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Karl Smidt
Karl Ernst Smidt (30 August 1903 – 11 January 1984) was German naval commander who reached the rank of Konteradmiral with the West German Navy. He served during World War II and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. From 1961 to 1963 he was the NATO Commander-in-Chief of the German Fleet of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Early life and pre-war service Smidt was born in Neuenhaus, district of Grafschaft Bentheim, in the Province of Hanover on 30 August 1903, the son of pastor Reinhard Petrus Wolbertus Smidt. He began his naval career with the Reichsmarine on 31 March 1922 as a member "Crew 1922" (the incoming class of 1922) after graduation from the ''humanistische Gymnasium'' (humanities-oriented secondary school) in Hameln with his ''Abitur'' (diploma). Smidt married Ruth Kühl in 1930. The marriage produced two daughters and a son, Antje, Hilke, and Wolbert Klaus, former First Director with the Federal Intelligence Servi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neuenhaus
Neuenhaus is a town in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony, and is the seat of a like-named collective municipality Neuenhaus (Samtgemeinde), Neuenhaus. Neuenhaus lies on the rivers Dinkel and Vechte near the border with the Netherlands and is roughly 10 km northwest of Nordhorn, and 30 km north of Enschede. History Neuenhaus was founded in 1317 on the trade road between Münster and Amsterdam by County of Bentheim, Bentheim’s Count Johannes II, who also had a castle built for its security. The quickly growing new town was granted town rights in 1369. The town had at its disposal an ''Amt (administrative division), Amt'' court and other authorities that were moved to the district seat of Nordhorn after the Second World War. Today’s town of Neuenhaus was enlarged in 1970 through the amalgamation of the formerly autonomous communities of Grasdorf, Hilten and Veldhausen, the last of which had already existed as early as the 10th century. By building two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Anglicanism, pastors are always ordained. In Methodism, pastors may be either licensed or ordained. Pastors are to act like shepherds by caring for the flock, and this care includes teaching. The New Testament typically uses the words "bishops" ( Acts 20:28) and "presbyter" ( 1 Peter 5:1) to indicate the ordained leadership in early Christianity. Likewise, Peter instructs these particular servants to "act like shepherds" as they "oversee" the flock of God ( 1 Peter 5:2). The words "bishop" and "presbyter" were sometimes used in an interchangeable way, such as in Titus 1:5-6. However, there is ongoing dispute between branches of Christianity over whether there are two ordained classes (presbyters and deacons) or three (bishops, priests, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wehrmacht Long Service Award
The Wehrmacht Long Service Award () was a military service decoration of Nazi Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a number of years in military service. History On 16 March, 1936, Adolf Hitler ordered the institution of a service award in four classes, each class reflecting the completion of a select number of years of military service. The award was bestowed by each branch of the Wehrmacht (army, navy, and air force) and was issued for four years service (fourth class – silver medal), 12 years (third class – gold medal), 18 years (second class – silver cross), 25 years (first class – gold cross), and 40 years (special class). The 40 year special class was introduced on 10 March 1939. Recipients of the higher level awards wore the decoration simultaneously with one lower year award. The manner they were worn was: *3rd Class with 4th Class (gold medal with silver medal) *2nd Class with 4th Class (silver cross with silver medal) *1st Class with 3rd Class (gold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papenburg
Papenburg (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Papenbörg'') is a city in the district of Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners. Geography Districts Papenburg is subdivided into 6 urban districts, Papenburg-Untenende, Papenburg-Obenende, Herbrum, Tunxdorf-Nenndorf, Aschendorf and Bokel. History In the ''Chronicle of the Frisians'', written in the 16th century by the East-Frisian council Eggerik Benninga, the Papenburg (at that time a manor) is mentioned for the first time. In 1458, Hayo von Haren, called "von der Papenburch", confessed to be leaned with the Papenburg. The contract that was made because of this is the earliest verifiably documented mention of Papenburg. On 2 December 1630, the district administrator Dietrich von Velen purchased the manor for 1500 Reichsthaler from Friedrich von Schwarzenberg in order to found a settlement in the fen-surrounded region ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KZ Esterwegen
The Esterwegen concentration camp near Esterwegen was an early Nazi concentration camp within a series of camps first established in the Emsland district of Germany. It was established in the summer of 1933 as a concentration camp for 2000 so-called political ''Schutzhäftlinge'' (protective custody prisoners) and was for a time the second largest concentration camp after Dachau. The camp was closed in summer of 1936. Thereafter, until 1945 it was used as a prison camp. Political prisoners and so-called ''Nacht und Nebel'' prisoners were also held there. After the war ended, Esterwegen served as a British internment camp, as a prison, and, until 2000, as a depot for the German Army. The most famous prisoner was writer and editor of the weekly magazine, ''Die Weltbühne'', Carl von Ossietzky, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935. Comedian Werner Finck was detained in Esterwegen for six weeks. SS-''Hauptscharführer'' Gustav Sorge, nicknamed "The Iron Gustav" for his brutality, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concentration Camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply mean imprisonment, it tends to refer to preventive confinement rather than confinement ''after'' having been convicted of some crime. Use of these terms is subject to debate and political sensitivities. The word ''internment'' is also occasionally used to describe a neutral country's practice of detaining belligerent armed forces and equipment on its territory during times of war, under the Hague Convention of 1907. Interned persons may be held in prisons or in facilities known as internment camps (also known as concentration camps). The term ''concentration camp'' originates from the Spanish–Cuban Ten Years' War when Spanish forces detained Cuban civilians in camps in order to more easily combat guerrilla forces. Over the following ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emsland
Landkreis Emsland () is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany named after the river Ems. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Leer, Cloppenburg and Osnabrück, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (district of Steinfurt), the district of Bentheim in Lower Saxony, and the Netherlands (provinces of Drenthe and Groningen). History For a long time the region of the Emsland was extremely sparsely populated, due to the fens on both sides of the river. Small villages were established in medieval times along the river and on the Hümmling. In the 13th century the bishops of Münster gained control over the region; the Emsland remained property of the bishop until 1803, when the clerical states were dissolved. It came under rule of Prussia and Arenberg, but after the Napoleonic Wars the Congress of Vienna decided to hand the territory over to the Kingdom of Hanover. The Duchy of Arenberg continued to exist as a fief of the Hanoverian kings. When Hanover was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weener
Weener () is a town in the district of Leer, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Ems. The towns population is at 15,654, making it the largest town of the region Rheiderland. It has a railway and autobahn connection to Groningen, Netherlands, Emden and Bremen. The city was first mentioned in a monastery's records in 951. Town Division of the town The town of Weener consists of 9 districts: * Weener * Kirchborgum * Diele * Vellage / Halte * Stapelmoor * Holthusen * Weenermoor / Möhlenwarf * St. Georgiwold * Beschotenweg Neighbouring communities In the district of Leer: * Bunde * Leer * Jemgum * Westoverledingen In the district of Emsland: * Papenburg * Rhede Politics Mayor *2006–2014: Wilhelm Dreesmann *2014–2021: Ludwig Sonnenberg *2021–incumbent: Heiko Abbas Town Council The last election to the town council took place in 2006: * SPD = 53,0%, 17 seats * CDU = 19,6%, 6 seats * UWG = 19,0%, 6 seats * Grü ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confessing Church
The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German Evangelical Church. See drop-down essay on "Unification, World Wars, and Nazism" Demographics The following statistics (as of January 1933 unless otherwise stated) are an aid in understanding the context of the political and theological developments discussed in this article. *Number of Protestants in Germany: 45 million *Number of free church Protestants: 150,000 *Largest regional Protestant church: Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union (german: link=no, Evangelische Kirche der altpreußischen Union), with 18 million members, the church strongest in members in the country at the time. *Number of Protestant pastors: 18,000 **Number of these strongly adhering to the "German Christian" church faction as of 1935: 3000 **Number of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bundesnachrichtendienst
The Federal Intelligence Service (German: ; , BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin and is the world's largest intelligence headquarters. The BND has 300 locations in Germany and foreign countries. In 2016, it employed around 6,500 people; 10% of them are military personnel who are formally employed by the Office for Military Sciences. The BND is the largest agency of the German Intelligence Community. The BND was founded during the Cold War in 1956 as the official foreign intelligence agency of West Germany, which had recently joined NATO, and in close cooperation with the CIA. It was the successor to the earlier Gehlen Organization, often known simply as "The Organization" or "The Org", a West German intelligence organization affiliated with the CIA whose existence had not been officially acknowledged. The most central figure in the BND's history was former W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolbert Klaus Smidt
Wolbert Klaus Smidt (11 April 1936 in Wilhelmshaven - 29 January 2016 in Hamburg) was a high-ranking German secret service official, diplomat and publicist. He was First Director () at the German Federal Intelligence Service (''Bundesnachrichtendienst'') and Embassy Counselor in Paris. Career Wolbert Klaus Smidt was a son of admiral Karl Smidt, the NATO commander of the West German navy fleet ("Flag Officer Germany"). After his studies of law at the universities of Mainz, Berlin, Munich and Kiel, Smidt joined the German Federal Intelligence Service in the 1960s in Pullach under their legendary founder Reinhard Gehlen. Among others, Smidt was responsible for intelligence on terrorism and international economic interconnections. Starting from the 1970s he was in charge of several special operations, about which details are not reported in the press.Otto Langels: ''Jenseits von James Bond – Aus dem Leben eines Geheimdienstlers''. SWR2 Eckpunkt, 22 June 2004, 10:05 h ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abitur
''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen years of schooling (see also, for Germany, ''Abitur'' after twelve years). In German, the term has roots in the archaic word , which in turn was derived from the Latin (future active participle of , thus "someone who is going to leave"). As a matriculation examination, ''Abitur'' can be compared to A levels, the ''Matura'' or the International Baccalaureate Diploma, which are all ranked as level 4 in the European Qualifications Framework. In Germany Overview The ("certificate of general qualification for university entrance"), often referred to as ("''Abitur'' certificate"), issued after candidates have passed their final exams and have had appropriate grades in both the last and second last school year, is the document which contains t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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