2002 Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast local election

Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast local election, 2002 is a local election in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.


Thedinghausen

Thedinghausen is a municipality in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Weser, approx. 15 km west of Verden, and 20 km southeast of Bremen.
Thedinghausen is also the seat of the "Samtgemeinde" ("collective municipality") Thedinghausen.


HMS Witherington (D76)

HMS "Witherington" was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was one of four destroyers ordered in April 1918 from James Samuel White & Co Ltd. under the 14th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1917–18. She was the first Royal Navy ship to carry this name.
The City of Durham adopted HMS "Witherington" following a successful Warship Week National Savings campaign in February 1942.
Construction.
"Witherington"s keel was laid on 27 September 1918 at the James Samuel White & Co. Ltd. Shipyard in Cowes, Isle of Wight. She was launched on 16 January 1919. She was 300 feet overall (312 ft between the perpendiculars) in length with a beam of 29.5 feet. Her mean draught was 9 feet, and would reach 11.25 feet under full load. She had a displacement of 1,140 tons standard and up to 1,550 full load.
She was propelled by three White-Foster type water tube boilers powering Curtis-Brown geared steam turbines developing 27,000 SHP driving two screws for a maximum designed speed of 34 knots. She was oil-fired and had a bunkerage of 320 to 370 tons. This gave a range of between 3500 nautical miles at 15 knots and 900 nautical miles at 32 knots.
She shipped four BL 4.7 in (120-mm) Mk.I guns, mount P Mk.I naval guns in four single centre-line turrets. The turrets were disposed as two forward and two aft in super imposed firing positions. She also carried two QF 2 pdr Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39) mounted abeam between funnels. Abaft of the second funnel, she carried six 21-inch torpedo tubes in two triple mounts on the centre-line.
Inter-War years.
"Witherington" was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 10 October 1919 with pennant number D76. After commissioning she was assigned to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla of the Atlantic Fleet. The flotilla served in Home waters from May 1920 to July 1923 when the Flotilla was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet. She was transferred to China Station in 1926.
Also, in 1926 she carried the last Shah of Persia, Ahmad Shah Qajar, into exile, as the old country of Persia was replaced by the country of Iran. During the Nanking Incident in March 1927, she helped rescue foreign nationals from the Nanking region of China.
In the early 1930s she underwent a refit and was laid-up in Maintenance Reserve at Rosyth as more modern destroyers came into service. She was reactivated manned by Reservists for a Royal Review at Weymouth in August 1939. With war looming she was retained in service and brought to war readiness.
Second World War.
Early operations.
In September 1939 the ship was allocated to the 15th Destroyer Flotilla based at Rosyth (changed to Liverpool in 1940) in Western Approaches Command for convoy defence. Up to April 1940 she was employed in the North West Approaches area providing local escort for convoys leaving Liverpool (OB series) to a dispersal point in the Atlantic approximately 750 nautical miles west of Lands End.<ref name="www.convoyweb.org.uk/ob2"></ref> Periodically an OA (sailing from Southend)series convoy would sail and join up with the OB series. The merged convoy would change to an OG series (UK to Gibraltar). During this period she escorted 20 convoys, for a total of 436 ships with total losses of 3 ships (2 sunk by U-boats and 1 due to collision).
In April 1940 she was detached to Scapa Flow after the German invasion of Norway. From 11 April to 15 April she escorted military convoy NP001 to Narvik then on 24 April she escorted military TM001/1. She provided local escort for the arrival at Clyde for TC004 with two troopships carrying 2,591 troops.<ref name="www.convoyweb.org.uk/tc"></ref> At the end of May her pennant number was changed to I76 for visual signalling purposes. In June she escorted Group 1 (named Hebrew) of the evacuation of Norway from Scapa to the Clyde.<ref name="www.convoyweb.org.uk/misc"></ref>
In July 1940 she was returned to the Western Approaches for convoy defence and was mainly employed in the North-West Approach sector as a local escort until February 1942. During this time she escorted 13 mercantile convoys. On 11 March 1941, she was beached in Portsmouth after sustaining damage from a Luftwaffe air raid, to be later repaired and returned to service.
SRE Conversion.
In late February 1942 she was withdrawn for conversion to a short-range escort (SRE). To augment the earlier changes, the replacement of the after bank of torpedo tubes with a single QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun and the landing of 'Y' gun for additional space for depth charge gear and stowage, a Type 271 centimetric target indication radar was added on the bridge and a Type 286P air warning radar was installed on the main mast.
Western Approaches Command.
Upon completion of the conversion, "Witherington" was redeployed in the Western Approaches. During March she was part of the escort force of Convoy Halifax Inbound (HX) 229. The convoy was under sustained attack during the night of 16–17 March by five U-boats of the Raubgraf Group, two U-boats of the Sturmer Group and one U-boat transiting to home port. There was no rescue ship assigned to HX229, therefore the escorts were rescuing the survivors of the ten merchant ships that were sunk. Only two escorts were constantly with the convoy further exposing the convoy to attack.
At the end of June 1943 she was transferred to the Mediterranean-based out of Alexandria in support of follow on convoys for the Allied invasion of Sicily. In November she was deployed to Gibraltar for Atlantic Convoy Defence.
On 1 November she took part in the sinking of the with , and two Vickers Wellington aircraft of No. 179 Squadron RAF at position 35o33'N, 06o37'W. She was deployed in the South-West Approaches out of Gibraltar throughout 1944.
She was deployed in the South-West Approaches out of Gibraltar throughout 1944.
In 1945 she was deployed to the English Channel area to counter the threat of snorkel equipped U-Boats being concentrated or convoy formation areas. She remained in this deployment until VE-Day.
Post war.
Disposition.
"Witherington" was paid off into reserve after VE-Day. She was placed on the disposal list after VJ-Day. On 20 March 1947 she was sold to Metal Industries for breaking up. On 29 April while under tow to the breakers yard at Charlestown near Rosyth she parted the tow and was wrecked off the mouth of the Tyne in a gale.
Place of honour.
After the ship was sold for scrap, her ship's bell was retrieved and presented to the City of Durham. The bell, along with a plaque displaying the ship's crest, were mounted in the City Council Chambers.
External links.
Service History of HMS "Witherington" was compiled by the late Lt Cdr Geoffry B. Mason RN and can be found at Naval History Web Site


Northern Transylvania

Northern Transylvania (, ) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of the Kingdom of Hungary. With an area of , the population was largely composed of both ethnic Romanians and Hungarians.
In October 1944, Soviet and Romanian forces gained control of the territory, and by March 1945 Northern Transylvania returned to Romanian administration. After the war, this was confirmed by the Paris Peace Treaties of 1947.
Background.
The region has a varied history. It was once the nucleus of the Kingdom of Dacia (82 BC–106 AD). In 106 AD the Roman Empire conquered the territory, systematically exploiting its resources. After the Roman legions withdrew in 271 AD, it was overrun by a succession of various tribes, bringing it under the control of the Carpi, Visigoths, Huns, Gepids, Avars, and Slavs. From the 9th to the 11th century, Bulgarians ruled Transylvania.
The Magyars conquered much of Central Europe at the end of the 9th century and for almost six hundred years, Transylvania was a voivodeship in the Kingdom of Hungary. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526 and the Hungarian defeat by the Ottomans, Transylvania became a semi-independent principality (the Principality of Transylvania) under local Hungarian nobility rule, but owing suzerainty to the Ottoman Empire. It then became a province (Principality/Grand Principality of Transylvania) of the Habsburg Monarchy/Austrian Empire as a Land of the Hungarian Crown, and after 1848, and again from 1867 to 1918 it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The dual monarchy dissolved after World War I.
The ethnic Romanians, who formed the majority population of Transylvania, elected representatives who proclaimed the Union with Romania on 1 December 1918. The Proclamation of Union at Alba Iulia was adopted by the Deputies of the Romanians from Transylvania, supported one month later by the vote of the Deputies of the Transylvanian Saxons. By Spring 1919, during the Hungarian–Romanian War, Transylvania came under administrative control of Romania. Eventually in June 1920 the Treaty of Trianon assigned Transylvania to the Kingdom of Romania.
Second Vienna Award.
In June 1940, Romania was forced (as a consequence of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact) to submit to a Soviet ultimatum and accept the annexation by the Soviet Union of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. Subsequently, Hungary attempted to regain Transylvania, which it had lost in the immediate aftermath of World War I. Germany and Italy pressured both Hungary and Romania to resolve the situation in a bilateral agreement. The two delegations met in Turnu Severin on August 16, but the negotiations failed due to a demand for a territory from the Hungarian side and only an offer of population exchange from the Romanian side. To impede a Hungarian-Romanian war in their "hinterland", the Axis powers pressured both governments to accept their arbitration: the Second Vienna Award, signed on August 30.
Historian Keith Hitchins summarizes the situation created by the award:
The Hungarian population was in the unusual situation of being an overwhelming majority in an area of southeastern Transylvania, deep within Romania and far from the Hungarian border (the area, known as Székely Land, is today mainly in Harghita, Covasna, and Mureș counties), and not simply only in certain areas next to the Hungarian border as in the case of Czechoslovakia and Bačka or Baranya. The solution decided upon was to gouge a claw-shaped corridor through northwestern Romania, including a large Romanian-populated area, in order to incorporate this Hungarian-majority area within Hungary.
Population of Northern Transylvania, as per 1930 Romanian census:
Before the arbitration, in 1940, according to the Romanian estimates, in Northern Transylvania there were 1,304,903 Romanians (50.2%) and 978,074 (37.1%) Hungarians. One year later, after the arbitration, according to the Hungarian census, the population of Northern Transylvania had dissimilar ratios, it counted 53.5% Hungarians and 39.1% Romanians.
Hungarian rule.
Hungary held Northern Transylvania from September 1940 to October 1944. In 1940 ethnic disturbances between Hungarians and Romanians continued after some incidents following the entrance of the Hungarian Army, culminating in massacres at Treznea and Ip.
After some ethnic Hungarian groups considered unreliable or insecure were sacked/expelled from Southern Transylvania, the Hungarian officials also regularly expelled some Romanian groups from Northern Transylvania. Also, many Hungarians and Romanians fled or chose to opt between the two countries. There was a mass exodus; over 100,000 people on both sides of the ethnic and political borders relocated. This continued until 1944.
On March 19, 1944, following the occupation of Hungary by the Nazi Germany army through Operation Margarethe, Northern Transylvania came under German military occupation. Like the Jews living in Hungary, most of the Jews in Northern Transylvania (about 150,000) were sent to concentration camps during World War II, a move that was facilitated by local military and civilians. Following several decrees of the Hungarian government and high-level consultations at a meeting on April 26 with László Endre in Szatmárnémeti (now Satu Mare), the deportation of the Jews was decided. On May 3, authorities in Dés (now Dej) launched the action of ghettoization of Jews in the Bungăr forest, where 3,700 Jews from Dej and 4,100 Jews from other localities in the area were imprisoned. During the operation of the Dej ghetto, Jews were mistreated, tortured, and starved. The deportation of the Jews to the Nazi death camps was done with freight wagons, in three stages: the first transport on May 28 when 3,150 Jews were deported; the second on June 6, when 3,360 Jews were deported; the third on June 8, when the last 1,364 Jews were deported. Most of those deported were exterminated in the Auschwitz–Birkenau camp, with just over 800 deportees surviving. The Kolozsvár Ghetto (in what is now Cluj-Napoca) was initiated on May 3, and was put under the command of László Urbán, the local police chief. The ghetto, comprising about 18,000 Jews, was liquidated in six transports to Auschwitz, with the first deportation occurring on May 25, and the last one on June 9. Other ghettoes that were set up in Northern Transylvania during this period were the Oradea ghetto (the largest one, with 35,000 Jews), the Baia Mare ghetto, the Bistrița ghetto, the Cehei ghetto, the Reghin ghetto, the Satu Mare ghetto, and the Sfântu Gheorghe ghetto.
After King Michael's Coup of August 23, 1944, Romania left the Axis and joined the Allies. Thus, the Romanian Army fought Nazi Germany and its allies in Romania – regaining Northern Transylvania – and further on, in German occupied Hungary and in Slovakia and Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, for instance, in the Budapest Offensive, the Siege of Budapest, and the Prague Offensive.
The Second Vienna Award was voided by the Allied Commission through The Armistice Agreement with Romania (September 12, 1944) whose Article 19 stipulated the following: "The Allied Governments regard the decision of the Vienna award regarding Transylvania as null and void and are agreed that Transylvania (or the greater part thereof) should be returned to Romania, subject to confirmation at the peace settlement, and the Soviet Government agrees that Soviet forces shall take part for this purpose in joint military operations with Romania against Germany and Hungary."
The territory was occupied by the Allied forces by late October 1944. On October 25, at the Battle of Carei, units of the Romanian 4th Army under the command of General Gheorghe Avramescu took control of the last piece of the territory ceded in 1940 to Hungary. However, due to the activities of Romanian paramilitary forces, the Soviets expelled the Romanian administration from Northern Transylvania in November 1944 and did not allow them to return until March 1945.
On 20 January 1945, Hungary accepted the obligation to evacuate all Hungarian troops and officials from the territory, to retreat to its pre-war borders, and to repeal all legislative and administrative regulations in connection with the incorporation of the territory.
The 1947 Paris Peace Treaty reaffirmed the borders between Romania and Hungary, as originally defined in the Treaty of Trianon, 27 years earlier, thus confirming the return of Northern Transylvania to Romania.
Geography.
Northern Transylvania is a diverse region, both in terms of landscape and population. It contains both largely rural areas (such as Bistrița-Năsăud County) as well as major cities, such as Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Târgu Mureș, Baia Mare, and Satu Mare. Centers of Hungarian culture, such as Miercurea Ciuc and Sfântu Gheorghe, are also part of the region. An important tourist destination is Maramureș County, an area known for its beautiful rural scenery, local small woodwork, including wooden churches, its craftwork industry, and its original rural architecture.


Kirkmabreck

Kirkmabreck is a civil parish in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire in the Dumfries and Galloway council area, Scotland.
Situated in the historic Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and centred on the small town of Creetown on the east bank of the River Cree, it stretches north to the parishes of Minnigaff and Girthon, and west to Anwoth. Kirkmabreck also includes the small settlement of Carsluith, dominated by the eponymous castle which is in the care of Historic Scotland. It covers approximately 25,000 acres.
Apart from Carsluith Castle, the other antiquities of note in the parish are at Cairnholy, also managed by Historic Scotland, the stone circle at Glenquicken and cup and ring marked stones and castle at Barholm.
Thomas Brown, the metaphysician (1778–1820), was born in the parish and was buried here.
Military road.
Heading west from Creetown and connecting with the Corse of Slakes road is an old military track built in the mid 18th century over an existing drove road to serve as a troop access route to and from Ireland.


Council of State (Kingdom of Poland)

Council of State of Congress Kingdom of Poland was an important state institution of Poland that existed in the 19th century. It was also known as "Council of State of Kingdom of Poland" ("Rada Stanu Królestwa Polskiego").
There were three different Councils of State throughout that period in the Kingdom of Poland. The first was created by the Constitution of Kingdom of Poland. The constitution divided the Council of State into General Assembly of Council of State ("Ogólne Zgromadzenie Rady Stanu") and Administrative Council ("Rada Administracyjna"). In time the General Assembly became habitually referred to as 'Council of State'. The Council of State was composed of 5 ministers, 9 ordinary councilors and changing numbers of extraordinary councilors (created by the monarch) as well as referendaries of state. The Council could prepare projects of legislation for Sejm and monarch's decrees, put governmental officials on trial for administrative misconduct and act as a court in competency and administration cases. This first Council was dissolved during the November Uprising.
The second Council of State was created by the Organic Statue of the Kingdom of Poland.
The third Council of State was created after the January Uprising.


Aspelt Castle

Aspelt Castle (), located in Aspelt in the south of Luxembourg, is a Baroque residence built in 1590 on the site of a medieval castle from the 11th century. There are now plans to renovate the building.
History.
The origins of Aspelt Castle appear to go back to before 1100 when a fortified castle with a moat was built on the site, possibly on Roman ruins. The first written reference to the castle can be found in Theoderich von Wied's Echternach chronicles from 1132. The foundations of the round Gothic towers are probably from the 14th century while the current building was completed in 1590 following transformations carried out by the Ruelle, Kempt and Burthé families. In 1777, the Martinys extended the palace and installed new Baroque windows in the towers. In 1957, the ground floor of the south-west tower was restored.


Allenfeld

Allenfeld is an "Ortsgemeinde" – a municipality belonging to a "Verbandsgemeinde", a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the "Verbandsgemeinde" of Rüdesheim, whose seat is in the municipality of Rüdesheim an der Nahe.
Geography.
Location.
Allenfeld lies in the southern Hunsrück, between the Soonwald and the Gauchswald. Its elevation is 375 m above sea level and its municipal area measures 2.98 km².
History.
The village’s name first cropped up in 1438 as "Aldenfeld" in the Sponheim taxation book. Beginning no later than the 12th century, Allenfeld belonged to the County of Sponheim and in the 13th century was grouped into the newly formed administrative entity called the "Amt" of Winterburg, which as of 1416 belonged to the so-called “Hinder” County of Sponheim-Starkenburg.
Population development.
The table shows Allenfeld’s population development. The figures in the table from 1871 to 1987 are based on censuses:
Religion.
As at 31 August 2013, there are 195 full-time residents in Allenfeld, and of those, 106 are Evangelical (54.359%), 35 are Catholic (17.949%) and 54 (27.692%) either have no religion or will not reveal their religious affiliation.
Politics.
Municipal council.
The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Mayor.
Allenfeld’s mayor is Markus Lüttger.
Coat of arms.
The municipality’s arms might be described thus: Per fess gules a plough Or and chequy of twelve gules and argent.
Culture and sightseeing.
Buildings.
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Sport and leisure.
A particular highlight in Allenfeld is the cycle path that follows the old right-of-way once used by the former "Kreuznacher Kleinbahnen", a narrow gauge railway network that closed in 1936. The path snakes its way along one side of the Gräfenbach, coming back along the other side of the Ellerbach valley. The path reaches its highest point in Allenfeld at some 370 m above sea level. Also found here is the old Allenfeld winepress, which was once used to press the fruit from the meadow orchards, which was then made into must.


Nicopolis ad Istrum

Nicopolis ad Istrum () or Nicopolis ad Iatrum was a Roman and Early Byzantine town.
Its ruins are located at the village of Nikyup, 20 km north of Veliko Tarnovo in northern Bulgaria. The town reached its zenith during the reigns of Hadrian, the Antonines and the Severan dynasty.
Archaeological excavations are continuing to reveal more of the city.
The site was placed on the Tentative List for consideration as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984.
History.
The site was at the junction of the Iatrus (Yantra) and the Rositsa rivers, where the Roman army under Emperor Trajan had been amassed in readiness for the attack in the winter of 101-2 to the Roxolani tribe from north of the Danube and who were allied to the Dacians.
The city was founded by Trajan around 102–106, as indicated on scene XXXIX of Trajan’s Column, in memory of his victory in the Dacian Wars over the Roxolani and also later victories in 105, and as "Ulpia Nicopolis" in his honour using his family name, or "nomen". However the name "Nicopolis ad Haemum" was used in Ptolemy's Geographia dating from before 130.
Trajan clearly intended it to become a magnificent city which is gradually being verified. The monumental character of the city however dates mainly to Hadrian and Antoninus Pius (138-161) and inscriptions found are no earlier than 136 when the name "Ulpia Nicopolis ad Istrum" was in use. The new agora included a monumental ionic stoa and a sumptuous hall of unknown function.
The city was ransacked by the Costoboci in 170-1, a tribe from today’s Western Ukraine, shortly after which the city walls were built. Many buildings were excluded from the walled area from this time.
The city prospered again in the 2nd and 3rd centuries under the Severan dynasty (193-235). In 193 the city endowed Septimius Severus, then still pretender to the throne, with 700000 denarii (a fortune at the time) for which a copy of the letter of thanks to the city from the emperor, after he succeeded, is recorded in an inscription. He made several visits to the city subsequently.
However from about 212 the honorary title "Ulpia" was no longer used in public inscriptions which is believed to be a result of Caracalla's displeasure with the city after his visit there in 211-212. Caracalla closed the mint and it lost its status of "civitas stipendaria" as well as its economic prosperity. After his death the city organised games for the new emperor and as a result it seems that the city regained its civic status, though not its full name, and re-opened the mint, issuing coins bearing images of its public buildings.
In 250 near the city, emperor Decius defeated the Goths under Cniva at the Battle of Nicopolis ad Istrum.
Nicopolis grew further as a major urban centre under Emperor Diocletian's (284-305) reforms. Nevertheless at least the north wing of the agora was damaged during the 3rd century.
Under Constantine from 306 the damaged northern agora buildings were replaced by two built with "opus mixtum" masonry, divided into three aisles by rows of large pillars, which may well have been horrea (warehouses), given that other nearby cities (e.g. Tropaeum and Zaldapa) also received horrea rather than basilicas in the same period. These horrea probably formed part of the large supply network for the Danube army helped by building a large number of horrea in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries.
In 447, the town was destroyed by Attila's Huns. Perhaps it was already abandoned before the early 5th century.
In about the middle of 5th century after the Huns' invasion, new high and strong walls were built adjoining the southern wall of the old city. It seems that by then the old walls were in poor condition and repairing them was not viable. Moreover, their considerable length of 1.8 km required more defenders than were available. The new city had an area of 1/4 of the original city enclosing little more than military buildings and churches, following a very common trend for the cities of that century in the Danube area. The larger area of the extensive ruins (21.55 hectares) of the classical Nicopolis was not reoccupied. The south wall of the old city was reconstructed as the north wall of the new one. Its towers were built upon destroyed and abandoned buildings, and ornamented stone blocks from their facades were used in the new structures. The towers were about 15m in front of the 10m high wall. The outside of the wall was rendered with mortar with incised grooves imitating massive stone blocks. The old south gate later also underwent a major reconstruction to compensate for higher surrounding terrain as the gate was situated in a hollow.
The town became an episcopal centre during the early Byzantine period. The names of two of the early bishops of the city are known: Marcellus (in 451) and Amantius (in 518).
The city was destroyed by the Avars and Slavs in the late 7th c. during the Avar–Byzantine wars. A small Bulgarian settlement later arose upon its ruins (9th-14th century).
Nicopolis ad Istrum can be said to have been the birthplace of Germanic literary tradition. In the 4th century, the Gothic bishop, missionary and translator Ulfilas (Wulfila) obtained permission from Emperor Constantius II to immigrate with his flock of converts to Moesia and settle near Nicopolis ad Istrum in 347-8. There, he devised the Gothic alphabet and oversaw the translation of the Bible from Greek to Gothic, which was performed by a group of scholars.
Archaeology.
The classical town was planned according to the orthogonal system. The network of streets, the forum surrounded by an Ionic colonnade and many buildings, a two-nave room later turned into a basilica and other public buildings have been uncovered. The rich architectures and sculptures show a similarity with those of the ancient towns in Asia Minor.
The agora contained a statue of Trajan on horseback as well as other marble statues and an Ionic colonnade.
The city also had a three-nave basilica, a bouleuterion, a temple of Cybele, a small odeon, thermae (public baths) as well as a unique Roman building inscribed with "termoperiatos", a heated building with shops and enclosed space for walks and business meetings. Some town houses and buildings have also been excavated.
A unique public building, a "thermoperipatos", has been identified only in Nicopolis ad Istrum so far, out of all cities in Roman Empire. It occupied a whole "insula" and was built under Commodus in 184-5 on the ruins of an earlier building. It was probably used for tradng and included shops. It was ruined in the 4th c. and another building later built over it.
The city was supplied by three aqueducts and had several water wells, many of which have been unearthed in archaeological excavations. The western aqueduct of 25 km length had a bridge of almost 3 km long and almost 20m tall carrying water over the entire valley of the Rositsa River. Its 2nd century water catchment reservoir is located near the town of Musina in Pavlikeni municipality, to the west of the Roman city, where it still collects water from the karst springs inside the Musina Cave. A large "castellum aquae" of this aqueduct stands to the west of the city.
In 2015 remains of a huge building were revealed which was probably the residence of the agoranomus or curule aedile, a public officer in charge of trade and market operations in Ancient Greek and Roman cities.
The obelisk of Quintus Julius, an aristocrat from Nicopolis, still stands to a height of 14m in the countryside near Lesicheri, about 12 km west of the city.
Many finds are on display in the Veliko Tarnovo Regional Museum of History.
In 2018, archaeologists found an altar dedicated to the goddess Tyche at a small square in the southwestern corner of the Forum complex, with an inscription in Ancient Greek which is a modified epigram by Demosthenes.
Further reading.
Poulter, Andrew. "Nicopolis ad Istrum: A Roman, Late Roman and Early Byzantine City (Excavations 1985-1992)", Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, London, 1995.


Aegean Sea (theme)

The Theme of the Aegean Sea (, "thema tou Aigaiou Pelagous") was a Byzantine province in the northern Aegean Sea, established in the mid-9th century. As one of the Byzantine Empire's three dedicated naval themes (Greek: ), it served chiefly to provide ships and troops for the Byzantine navy, but also served as a civil administrative circumscription.
Origins.
The theme has its origins in the late antique civil province of the "Islands" (; ), which encompassed the islands of the southeastern and eastern Aegean up to Tenedos. The term "Aigaion Pelagos" appears for the first time as an administrative circumscription in the early 8th century, when seals of several of its "kommerkiarioi" (customs officials) are attested. One seal, dated to 721/722, even refers to an official in charge of all the Greek islands, possibly implying an extension of the old province over the islands of the northern and western Aegean as well. Militarily, the Aegean islands came under control of the "Karabisianoi" corps and later of the Cibyrrhaeot Theme during the 7th and 8th centuries.
In 726, the Byzantine emperor Leo III forbade praying for icons and began to remove them from the churches. Against him did Agallianos Kontoskeles - military leader of Hellas (theme) rebel. The rebels were joined by the head of the fleet of the Cyclades islands, Stephen. They proclaimed Cosmas their own emperor, and began a campaign against Constantinople, where they were defeated with the help of Greek fire by the superior forces of Leo III.
From the late 8th century, however, two separate commands appear in the Aegean: the "droungarios" of the Aegean Sea ("Aigaion Pelagos"), apparently controlling the northern half, and the "droungarios" "of the Twelve Islands" ("Dodekanesos") or "of the Gulf" ("Kolpos"), in charge of the southern half. The latter command eventually evolved into the theme of Samos, while the former evolved into the theme of the Aegean Sea, encompassing both the islands of the northern Aegean as well as the Dardanelles and the southern coasts of the Propontis.
History.
The theme of the Aegean Sea must have been created in 843: its governing "strategos" does not appear in the "Taktikon Uspensky" of 842/843, which still lists the "droungarios", but he is elsewhere attested as being active at Lesbos in 843.
The theme of the Aegean Sea was a regularly organized theme, subdivided into "tourmai" and "banda" and with a full complement of military, civil, and fiscal officials. In the areas of the Dardanelles and the Propontis, however, the "droungarios" and later the "strategos" of the Aegean probably shared authority with the Count of the Opsician Theme, to whose jurisdiction these territories properly belonged. The Count of the Opsicians probably retained authority over civil administration and local defence, while the Aegean theme was solely responsible for equipping ships and raising the men for fleets from these areas. A similar procedure existed in the theme of Samos as well. This view is strengthened by the fact that the Opsicians, and especially the Slavs ("Sklabesianoi") forcefully settled by the Empire in the Opsician Theme, are attested serving as marines in the 10th century.
According to Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913–959), in the early 10th century the theme included Lesbos (the seat of the "strategos"), Lemnos, Imbros and Tenedos, Chios (later transferred to Samos), the Sporades and the Cyclades. According to Hélène Ahrweiler, the Cyclades were probably transferred to the Aegean theme when the "Dodekanesos"/"Kolpos" naval command was broken up and the theme of Samos established from it in the late 9th century. In 911, the forces of the naval theme of the Aegean are recorded as being 2,610 oarsmen and 400 marines.
The province survived until the late 10th/early 11th century, when it became progressively split up into smaller commands. As the Cyclades and Sporades, Chios and the region of Abydos acquired their own "strategoi", the theme of the Aegean became a purely civil province comprising only the coasts of the Propontis and the region around Constantinople. By the late 11th century, what remained of the old thematic fleet was incorporated into the unified imperial navy at Constantinople, under the command of the "megas doux". Thereafter, some time in the 12th century, the theme of the Aegean seems to have been fused with the Opsician theme into a single province, as attested in the "Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae" in 1204. The theme ceased to exist after the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire by the Fourth Crusade in 1204.


Bad Sobernheim

Bad Sobernheim is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the like-named "Verbandsgemeinde", and is also its seat. It is a state-recognized spa town, and is well known for two fossil discovery sites and for the naturopath Emanuel Felke. Bad Sobernheim is also a winegrowing town.
Geography.
Location.
Bad Sobernheim lies on the middle Nahe about halfway between the district seat of Bad Kreuznach (roughly 20 km southwest of that town) and the gemstone town of Idar-Oberstein. Looming to the north is the Hunsrück, and to the south, the North Palatine Uplands. The municipal area stretches as far as the Soonwald. One notable feature of Bad Sobernheim's municipal area is that it is split geographically into two non-contiguous pieces. The part to the southeast containing the main town holds most of the population, whereas the part to the northwest is only thinly populated, but nevertheless makes up more than half the town's area. This came about as a result of the former Bundeswehr airfield in what is now the northwest part of the town. A great number of the people there chose to move house to Bad Sobernheim to escape the continual noise from aircraft, and the town annexed the land where they had formerly lived, up on the Nahe Heights. Since the residents of Nußbaum did not give their village up, Bad Sobernheim now has a great swathe of land to the northwest of its original municipal area, separated from it by Nußbaum's municipal area.
Neighbouring municipalities.
Clockwise from the north, Bad Sobernheim's neighbours are the municipalities of Waldböckelheim, Oberstreit, Staudernheim, Abtweiler, Lauschied, Meddersheim and Nußbaum. Bad Sobernheim also holds an outlying swathe of territory, not contiguous with the piece containing the actual town – Nußbaum lies between the two areas – and even greater in area, although very thinly populated. Its neighbours, again clockwise from the north, are the municipalities of Sargenroth, Winterbach, Ippenschied, Rehbach, Daubach, Nußbaum, Monzingen, Auen, Langenthal, Seesbach, Weitersborn, Schwarzerden and Mengerschied, the first and last of these both lying in the neighbouring Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district).
Constituent communities.
Bad Sobernheim's only outlying "Stadtteil" is Steinhardt, lying north-northeast of the main centre. Also belonging to Bad Sobernheim, however, are a number of other outlying centres. Some of these lie within the same patch of municipal territory as the main town, namely Dörndich, north-northwest of the main centre, and also Freilichtmuseum, Kurhaus am Maasberg and Neues Leben. Dörndich was once a Bundeswehr facility with barracks that belonged to the Pferdsfeld airfield. Today the area is used by various companies and private citizens. Other centres are also to be found in the municipal exclave lying to the northwest: Eckweiler, Birkenhof, Entenpfuhl mit Martinshof, Forsthaus Alteburg, Forsthaus Ippenschied, Hoxmühle, Kallweiler, Pferdsfeld and Trifthütte. This piece of land was once two former municipalities’ municipal areas. They were the municipalities of Eckweiler and Pferdsfeld.
Climate.
A mild, bracing climate, many sunny days, a long autumn and a mild winter all contribute to the area's being one of Southwest Germany's sunniest regions.
History.
In the New Stone Age (roughly 3000 to 1800 BC) and during the time of the Hunsrück-Eifel Culture (600 to 100 BC), the Bad Sobernheim area was settled, as it likewise was later in Roman times. Beginning about AD 450, the Franks set up a new settlement here. However, only in 1074 was this "villa" (that is, village) of "Suberenheim" first mentioned in a document, one made out to Ravengiersburg Abbey. The Sobernheim dwellers then were farmers (some of whom were townsmen) and craftsmen, and into modern times they earned their livelihoods mainly at agriculture, forestry and winegrowing. Businesses and trades existed, but they were often linked with farming. Several monastic orders held landholds in the town. Furthermore, several noble families were resident, such as the Counts of Sponheim, the Raugraves and the Knights of Steinkallenfels. Administration was led by an archiepiscopal "Schultheiß", who by 1269 at the latest also had three "Schöffen" (roughly "lay jurists") at his side. They also formed the first town court. In 1259, Sobernheim was split away from Disibodenberg; only the pastoral duties remained in the monks' hands. Sobernheim was from the Early Middle Ages a centre among the estates held by the Archbishopric of Mainz on both the Nahe and the Glan. It was subject to the vice-lord of the Rheingau. The archbishop transferred Saint Matthew's Church ("Kirche St. Matthias") to the monks at Disibodenberg. The Romanesque-Early Gothic building was newly built about 1400 and renovated in the 19th century. The town was granted town rights on the Frankfurt model in 1292 by King Adolf of Nassau and again in 1324 by Emperor Louis the Bavarian. It was, however, the town rights on the Bingen model granted by Archbishop Baldwin of Trier in 1330 that became operative and remained so until the French Revolutionary Wars. Until 1259, Sobernheim was administered by Disibodenberg, and thereafter until 1471 by the Burgraves of Böckelheim. In the Nine Years' War (known in Germany as the "Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg", or War of the Palatine Succession), the fortifications and most of the town's buildings were destroyed by the French. Named in 1403, besides the archiepiscopal "Schultheiß", were a mayor and 14 "Schöffen" drawn from among the townsmen. At that time, there were also Jews living here, who worked at trading. A stone bridge spanned the Nahe beginning sometime between 1423 and 1426, but after a flood shifted the riverbed towards the south in 1627, it sat high and dry in the meadows and was only replaced with the current bridge in 1867–1868. In 1471, Elector Palatine Friedrich I's conquests for Electoral Palatinate included Sobernheim, ending Burgravial rule. Two great fires laid almost the whole town waste in 1567 and 1689. The oldest part of the town hall ("Rathaus") was built in 1535, with later expansions being undertaken in 1805, 1837 and 1861–1862. There was already a school sometime after 1530. Despite efforts by the Archbishopric of Mainz, Sobernheim remained with Electoral Palatinate until the French Revolution, then passing to France's Department of Rhin-et-Moselle after the French conquest in the years 1792–1797, which ended the Elector's own rule. Sobernheim became the seat of a "mairie" ("mayoralty") that included not only the town itself but also the outlying villages of Waldböckelheim, Thalböckelheim, Schloßböckelheim, Steinhardt, Boos, Oberstreit, Bockenau, Burgsponheim and Sponheim as well as a "Friedensgericht" ("Peace Court"; in 1879 this became an "Amtsgericht"). After the Napoleonic Wars had ended and the Congress of Vienna had been concluded, the town passed to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815. The "mairie" became a "Bürgermeisterei" (also "mayoralty") under Prussian administration. The year 1817 saw the two Protestant denominations, Lutheran and Reformed, united. In 1857, the King of Prussia once more – for the fourth time in the town's history – granted Sobernheim town rights. In 1858, members of the town's Jewish community built a synagogue. This lasted for 80 years before it was destroyed by Brownshirt thugs on Kristallnacht (9–10 November 1938). Industrial development took a long time to make itself felt in Sobernheim, even after the town was linked to the new Rhine-Nahe-Saar Railway in 1859. A cardboard packaging printshop opened for business in 1832, a stocking factory in 1865 and a gelatine factory in 1886/1887. There was also a factory that made sheet-metal articles, and after 1900 there were two brickworks. The Kreuznach district savings bank ("Kreissparkasse Kreuznach") was founded in Sobernheim in 1878 and moved to Bad Kreuznach in 1912. A Catholic hospital opened in 1886, as did a location of the Rhenish Deaconry in 1889. In 1888, the Prussian government split the outlying villages from the town, making them a "Bürgermeisterei" in their own right, called Waldböckelheim. A new development began after 1900 with the introduction of the "Felkekur" ("Felke cure"). From 1915 until his death in 1926, Pastor Emanuel Felke worked in Bad Sobernheim. He was a representative of naturopathy who developed the treatment so named, which now bears his name. This cure is to this day still applied at Bad Sobernheim's many spa houses. His student Dhonau established a Felke treatment house across the Nahe that began operations in 1907. Further such houses sprang up in 1924 (Stassen), 1926 (Neues Leben) and 1928 (Menschel). The small "Amt" of Meddersheim was in 1935 brought into joint administration with Sobernheim and, as of 1940, was wholly merged with the town to form the new "Amt" of Sobernheim. The Second World War brought not only a toll in human lives but also damage from Allied air raids. Reconstruction began with the 1948 currency reform and brought into being a town of some 7,000 inhabitants in which trade, industry, services and public institutions defined economic life. Several central schools, extensive sport facilities and the raising to a Felke spa town are more recent milestones in the town's development. In the course of administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate in 1969 and 1970, the "Verbandsgemeinde" of Sobernheim was formed. Belonging to this originally were 20 "Ortsgemeinden" and the town of Sobernheim, but the number of "Ortsgemeinden" dropped to 18 in 1979 with the dissolution of the "Ortsgemeinden" of Pferdsfeld and Eckweiler, whose municipal areas made up the swathe of non-contiguous municipal territory lying to the northwest. The German Air Force was stationed at the outlying centre of Pferdsfeld from 1960 with the "Leichtes Kampfgeschwader" ("Light Combat Squadron") 42 and from 1975 with the "Jagdbombergeschwader" 35 (Jagdgeschwader 73). On 1 January 1969, a tract of land with 121 inhabitants was transferred from the municipality of Waldböckelheim to Sobernheim. On 10 June 1979, the hitherto self-administering municipalities of Eckweiler and Pferdsfeld were amalgamated with Sobernheim. Since 11 December 1995, the town has borne the designation "Bad" (literally "bath") in recognition of its tradition as a healing centre.
Jewish history.
As early as the Middle Ages, there were Jews living in Sobernheim, with the first mention of them coming from 1301. During the persecution in the time of the Plague in 1348 and 1349, Jews were murdered here, too. In 1357, Archbishop Gerlach of Mainz took two Jews into his protection and allowed them to settle in either Bingen or Sobernheim. Jews were mentioned as being in the town once again in 1384. In the earlier half of the 15th century, there were four or five Jewish families. These families earned their livelihoods at moneylending. In 1418, four Jewish families each paid 10 Rhenish guilders, a woman 4 guilders and three poor Jews 4 guilders in yearly tax to the Mainz stewardship or the Empire. In 1429, all the Jews at Sobernheim (named were Hirtz, Gomprecht, Smohel, Mayer, Smohel's mother and others), together with those throughout the Archbishopric of Mainz, were taken prisoner. It is not believed that this resulted in banishment. Nonetheless, there were clearly no Jews living in Sobernheim in the mid 16th century. The founding of the modern Jewish community came sometime in the 16th or 17th century. Then living in the town were up to five families with all together 20 to 30 persons. After the French Revolution, the community grew from 64 persons in 1808 to a peak of 135 persons in 1895. Beginning in the late 19th century, though, the number of Jews in the town shrank as some either moved away or emigrated. Among Sobernheim's Jews in the 19th and 20th centuries were livestock dealers, butchers, textile sellers, farm product sellers, shoemakers, leather dealers, shop owners and stocking manufacturers. Of particular importance in this last field of business was the Marum stocking factory. In the way of institutions, there were a synagogue (see Synagogue below), a Jewish elementary and religious school with a teacher's dwelling at the house at Marumstraße 20 (this house had been donated after the synagogue's consecration in 1859 by Isaac Werner as a school building), a mikveh (while a supposedly mediaeval one was also unearthed at the house at Großstraße 53 in 1996) and a graveyard (see Jewish graveyard below). To provide for the community's religious needs, an elementary schoolteacher (but later only a religion teacher) was hired, who also busied himself as the hazzan and, although this is not known for sure, as the shochet. Preserved is a whole series of job advertisements for such a position in Sobernheim from such publications as the "Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums". This one appeared in that newspaper on 1 August 1853:The local Jewish community seeks for 1 September of this year an efficient elementary teacher and cantor. He must be a native, receives 160 Thaler as salary along with free dwelling and heating. Interested parties please announce themselves as soon as possible, and include a copy of their examination and service records. Sobernheim in Rhenish Prussia. School board J. Werner, J. Klein. The successful applicant for this job was Alexander Cahn, who then worked in Sobernheim for several decades and was the figure who characterized Sobernheim's Jewish community life in the latter half of the 19th century. He also established a successful Jewish boarding school for boys in the town. Beginning in 1890, schoolteacher Simon Berendt was active in the community. With him, the community celebrated the synagogue's reconsecration in 1904. He celebrated his own 25 years of service in Sobernheim in 1915. In the First World War, four men from Sobernheim's Jewish community fell:
Their names appear on the memorial to the fallen at the Jewish graveyard. In the mid 1920s, Sobernheim's Jewish community still had some 80 persons within a total population of roughly 3,850 (2.1%). Also belonging to the town's Jewish community were the Jews living in Meddersheim (in the mid 1920s, this amounted to 16 persons). The synagogue was then headed by Leopold Loeb, Heinrich Kallmann and Gustav Hesse. In the meantime, Julius Katzenstein had been hired as the cantor and religion teacher. He taught religion at the town's public school to 14 Jewish children. In the way of Jewish clubs, there were a Jewish women's club whose task it was to see to the community's welfare, the club Chewroth whose task it was to see to care of the sick and burials and a Liberal Youth Association. The community belonged to the Koblenz Rabbinate Region. In the early 1930s, the community's leaders were Alfred Marum, Heinrich Kallmann and Mr. Haas. For representation, nine members were part of the leadership, under Richard Wolf's and Moses Fried's chairmanship. The cantor by this time was Felix Moses. In 1933, there were still 83 Jewish inhabitants among the town's population. After 1933, the year when Adolf Hitler and the Nazis seized power, though, some of the Jews moved away or even emigrated in the face of the boycotting of their businesses, the progressive stripping of their rights and repression, all brought about by the Nazis. By Kristallnacht (9–10 November 1938), only 45 were left. In 1942, the town's last 12 Jewish inhabitants were deported. According to the "Gedenkbuch – Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden unter der nationalsozialistischen Gewaltherrschaft in Deutschland 1933-1945" ("Memorial Book – Victims of the Persecution of the Jews under National Socialist Tyranny") and Yad Vashem, of all Jews who either were born in Sobernheim or lived there for a long time, 40 died in the time of the Third Reich (birthdates in brackets):
Criminal history.
Like many places in the region, Bad Sobernheim can claim to have had its dealings with the notorious outlaw Schinderhannes (or Johannes Bückler, to use his true name). The "Steinhardter Hof", an estate in the constituent community of Steinhardt, served him and his sidekick Peter Petri, known as "Schwarzer Peter" ("Black Peter"), as a hideout for a while in the late 18th century.
Religion.
The two big church communities are the Evangelical community of "St. Matthias" Bad Sobernheim and the Catholic community of "St. Matthäus" Bad Sobernheim, which belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier. As at 31 October 2013, there are 6,420 full-time residents in Bad Sobernheim, and of those, 3,176 are Evangelical (49.47%), 1,582 are Catholic (24.642%), 8 belong to the Greek Orthodox Church (0.125%), 2 belong to the Russian Orthodox Church (0.031%), 5 are Lutheran (0.078%), 1 belongs to the Alzey Free Religious Community (0.016%), 2 belong to the North Rhine-Westphalia Jewish community (0.031%), 335 (5.218%) belong to other religious groups and 1,309 (20.389%) either have no religion or did not disclose their religious affiliation.
Politics.
Town council.
The council is made up of 22 council members, who were elected by proportional representation at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Mayor.
Bad Sobernheim's mayor is Michael Greiner (SPD), and his deputies are Alois Bruckmeier (FWG) and Ulrich Schug (Greens).
Coat of arms.
The German blazon reads: "Auf Schwarz ein goldener Löwe, rot bekront und bewehrt, rote Zunge, ein silbernes Rad haltend. Auf Silber im Schildfuß ein blaues Wellenband. Die dreitürmige Festungsmauer in grau-braun."
The town's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: On an escutcheon ensigned with a wall with three towers all embattled grey-brown, sable a lion rampant Or armed, langued and crowned gules between his paws a wheel spoked of six argent, in base argent a fess wavy azure.
As suggested by the blazon, the official version of Bad Sobernheim's coat of arms has a wall on top of the escutcheon, not shown in the version in this article.
The two main charges in the escutcheon are references to the town's former allegiance to two electoral states in the Holy Roman Empire, the Wheel of Mainz for the Electorate of Mainz and the Palatine Lion for Electoral Palatinate. The wavy fess in base symbolizes the Nahe. The "wall crown" in the more up-to-date version recalls the granting of town rights. The arms met with the requirements for the granting of such in 1924.
Town partnerships.
Bad Sobernheim fosters partnerships with the following places:
Culture and sightseeing.
Buildings.
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
More about buildings and sites.
Saint Matthias Evangelical Parish Church.
Bishop Willigis consecrated Saint Matthias Church ("Pfarrkirche St. Matthias") about 1000. The oldest parts (north tower base) are Romanesque, if not Carolingian; the quire is Early Gothic. The main nave was built in the late 15th century, and the tower in 1500, by Peter Ruben from Meisenheim. Besides sumptuous altar baldachin capitals with representations of angels and colouring from the time of building, the organ built by Johann Michael Stumm in 1739, largely preserved in its original state and restored, and the windows by Georg Meistermann are worth viewing.
Disibodenberg Chapel.
The Late Gothic "Disibodenberger Kapelle" (chapel) was built to a plan by Heinrich Murer von Beckelnheim for the Cistercians of Disibodenberg Abbey on an estate that lay between the town wall and Großstraße, and which had already been presented to the abbey by Archbishop Willigis of Mainz in 975. The estate, which functioned as a tithe-gathering place for the landholds on the middle Nahe and the Glan, grew into the abbey's most important settlement. The chapel, bearing an imprint of the Frankfurt school, was according to dendrochronological studies, in the area of the quire, roofed about 1455, while the nave got its roof somewhat later, about 1493. Both roof frames, given their age, size, quality and completeness are held to be among the most important witnesses to the carpenter's craft in Rhineland-Palatinate. The means of financing the construction of this 23.25 m-long, 7.65 m-wide building came from an inheritance from Katharina von Homburg, widow of Antilmann von Scharfenstein, called von Grasewege, an Electoral Mainz Amtmann at Schloss Böckelheim, who died on 24 December 1388, and whom Catholics revere as Blessed. After the Reformation was introduced under Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, the chapel was profaned in 1566 by being converted into a storehouse. A vaulted cellar with a height of about 3.90 m was built in, taking in the space between the base of the foundation and the windowsills and thus leading to the loss of the original ground floor's floor level and pedestal zone. Therefore, the chapel can now no longer be entered through any doorway dating from the time of building. The new "high ground floor" thus created lies at the level of the sills of the Gothic windows. Likewise about 1566, in an attempt to gain more stabling room, a wooden middle floor was built in, which is now important to the building's history for both its age and its shaping in the Renaissance style. Since both the later building jobs – the vaulted cellar and the middle floor – came to be in the course of the chapel's profanation after the Reformation was introduced, they can also be considered witnesses to the local denominational history. The west portal's outer tympanum, which shows, under a mighty ogee, in the style of the Frankfurt School, a calvary with Jesus, Mary Mother of God and John the Apostle as well as two thurible-swinging angels attending, is the only one with carved ornamentation in the Nahe-Glan region that has been preserved from the Middle Ages. The artwork is stylistically akin to the tomb carving in nearby St. Johannisberg (constituent community of Hochstetten-Dhaun) and at the Pfaffen-Schwabenheim collegiate church. The motif of the crockets along the ogee, on the viewer's left turned away and on his right opened towards him, are otherwise only found on the west portal of St. Valentin in Kiedrich in the Rheingau. Brought to light in 1985 during restoration work beneath the tympanum was an atlas in the shape of a male figure, which because of his arm warmers reaching down over his palms is described as the "Bauhandwerker" – roughly "construction worker". The atlas was, after painstaking analysis, walled up again for conservational reasons. After the chapel had been hidden for 111 years behind a print shop's walls, it came back to public awareness in 2010 with the opening of a retail park on the former print shop's property. The "Förderverein Disibodenberger Kapelle Bad Sobernheim e.V." ("Förderverein" means "promotional association" in German) has since set itself the task of finding a cultural use for the old chapel in keeping with its dignity as a former ecclesiastical building, and of permanently opening it to the broader public. In the spring of 2013, however, plans were put forth to turn the Disibodenberg Chapel into a brewpub.
Maltese Chapel.
The Late Gothic "Malteserkapelle" arose as a church of a settlement of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta/Knights Hospitaller. The quire was built in 1456 and the nave completed in 1465. The chapel's quire stands taller than the nave. The building's exterior is framed by stepped buttresses and windows with fish-bladder tracery. After the Reformation was introduced, the Knights had to leave Sobernheim. The chapel was used as a commercial building and fell into disrepair. After the reintroduction of the Catholic faith in 1664, the chapel, now renovated from the ground up, served as the Catholic parish church. At the Maltese Commandry in 1821, a Progymnasium was established (the "Höhere Stadtschule" or "Higher Town School"); the chapel was restored in 1837 and was then used as the school chapel. This school is considered the forerunner to the current Gymnasium. After the new Catholic parish church, Saint Matthew's ("St. Matthäus") was built in 1898/1899, directly opposite the chapel, six tombs, the baptismal font made about 1625 and a Sacramental shrine from the 15th century were all transferred to the new parish church. The chapel building was converted into a clubhouse. The last renovation work was undertaken in 1999–2003, and since then the Catholic parish of "St. Matthäus" has been using the building as its "Haus der Begegnung" ("Meeting House"). The building is under monumental protection.
Saint Matthew’s Catholic Parish Church.
Saint Matthew's Catholic Parish Church ("Pfarrkirche St. Matthäus"), a Gothic Revival church built by master church builder Ludwig Becker from 1898 to 1899, was consecrated by Bishop Michael Felix Korum. It is a great, three-naved hall church built out of yellow sandstone. It has a Gothic Revival triptych altar from 1905, a Sacramental shrine from the 15th century and an historic organ from 1901/1902 built by Michael Körfer from Gau-Algesheim. The organ is one of Körfer's few still preserved works. In the sanctuary stands the baptismal font made about 1625 and taken from the Maltese Chapel. The 59 m-tall churchtower looms over the town and can be seen from far beyond. Among the glass windows, those in the sanctuary stand out from those elsewhere in the church with their special images and colouring. The middle window uses mediaeval symbolism to describe the Last Judgment. The left window shows church patron Saint Matthew's calling at the tax office, under which are shown Hildegard of Bingen and Simon Peter. Displayed on the right window is the Maltese Chapel's patron, John the Baptist, and underneath, among others, Saint Disibod. On each side of the chancel are wall surfaces shaped in local forms. To the right, the lower part shows the town with the town hall's façade, the parish churches’ towers (both Catholic and Evangelical) and the town's coat of arms. The populace standing before this is shown in the four ages of life and as representatives of ecclesiastical and secular worlds. The historic Körfer organ was thoroughly restored in 2011–2012. The parish church itself is slated to be renovated inside beginning in January 2014
Marketplace.
Worth seeing, too, is the historic marketplace ("Marktplatz") with the town hall ("Rathaus") from the 16th century, whence all other historical places, leisure facilities and restaurants in town can be easily reached. The marketplace and the neighbouring streets are also the venue for Bad Sobernheim's yearly traditional "Innenstadtfest" ("Inner Town Festival"), held on the first weekend in September.
Noble estates.
Bad Sobernheim is home to several former landholds once belonging to noblemen or monasteries in bygone centuries. The "Steinhardter Hof" temporarily served as a hideout towards the end of the 18th century for the robbers Johann Peter Petri, called "Schwarzer Peter" ("Black Peter") and Johannes Bückler, called "Schinderhannes".
Paul Schneider Monumental Column.
In Pferdsfeld, one of the centres in Bad Sobernheim's northwest exclave, stands the "Paul-Schneider-Gedenksäule" in memory of the martyr Paul Schneider, who was born here.
Synagogue.
About any mediaeval institutions, nothing is known, but there might have been a prayer room on hand in the earlier half of the 15th century, when there were four or five Jewish families in town. The modern Jewish community, too, began with a prayer room in the 17th or 18th century. Beginning in 1816, this was to be found in a private house (the Werner house at Marumstraße 20). As early as the late 1830s, the building police were threatening to close the roughly 25 m2 room as it had become too small for the swelling Jewish community. First, the community strove to secure a plot on Marumstraße (later the site of the Bottlinger house), but this proved to be too small for a new building. Only in 1858, amid great financial sacrifice, was a synagogue built on what is now called Gymnasialstraße, on a piece of land where once had stood a barn. It was a Late Classicist sandstone-block building with round-arched windows and a pyramid roof. The original building was – in comparison with the one that has been preserved – smaller by one window axis; this area was to be occupied by a schoolhouse. About the synagogue's consecration on 18 June 1858, performed by Chief Rabbi Dr. Auerbach together with the Sobernheim cantor and schoolteacher Alexander Cahn, a newspaper report from the "Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums" survives from 19 June 1858, written by "Master Bricklayer S. Hadra":Sobernheim, 18 June 1858. On this day, the local Jewish community celebrated the consecration of its newly built House of God. This is, in relation to the not very numerous Jewish population, built very roomily, so that in the case of growth thereof by as many again, there would still not be a lack of room. The building itself is built in a suitable modern style. The community spared no expense furnishing its House of God in the worthiest way. They even enjoyed valuable donations and contributions from non-resident members. The consecration celebrations were conducted with great pomp. Many friends from near and far attended to participate on this festive day. The festive procession moved from the old prayer house to the new synagogue. Forth under the grand baldachin of the Chief Rabbis, Dr. Auerbach from Bonn and the local cantor and schoolteacher, Mr. Cahn, followed by the bearers of the Scroll of Law. Hereupon followed the choir that has been newly instituted here by Sobernheim’s young women and men, the officials who were invited to the festivities and other members of the community. The synagogue at this memorable celebration was adorned with leaves and wreaths of flowers by the teacher. Chief Rabbi Dr. Auerbach gave a deeply gripping sermon characterizing the day’s importance. On Saturday, the Jewish community’s schoolteacher and cantor Mr. Kahn preached on the theme “Build me a House of God and I shall live among you.” S. Hadra, Master Bricklayer.In 1904, the synagogue was thoroughly renovated and expanded towards the west. About the completion of this work and the synagogue's reconsecration on 11 and 12 November 1904, a magazine report from "Der Israelit" survives from 24 November 1904:Sobernheim. 14 November 1904. The 11th and 12th of November were high festive days for the local community, as on these days, the expanded and beautified synagogue was consecrated. To the festivities, many guests from here and elsewhere were invited and they showed up. The consecration service held on Friday afternoon, at which, among others, the mayor, the town executive, the Royal District School Inspector, the principal of the local Realschule and representatives of the schoolboards took part, was opened with the motet “"Gesegnet sei, wer da kommt im Namen des Herrn"” (“Blessed be He who Cometh in the Lord’s Name”), presented by the synagogue choir. Hereupon, the community’s schoolteacher, Mr. Berendt, read out, in an upliftingly expressive voice, Psalm 110. After the choir then sang Ma Tovu (מה טבו), leadership member Mr. Michel’s eldest daughter presented a prologue in exemplary fashion and handed the community head, Mr. M. Marum, the key to the holy ark. He then gave a speech thanking, in brief but heartfelt words, all those who had contributed to the completion of the building work. Upon this, Mr. Marum opened the holy ark and bestowed upon it its ceremonial function. While the choir sang Vaychi benisa (ויחי בנסע), leadership member Mr. Löb took out one of the Torah scrolls and handed it to Mr. Berendt, who with a festive voice spoke the following: “And this is the teaching that Moses set before the Children of Israel, and in this teaching is the Word that served Israel as a banner on its long wandering through history, around which it gathered, the Word, which was its guiding star in friendly and dreary days: Hear, O Israel, the Everlasting, our God, the Everlasting, is the only one.” After the choir and the community had repeated the last words in Hebrew, the Torah scroll was put into the holy ark amid song from the choir for that occasion. Deeply moving and seriously thought-out was Mr. Berendt’s celebratory sermon that followed about the Word of the prophet Isaiah: “ביתי בית תפלה יקרא לכל העמים” (“My house shall be a house of prayer and a house for all people”). After the consecration hereafter performed by him and the reading of the general invocation, the aaronitic blessing was then conferred in Hebrew and German and the consecrational song was presented by the choir. The celebratory service obviously left all participants with an impression fully matching the dignity of the celebration. After a short break, קבלת שבת took place (onset of Shabbat), at which our splendid House of God shone as surely as it had at midday in glorious electric light. On Saturday morning, the main service was held, whereupon the religious celebration concluded. At four o’clock in the afternoon, a banquet began in the hall at the “high castle”. This event, too, went off in the loveliest way, making the festival into a harmonic whole, honouring its organizers and giving all participants a lasting memory. To the following goes credit for the embellishment of the House of God: Mrs. Jakob Kaufmann "née" van Geldern, who by collections among the women made possible a magnificent parochet; Mr. Ferdinand Herz, who endowed a sumptuous shulchan cover (for the lectern); Mrs. Else Jakobi "née" Marum from Grünstadt and Mr. B. Steinherb from Aachen, who each donated a richly ornamented Torah mantle. The Family Jakob Marum from Karlsruhe gave a rare carpet that decorates the inside of the House of God.In 1929, the synagogue's roof was renovated. In August 1930, a memorial tablet to the fallen from Sobernheim in the First World War was put up at the synagogue. On Kristallnacht (9–10 November 1938), the synagogue was demolished and desecrated. The prayer books were burnt. Somebody managed to save the Torah scrolls and the parochet. The memorial tablet to the fallen was broken to bits, but Alfred Marum safely gathered up the bits (he put it back together and on 15 October 1950, set it in the memorial at the graveyard, fractured though it still was; the Jewish worship community of the Bad Kreuznach and Birkenfeld districts replaced it with a replica of the original in January 2005). In 1939, the synagogue was sold to the town, who had in mind to turn the building into an atrium for the Gymnasium. In the Second World War, however, the synagogue was used as a storage room by the Wehrmacht. In 1953, after the war, the building was sold to the owner of the Schmidt department store and thereafter used for furniture storage. Intermediate floors were built inside. In 1971, the building was threatened with being torn down. A broad bypass road was, according to the plans then put forth, to lead right across the plot occupied by the synagogue. Only with great effort could the application to put the building under monumental protection be put through. The town and the owner objected, albeit unsuccessfully. In 1986, the building was once again sold, and then used for drink storage and stockpiling. On 9 November 1989 – the 51st anniversary of Kristallnacht – the "Förderverein Synagoge Sobernheim e.V." (Sobernheim Synagogue Promotional Association) was founded. It set itself the goal of conserving the legacy of Jewish culture in Bad Sobernheim. Central to its purpose from the outset were the preservation and renovation of the synagogue. The House of God was to be led to a use that was wise and in line with its dignity. The use to which the building was to be led turned out to be as the new home for the town's public library, which would allow the space formerly used for worship to keep its original shape (the intermediate floors were to be torn out). In 2001, the town of Bad Sobernheim acquired the synagogue. Through a usage and maintenance agreement, the building passed into the promotional association's care. In 2002, the roof and the windows were repaired. The Family Marum's descendants donated a new Star of David for the roof. At once, several memorial events, concerts and even Jewish religious services took place inside, even though at first, it did not look very appealing. In connection with this, close contacts were developed between the promotional association, the "Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der Juden in Deutschland" (Central Welfare Post of the Jews in Germany, represented locally by "Max-Willner-Haus" in Bad Sobernheim) and the Jewish worship community in Bad Kreuznach. In 2003, the first Jewish religious service in 65 years took place at the synagogue. Between 2005 and 2010, the restoration of the old synagogue was undertaken, and it was turned into the "Kulturhaus Synagoge". This was festively dedicated on 30 May 2010. The address in Bad Sobernheim is Gymnasialstraße 9.
Jewish graveyard.
The Jewish graveyard in Bad Sobernheim is believed to have existed since the early 19th century. Its earliest appearance in records was in the original 1825 cadastral survey. Rural cadastral names such as "Auf'm Judenkirchhof" or "In der Judendell", however, may mean that it has existed longer. If the Bad Sobernheim graveyard was only laid out in 1820 or thereabouts, it is unclear where the town's Jewish families would have buried their dead before that, although candidates include the central graveyards in Bad Kreuznach, Gemünden and Meisenheim. Registered as the graveyard's owner in 1826 was the horse dealer Philipp Werner (at the time, the Jewish community could not function as an incorporated body and thus could not own things). The graveyard was still in the Family Werner's ownership in 1860. In 1856, a field beside the Jewish graveyard was named that was in the Jewish community's ownership, which became the new annex to the graveyard (the new Sobernheim and Monzingen section). The oldest preserved gravestone is from 1829, bearing the aforesaid Philipp Werner's name. The last three burials were in the time of the Third Reich, shortly before the deportations began. Those buried were Ida and Hermann Wolf and also Jonas Haas. No further gravestones were ever placed. The graveyard's area is 6 979 m2, making it the second biggest in the Bad Kreuznach district. The graveyard is divided into four parts, the old and new Sobernheim sections, the Waldböckelheim section and the Monzingen section. Standing in the Monzingen section are gravestones from the Monzingen graveyard, which was levelled in 1938. The gravestones were transferred to Bad Sobernheim. In the Waldböckelheim section, members of the Jewish community in Waldböckelheim were buried in the 19th century. There was a relationship between Waldböckelheim and Sobernheim especially in the Family Marum: Anselm Marum the Younger was born in Waldböckelheim, but he later became leader of the Jewish community in Sobernheim. The old Sobernheim section is where the dead from Sobernheim were buried in the 19th century. Beginning in 1902, the new Sobernheim section was used. The first burial there was Sara Marum, who had founded the Marum stocking factory. In the middle, among the sections, stands the 1950 monument where the memorial tablet to the fallen from the First World War is set. This was to be found at the synagogue (see Synagogue above) until 1938, and it was replaced with a replica in 2005. There was another, smaller Jewish graveyard at the northwest edge of the town graveyard "Auf Löhborn", behind the chapel, that was laid out in 1925. This new burying ground was secured through community leader Leopold Loeb's efforts. Buried there were his wife's siblings and in 1930, Loeb himself. In 1937 – in the time of the Third Reich – the dead buried at this graveyard had to be removed and buried once again at the "Domberg" graveyard. Within the municipal graveyard, Jews were now "unwanted". During the time of the Third Reich, the "Domberg" graveyard was heavily defiled and ravaged. The worst destruction happened on Kristallnacht (9–10 November 1938), wrought by 10 or 15 men, mostly Brownshirt thugs. They threw the gravestones about and shattered stones and inscription tablets. Quite a few pieces of stone were rolled down the hill or thrown over into neighbouring fields. Parts of the graveyard (among them the left side of the Waldböckelheim section) were then or in the time that followed almost utterly removed. After 1945, the stones – wherever possible – were put back up, but this left some of the stones in the older sections no longer standing in their original places. Many bits of rubble could not be identified and therefore could not be placed. On 15 October 1950, the memorial was dedicated, and now remembers not only the local Jews who fell in the First World War but also those Jews from Bad Sobernheim who died. Even after 1945, the graveyard was defiled several times – at least four – the last time in January 1983, when some 40 gravestones were thrown about and heavily damaged. The plaque at the graveyard reads as follows:Jewish graveyards “Auf dem Domberg” in Sobernheim. In 1343, the first Jewish fellow townsfolk in Sobernheim were mentioned in documents. Their burial places are unknown. Likely their burials took place outside the town wall. In Napoleonic times about 1800, there was a new burial order. Thereafter, no more dead could be buried in residential areas. At about the same time as the graveyard “Auf Löhborn” was laid out, so was the Jewish graveyard “Auf dem Domberg”. The oldest gravestone comes from 1829. The graveyard is made up of three parts. In the oldest part, the dead are buried with their heads towards Jerusalem, thus eastwards. In the middle part of the graveyard, the dead were buried turned towards the synagogue, which can be seen well from the graveyard. Since the former Jewish graveyard at Monzingen was closed at the NSDAP’s instigation, the available stones from Monzingen were “symbolically” set up at the Sobernheim graveyard. Also worthy of mention is the tablet at the graveyard honouring the fallen Jewish soldiers from the First World War 1914-18. Beginning in 1930, Jewish families buried their dead at the town graveyard “Auf Löhborn”. On the NSDAP’s orders in 1933-34, exhumations of the buried Jews were carried out, and they were eventually buried at the Jewish graveyard “Auf dem Domberg”. With regard to the care of graves, Jewish people have different customs to Christians. After setting the gravestone, the rest of the dead should for ever be undisturbed. It is customary to plant ivy or periwinkle on the graves. When visiting a relative’s grave, one lays a stone on the gravestone, or on the anniversary of his death, a grave candle is lit. The graveyard is closed on all Saturdays as well as on all Jewish holidays. The Jewish graveyard lies on the Domberg (mountain) east of the town centre, not far from the road "Auf dem Kolben".
Museums.
Bad Sobernheim is home to two museums. The "Rheinland-Pfälzisches Freilichtmuseum" ("Rhineland-Palatinate Open-Air Museum") has translocated buildings, old cattle breeds (Glan Cattle) and old equipment, showing how the people who lived in the countryside in Rhineland-Palatinate, in the Hunsrück and on the Nahe and other rural places lived and worked in bygone centuries. It is of importance well beyond the local region. The local history museum ("Heimatmuseum") has pictures, sculptures and notes made by well known Bad Sobernheim artists such as Jakob Melcher, Johann von der Eltz and Rudolf Desch on display. Many magazines, documents and books by the spa founder and pastor Emanuel Felke can be found here. His works are presented on display boards. Also found here is an extensive collection about the region's geological history.
Palaeontology.
Bad Sobernheim is also known as the discovery site for a number of fossils. Named after its main discovery site, a sand quarry in the outlying centre of Steinhardt, are "Steinhardter Erbsen", or "Steinhardt Peas", sandstone concretions containing fossils, mostly plants. These ball-shaped sandstones contain plant and animal remnants that are roughly 30,000,000 years old, from the Oligocene. Wrapping the fossils inside one of these "peas" is baryte. The peas presumably formed inside hot springs that apparently were linked with a geological remoulding near Steinhardt and bore barium chloride. When plants and animals decay in an oxidizing environment, hydrogen sulphide forms, which reacts with barium chloride to form baryte. In the process, sand is locked around the fossils. Plant remnants like wood and conifer cones are mostly converted into baryte, and only leaves show up as imprints. In the pit of a former Bad Sobernheim brickworks, superb fossils of plants from Rotliegend times (Permian) some 290,000,000 years ago have been unearthed. The name of one of these species, "Sobernheimia", recalls its discovery site. At times, whole phyla of horsetails and sequoias have come to light there. Fossil plants from Sobernheim are presented at the Palaeontological Museum in Nierstein. Moreover, small agate druses are now and then found within the town's limits. Other fossils have been found at a basalt quarry near Langenthal.
Sport and leisure.
In Bad Sobernheim there are an adventure swimming pool, a 3.5 km-long "Barfußpfad" ("Barefoot Path") on the riverside flats with adventure stations, among them river crossings, one at a ford and another at a suspension bridge, as well as many cycle paths and hiking trails, tennis, golf and miniature golf facilities. There is also a campground.
Parks.
In the inner town lies the "Marumpark", once the family Marum's private garden. This family owned a stocking factory located in Bad Sobernheim from 1865 to 1982, which was later donated to the town. Near the middle stands a memorial stone to Arnold Marum, factory founder Sarah Marum's great-grandson.
Clubs.
The following clubs are active in Bad Sobernheim:
Economy and infrastructure.
Winegrowing and tourism.
Bad Sobernheim belongs to the Nahe wine region. The winemaking appellation – "Großlage" – is called "Paradiesgarten", while individual Sobernheim wineries – "Einzellagen" – are "Domberg" and "Marbach". Winegrowing and tourism go hand in hand here. The "Weinwanderweg Rhein-Nahe" ("Rhine-Nahe Wine Hiking Trail"), the "Nahe-Radweg" ("Nahe Cycle Way") and the "Naheweinstraße" ("Nahe Wine Road") all run through the town's municipal area and on through the "Verbandsgemeinde". Even today, agriculture still defines part of the region's culture, giving rise to, among other things, a great grape and fruit market in the town each autumn. Many winemakers also have gastronomical enterprises. The traditional grape variety is Riesling.
Established businesses.
Among the more important enterprises in Bad Sobernheim are the following:
Retailers.
Bad Sobernheim's "Innenstadtzentrum" ("Inner Town Centre") stands on land once occupied by the Melsbach cardboard packaging factory, and is a big shopping centre with branches of Rewe, NKD and Netto as well as a café and two bakeries. On the town's outskirts are found the companies Real, Lidl and Aldi Süd.
Financial services.
The "Sparkasse Rhein-Nahe" (savings bank) and the "Volksbank Rhein-Nahe-Hunsrück" both have branches in the town.
Healthcare and spa facilities.
The therapeutic facilities founded by the Bad Sobernheim citizens Felke and Schroth are an important economic factor for the town. Listed here are some of the town's healthcare facilities:
Education.
Bad Sobernheim has a state G8 Gymnasium, the "Emanuel-Felke-Gymnasium". Moreover, there is a big school centre ("Münchwiesen") that houses a primary school and a coöperative Realschule plus. Both schools at the school centre and the Gymnasium have all-day school. The folk high school rounds out the educational offerings for adults. Bad Sobernheim also has two Evangelical kindergartens, "Albert-Schweitzer-Haus" and "Leinenborn". There are also one municipal kindergarten and a Catholic one belonging to the Catholic parish of "St. Matthäus".
Libraries.
At the renovated former synagogue, there has been since April 2010 the public municipal library, the "Kulturhaus Synagoge". The two former libraries, the Evangelical parish library and the old municipal library, were then brought together at the old synagogue to form a new municipal library.
Transport.
Running by Bad Sobernheim is "Bundesstraße" 41. Serving the town is a railway station on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen–Saarbrücken). The bus route BusRegioLinie 260 Bad Sobernheim – Meisenheim – Lauterecken with a connection on to Altenglan runs hourly (every two hours in the evening and on weekends). The town lies within the area of the "Rhein-Nahe-Nahverkehrsverbund" (RNN; Rhine-Nahe Local Transport Association). Frankfurt-Hahn Airport lies some 30 km away from Bad Sobernheim as the crow flies.


Conrad von Rosen

Conrad von Rosen (1628–1715) was a soldier from Livonia, who served in the French army under Louis XIV from 1646 on. He fought in the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) and the Nine Years' War (1688–1691). In 1689 he went to Ireland with James II of England and commanded the Jacobite troops during the final stage of the unsuccessful Siege of Derry.
Family background.
Conrad was born on 29 September 1628 at Gross Roop (now Straupe) in Duchy of Livonia (now in Latvia). He was the third son of Fabian von Rosen (1590–1633) and his wife Sophia (1597–1673). His father's full name was Baron Fabian von Rosen of Klein-Roop and Raiskum; his wife's was Sophie von Mengden of Idsel and Maikendorf. The was Baltic German and Lutheran.
Early career.
As a nobleman's younger son, Conrad von Rosen pursued a military career and in 1644 enlisted in the Swedish army as Livland was at that time controlled by Sweden. However, he was exiled after killing an officer in duel. He then asked a relative, Reinhold von Rosen, who served in the French army, for a chance to relaunch his career. Reinhold appointed him an ensign in his regiment in 1646. Conrad de Rosen, as he was called, rose steadily through the ranks.
Marriage and children.
In 1660 he married Marie-Sophie de Rosen (1638–1686), Reinhold's only child.
Conrad and Marie-Sopie had ten children, but three boys died in their early childhood. The other seven are:
His father-in-law died in 1667 and Rosen inherited Dettwiller, , and Bollwiller in Alsace. Bollwiller, however, had been pawned to the Fuggers by Reinhold, and Conrad had to pay his father-in-law's debt. He ceded his claims to parts of the Livonian family properties to his brother Otto (died 1709). In 1669 he became a colonel.
Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678).
In the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678), he excelled at the Battle of Seneffe (1674) under Condé and was appointed brigadier. After the campaign of 1675, Condé retired and was replaced by Luxembourg. In 1677 Rosen became maréchal de camp. Under Luxembourg he fought in the siege of Cambrai (1677) and was wounded. He fought, still under Luxembourg, in the Battle of Saint-Denis in August 1678 where he excelled. This was the last battle against the Spanish of the Franco-Dutch war. Peace was signed in September. However, the war against the Empire raged on. Peace between France and the Empire was only signed in January 1679. Rosen therefore served France in autumn 1678 on the upper Rhine under Marshal Créquy fighting the Imperial army under the Duke of Lorraine.
Between the wars.
In 1681 in a climate of increasing religious intolerance before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes Rosen found it necessary to convert to Catholicism. His children followed, his wife, however, stayed Lutheran. As a reward he was created comte de Bollwiller but he seems never to have used he title.
In 1682 he accompanied Marquis de La Trousse to Piedmont to ensure security during a risky diplomatic mission. That same year Louis XIV promoted him to lieutenant-general and in 1686 Rosen was appointed commander-in-chief in Languedoc.
Ireland.
In the Nine Years' War (1688–97) Louis XIV supported James II of England against William of Orange, who had overthrown James in the Glorious Revolution in England. James had fled to France. Ireland however remained in the hands of James's loyal viceroy Tyrconnell. Louis sent James to Ireland trying to reinstate him on the throne. Rosen arrived in Ireland with him at Kinsale on 12 March 1689, having sailed on the ship-of-the-line "Entreprenant".
Rosen was the highest-ranking of the French officers sent to Ireland with James. Rosen was given the title Marshal of Ireland for the duration of his participation in the campaign.
Battle of the Fords.
On 12 March 1689 Rosen landed with James in Ireland. He went with him to Dublin and then joined the army in the north, taking part in the Jacobite victory at the crossing of the River Finn, called the "passing of the fords". He, together with the General Maumont, crossed the River Finn at Lifford, while Richard Hamilton and Berwick crossed that same river further north at Clady. The way to Derry was open.
Siege of Derry.
On 18 April Rosen advanced to under the walls of Derry with King James II, who in vain summoned the town to surrender. Rosen then returned to Dublin with the king, leaving the command of the siege to Lieutenant-General Count Maumont, who was however killed about a month later in a sally on 21 April. The command then devolved to Lieutenant-General Richard Hamilton, who lacked experience in conducting sieges. As Hamilton did not make much progress, Rosen was sent back to Derry where he arrived around 20 June. He immediately adopted a much more hard-line approach towards the defenders than his predecessor. Rosen began bombarding the city in a more intense fashion, while also aiming to force the defenders to submit through starvation. He rounded up many Protestant inhabitants of the surrounding countryside who had previously been given legal protections by James and Hamilton, and on 2 July herded them towards the city walls hoping that the sight of them would dispirit the defenders. The garrison responded by threatening to hang Jacobite prisoners who had been taken during the siege. Hamilton quietly reported the matter to King James, who ordered Rosen to immediately cease such activities. James was furious and described the General as a "bloody Muscovite". He then asked Louis XIV to replace de Rosen.
Later service in Ireland.
Having failed to take Derry, the Jacobites withdrew southwards. Following the landing of Williamite reinforcements commanded by Schomberg and their capture of Carrickfergus, von Rosen advocated abandoning and burning Dublin and retreating behind the River Shannon, a policy that was rejected by James II. When the Williamite Army was encamped at Dundalk, he dramatically reversed his advice and suggested that the Jacobite army should launch an immediate attack. King James and Tyrconnell rejected this idea as they felt any assault on the entrenched position of the enemy would be suicidal.
In spring 1690 de Rosen and the French ambassador, d'Avaux, were replaced with Lauzun, who assumed both offices: top French commander in Ireland and French ambassador to James II. Lauzun arrived at Cork on 24 March together with seven French regiments. De Rosen and d'Avaux returned to France with that same fleet, departing from Cork on 8 April.
Back on the Continent.
On his return to France he was made maítre-de-camp général de la cavalerie. Rosen continued his career on the continent where he served under the Dauphin in Germany. In 1691 he commanded the sector of Cuesmes (or Quesme) south-east of the town in the siege of Mons under Boufflers. He commanded the right wing under Luxembourg in the Battle of Landen in July 1693. His son Georges-Christophe and his son-in-law Meinrad von Planta were killed in this battle. He also took part in the siege of Charleroi in October.
On 14 January 1703 he was one of the ten new Marshals of France appointed by Louis XIV. Together with the nine existing ones that made 19 Marshals of France. Being now marshal, Rosen sold his charge of maître-de-camp général de cavalerie to François Éléanor Montpéroux. In 1705 he became a knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit. This gave him the right to wear the blue sash called the "cordon bleu" that hangs over his right shoulder on his portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud.
Death and timeline.
Conrad de Rosen died on 3 August 1715 at his castle in Bollweiler, Alsace. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Reinhold Carl, as comte de Bollwiller.


Soloman Sprecher von Bernegg

Soloman Sprecher von Bernegg, born in Chur, Canton Grisons, 14 December 1697 – 14 September 1758 Aussig, Bohemia (today known as Ústí nad Labem, in the Czech Republic) was a Habsburg military commander in the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War.
Family.
He was born in Chur, on 14 December 1697, the son of Johann Andreas, Landmann, und his wife Maria Terz. He was descended from the Davos line of the noble Sprecher von Bernegg family. He married first to Dorothea Maria Sprecher von Bernegg, daughter of Johann, a fellow lieutenant in Spanish service, and second, in 1738, to Elisabeth Ursula Buol, daughter of Stephan Buol.
Education and early military service.
He attended the Gymnasium in Halle and in 1717 entered into Spanish military service. In 1728 he was appointed as the Military commissioner in Lombardy. In 1736 he entered the Regiment von Schauenstein, and, in 1743, he received command of his own regiment in the service of Maria Theresa. After the Siege of Genoa, he was sent to Como, where he commanded the garrison from 1751–1757.
In 1754 he was appointed lieutenant field marshal. In the Seven Years' War, Sprecher was distinguished during the Siege of Prague, by leading an assault on thePrussian line whereupon he was appointed general of the artillery in 1757.
Prior to the Battle of Rossbach, Sprecher commanded a small force of grenadiers near Schoenau, part of the game of cat and mouse that the Austrians, French, and Prussians played prior to the battle. Prior to the Battle of Schweidnitz, Sprecher commanded the Austrian right wing; in consequence of an artillery dual, the Duke of Bevern moved his forces away from the Austrians, abandoning about 200,000 rations in the process. At the Battle of Breslau, Specher led the first wave across the Gross Moecherbern bridge, including some infantry units, 35 full companies of grenadiers, mounted grenadiers. At about 1:30 pm, Sprecher had pushed out the battalions of Caspar Ernst von schultze's battalion; Schultze himself was wounded (and died later); the Austrian attack also pushed out the Prussians holding the great battery. Eventually, once the Prussian garrison at Breslau was isolated, they were offered, and accepted, the opportunity to withdraw.
Subsequently, Sprecher commanded the Austrian garrison at Breslau in 1757. Shortly after the Battle of Leuthen, the garrison was augmented with Austrian troops, and subsequently besieged by Frederick the Great and his army on 7 December 1757. After approximately two weeks of bombardment, resulting in enormous hardship on the Allied troops within, the garrison surrendered to the Prussians. A court assembled to consider the terms of his capitulation ended with complete exoneration for his actions, and the Empress promoted to him field marshal. On the way to take command of the Austrian army corps destined to fight in Saxony, he became ill on his way to Prague, and died in Aussig.
His name is sometimes spelled Salmon or Saloman. Some sources mis-identify the commander of Breslau as Johann Andreas Sprecher von Bernegg (1702–1765), but this was his younger brother.


Wiltz Castle

Wiltz Castle (, ), located in Wiltz in the north of Luxembourg, dates back to 1573. It is now known above all for hosting an annual music festival. Part of the castle now serves as the campus of United Business Institutes and of BBI.
History.
In the 13th century, the Lords of Wiltz built a fortified castle on a rocky promontory, initiating the development of the upper town of Wiltz. In 1388, the French attacked the town and burnt the castle down but it was soon repaired. In 1453, Wiltz was again attacked, this time by the troops of Philip of Burgundy. The round Witches' Tower to the east of the gardens is the oldest part of today's castle. Under Count John VI of Wiltz, the construction of today's Renaissiance style castle was begun in 1631. After delays caused by the Thirty Years War, the main building was not completed until about 1720. The old chapel was finished in 1722 and the monumental staircase leading down to the gardens was completed in 1727. The castle premises were acquired by the State of Luxembourg in 1951 for use as an old people's home.
The music festival.
Since 1953, Wiltz Castle has been the venue of an international music festival attracting artists and orchestras of international repute. Not only classical music but also jazz and rock is included in the festival which runs for three weeks from late June to mid-July. In 1991, a removable roof was installed, covering most of the stage and sheltering the hundreds of spectators who would otherwise have been bothered by bad weather.
Brewing and tanning museums.
Since 1999, the castle's stables have housed the National Museum of Brewing ("Musée National d'Art Brassicole"). The museum traces the history of beer production over the past 6,000 years, especially more recent developments in Luxembourg. It is open on weekdays from 9 am to noon and from 2 pm to 5 pm and on Saturdays from 10 am to noon, except in July and August when it is open every day from 10 am to 6 pm.
The little tanning museum ("Musée de la Tannerie") presents the history of the leather industry in Wiltz which dates from 1644. In 1887, the town had 28 tanneries. The two largest producers closed in 1953 and 1961.


Myrmekion

Myrmēkion (, ) was an ancient Greek colony in the Crimea. The settlement was founded in the eastern part of the modern city Kerch, 4 km NE of ancient Panticapaeum on
the bank of the Kerch bay near the cape Karantinny. The settlement was founded by Ionians in the first half of the 6th c. BC.
In the 5th century BC, the town specialized in winemaking and minted its own coinage. It was surrounded by towered walls, measuring some 2.5 metres thick. Myrmekion fell into the hands of the Bosporan kings in the 4th century BC and gradually dwindled into insignificance in the shadow of their capital, Panticapaeum. Regular excavations began in 1934 undertaken by an expedition led by V.F. Gaidukevich. The site was excavated by Polish archaeologists, led by Kazimierz Michałowski, in the 1950s. Between 1982 and 1994 an expedition led by Yu.A. Vinogradov was working at the site. In 1999 an archaeological expedition of the State Hermitage Museum began work at the site.


Crown of Augustus II the Strong

The Crown of Augustus II was intended for his coronation as a King of Poland. The crown was made in 1697 by Freiburg's goldsmith Johann Friedrich Klemm. It was not used, however. The Augustus II's crown is kept in Dresden Armory (Rüstkammer) in Dresden, Germany.
History.
Due to a double election of François Louis, Prince of Conti and the Frederick Augustus I, Elector of Saxony (elected King of Poland as "Augustus II") in 1697, the two claimants to the Polish throne had serious troubles with obtaining approval of the nobility for their coronation. The most difficult situation was of Elector of Saxony, who had no support of the primate Michał Stefan Radziejowski and most of the senators holding the custody of the Wawel Castle Crown Treasury. Therefore, expecting obstacles in obtaining the royal insignia, he ordered to prepare replacements before his arrival to Kraków. On the eve of the ceremony, some of the gathered decided to find a way to obtain the original regalia. Two monks Aleksander Wyhowski, prior of Czerwińsk and Mikołaj Wyżycki, prior of the Holy Cross made a hole in the castle's wall and got to the vault from which they stole the crown, scepter, sword and orb. The Dresden regalia become unnecessary, Augustus II the Strong, however, treated them as a private insignia.
Crown of Augustus II the Strong is made of gilded silver and decorated with colorful enamel and semi-precious stones.