MISCELLANEOUS - 4 SCHWABENLAND Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabia" Swabia, Suabia, or Svebia (German: Schwaben, Schwabenland or Ländle) is both a historic and linguistic (see Swabian German) region in Germany. Swabia consists of much of the present-day state of Baden-Württemberg (specifically, historical Württemberg and the Hohenzollerische Lande), as well as the Bavarian administrative region of Swabia. In the Middle Ages, Baden, Vorarlberg, the modern principality of Liechtenstein, modern German-speaking Switzerland, and Alsace (now in France) were also considered to be a part of Swabia. Contents: 1 History 1.1 Suebi 1.2 Duchy of Swabia 1.3 Holy Roman Empire 1.4 Modern history 2 Swabian settlements abroad 3 Popular culture 4 Related Alemannic dialects 5 Famous Swabians 6 See also 7 External links 8 References History --- Suebi: Europe in 400 AD, showing the Suebi in Swabia and their neighbors. 2000 years ago, the Suebi or Suevi were an Elbe Germanic people whose origin was near the Baltic Sea, which was thus known to the Romans as the Mare Suebicum (today, the term "Swabian Sea" is applied to Lake Constance - Bodensee). They migrated to the southwest, becoming part of the Alamannic confederacy. The Alamanni were ruled by independent kings throughout the 4th and 5th centuries. Also, a number of Suevi (20,000-50,000[1]) reached the Iberian Peninsula under king Hermeric and established an independent kingdom in 410 in what is now northern Portugal, Galicia, and western regions of Asturias and most of León (in northwest Spain). It endured until 585. Its political center was Braccara Augusta (present-day Braga, Portugal). Duchy of Swabia - Main article - Alamannia: Swabia became a duchy under the Frankish Empire in 496, following the Battle of Tolbiac. Swabia was one of the original stem duchies of East Francia, the later Holy Roman Empire, as it developed in the 9th and 10th centuries. The Hohenstaufen dynasty (the dynasty of Frederick Barbarossa), which ruled the Holy Roman Empire in the 12th and 13th centuries, arose out of Swabia, but following the execution of Conradin, the last Hohenstaufen, on October 29, 1268, the original duchy gradually broke up into many smaller units. Holy Roman Empire: Karl the Great (or Charlemagne - Karl der Grosse's) family is known to hail from Swabia. The major dynasties that arose out of the region were the Habsburgs and the Hohenzollerns, who rose to prominence in Northern Germany. Also stemming from Swabia are the local dynasties of the Dukes of Württemberg and the Margraves of Baden. The Welf family went on to rule in Bavaria and Hanover, and are ancestral to the British royal family that has ruled since 1714. Smaller feudal dynasties eventually disappeared; however, for example, branches of the Montforts and Hohenems lived until modern times, and the Fürstenberg survive still. The region proved to be one of the most divided in the Empire, containing, in addition to these principalities, numerous free cities, ecclesiastical territories, and fiefdoms of lesser counts and knights. The Old Swiss Confederacy was de facto independent from Swabia from 1499 as a result of the Swabian War. Fearing the power of the greater princes, the cities and smaller secular rulers of Swabia joined to form the Swabian League in the 15th century. The League was quite successful, notably expelling the Duke of Württemberg in 1519 and putting in his place a Habsburg governor, but the league broke up a few years later over religious differences inspired by the Reformation, and the Duke of Württemberg was soon restored. The region was quite divided by the Reformation. While secular princes like the Duke of Württemberg and the Margrave of Baden-Durlach, as well as most of the Free Cities, became Protestant, the ecclesiastical territories (including the bishoprics of Augsburg, Konstanz and others) remained Catholic, as did the territories belonging to the Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns and the Margrave of Baden-Baden. Modern history: In the wake of the territorial reorganization of the Empire of 1803 by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, the shape of Swabia was entirely changed. All the ecclesiastical estates were secularized, and most of the smaller secular states, and almost all of the free cities, were mediatized, leaving only Württemberg, Baden and Hohenzollern as sovereign states. Much of Eastern Swabia became part of Bavaria, forming what is now the Bavarian administrative region of Swabia. From 1939 to 1945, Nazi Germany claimed sovereignty over an area of Antarctica, which was named Neu-Schwabenland in honour of Swabia. Swabian settlements abroad: Outside of Germany, many Swabians settled in Hungary, including part of what is now Serbia; and Romania (the Danube Swabians and Swabian Turkey) in the 18th century, where they were invited as pioneers to repopulate some areas. They also settled in Russia, Bessarabia, and Kazakhstan. They were well-respected as farmers. Outside of Europe, Swabian settlements can also be found in Brazil, Canada, and the United States. The town of Swaffham, Norfolk means "homestead of the Swabians", some of whom must presumably have settled in England alongside the Angles and Saxons. Popular culture: A campaign sticker, translated, "We can do everything—except speak High German." This is an allusion to the fact that Baden- Württemberg is one of the principal centres for innovation in Germany with many inhabitants having distinctive dialects. Swabians have in former times been the target of many jokes and stories where they are depicted as excessively stingy, overly serious, prudish, or as simpletons, for instance in "The Seven Swabians" (Die sieben Schwaben) published in Kinder- und Hausmärchen by the Brothers Grimm. However, this has ceased to a large extent, while Swabians are nowadays said to be frugal, clever, entrepreneurial and hard-working. In a widely respected publicity campaign on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Baden- Württemberg, the economically most successful state in modern Germany, the Swabians famously replied to the former jokes with: ""We can do everything - except speak Standard German" (Wir können alles. Außer Hochdeutsch), alluding to the region's distinct local dialect. Many Swabian surnames end with the suffixes -le, -el, -ehl, and -lin. Examples would be: Schäuble, Egeler, Rommel, and Gmelin. The popular surname Schwab is derived from this area, meaning literally "Swabian". In Switzerland, "Sauschwab" is a derogatory term for Germans, derived from the Swabian War of 1499. In Serbian, Polish, and Bulgarian, "Shvab" or "Szwab" may be a semi-abusive term for any German, not just one from Swabia. In parts of the former Yugoslavia (i.e. Slovenia, Slavonija in Croatia, and Vojvodina in Serbia), the term Swab (locally Švab, from Шваб) is somewhat applied to all German peoples who lived in those regions until shortly after World War II, and many of their descendants; it is even occasionally used as a slang term to refer to all Germans as well as Austrians and Swiss German speaking people. Related Alemannic dialects: Contemporary distribution of Alemannic dialects; Swabian (Schwäbisch) is one of the Alemannic German dialects of High German, spoken in the region of Swabia, present in the North- Eastern area of the Alemannic Sprachraum. A separate version of Wikipedia is maintained as D'alemannisch Wikipedia, which the main page called Houptsyte. Sudeten Mountains Sudetes From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A view from Zygmuntówka refuge, Góry Sowie Destroyed forest on the top of Wielka Sowa The Sudetes (pronounced /suːˈdiːtiːz/) is a mountain range in Central Europe. It is also known as the Sudeten (German [zuˈdeːtən]) or Sudety (Czech [ˈsudetɪ], Polish suˈdɛtɨ) Mountains. The Sudetes stretch from eastern Germany to Poland and the Czech Republic. The highest peak is Sněžka (Śnieżka) in the Krkonoše (Karkonosze) Mountains on the Czech-Polish border, which is 1,602 metres (5,260 ft) in altitude. The current geomorphological unit in the Czech part of the mountain range is Krkonošsko-jesenická subprovincie ("Krkonoše-Jeseníky"). The Krkonoše Mountains have experienced growing tourism for winter sports during the past ten years. Their skiing resorts are becoming an alternative to the Alps. Contents: 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Role of Sudetes in World War II 2.2 Post-war 3 Subdivisions 4 Notable towns 5 References 6 External links Etymology: The name Sudetes has been derived from Sudeti montes, a Latinization of the name Soudeta ore used in the Geographia of Ptolemy (Book 2, Chapter 10) ca. 150 for the present-day northern Czech mountains. Ptolemy said that they were above the Gabreta Forest, which places them in the Sudetenland. Ptolemy wrote in Greek, in which the name is a neuter plural. Latin mons, however, is a masculine, hence Sudeti. The Latin version is likely to be a scholastic innovation, as it is not attested in classical Latin literature. The meaning of the name is not known. In one hypothetical derivation, it means Mountains of Wild Boars, relying on Indo- European *su-, "pig". A better etymology perhaps is from Latin sudis, plural sudes, "spines", which can be used of spiny fish or spiny terrain. History: The exact location of the Sudetes is not very clear, as it has varied over the centuries. The ancient "Sudetenland" meant at least the northwest frontier of today's Czech Republic, probably extending to the north. By implication, it was part of the Hercynian Forest mentioned by many ancient authors of Antiquity. Role of Sudetes in World War II - Prior to World War II, Hitler's Third Reich took control of the Sudeten Mountains and Sudetenland. Nearly a thousand years ago up until the first World War, the area was occupied mostly by ethnic Germans. The German farmers preferred the higher mountainous terrain as compared to the lowlands. Over the years the Czechs moved into the lower terrain of the Sudetenland, and for hundreds of years the Czechs and the Germans lived together in perfect harmony. After World War I and the shameful attitude of the conquering hordes at Versailles, France, ceded the German Sudetenland to the Czechs naming it ironically Czechoslovakia, which combined the Czechs with the Slovaks, who both despised each other, but were forced into a unity to supposedly apease both the Czechs and the Slovaks. During World War II, many of the Slovaks fought against the partisans, the Czechs, the Russians, and other allies, on the side of the Third Reich. (It is interesting to note - that much of this is not published in the papers or in the history books. We wonder why or why not?) The fact is that this was a German homeland for centuries, not as the revisionists would like you to understand. The name was used before World War II in (Nazi) German parlance to describe areas of Czechoslovakia with large German populations. A considerable proportion of Czechoslovak/Czech and Polish populace strongly resist to use this term as it harks painfully to the Nazi German times. After being annexed by Nazi Germany, much of the region was redesignated as the province of Sudetenland - Sudetengau. The ethnic Germans living there were called Sudeten Germans. They were heavily clustered, especially along Bohemia's borders to German Silesia and Saxony. These were the descendants of Medieval German colonists invited by the Kings of Bohemia into these previously Slavic areas[citation needed - not true] for agricultural and urban development (see Ostsiedlung). Adolf Hitler redefined the term to mean the entire mountainous periphery of Czechoslovakia, and under that pretext, got his future enemies to concede the Czech defensive border in the Munich Agreement, leaving the remainder of Czechoslovakia shorn of its border fortifications and buffer zone. Germany occupied the rest of Bohemia and Moravia in March, 1939. Post-war: After World War II, most of the German population of Czechoslovakia was forcibly expelled. Neither Czechoslovakia/Czechia, nor Poland observe this designation officially, in maps etc., using only discrete local names in Czech and Polish for individual mountain ranges (e.g., Karkonosze/Krkonoše, see Subdivisions below). The occupation of Sudetes by Germany in 1938–1939 was discussed again in 2008 in connection with the South-Ossetian war [1][2][3][4] [5] and Kosovo [6][7]. Subdivisions: The Sudetes are usually divided into: Eastern Sudetes Golden Mountains Jeseníky Mountains Opawskie Mountains Śnieżnik Mountains Central Sudetes Bardzkie Mountains Bystrzyckie Mountains Orlické Mountains Owl Mountains Stone Mountains Table Mountains Western Sudetes Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge Jizera Mountains Kaczawskie Mountains Karkonosze/Krkonoše Lusatian Mountains Rudawy Janowickie Lausitzer Bergland [edit] Notable towns Notable towns in this area include: Zittau (Germany) Karpacz (Poland) Szklarska Poręba (Poland) Špindlerův Mlýn (Czech Republic) Vrchlabí (Czech Republic) Harrachov (Czech Republic) References: ^ Dick Morris, Eileen McGann. HITLER INVADED SUDETENLAND; NOW PUTIN INVADES SOUTH OSSETIA. Baltimore reporter, September 20th 2008 , Vol 1. No. 25. http://www.baltimorereporter. com/?p=5636 ^ Kate Connolly. Obama adviser compares Putin to Hitler. Guardian, Tuesday August 12 2008; http://www.guardian.co. uk/world/2008/aug/12/georgia ^ BBC Monitoring: Lithuania's main daily urges policymakers to boost country's national security. Lituanica, September 1, 2008 http: //irzikevicius.wordpress.com/ ^ Melik Kaylan. Destroying Democracy. Forbes, September 4, 2008. http://virtualcollector.blogspot.com/2008/09/destroying-democracy. html ^ Михаил Берг. Осетинские Судеты. Грани, 14.08.2008, http://grani. ru/Politics/Russia/m.140057.html ^ Luis Sanzo. Quebec/Kosovo. Britakula Almendron, 30 de Junio de 2006 , http://www.almendron.com/tribuna/9786/quebeckosovo/ ^ Von Jürgen Elsässer. Verhandlungen nach Rambouillet-Muster. Verhandlungen über den Status der serbischen Provinz Kosovo stehen bevor, http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb5/frieden/regionen/Serbien- Montenegro/status4.html [edit] External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sudetes Orographic map with Sudetes highlighted (French) Sudetes Orographic map with Sudetes highlighted (English) [show] v • d • e Silesia topics History Offensives · Uprisings · Wars · Upper Silesia plebiscite · Treaty of Dresden · Treaty of Teschen · Book of Henryków · Battle of Głogów · Battle of Legnica · more Symbols Coat of arms · Flag · Unofficial Anthems: Schlesien Unvergessene Heimat · Schlesierlied · Slezská hymna Economy Tourism · Upper Silesian Industrial Region · Rybnik Coal Area · Upper Silesian Coal Basin · Lower Silesian Coal Basin · Legnicko-Głogowski Okręg Miedziowy · Bielski Okręg Przemysłowy · Silesian metropolitan area · Katowice urban area Cuisine Silesian noodles · Black noodles · Makówki · Siemieniotka · Żur śląski · Wodzionka · Szałot · Kreple · Kołocz · Galert · Krupniok · Karminadle · Bryja · Moczka · Modra kapusta · Ciapkapusta · Hauskyjza Languages Silesian (Cieszyn Silesian dialect · Lach Silesian dialect · Niemodlin Silesian dialect · Bytom Silesian dialect · Jabłonków Silesian dialect · Namysłów Silesian dialect · Prudnik Silesian dialect · Opole Silesian dialect · Syców Silesian dialect · Lower Silesian dialect · Sulkovian Silesian dialect · Texas Silesian) · German · Polish · Czech · Lower Silesian Administrative: divisions Former Duchies (Piasts · Dukes) · Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship (Parliament · Treasury · Politicians) · State country · Province of Silesia / Upper Silesia / Lower Silesia · Sudetenland · New Silesia · Austrian Silesia · Eastern Silesia Present Silesian · Opole · Lower Silesian · Lubusz Voivodeships · Silesian-Moravian Region · Jeseník District · part of Saxony and Brandenburg (mainly in Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis) Geography Mountains Carpathian (Silesian · Moravian-Silesian Beskids) · Sudetes (Eastern · Central · Western) Rivers Oder Bóbr · Kłodnica · Liswarta · Nysa Kłodzka · Olza · Ślęza · Kaczawa · Kwisa · Barycz · Mała Panew Vistula Biała · Brynica · Przemsza · Rawa · Pszczynka · Gostynia Elbe Jizera · Divoká Orlice · Úpa Lakes Jezioro Goczałkowickie · Nyskie Lake · Jezioro Otmuchowskie · Jezioro Sławskie · Slezská Harta Highlands Lowlands Other Silesian Highlands · Silesian Lowlands · Silesian-Lusatian Lowlands · Silesian Foothills · Silesian-Moravian Foothills · Oświęcim Valley · Ostrava Valley · Jelenia Góra valley · Kłodzko Valley · Zielona Góra Acclivity · Wał Trzebnicki · Przedgórze Sudeckie · Obniżenie Milicko-Głogowskie · Silesia Walls · Lower Silesian Wilderness · Silesian Przesieka Other Silesians · Silesian National costume (Śląski strój ludowy) · Silesian Autonomy Movement · Landsmannschaft Schlesien · Silesian architecture · Silesia national football team · Silesian Stadium · Silesian Football Association · Silesian-Moravian Football League · Silesian (European Parliament constituency) · Lower Silesian and Opole (European Parliament constituency) · Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia · Silesian Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession · Familok WikiProject Silesia · Portal Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudetes" Categories: Mountain ranges of Germany | Mountain ranges of Poland | Mountain ranges of the Czech Republic Hidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from April 2008 | Poland articles missing geocoordinate data. ============================================== Ancient City of Prague About Prague Ancient Prague Prague watch Prague, a city spread over wooded hills on either side of the Vltava river, is a place that has always inspired superlatives and effusive prose. Spared by bombing in the Second World War and, until recently, scarcely defaced by billboards, brash neon and other attributes of the Western city, the old centre of Prague is so uncannily well preserved that at times the visitor seems to be walking not in a real place but in a stage set or fairy-tale illustration. Few dispute that Prague is a city unrivalled in its beauty in central Europe, but there are also many who would agree with Milan Kundera's assessment-reached in the course of a stroll one day up a deserted Petřin Hill - that Prague was 'the most beautiful city in the world'. Prague is a city which creates a lot of unexpected impressions! To feel the atmosphere of Prague is enough just to stop for a moment at the Charlie's Bridge ( Karlův Most) , the ancient bridge of the 13 th century with Baroque statues, the bridge situated in the very heart of the historical part of the city. Here and there you will observe towers in the early Gothic and Roman style. Buildings in the Renaissance style turn Prague into a very romantic place; the cupolas of Baroque Churches made people name the city The Golden Prague ( Zlatá Praha ) . For all the vicissitudes of history, Prague architecture and historic values remained in the original shape! At every step, everywhere there are places of interest: The Imperial Residence Prague Castle ( Pražsky Hrad ) with numerous palaces, galleries, cathedrals. ‘A spell hangs in the air of this citadel', wrote Patrick Leigh Fermor in a Time of Gifts , 'and I was under its thrall long before I could pronounce its name.' The enormous Prague Castle ( Pražsky Hrad ) rises up above the Little Quarter ( Mala Strana ) like a town in its own right, its elegant Classical casing holding together a veritable architectural treasury from which project the fantastical Gothic spires of St Vitus's Cathedral ( Chrám Svatého Víta ). The old Town square ( Staroměsrské náměsti ) is certainly worth a visit, this is an ancient square with cobble-stone roads, Church of St. Nicholas, the Goltz-Kinsky palace, the Town Hall Astronomical Clock Orloj (1410) which became the symbol of the city; Parizska street which leads to Josefov , Prague Jewish Quarter (today an open air museum with synagogues, Old-New Synagogue is the oldest functioning synagogue in Europe, it dates back to the middle of the 13C). Walk this long, straight avenue, is lined with large, oppressively ornamented blocks featuring fantastical corners composed of irregularly shaped balconies and openings piled up one on the top of each other. Practically nothing has changed in Prague from the Middle Ages. Of course, the city itself has grown up. And today the population is about 1 250 000 inhabitants. Buildings spread over the Prague suburbs. The transport system on the one hand has made life more convenient, but on the other hand it has changed the look of the city in comparison to the ancient town on the Vltava river. Nevertheless in Prague there is still that especial atmosphere which inspired poets, writers, painters, musicians, sculptors, scientists! Almost four centuries the Czech Kingdom was ruled by the Habsburgs and was the part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Not without reason the Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II moved the capital city of the Austro- Hungarian Empire from Vienna to mysterious and enigmatic Prague. Namely during the reign of Rudolf II a lot of famous persons worked in Prague. For instance, painters Bartolomaeus Spranger , Adriaen de Vries and Giuseppe Arcimboldo (worked as a court artist); astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler , the surgeon Jan Jesenius , the mathematician Jost Burgi (the inventor of logarithms), the alchemist Edward Kelley . At the King Court there was a round staff of alchemists who by order of the Emperor were trying to find the secret of turning the base metals into gold. Speaking about Prague one should notice the writer Franz Kafka , whose study room was at the Golden Line ( Zlatá ulička ) , today this street is one of the important sightseeing in Prague Castle. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart conducted the opera Don Giovanni in the Prague Estate Theatre in 1787. Travel to Prague to listen to this opera at the same theatre where the premiere was! Albert Einstein lectured at the Charles's University, which was founded by the greatest Czech king Charles IV. Famous Russian poet Marina Tsvetajeva lived and wrote some poetry pieces in Prague. And many- many other persons who had contributed heavily into the progress of society. The British writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, whose indigestibly rich prose has conjured up images of a wholly fantastical Prague, is by no means alone in considering the city not just as one of the most beautiful he has known but also as the strangest. The word 'magical', so misused by travel writers, is literally applicable to Prague, a city where the Habsburg emperor Rudolph II immersed himself in alchemy and the occult to the extent that be was eventually deposed as insane, where Doctor Faustus sold his soul to the devil, and where the Surrealist poet Andre Breton discovered his 'magic metropolis of old Europe'. At the same time in Prague all the epochs and all the architectural styles exist: Roman rotundas, Gothic temples, Renaissance summer palaces, palaces and cathedrals in Baroque style, theatres and concert halls in styles of Modern, Cubism, post-Modern, surrealism – everything is safe and sound, because all these buildings were preserved intact. To feel Prague you need to visit Prague! And believe, every time it would be a different city with new impressions! And every time new memories afterwards! ============================================== |

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