jews of the German lands suffered many massacres during the plague years, in 1349, Nurembergs Jews were subjected to a pogrom. They were burned at the stake or expelled, and a marketplace was built over the former Jewish quarter, the plague returned to the city in 1405,1435,1437,1482,1494,1520 and 1534. Charles was the patron of the Frauenkirche, built between 1352 and 1362, where the Imperial court worshipped during its stays in Nuremberg. Charles IV conferred upon the city the right to conclude alliances independently, frequent fights took place with the burgraves without, however, inflicting lasting damage upon the city. Through these and other acquisitions the city accumulated considerable territory, the Hussite Wars, recurrence of the Black Death in 1437, and the First Margrave War led to a severe fall in population in the mid-15th century. During the Middle Ages, Nurembergs literary culture was rich, varied, the cultural flowering of Nuremberg, in the 15th and 16th centuries, made it the centre of the German Renaissance. In 1525, Nuremberg accepted the Protestant Reformation, and in 1532, during the 1552 revolution against Charles V, Nuremberg tried to purchase its neutrality, but the city was attacked without a declaration of war and was forced into a disadvantageous peace. The state of affairs in the early 16th century, increased trade routes elsewhere, frequent quartering of Imperial, Swedish and League soldiers, the financial costs of the war and the cessation of trade caused irreparable damage to the city and a near-halving of the population. In 1632, the city, occupied by the forces of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, was besieged by the army of Imperial general Albrecht von Wallenstein, the city declined after the war and recovered its importance only in the 19th century, when it grew as an industrial centre
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Hof, Bavaria
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The town of Hof is enclosed by, but does not belong to the Bavarian district of Hof, it is nonetheless the districts administrative seat. The towns most important work of art, the Hofer altar, the Heidenreich organ in the parish church of St. Michaelis, completed in 1834, is considered one of Bavarias finest. Hof is known for two local delicacies, namely Schnitz, a kind of hotpot, and sausages boiled in a portable, coal-fired brass cauldron, there is also a particularly strong beer, which is available only on the first Monday after Trinity Sunday. This tradition dates back to the establishment of the militia which forced all shooters to take part in a special shooting training each year. To avoid penalties, a lot of shooters rushed out to the area in the morning of the very last possible day, without even enough time to get dressed. The Hof Theatre is a theatre whose construction was completed in 1994. It serves as a house and drama theatre, and hosts the citys ballet company. The Hofer Symphoniker, Hofs symphony orchestra, plays as opera orchestra at the theatre, the town of Hof consists of the following districts in particular, Hof is located in between the areas of the Frankenwald, the Fichtelgebirge and the Vogtland. Hof in the Middle Ages was located in the Provincia Variscorum and was known in Latin as Curiae Variscorum or Curiae Nariscorum meaning Court of the Varisci/Narisci and it is assumed then that Hof was the place where the chief of the Varisci tribe of the Suebi people held court. The Varisci appear briefly in Tacitus Germania as participants in the Marcomannic Wars and their chief, Valao, was killed during battle around 167 AD and it is possible that these ancient peoples were then transplanted to Italy by Marcus Aurelius and lost their identity. A few centuries later the obscure Armalausi peoples appear where the Varisci once lived and this is evidenced by nearby Plauen being called Plavia Variscorum and Hof, Curia Variscorum. The name Curiae Variscorum has been used to denote the city of Hof in numerous documents and this legacy remains even to this day as the word Hof is German for court, just as curiae is Latin for court. Sometime around the 6th century AD the Slavic Sorbs began arriving near the Saale River which runs through Hof and they are first mentioned in 631 A. D. when Fredegar’s Chronicle described them as Surbi and as under the rule of a Dervan, an ally of Samo. The Frankish Kingdom of Charlemagne and his descendants were determined to Christianize the pagan Slavs, the Annales Regni Francorum state that in 806 A. D. Sorbian Duke Miliduch fought against the Franks and was killed by Charles the Younger the son of Charlemagne around nearby modern-day Weißenfels. The region where Hof is located first came under the control of the Dioceses of Würzburg during this time period. Then in 1007 the region which contains Hof came under the Bishopric of Bamberg which was established out of the Dioceses of Würzburg to further spread Christianity throughout this area. While the area around Hof remained terra incognita during this period it was not isolated from the rest of the world. Although not home to a king or prince, Hof was on located on a protected, and very important trade route
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Reichenbach im Vogtland
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Reichenbach im Vogtland is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district of Saxony, Germany. With a population of 18,879, it is the second largest town in the Vogtlandkreis after Plauen and it lies by the A72 between Plauen and Zwickau. Reichenbach im Vogtland originated as a settlement of the Franks and thanks its early growth to its convenient position in a valley near Mylau Castle, in 1212 it was officially named Richenbach, possibly because of the many wetland basins in the area which now hosts the Altstadt. Much of the Reichenbach history was lost in the city fires of 1720,1773, the foundations of the Peter Paul parish church still date back to the 12th century. The rise of industrialisation allowed the city to further, again promoted by its accessibility. Some of Reichenbachs most remarkable structures date from this era, including its Rathaus, the station, and worlds largest brick bridge. Reichenbach im Vogtland has had an insignificant role in World War II. On March 21,1945, American bombings killed 161 citizens, against the orders of the National Socialists, Mayor Dr. Otto Schreiber capitulated the city on April 17 without a fight. The town was occupied by American troops, who handed over control to the Red Army on July 1, about 120 innocent youth aged 15 and 16 were taken in custody and transferred to the Soviet Unions secret service, hoping all other citizens would be spared. After Germany was split up, Reichenbach im Vogtland became part of East Germany, the population has since declined from nearly 35,000 to little over 20,000 today. As was the case with many former East German industrial cities, many initiatives have since been deployed to rebuild the local economy. There are still many buildings in Reichenbach with a high historic value. Reichenbach station is part of the Leipzig–Hof line and this line includes the Göltzsch Viaduct, the largest brick bridge in the world, which lies 4 km west of the town. The Neuberinhaus is a historical and theatrical museum, named after the towns most famous citizen, actress Friederike Caroline Neuber. Permanent expositions include her life and work, 18th century German theatre, the Park der Generationen, the gardens of the 5th Saxon Landesgartenschau held between May 1 and October 18,2009. Reichenbach im Vogtland also has a tower of Deutsche Telekom erected out of concrete. It is not to be confused with the tower in Reichenbach which transmits MDR Info at 1,188 kHz, the Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau - University of Applied Sciences Zwickau teaches Architecture at bachelor and master level and Textile- and Leather Craftsmanship. The city also has a gymnasium, a school, three primary schools, and a special school for the physically and mentally challenged
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Auerbach (Vogtland)
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Auerbach is a town in the Vogtlandkreis, Saxony, Germany. It is the centre of the eastern Vogtland. The economy is based on textile manufacture, food processing. After Plauen and Reichenbach, Auerbach is the town with the third largest population in the Vogtlandkreis, Auerbach was mentioned for the first time in 1282. The town is situated at the declivities above the river Göltzsch at the foot of a tower from the 12th century. Landmarks include the towers of the St. Laurentius church, the Catholic Zum Heiligen Kreuz church, the three tall buildings give Auerbach its nickname “the Three Towers Town”. Historical population, Datasource from 1998 on, Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen129 October231 August Town of Auerbach
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Greiz
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Greiz is a town in Thuringia, and it is the capital of the district of Greiz. Greiz is situated in eastern Thuringia on the river Weiße Elster, as with other nearby settlements, the place name is of Slavic origin and means Gradec. It was first mentioned in 1209, the prime location of Greiz at the river Weiße Elster and the stream Göltzsch made it a fast-growing town. It kept expanding during the last 1000 years and it has been recognized as town in the 13th century for the first time. Later the House of Reuss, a ruling German dynasty, built 2 castles in Greiz, the Oberes Schloss, both were built by famous architects and are still considered unique. Greiz became the capital of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz, Greiz has a large park in its center which is classified as an English garden. Thomasstraße, Burgstraße, Marktstraße, Waldstraße, and Leonhardtstraße with their Jugendstil houses are known examples of that architectural style. In Prof. -Dr. -Friedrich-Schneider-Straße 4 there is one of the earliest examples of Art Deco architecture, during World War II, Greiz did not suffer much damage, although 3 of the 5 bridges in town were destroyed. In 1941, Ulf Merbold was born there, who became in 1983 the first astronaut from the Federal Republic of Germany, Greiz has a population of about 21,284 people. In recent years various high tech businesses and environmental technology companies developed, adjacent cities include, Elsterberg Reichenbach Hohenleuben Werdau Media related to Greiz at Wikimedia Commons Town of Greiz
"Vogtland". Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). 1911.
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