Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland and its population is estimated at 1.8 million residents within a greater metropolitan area of 3.1 million residents, which makes Warsaw the 7th most-populous capital city in the European Union. The city limits cover 517.24 square kilometres, while the metropolitan area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres. Warsaw is an alpha global city, a major international tourist destination, a significant cultural and economic hub, its historical old town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once described as the "Paris of the North", Warsaw was believed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world until World War II. Bombed at the start of the German invasion in 1939, the city withstood a siege for which it was awarded Poland's highest military decoration for heroism, the Virtuti Militari. Deportations of the Jewish population to concentration camps led to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 and the destruction of the Ghetto after a month of combat.

A general Warsaw Uprising between August and October 1944 led to greater devastation and systematic razing by the Germans in advance of the Vistula–Oder Offensive. Warsaw gained the new title of Phoenix City because of its extensive history and complete reconstruction after World War II, which had left over 85% of its buildings in ruins. Warsaw is one of Europe's most dynamic metropolitan cities. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world. In 2017 the city came 4th in the "Business-friendly" category and 8th in "Human capital and life style", it was ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central and Eastern Europe. The city is a significant centre of research and development, Business process outsourcing, Information technology outsourcing, as well as of the Polish media industry; the Warsaw Stock Exchange is most important in Central and Eastern Europe. Frontex, the European Union agency for external border security as well as ODIHR, one of the principal institutions of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have their headquarters in Warsaw.

Together with Frankfurt and Paris, Warsaw is one of the cities with the highest number of skyscrapers in the European Union. The city is the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Warsaw, the Warsaw University of Technology, the National Museum, the Great Theatre—National Opera, the largest of its kind in the world, the Zachęta National Gallery of Art; the picturesque Old Town of Warsaw, which represents examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period, was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980. Other main architectural attractions include the Castle Square with the Royal Castle and the iconic King Sigismund's Column, the Wilanów Palace, the Łazienki Palace, St. John's Cathedral, Main Market Square, palaces and mansions all displaying a richness of colour and detail. Warsaw is positioning itself as Central and Eastern Europe's chic cultural capital with thriving art and club scenes and serious restaurants, with around a quarter of the city's area occupied by parks.

Warsaw's name in the Polish language is Warszawa. Other previous spellings of the name may have included Werszewa. According to some sources, the origin of the name is unknown. In Pre-Slavic toponomastic layer of Northern Mazovia: corrections and addenda, it is stated that the toponymy of northern Mazovia tends to have unclear etymology. Warszawa was the name of a fishing village. According to one theory Warszawa means "belonging to Warsz", Warsz being a shortened form of the masculine name of Slavic origin Warcisław; however the ending -awa is unusual for a big city. Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman and his wife, Sawa. According to legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula River. In actuality, Warsz was a 12th/13th-century nobleman who owned a village located at the modern-day site of the Mariensztat neighbourhood. See the Vršovci family which had escaped to Poland; the official city name in full is miasto stołeczne Warszawa. Other names for Warsaw include Varsovia and Varsóvia, Varsavia, Warschau, װאַרשע /Varshe, Варшава / Varšava, Varšuva, Varsó, Varšava and Varšava.

A native or resident of Warsaw is known as a Varsovian – in Polish warszawiak, warszawianka and warszawianie. The first fortified settlements on the site of today's Warsaw were located in Jazdów. After Jazdów was raided by nearby clans and dukes, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa; the Prince of Płock, Bolesław II of Masovia, established this settlement, the modern-day Warsaw, in about 1300. In the beginning of the 14th century it became one of the seats of the Dukes of Masovia, becoming the official capital of the Masovian Duchy in 1413. 14th-century Warsaw's economy rested on crafts and trade. Upon the extinction of the local ducal line, the duchy was reincorporated into the Crown of the Kingdom of P

Königs Wusterhausen is a railway station for the town of Königs Wusterhausen in Brandenburg. It is the southern terminus of the S-Bahn line; the station is served by the following service: Regional services RE 2 Wismar – Schwerin – Wittenberge – Nauen – Berlin – Königs Wusterhausen – Lübben – Cottbus Local services RB 22 Berlin – Potsdam – Golm – Saarmund – Berlin-Schönefeld Airport - Königs Wusterhausen Local services RB 24 Eberswalde – Berlin – Königs Wusterhausen – Lübben – Senftenberg Local services RB 36 Königs Wusterhausen – Beeskow – Frankfurt Berlin S-Bahn services Westend - Westkreuz - Innsbrucker Platz - Südkreuz - Neukölln - Schöneweide - Grünau - Königs Wusterhausen Media related to Bahnhof Königs Wusterhausen at Wikimedia Commons

Benjamen Chinn was an American photographer known for his black and white images of Chinatown, San Francisco and of Paris, France in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Born in San Francisco's Chinatown on April 30, 1921, Benjamen Chinn was the ninth of twelve children, he was introduced to photography at the age of ten by his older brother, who taught him how to develop and print photos. Together the two assembled a darkroom in the basement of the family home. Throughout his photographic career, Chinn, an engineer by profession, would become known for his skills in the darkroom. During World War II, he served in the Pacific as an aerial and public relations photographer for the U. S. Army Air Corps. Based at Hickam Field in Hawaii, he and a lone pilot flew reconnaissance missions in bombers, converted into unarmed camera planes. After the war, Chinn returned to San Francisco and was accepted into a new fine art photography program at the California School of Fine Arts, now the San Francisco Art Institute.

In this program, Ansel Adams and Minor White groomed the next generation of fine art photographers in the so-called “West Coast School of Photography.” Lecturers included Imogen Cunningham, Lisette Model and Dorothea Lange. "The climax of every year was the five day, early spring trip to visit Edward Weston and to photograph at Point Lobos State Reserve, which his pictures had made famous. Full time concern with photography was nothing new to us, but on this trip the intensity rose like a thermometer held over a match flame." The close-knit circle of teachers and students would become lifelong friends. Chinn was close to Cunningham, through the end of her life he would bring dim sum to her house for their lunches together. During this time Chinn began photographing San Francisco's Chinatown, his images exhibit a natural curiosity about people. He made intimate portraits of everyday life in the post-war era, his photos display an intuitive sense of form and movement and he credited his development to his CSFA painting instructors Dorr Bothwell and Richard Diebenkorn.

The photos, many of which were taken from his doorstep, create a unique portrait of Chinatown from an insider's point of view. Chinn went on to Europe and photographed Parisian street life from 1950 to 1951 while studying sculpture from Alberto Giacometti at the Académie Julian, he took painting classes at Fernand Léger’s school, geography and philosophy at the Sorbonne. He became friends with Henri Cartier-Bresson. Living in Paris, without a darkroom for the first time, he developed the negatives of the photos he took, but did not print or see any of the images until after he returned to San Francisco. In 1954, Minor White exhibited some of Chinn’s Paris photos at a show titled Perceptions at the San Francisco Museum of Art. White used one of them for the cover of the second edition of Aperture magazine. At this time, Chinn assisted Wayne Miller and Dorothea Lange as part of the West Coast Selection Committee for Edward Steichen's Family of Man exhibition. In 1953, Chinn went to work for the Sixth United States Army Photo Lab in the Presidio of San Francisco.

He met Paul Caponigro a twenty-year-old enlisted man doing his military service at the lab. Attracted by their mutual interest in classical music, Ben volunteered to train Caponigro in the technical aspects of negative and print making. Caponigro would go on to become a substantial landscape art photographer. Additionally, he introduced Caponigro to his teachers, now friends, from the CSFA: Adams, White and Cunningham. Caponigro writes, “Through Ben, I felt that I had been admitted into a'guild' of serious image makers using light and silver emulsions. Ben's own talent and ability with the camera coupled with his willingness to reach out to another human being gave me a great start and the inspiration to extend myself to those searching to develop within the realm of great art.” Chinn had a thirty-one year career at the army photo lab where he rose to Chief of Photographic Services and Chief of Training Aids & Services Division. Though he stopped pursuing photography as a fine art, his life and relationships as a photographer never ceased.

He continued to travel with his camera, photographing the Tarahumara Indians in Copper Canyon and the indigenous peoples of Teotitlán. Throughout his life, Chinn maintained numerous lifelong friendships, he participated in social groups that shared his beliefs in religion, the arts and the enjoyment of food and good company – spending hours discussing classical music and the books of the day. He continued to photograph with a 35mm camera and shared his artistry through holiday cards and documentary photography support for Project Concern International. After retiring, Chinn's passion for photography continued, as he volunteered at a one-hour photo store in Chinatown developing people's photos. Benjamen Chinn lived in the family house in Chinatown until February, 2008, when he was moved to an assisted-living facility, he died on April 2009 at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in San Francisco, California. Benjamen Chinn's work evidenced the influence of the world of black and white art photography in the United States, during the 1940s and 1950s.

His work became influential for many new and esteemed artists. While his work has had a number of exhibitions, it has lain unrecognized until the turn of the 21st century. In more than one of his publications, noted landscape photographer Paul Caponigro has acknowledged the influence that studying with Benjamen Chinn had on him. Author Alexandra Chang wrote