1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
3.
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
4.
Regierungsbezirk
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Regierungsbezirk is an administrative region at federal state level in Germany. The regional authority is called a Regierungspräsidium or Bezirksregierung and is headed by a Regierungspräsident, the Regierungsbezirke do not pass any legislation. Within the federal authority, they act as a mid-level agency. Regierungsbezirk is variously translated as district, administrative district or province. By German unification in 1871, the concept of Regierungsbezirke had been adopted by most States of the German Empire, the Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia are in direct continuation of those created in the Prussian Rhine and Westphalia provinces in 1816. Similar entities in other states were initially named Kreishauptmannschaft or Kreis or province in Hesse, in Nazi Germany the naming was unified to Regierungsbezirk. Currently, only four large-area states out of 16 in total are divided into Regierungsbezirke, on 1 January 2004, Saxony-Anhalt disbanded its three Regierungsbezirke, Dessau, Halle and Magdeburg. The responsibilities are now covered by a Landesverwaltungsamt with three offices at the seats of the Bezirksregierungen. On 1 January 2005, Lower Saxony disbanded its remaining four Regierungsbezirke, Brunswick, Hanover, Lüneburg, on 1 August 2008, Saxony restructured its districts and changed the name of its Regierungsbezirke to Direktionsbezirke. This was necessary because one of the new districts did not fit with the borders of the old Regierungsbezirke, the Direktionsbezirke are still named Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig. As of 1 March 2012, the Direktionsbezirke were merged into one Landesdirektion, four of the new federal states re-established in 1990, Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thuringia, decided not to implement Regierungsbezirke. In Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland they never existed, stettin, dissolved in 1945, Province of Pomerania Media related to Regierungsbezirk at Wikimedia Commons
5.
Districts of Germany
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A German district is an administrative subdivision known as Landkreis, except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where it is known simply as Kreis. Most major cities in Germany are not part of a rural district, in this context, those cities are referred to as Kreisfreie Stadt or Stadtkreis. Rural districts are at a level of administration between the German states and the municipal governments. They correspond to level 3 administrative units of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, previously, the similar title Reichskreis was given to groups of states in the Holy Roman Empire. The related term Landeskommissariat was used for administrative divisions in some German territories until the 19th century. The majority of German districts are rural districts of which there are 295, cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not usually belong to a district, but take over district responsibilities themselves, similar to the concept of independent cities. These are known as urban districts —cities which constitute a district in their own there are currently 107 of them. As of 2011, approximately 25 million people live in these 107 urban districts, in North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Recklinghausen, Siegen, Paderborn, Bergisch Gladbach, Neuss and Moers. Nevertheless, these cities take over many district responsibilities themselves, although they are part of a larger rural district. Midsize towns can perform particular administrative functions of the district as well, the classification as midsize town is usually based on a towns registered population, but varies from state to state. Aachen, Hanover and Göttingen retain certain rights of an urban district, urban districts have these responsibilities and also those of the municipalities. The district council is the highest institution of a district and is responsible for all fundamental guidelines of regional self-administration. This council is elected every five years, except in Bavaria where it is elected every six years. Usually the administrative seat of a district is located in one of its largest towns. However, district council and administrative seat of rural districts are not situated within the district proper. Most of those districts are named after this central city as well. Moers is the biggest city in Germany that is neither an urban district, in parts of northern Germany, Landrat is also the name of the entire district administration, which in southern Germany is known as Kreisverwaltung or Landratsamt. In urban districts similar administrative functions are performed by a mayor, rural districts in some German states have an additional administrative commission called Kreisausschuss
6.
Rems-Murr-Kreis
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Rems-Murr is a district in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Heilbronn, Schwäbisch Hall, Ostalbkreis, Göppingen, Esslingen, the district-free city Stuttgart, the district was created in 1973, when the district Waiblingen was merged with most of the district Backnang and few municipalities from the district Schwäbisch Gmünd. The biggest part of the district is located in the Swabian-Franconian Forest, the two rivers Rems and Murr gave the district its name. Rems-Murr-Kreis is twinned with, Southampton, United Kingdom, Official website
7.
Burgomaster
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The name in English was derived from the Dutch burgemeester. In some cases, Burgomaster was the title of the head of state and head of government of a sovereign city-state, contemporary titles are commonly translated into English as mayor. Bürgermeister, in German, in Germany, Austria, and formerly in Switzerland, in Switzerland, the title was abolished mid-19th century, various current titles for roughly equivalent offices include Gemeindepräsident, Stadtpräsident, Gemeindeamtmann, and Stadtamtmann. Oberbürgermeister is the most common version for a mayor in a big city in Germany, the Ober- prefix is used in many ranking systems for the next level up including military designations. The mayors of cities, which comprise one of Germanys 112 urban districts usually bear this title. Urban districts are comparable to independent cities in the English-speaking world, however, also the mayors of some cities, which do not comprise an urban district, but often used to comprise one until the territorial reforms in the 1970s, bear the title Oberbürgermeister. In the Netherlands nominated by the council but appointed by the crown. In theory above the parties, in practice a high-profile party-political post, bourgmestre in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Democratic Republic of the Congo Bürgermeister Burmistras, derived from German. Burmistrz, a title, derived from German. The German form Oberbürgermeister is often translated as Nadburmistrz, the German-derived terminology reflects the involvement of German settlers in the early history of many Polish towns. Borgmästare, kommunalborgmästare, the title is not used in Sweden in present times, boargemaster Pormestari In history in many free imperial cities the function of burgomaster was usually held simultaneously by three persons, serving as an executive college. One of the three being burgomaster in chief for a year, the second being the prior burgomaster in chief, präsidierender Bürgermeister is now an obsolete formulation sometimes found in historic texts
8.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
9.
Vehicle registration plate
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A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or a license plate, is metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the owner within the issuing regions database. The first two letters indicate the state to which the vehicle is registered, the next two digit numbers are the sequential number of a district. Due to heavy volume of vehicle registration, the numbers were given to the RTO offices of registration as well, the third part indicates the year of registration of the vehicle and is a 4 digit number unique to each plate. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, the government holds a monopoly on the manufacturing of vehicle registration plates for that jurisdiction. Thus, it is illegal for private citizens to make and affix their own plates. Alternately, the government will merely assign plate numbers, and it is the owners responsibility to find an approved private supplier to make a plate with that number. In some jurisdictions, plates will be assigned to that particular vehicle for its lifetime. If the vehicle is destroyed or exported to a different country. Other jurisdictions follow a policy, meaning that when a vehicle is sold the seller removes the current plate from the vehicle. Buyers must either obtain new plates or attach plates they already hold, as well as register their vehicles under the buyers name, a person who sells a car and then purchases a new one can apply to have the old plates put onto the new car. One who sells a car and does not buy a new one may, depending on the laws involved, have to turn the old plates in or destroy them. Some jurisdictions permit the registration of the vehicle with personal plates, in some jurisdictions, plates require periodic replacement, often associated with a design change of the plate itself. Vehicle owners may or may not have the option to keep their original plate number, alternately, or additionally, vehicle owners have to replace a small decal on the plate or use a decal on the windshield to indicate the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Plates are usually fixed directly to a vehicle or to a frame that is fixed to the vehicle. Sometimes, the plate frames contain advertisements inserted by the service centre or the dealership from which the vehicle was purchased. Vehicle owners can also purchase customized frames to replace the original frames, in some jurisdictions licence plate frames are illegal
10.
Stuttgart Region
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Stuttgart Region is an urban agglomeration at the heart of the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. It consists of the city of Stuttgart and the districts of Ludwigsburg, Esslingen, Böblingen, Rems-Murr. About 2.7 million inhabitants live in that area, in fact, with 708 people per square kilometre, the Stuttgart Region is one of the most densely populated areas in Germany. Stuttgart Region is governed by an elected parliament. Situated at the heart of Baden-Württemberg, the Stuttgart Region is the hub of economic, scientific, the area currently has Germanys highest density of scientific, academic and research organisations, and tops the national league for patent applications. The Gross Domestic Product for Stuttgart Region was recorded at about €35,000 per capita, about €64,000 per employed person, the unemployment rate is 4.8 per cent. Stuttgart Region is one of Europes economic centres, in total, approximately 150,000 companies are located in the Stuttgart Region. 24 per cent of employees in the Stuttgart Region work in the high-tech sector – a European record, the Verband Region Stuttgart as a political entity is responsible for regional transportation planning and for the basic network of public transport in Stuttgart Region. Stuttgart Region shouldnt be confused with the Administrative District of Stuttgart, the Stuttgart Metropolitan Area, according to the definition of the European Union, is neither identical with the inner Stuttgart Region nor with the Administrative District of Stuttgart. The Stuttgart Metropolitan Area consists i. a. of the larger cities. Map of Baden-Württemberg Left, Stuttgart Region - Right, Stuttgart Administrative District Competence Centers Stuttgart Region Portal Region Stuttgart Push
11.
Stuttgart
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Stuttgart is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the Stuttgart Cauldron an hour from the Swabian Jura. Stuttgarts urban area has a population of 623,738, making it the sixth largest city in Germany. 2.7 million people live in the administrative region and another 5.3 million people in its metropolitan area. Since the 6th millennium BC, the Stuttgart area has been an important agricultural area and has been host to a number of cultures seeking to utilize the rich soil of the Neckar valley. The Roman Empire conquered the area in 83 AD and built a massive Castrum near Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgarts roots were truly laid in the 10th century with its founding by Liudolf, Duke of Swabia as a stud farm for his warhorses. Overshadowed by nearby Cannstatt, the town grew steadily and was granted a charter in 1320, the fortunes of Stuttgart turned with those of the House of Württemberg, and they made it the capital of their County, Duchy, and Kingdom from the 15th Century to 1918. Stuttgart prospered despite setbacks in the forms of the Thirty Years War and devastating air raids by the Allies on the city, however, by 1952, the city had bounced back and became the major economic, industrial, tourism and publishing center it is today. Stuttgart is also an important transport junction, and possesses the sixth largest airport in Germany. Such companies as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler AG, Dinkelacker, Stuttgart is unusual in the scheme of German cities. It is spread across a variety of hills, valleys and parks and this is often a source of surprise to visitors who associate the city with its reputation as the Cradle of the Automobile. The citys tourism slogan is Stuttgart offers more, under current plans to improve transport links to the international infrastructure, the city unveiled a new logo and slogan in March 2008 describing itself as Das neue Herz Europas. For business, it describes itself as Where business meets the future, in July 2010, Stuttgart unveiled a new city logo, designed to entice more business people to stay in the city and enjoy breaks in the area. Stuttgart is a city of mostly immigrants, according to Dorling Kindersley Publishings Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany, In the city of Stuttgart, every third inhabitant is a foreigner. 40% of Stuttgarts residents, and 64% of the population below the age of five are of immigrant background, the reason for this being that the city was founded in 950 AD by Duke Liudolf of Swabia to breed warhorses. Originally, the most important location in the Neckar river valley as the rim of the Stuttgart basin at what is today Bad Cannstatt. As with many military installations, a settlement sprang up nearby, when they did, the town was left in the capable hands of a local brickworks that produced sophisticated architectural ceramics and pottery. When the Romans were driven back past the Rhine and Danube rivers in the 3rd Century by the Alamanni, in 700, Duke Gotfrid mentions a Chan Stada in a document regarding property
12.
Rems-Murr
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Rems-Murr is a district in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Heilbronn, Schwäbisch Hall, Ostalbkreis, Göppingen, Esslingen, the district-free city Stuttgart, the district was created in 1973, when the district Waiblingen was merged with most of the district Backnang and few municipalities from the district Schwäbisch Gmünd. The biggest part of the district is located in the Swabian-Franconian Forest, the two rivers Rems and Murr gave the district its name. Rems-Murr-Kreis is twinned with, Southampton, United Kingdom, Official website
13.
Carolingian dynasty
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The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name Carolingian derives from the Latinised name of Charles Martel, the Carolingian dynasty reached its peak in 800 with the crowning of Charlemagne as the first Emperor of Romans in over three centuries. His death in 814 began a period of fragmentation of the Carolingian empire and decline that would eventually lead to the evolution of the Kingdom of France. This picture, however, is not commonly accepted today, the greatest Carolingian monarch was Charlemagne, who was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III at Rome in 800. His empire, ostensibly a continuation of the Western Roman Empire, is referred to historiographically as the Carolingian Empire, the Carolingian rulers did not give up the traditional Frankish practice of dividing inheritances among heirs, though the concept of the indivisibility of the Empire was also accepted. The Carolingians had the practice of making their sons kings in the various regions of the Empire. The Carolingians were displaced in most of the regna of the Empire by 888 and they ruled in East Francia until 911 and held the throne of West Francia intermittently until 987. One chronicler of Sens dates the end of Carolingian rule with the coronation of Robert II of France as junior co-ruler with his father, Hugh Capet, the dynasty became extinct in the male line with the death of Eudes, Count of Vermandois. His sister Adelaide, the last Carolingian, died in 1122, the Carolingian dynasty has five distinct branches, The Lombard branch, or Vermandois branch, or Herbertians, descended from Pepin of Italy, son of Charlemagne. Though he did not outlive his father, his son Bernard was allowed to retain Italy, Bernard rebelled against his uncle Louis the Pious, and lost both his kingdom and his life. Deprived of the title, the members of this branch settled in France. The counts of Vermandois perpetuated the Carolingian line until the 12th century, the Counts of Chiny and the lords of Mellier, Neufchâteau and Falkenstein are branches of the Herbertians. With the descendants of the counts of Chiny, there would have been Herbertian Carolingians to the early 14th century, the Lotharingian branch, descended from Emperor Lothair, eldest son of Louis the Pious. At his death Middle Francia was divided equally between his three surviving sons, into Italy, Lotharingia and Lower Burgundy, the sons of Emperor Lothair did not have sons of their own, so Middle Francia was divided between the western and eastern branches of the family in 875. The Aquitainian branch, descended from Pepin of Aquitaine, son of Louis the Pious, since he did not outlive his father, his sons were deprived of Aquitaine in favor of his younger brother Charles the Bald. The German branch, descended from Louis the German, King of East Francia, since he had three sons, his lands were divided into Duchy of Bavaria, Duchy of Saxony and Duchy of Swabia. His youngest son Charles the Fat briefly reunited both East and West Francia — the entirety of the Carolingian empire — but it again after his death. With the failure of the lines of the German branch, Arnulf of Carinthia
14.
Charles the Fat
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Charles the Fat, also known as Charles III, was the Carolingian Emperor from 881 to 888. The youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, Charles was a great-grandson of Charlemagne and was the last Carolingian to rule over the briefly re-united empire, over his lifetime, Charles became ruler of the various kingdoms of Charlemagnes former Empire. Crowned Emperor in 881 by Pope John VIII, his succession to the territories of his brother Louis the Younger the following year reunited the kingdom of East Francia. Upon the death of his cousin Carloman II in 884, he inherited all of West Francia, the reunited Empire would not last. During a coup led by his nephew Arnulf of Carinthia in November 887, Charles was deposed in East Francia, Lotharingia, forced into quiet retirement he died of natural causes in January 888, just a few weeks after his deposition. The Empire quickly fell apart after his death, splintering into five separate successor kingdoms, the nickname Charles the Fat is not contemporary. It was first used by the Annalista Saxo in the twelfth century, there is no contemporary reference to Charless physical size, but the nickname has stuck and is the common name in most modern European languages. Regino of Prüm, a contemporary of Charless recording his death, calls him Emperor Charles, third of that name, Charles was the youngest of the three sons of Louis the German, first King of East Francia, and Hemma from the House of Welf. An incident of demonic possession is recorded in his youth, in which he was said to have been foaming at the mouth before he was taken to the altar of the church and this greatly affected his father and himself. In 859 Charles was made Count of the Breisgau, an Alemannic march bordering southern Lotharingia, in 863 his rebellious eldest brother Carloman revolted against their father. The next year Louis the Younger followed Carloman in revolt and Charles joined him, Carloman received rule over the Duchy of Bavaria. In 865 the elder Louis was forced to divide his lands among his heirs, Duchy of Saxony went to Louis. Lotharingia was to be divided between the younger two, Louis the German sent first Charles and then Carloman himself, with armies containing Italian forces under Berengar of Friuli, their cousin, to the Italian kingdom. These wars, however, were not successful until the death of Charles the Bald in 877, in 876 Louis the German died and the inheritance was divided as planned after a conference at Ries, though Charles received less of his share of Lotharingia than planned. In his charters, Charles reign in Germania is dated from his inheritance in 876, three brothers ruled in cooperation and avoided wars over the division of their patrimony, a rare occurrence in the Early Middle Ages. In 877 Carloman finally inherited Italy from his uncle Charles the Bald, Louis divided Lotharingia and offered a third to Carloman and a third to Charles. In 878 Carloman returned his Lotharingian share to Louis, who divided it evenly with Charles. In 879 Carloman was incapacitated by a stroke and divided his domains between his brothers, Bavaria went to Louis and Italy to Charles, Charles dated his reign in Italia from this point, and from then he spent most of his reign until 886 in his Italian kingdom
15.
Salian dynasty
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The Salian dynasty, was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. He was elected German King in 1024 and crowned Holy Roman Emperor on 26 March 1027. The four Salian kings of the dynasty—Conrad II, Henry III, Henry IV, and Henry V—ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1125 and they achieved the development of a permanent administrative system based on a class of public officials answerable to the crown. Werner of Worms and his son Duke Conrad the Red of Lorraine, Conrad the Red married Liutgarde, a daughter of Emperor Otto I. Their son Otto I, Duke of Carinthia ruled Carinthia from 978 to 1004, Duke Otto had three sons, Bruno, who became Pope Gregory V, Conrad, and Henry, count of Speyer. Henry was the father of the first Salian Emperor Conrad II, Pope Leo IX also had family ties to the dynasty, since his grandfather Hugo III was the brother of Adelheid, the grandmother of Henry III. After the death of the last Saxon Emperor Henry II the first Salian regent Conrad II was elected by the majority of the Prince-electors and was crowned German king in Mainz on 8 September 1024. Early in 1026 Conrad went to Milan, where Ariberto, archbishop of Milan, when Rudolph III, King of Burgundy died 1032, Conrad II also claimed this kingship on the basis of an inheritance Henry II had extorted from the former in 1006. Despite some opposition, the Burgundian and Provençal nobles paid homage to Conrad in Zürich in 1034 and this Kingdom of Burgundy would become known as the Kingdom of Arles under Conrads successors. Already in 1028 Conrad II had his son Henry III elected and anointed king of Germany, henrys tenure led to an overstatement of previously unknown sacral kingship. So during this reign Speyer Cathedral was expanded to be the largest church in Western Christendom, henrys conception of a legitimate power of royal disposition in the duchies was successful against the dukes, and thus secured royal control. However, in Lorraine, this led to years of conflict, but also in southern Germany a powerful opposition group was formed in the years 1052–1055. 1046 Henry ended the schism, freed the Papacy from dependence on the Roman nobility. His early death in 1056 was long regarded as a disaster for the Empire, the early Salians owed much of their success to their alliance with the Church, a policy begun by Otto I, which gave them the material support they needed to subdue rebellious dukes. In time, however, the Church came to regret this close relationship, the pope also attacked the concept of monarchy by divine right and gained the support of significant elements of the German nobility interested in limiting imperial absolutism. More important, the pope forbade ecclesiastical officials under pain of excommunication to support Henry as they had so freely done in the past, in the end, Henry IV journeyed to Canossa in northern Italy in 1077 to do penance and to receive absolution from the pope. However, he resumed the practice of lay investiture and arranged the election of an antipope in 1080, the monarchs struggle with the papacy resulted in a war that ravaged through the Holy Roman Empire from 1077 until the Concordat of Worms in 1122. The reign of the last ruler of the Salian dynasty Henry V coincided with the phase of the great Investiture Controversy
16.
Hohenstaufen
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The Hohenstaufen, also called the Staufer or Staufen, were a dynasty of German kings during the Middle Ages. Besides Germany, they ruled the Kingdom of Sicily. In Italian historiography, they are known as the Svevi, since they were dukes of Swabia from 1079, three members of the dynasty—Frederick I, Henry VI and Frederick II—were crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The name Staufen derives from Stauf, meaning chalice, and was applied to conical hills in Swabia in the Middle Ages. The family derives its name from the castle which the first Swabian duke of the lineage built there in the half of the 11th century. Staufen castle was finally called Hohenstaufen by historians in the 19th century. The name of the dynasty followed, but in recent decades the trend in German historiography has been to prefer the name Staufer, the noble family first appeared in the late 10th century in the Swabian Riesgau region around the former Carolingian court of Nördlingen. A local count Frederick is mentioned as progenitor in a pedigree drawn up by Abbot Wibald of Stavelot at the behest of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1153. He held the office of a Swabian count palatine, his son Frederick of Buren married Hildegard of Egisheim-Dagsburg and their son Frederick I was appointed Duke of Swabia at Hohenstaufen Castle by the Salian king Henry IV of Germany in 1079. At the same time, Duke Frederick I was engaged to the kings approximately seventeen-year-old daughter, Fredericks brother Otto was elevated to the Strasbourg bishopric in 1082. Upon Fredericks death, he was succeeded by his son, Duke Frederick II, Frederick II remained a close ally of the Salians, he and his younger brother Conrad were named the kings representatives in Germany when the king was in Italy. Around 1120, Frederick II married Judith of Bavaria from the rival House of Welf, when the last male member of the Salian dynasty, Emperor Henry V, died without heirs in 1125, a controversy arose about the succession. A civil war between Fredericks dynasty and Lothairs ended with Fredericks submission in 1134, after Lothairs death in 1137, Fredericks brother Conrad was elected King as Conrad III. In 1147, Conrad heard Bernard of Clairvaux preach the Second Crusade at Speyer, conrads brother Duke Frederick II died in 1147, and was succeeded in Swabia by his son, Duke Frederick III. When King Conrad III died without heir in 1152, Frederick also succeeded him. As royal access to the resources of the church in Germany was much reduced and he was soon crowned emperor in Italy, but decades of warfare on the peninsula yielded scant results. The Papacy and the prosperous city-states of the Lombard League in northern Italy were traditional enemies, under the skilled leadership of Pope Alexander III, the alliance suffered many defeats but ultimately was able to deny the emperor a complete victory in Italy. During Fredericks long stays in Italy, the German princes became stronger, offers of reduced taxes and manorial duties enticed many Germans to settle in the east in the course of the Ostsiedlung
17.
Guelphs and Ghibellines
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The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rivalry between two parties formed a particularly important aspect of the internal politics of medieval Italy. The struggle for power between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire had arisen with the Investiture Controversy, which began in 1075, the division between the Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy, however, persisted until the 15th century. Guelph is an Italian form of the name of the House of Welf, the names were likely introduced to Italy during the reign of Frederick Barbarossa. When Frederick conducted military campaigns in Italy to expand imperial power there, the Lombard League and its allies were defending the liberties of the urban communes against the Emperors encroachments and became known as Guelphs. The Ghibellines were thus the party, while the Guelphs supported the Pope. Broadly speaking, Guelphs tended to come from wealthy mercantile families, the Lombard League defeated Frederick at the Battle of Legnano in 1176. Frederick recognized the autonomy of the cities of the Lombard league under his nominal suzerainty. The division developed its own dynamic in the politics of medieval Italy, smaller cities tended to be Ghibelline if the larger city nearby was Guelph, as Guelph Republic of Florence and Ghibelline Republic of Siena faced off at the Battle of Montaperti,1260. Pisa maintained a staunch Ghibelline stance against her fiercest rivals, the Guelph Republic of Genoa, adherence to one of the parties could therefore be motivated by local or regional political reasons. Within cities, party allegiances differed from guild to guild, rione to rione, moreover, sometimes traditionally Ghibelline cities allied with the Papacy, while Guelph cities were even punished with interdict. Contemporaries did not use the terms Guelph and Ghibellines much until about 1250, at the beginning of the 13th century, Philip of Swabia, a Hohenstaufen, and his son-in-law Otto of Brunswick, a Welf, were rivals for the imperial throne. Philip was supported by the Ghibellines as a relative of Frederick I, Frederick II also introduced this division to the Crusader states in the Levant during the Sixth Crusade. After the death of Frederick II in 1250 the Ghibellines were supported by Conrad IV of Germany and later Manfred, King of Sicily, the Sienese Ghibellines inflicted a noteworthy defeat on Florentine Guelphs at the Battle of Montaperti. In that period the stronghold of Italian Ghibellines was the city of Forlì and that city remained with the Ghibelline factions, partly as a means of preserving its independence, rather than out of loyalty to the temporal power, as Forlì was nominally in the Papal States. Over the centuries, the papacy tried several times to control of Forlì. Essentially the two sides were now fighting either against German influence, or against the power of the Pope. In Florence and elsewhere the Guelphs usually included merchants and burghers and they also adopted peculiar customs such as wearing a feather on a particular side of their hats, or cutting fruit a particular way, according to their affiliation
18.
Thirty Years' War
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The Thirty Years War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, as well as the deadliest European religious war, resulting in eight million casualties. Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers. These states employed relatively large mercenary armies, and the war became less about religion, in the 17th century, religious beliefs and practices were a much larger influence on an average European than they are today. The war began when the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to impose uniformity on his domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights to choose that had granted in the Peace of Augsburg. Ferdinand II was a devout Roman Catholic and relatively intolerant when compared to his predecessor and his policies were considered strongly pro-Catholic. They ousted the Habsburgs and elected Frederick V, Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate as their monarch, Frederick took the offer without the support of the union. The southern states, mainly Roman Catholic, were angered by this, led by Bavaria, these states formed the Catholic League to expel Frederick in support of the Emperor. The Empire soon crushed this rebellion in the Battle of White Mountain. After the atrocities committed in Bohemia, Saxony finally gave its support to the union, Spain, wishing to finally crush the Dutch rebels in the Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, intervened under the pretext of helping its dynastic Habsburg ally, Austria. No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its borders, Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants in order to counter the Habsburgs. Both mercenaries and soldiers in fighting armies traditionally looted or extorted tribute to get operating funds, the war also bankrupted most of the combatant powers. The Thirty Years War ended with the treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, the war altered the previous political order of European powers. Lutherans living in a prince-bishopric could continue to practice their faith, Lutherans could keep the territory they had taken from the Catholic Church since the Peace of Passau in 1552. Those prince-bishops who had converted to Lutheranism were required to give up their territories and this added a third major faith to the region, but its position was not recognized in any way by the Augsburg terms, to which only Catholicism and Lutheranism were parties. The Dutch revolted against Spanish domination during the 1560s, leading to a war of independence that led to a truce only in 1609. This dynastic concern overtook religious ones and led to Catholic Frances participation on the otherwise Protestant side of the war, Sweden and Denmark-Norway were interested in gaining control over northern German states bordering the Baltic Sea
19.
Waiblingen
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Waiblingen is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart Region, directly neighboring Stuttgart. It is the capital of the Rems-Murr district, as of September 30,2004 Waiblingen accommodated 52,948 inhabitants. As of December 31,2004, the area of the town was 42.76 km2, Waiblingen was first mentioned in Carolingian documents in 885 at the time of Charles the Fat. It received its charter in 1250. Waiblingen was the property of the Salian kings, from whom the Hohenstaufen dukes and it is assumed that the Italian name of the Hohenstaufen party, Ghibelline, is derived from Waiblingen. The town was almost completely destroyed in 1634 during the Thirty Years War and it was rebuilt after the war, the existing old central part of the town dates back to the years between 1640 and 1700. Its fortifications are now well restored, has two factories there, for polymer and packaging technology. It is also the location for the processing center for the Stuttgart region of the Deutsche Post. Waiblingen is twinned with, Mayenne, France Devizes, United Kingdom Jesi, Italy Baja, Hungary 1883, Dr. med. Gustav Pfeilsticker 1907, Ferdinand Küderli 1930, Theodor Kaiser 1932, Friedrich Schofer 1934, Albert Roller 1953, Emil Münz 1967, Alfred Diebold 1968, Adolf Bauer 1997, Dr. Waiblingen
20.
Chainsaw
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A chainsaw is a portable, mechanical saw which cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain that runs along a guide bar. It is used in such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pruning, cutting firebreaks in wildland fire suppression. Chainsaws with specially designed bar and chain combinations have been developed as tools for use in chainsaw art, specialized chainsaws are used for cutting concrete. Chainsaws are sometimes used for cutting ice, for example for ice sculpture, someone who uses a saw is a sawyer. The origin is debated, but a tool was made around 1830 by the German orthopaedist Bernhard Heine. This instrument, the osteotome, had links of a chain carrying small cutting teeth with the set at an angle. As the name implies, this was used to cut bone, the chain hand saw, a fine serrated link chain which cut on the concave side, was invented around 1783-1785. It was illustrated in Aitkens Principles of Midwifery or Puerperal Medicine, Jeffray claimed to have conceived the idea of the chain saw independently about that time but it was 1790 before he was able to have it produced. In 1806, Jeffray published Cases of the Excision of Carious Joints by H. Park, in this communication he translated Moreaus paper of 1803. Park and Moreau described successful excision of diseased joints, particularly the knee, Jeffray explained that the chain saw would allow a smaller wound and protect the adjacent neurovascular bundle. While a heroic concept, symphysiotomy had too many complications for most obstetricians but Jeffrays ideas became accepted, mechanised versions of the chain saw were developed but in the later 19th Century, it was superseded in surgery by the Gigli twisted wire saw. For much of the 19th century, however, the saw was a useful surgical instrument. The earliest patent for an endless chain saw was granted to Samuel J. Bens of San Francisco on January 17,1905. His intent being to fell giant redwoods, the first portable chainsaw was developed and patented in 1918 by Canadian millwright James Shand. After he allowed his rights to lapse in 1930 his invention was developed by what became the German company Festo in 1933. The company now operates as Festool producing portable power tools, in 1927, Emil Lerp, the founder of Dolmar, developed the worlds first gasoline-powered chainsaw and mass-produced them. World War II interrupted the supply of German chain saws to North America, so new manufacturers sprang up including Industrial Engineering Ltd in 1947, Ltd and part of Outboard Marine Corporation, the oldest manufacturer of chainsaws in North America. McCulloch in North America started to produce chainsaws in 1948, the early models were heavy, two-person devices with long bars
21.
Stihl
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Andreas Stihl AG & Company is a German manufacturer of chainsaws and other handheld power equipment including trimmers and blowers. Their headquarters are in Waiblingen, Baden-Württemberg near Stuttgart, Germany, Stihl was founded in 1926 by Andreas Stihl, an important innovator in early chain saw production. Stihl claims to be the worlds best-selling brand of chain saws, Andreas Stihl AG is a privately held company owned by the descendants of Andreas Stihl. Andreas Stihl designed and hand built the first chain saw in 1926, the saw was electric powered, and weighed in at about 64 kg. Stihl growth was initially, as the chainsaws hit the market about the same time as the Great Depression, with manpower cheap. The early saws were very heavy, and often needed two men to operate them, some outfits had a wheeled generator which had a power cord to run to the electric saw. Stihl saws saw service with the Wehrmacht, particularly in Eastern Europe and Russia, after the war, the availability of cheap, strong aluminum, better designs, and more powerful engines meant that the Stihl saw came into its own. In the mid-1970s Stihl expanded the company by building manufacturing plants in Brazil, much of the increased demand came from the construction and landscaping markets. Along with the markets, Stihl designed a number of homeowner use equipment, like blowers, line trimmers, edgers. In 2008, the newest Stihl production facility is a plant located in Qingdao, in December 2008, Stihl acquired the carburetor producer Zama to safeguard the supply and to enter a new business segment with growth potential. Stihl Incorporated is the American branch of Stihl Group based in Virginia Beach, construction of the facilities there began in 1974. Along with the side of the company, there are also warehouses. Official website Official STIHL USA website
22.
Briefzentrum (Deutsche Post)
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A Briefzentrum is a district center for the processing of letters for Deutsche Post. Before 1993, there were more than 1,000 centers for the processing of letters, with the introduction of the new postal codes in Germany,83 different district centers were built between 1994 and 1998. In 2003, Briefzentrum 42 was closed, since then, there are only 82 district processing centers
23.
Deutsche Post
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Deutsche Post AG, operating under the trade name Deutsche Post DHL Group, is a German postal service and international courier service company, the worlds largest. With its headquarters in Bonn, the corporation has 510,000 employees, Deutsche Post is the successor to the German mail authority Deutsche Bundespost, which was privatized in 1995 and became a fully independent company in 2000. DHL Express is an owned subsidiary. Since its privatization, Deutsche Post has significantly expanded its business area through acquisitions, the postal division delivers 59 million letters each day in Germany, making it Europes largest such company. The Express division provides services in 220 countries, in late 2014, the Group acquired StreetScooter GmbH, a small manufacturer of electric vehicles. Two years later, the Group acquired UK Mail, a postal service in the UK for US$315.5. The former company became a division of the Deutsche Post European parcel network, the Deutsche Post DHL Group 2016 earnings before interest and taxes was €3.491 billion, with a net profit of €2.64 billion on revenue of €57,334 billion. Return on equity, before taxes, was 27.7 percent, the Groups long term credit rating, in November 2016, was BBB+ with a Stable outlook per Fitchs. Deutsche Post AG is listed on the Börse Frankfurt as DPW and is in the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. In 2016,20. 5% of the Groups shares are held by the state-owned KfW bank,79. 5% are freely floating,65. 6% of which are held by institutional and 10. 8% by private investors. Since its privatization, Deutsche Post has significantly expanded its business area through acquisitions, the massive, worldwide Deutsche Post DHL Group is quite recent. The following are the significant dates in the development into its current form,2 January 1995, Deutsche Bundespost Postdienst becomes Deutsche Post AG, this is the companys privatization. The government of Germany still owns a share of the company. 1998, Deutsche Post begins acquiring shares in DHL International,1999, Deutsche Post World Net acquires the Dutch distribution company Van Gend & Loos from Nedlloyd and in 2000 the Swiss distribution company Danzas. 20 November 2000, Deutsche Post AG becomes a private company, with a new Board of Directors. The government of Germany sells one third of its shares and KfW bank sells some of its shares, December 2002, Deutsche Post AG acquires the remaining shares in DHL International. August 2003, The company acquires the Seattle-based Airborne Express, the company integrates Van Gend & Loos, Danzas, Airborne Express, and its own EuroExpress into DHL to form DHL Express. December 2005, The Group acquires the logistics company Exel in the UK, a£3.7 billion takeover, Excel provided transport,2006, DHL GlobalMail UK merges with Mercury International
24.
Sister city
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In recent times, town twinning has increasingly been used to form strategic international business links between member cities. In the United Kingdom, the twin towns is most commonly used. In mainland Europe, the most commonly used terms are twin towns, partnership towns, partner towns, the European Commission uses the term twinned towns and refers to the process as town twinning. Spain uses the term ciudades hermanadas that means sister cities, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic use Partnerstadt / Miasto Partnerskie / Partnerské město, which translate as Partner Town or City. France uses Ville Jumelée, and Italy has Gemellaggio and Comune gemellato, in the Netherlands, the term is Stedenband. In Greece, the word αδελφοποίηση has been adopted, in Iceland, the terms vinabæir and vinaborgir are used. In the former Soviet Bloc, twin towns and twin cities are used, the Americas, South Asia, and Australasia use the term sister cities or twin cities. In China, the term is 友好城市, sometimes, other government bodies enter into a twinning relationship, such as the agreement between the provinces of Hainan in China and Jeju-do in South Korea. The Douzelage is a twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. In recent years, the term city diplomacy has gained increased usage and acceptance, particularly as a strand of paradiplomacy and public diplomacy. It is formally used in the workings of the United Cities and Local Governments, the importance of cities developing their own foreign economic policies on trade, foreign investment, tourism and attracting foreign talent has also been highlighted by the World Economic Forum. The earliest known town twinning in Europe was between Paderborn, Germany, and Le Mans, France, in 836, starting in 1905, Keighley in West Yorkshire, England, had a twinning arrangement with French communities Suresnes and Puteaux. The first recorded modern twinning agreement was between Keighley and Poix-du-Nord in Nord, France, in 1920 following the end of the First World War and this was initially referred to as an adoption of the French town, formal twinning charters were not exchanged until 1986. The practice was continued after the Second World War as a way to promote mutual understanding, for example, Coventry twinned with Stalingrad and later with Dresden as an act of peace and reconciliation, all three cities having been heavily bombed during the war. Similarly, in 1947, Bristol Corporation sent five leading citizens on a mission to Hanover. Reading in 1947 was the first British town to form links with an enemy city – Düsseldorf. Since 9 April 1956 Rome and Paris have been exclusively and reciprocally twinned with other, following the motto, Only Paris is worthy of Rome. Within Europe, town twinning is supported by the European Union, the support scheme was established in 1989
25.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
26.
Mayenne, Mayenne
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Mayenne is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department and it is situated on the river Mayenne. In medieval times, the town was the seat of the Lords of Mayenne, the town originated when Juhel II of Mayenne built a monastery near the gate of the pre-existing castle, which led to the formation of the settlement. Mayenne was besieged twice, in 1574 and 1590, and suffered substantial damage and it was rebuilt and re-embellished in the following century thanks to the help of Cardinal Mazarin. It however suffered from plague in 1707, on 9 June 1944, during World War II, it was bombed by English aeroplanes, which caused heavy damage and numerous casualties. The Château, built in the century over remains of a Carolingian edifice. It has five towers, only one of which has kept its original conical roof, the vaulted rooms and the chapel have thirteenth century decorations. Once used as a prison, since 2008 it is home to a museum, the Basilica of Notre-Dame, founded in 1100. Of the original building, the piers and the arcades of the nave remain, romanesque church of St. Martin, enlarged in neo-medieval style during the nineteenth century
27.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
28.
Devizes
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Devizes /dᵻˈvaɪzᵻz/ is a market town and civil parish in the heart of Wiltshire, England. Standing on a hill at the east edge of the Vale of Pewsey, Devizes serves as a centre for banks, solicitors and shops and has an open market place where a market is held once a week. It has nearly five hundred listed buildings, some churches, a Town Hall. Its development has grown around the 11th century Norman castle, Devizes Castle was built by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury in 1080, but the town is not mentioned in the Domesday Book. Because the castle was on the boundaries of the manors of Rowde, Bishops Cannings and Potterne it became known as the castrum ad divisas, on John Speeds map of Wiltshire, the towns name is recorded as The Devyses. The first castle on the site was of the motte and bailey form and was made of wood and earth. A new castle was built in stone by Roger of Salisbury, Devizes received its first charter in 1141 permitting regular markets. The castle changed several times during the civil war between Stephen of Blois and Matilda in the 12th century. The castle held important prisoners, including Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror, the town has had churches since the 12th century and today has four Church of England parish churches. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the town of Devizes developed outside the castle with craftsmen, the first known market in Devizes was in 1228. The original market was in the space outside St Mary’s Church, rather than in the current Market Place. The chief products in the 16th and early 17th centuries were wheat, wool and yarn, with cheese, bacon, in 1643, during the English Civil War, Parliamentary forces under Sir William Waller besieged Royalist forces under Sir Ralph Hopton in Devizes. However the siege was lifted by a force from Oxford under Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester. Devizes remained under Royalist control until 1645, when Oliver Cromwell attacked and forced the Royalists to surrender, the castle was destroyed in 1648 on the orders of Parliament, a process known as slighting, and today little remains of it. From the 16th century Devizes became known for its textiles, initially white woollen broadcloth but later the manufacture of serge, drugget, felt and cassimere or Zephyr cloth. In the early 18th century Devizes held the largest corn market in the West Country of England and also traded hops, cattle, horses and various types of cloth. Before the Corn Exchange was built in 1857, the trade in wheat and barley was conducted in the open, with sacks piled around the market cross. Todays cross displays the salutary tale of Ruth Pierce, accused of cheating some buyers at the market, The coroner, John Clare, wool merchants were able to build prosperous town houses in St. Johns and Long Street and around the market place
29.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
30.
Iesi
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Jesi is a town and comune of the province of Ancona in Marche, Italy. It is an important industrial and artistic center in the floodplain on the bank of the Esino river 17 kilometres before its mouth on the Adriatic Sea. Jesi was one of the last towns of the Umbri when, in the 4th century BC and they turned it into a stronghold against the Piceni. In 283 BC the Senones were defeated by the Romans, Jesi in 247 BC became a colonia civium romanorum with the name of Aesis. During the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Iesi was ravaged by the troops of Odoacer, after the Gothic War, Italy became part of the Byzantine Empire, and Jesi became one of the main centers of the new rulers, and also became a diocese seat. In 751 it was sacked by the Lombard troops of Aistulf, starting from 1130, it was an independent commune, gradually expanding in the neighboring countryside. In December 1194 it was the site of the birth of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, in 1447 it was bought by the Papal States. Jesi cathedral, duomo built in the 13th-15th centuries, the façade and the Latin cross interior are modern. San Marco, Gothic, 13th-century church just outside historical centre, the interior has a nave and two aisles, with a 14th-century fresco by an anonymous Rimini painter. Santa Maria delle Grazie, 15th-century church with 17th-century belltower, san Nicolò, 13th-century church with Romanesque apse and a Gothic portal. The 14th century walls, built following the line of the Roman ones and mostly rebuilt in the 15th century by Baccio Pontelli, Palazzo della Signoria, built in 1486-1498 by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. The angular tower was elevated in 1661 and received a dome, notable is the interior courtyard, with two orders of loggias, partially designed by Andrea Sansovino from 1519. Palazzo Balleani, an example of local Baroque architecture, built from 1720, the façade has a characteristic balcony supported by four atlases. The interior has precious gilded stucco decoration, the wide façade has exactly one hundred windows, while the interior has a noteworthy giardino allitaliana. The palace houses the civic art gallery, with a series of paintings by the Venetian artist Lorenzo Lotto. The diamond-like bricks of the façade are inspired to famous Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara
31.
Hungary
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Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
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Baja, Hungary
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Baja is a city in Bács-Kiskun County, southern Hungary. It is the second largest city in the county, after the county seat at Kecskemét, the environs of Baja have been continuously inhabited since the end of the Iron Age, but there is evidence of human presence since prehistoric times. The settlement itself was most likely established in the 14th century, after the Ottoman Empire conquered Hungary, it grew to prominence more than other nearby settlements, and was granted town rights in 1696. Today, Baja plays an important role in the life of Northern Bácska as a commercial centre. It has several roads and a connection to other parts of the country. Being close to the Danube and the forest of Gemenc, as well as having its own cultural sights, makes it a candidate for tourism, Baja is the seat of the Baja municipality. The citys Hungarian name is derived from a Turkic language, the Latin name of the town is Francillo. Baja used to have also a German name, Frankenstadt, the South Slavs, Bunjevci and Serbs, who live in the city call Baja by the same name as Magyars do, but with a slightly different pronunciation. Its spelling in Serbian Cyrillic writing is Баја, the city is first mentioned in 1308. During the Turkish Conquest in the 16th and 17th centuries it was the center for the region. This era saw the immigration of Bunjevci and Serbs into the town, there was also an active Franciscan mission with monks from Bosnia. When Hungary was a part of the Habsburg Empire, the city was settled by Germans and Hungarians alongside some Jews. Due to its location on the Danube, it became a transportation and this was where grain and wine was loaded onto boats to be transported upriver to Austria and Germany. Until 1765, the inhabitants belonged to three nations, Bunjevac, the Germans and the Serbs, the Magyars – who escaped from the Ottoman Empire to the reduced Kingdom of Hungary – returned to the Great Plain after Hungary regained her lost territories. In 1699, Baja was Bács-Bodrog countys most industrialized city, in the 19th century Baja became a minor railway hub, but its importance declined as the railway to Fiume was built in order to get Hungarian grain seaborne. The city was still a commercial and service center for the region, in 1918, after World War I, the ceasefire line placed the city under administration of the newly formed Kingdom of Yugoslavia. By the Treaty of Trianon from 1920, the city was assigned to Hungary, after World War II the city became known for its textile mill and because of its important bridge crossing the Danube. Its importance is evident as people from the Bácska region of Hungary come for higher education, government
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Jakob Andreae
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Jakob Andreae was a significant German Lutheran theologian, involved in the drafting of major documents. He was born in Waiblingen, in the Duchy of Württemberg and he studied at the University of Tübingen from 1541. He attended the diets of Regensburg and Augsburg, became professor of theology in the University of Tübingen and he was active in Protestant discussions and movements, particularly in the adoption of a common declaration of faith by the two parties. In 1573 he conducted with the help of Martin Crusius a correspondence with Patriarch Jeremias II of Constantinople and he was a signatory of the 1577 Formula of Concord, and editor with Martin Chemnitz of the 1580 Book of Concord. In the latter part of his life he traveled in Bohemia and Germany, working for the consolidation of the Reformation, conferring with pastors, magistrates, and princes. He was the author of more than 150 works, nearly all polemical and vigorously written and he died in Tübingen, in the Duchy of Württemberg. He was the father of Johannes Andreae and the grandfather of Johann Valentin Andreae, studium Excitare, Biography of Jakob Andreae by Benjamin A. Foxen. Leben des Jakob Andreae, Doktor der Theologie, von ihm selbst mit grober Treue und Aufrichtigkeit beschriben, ernst Henke, Andreae, Jakob, Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie,1, Leipzig, Duncker & Humblot, pp. 436–441 Kolb, Robert. Andreae and the Formula of Concord, Six Sermons on the Way to Lutheran Unity, jungkuntz, Theodore R. Formulators of the Formula of Concord, Four Architects of Lutheran unity. ISBN 0-570-03740-9 Peter Meinhold, Andreae, Jakob, Neue Deutsche Biographie,1, Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, p
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Alfred Biolek
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Alfred Biolek is a well-known German entertainer and television producer. Biolek holds a PhD in law and is a professor at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Biolek was born in Freistadt in Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic, after expulsion from Czechoslovakia in 1946, the Biolek family moved to Waiblingen near Stuttgart, where Bioleks father practiced law again. Biolek was raised a Catholic and was an altar boy and he temporarily joined later the German conservative party CDU. He attended the Gymnasium in Waiblingen and graduated in 1954 and he then studied law in Freiburg im Breisgau, Munich und Vienna. In 1958 he took a first state exam of law and graduated with honors, Biolek worked as a lawyer in his fathers office and passed the second state exam. In 1970 Biolek moved to Munich and worked for a larger office, living in the city, Biolek underwent a radical change and distanced himself from his conservative mindset. He actively participated in the Munich bohemian lifestyle and was part of the film maker Rainer Werner Fassbinders circle of friends, in 1967, Biolek acted as an assessor in the legal department of the German TV channel ZDF and switched soon to editorial tasks. He became anchor man of the TV show Drehscheibe and produced since 1974 the show Am laufenden Band for Bavaria Film GmbH and that led to his career breakthrough. In 1975 with the journalist Dieter Thoma they started the talk show Kölner Treff for the channel WDR in Cologne, since 1978 aired his first own produced and moderated show with the title Bios Bahnhof. In 1980s, commercially unsuccessful shows followed, Bei Bio, Show Bühne, the result, Monty Pythons Fliegender Zirkus, was produced by Biolek in co-production with Westdeutscher Rundfunk. With his own company Pro GmbH, Biolek produced from 1991 to 2003 his weekly show Boulevard Bio, Biolek developed the art of sensitive conversation and attracted much attention. From 1994 to 2006, he also cooked together with celebrities in his show alfredissimo, additionally, the company owns 25% of the restaurant and discothek Alter Wartesaal in Cologne. Pro GmbH also acts as a manager for artists like Dirk Bach and Ralph Morgenstern, besides his media career, Biolek has been teaching since 1990 at the Academy of Media Arts, Cologne as an honorary professor. He supports the work of the American Field Service Deutschland e. V. with which he spent a year abroad in the US as one of the first German exchange students in the 1950s. He is actively engaged in the struggle against AIDS and unwanted pregnancy in Africa, in 2000, he was appointed the first German UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador. Moreover, in October 2005 Biolek founded the charity fund Alfred Biolek Stiftung – Hilfe für Afrika and he currently sits on the Advisor Board for the German Foundation for World Population. As a patron of the arts, Biolek is also committed to supporting cabaret and he is one of the patrons of the vaudeville Bar jeder Vernunft in Wilmersdorf
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Michael Fink
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Michael Fink is a German footballer who currently plays for SV Waldhof Mannheim as a playing assistant. Fink played from 1992 for VfB Stuttgart, in the beginning for the youth team, in 2004, Arminia Bielefeld signed him for their Bundesliga campaign. Fink left Arminia Bielefeld after the 2005–06 season to join Eintracht Frankfurt, in January 2008, he scored a bicycle kick goal in a friendly against Paderborn that won the Goal of the month award. On 29 November 2008, there were reports linking Fink with a return to Stuttgart in the press, Eintracht Frankfurt press officer Carsten Knoop confirmed that Fink would be leaving at the end of the season. Fink joined Turkish side Beşiktaş for €1.2 million with a 3 years long contract, Fink had his pro-competitive match debut in the Super Cup, in which Beşiktaş had lost 0–2 against Fenerbahçe. Fink played a full 90 minutes in the victory over Manchester United with a 0–1. He scored his goal against Fenerbahce SK and this goal is opted for the best goal of the first part of 2009–10 season by his teammates. Michael Fink at eintracht-archiv. de Michael Fink at Fussballdaten
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Claus E. Heinrich
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Since 2009 he serves as honorary senator of the Heidelberg University. Heinrich was born in Waiblingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and he studied Operations Research and business administration at the University of Mannheim from 1976 to 1981, where he obtained his Diplom-Kaufmann. Afterwards, he obtained his Ph. D. in Operations Research and Supply Chain Management in 1986 at the University of Mannheim and was visiting researcher at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. He started his career in 1987 and entered the SAP AG in Walldorf and he became member of the global executive committee of SAP in 1996, where he was for the companys product area of Supply Chain Management. He left SAP in 2009 and founded the Sovanta AG that focus on end-to-end business application solutions, Heinrich lives in Heidelberg, is married and father of four children. He is author of books, including Adapt or Die - Transforming Your Supply Chain into an Adaptive Business Network and RFID. List of University of Mannheim people University of Mannheim Biography about Claus E. Heinrich
Media related to Waiblingen at Wikimedia Commons
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Waiblingen". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "