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Liberty Bell (Berlin)
The Freedom Bell (in German, ''Freiheitsglocke'') in Berlin, Germany, is a bell that was given as a gift from Americans to the city of Berlin in 1950 as a symbol of anti-communism, and was inspired by the American Liberty Bell. Since 1950, the bell has been located in the Rathaus Schöneberg, the former city hall of West Berlin. Origins and installation The initiative to give Berlin such a bell was taken by the ''Crusade for Freedom'', a propaganda campaign sponsored by the National Committee for a Free Europe, the organization which operated Radio Free Europe. The campaign was launched by U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower on Labor Day, 1950, with General Lucius D. Clay, later known as the "father of the Berlin airlift", as its chairman. The stated purpose of the Campaign was to offer all Americans an opportunity to play a personal part in a demonstration of the "free world's determination to resist Communist aggression." The bell was conceived by Abbott Washburn and Nate Crabt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gillett & Johnston
Gillett & Johnston was a clockmaker and bell foundry based in Croydon, England from 1844 until 1957. Between 1844 and 1950, over 14,000 tower clocks were made at the works. The company's most successful and prominent period of activity as a bellfounder was in the 1920s and 1930s, when it was responsible for supplying many important bells and carillons for sites across Britain and around the world. A successor company continues operation in Bletchingley, Surrey, under the Gillett & Johnston name, engaged in clock-making and clock and carillon repair. History The company traced its roots to a clockmaking business established by William Gillett in Hadlow, Kent, in the early 19th century. In 1837, Gillett moved his business to Clerkenwell, London; and in 1844 to the site in what later became known as Union Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon, which would remain its home for the next 113 years. Charles Bland became a partner in 1854, and the company subsequently traded as Gillett & B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Language
German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a co-official language of Luxembourg and Belgium, as well as a national language in Namibia. Outside Germany, it is also spoken by German communities in France ( Bas-Rhin), Czech Republic ( North Bohemia), Poland (Upper Silesia), Slovakia ( Bratislava Region), and Hungary (Sopron). German is most similar to other languages within the West Germanic language branch, including Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German, Luxembourgish, Scots, and Yiddish. It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group, such as Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language after English, which is also a West Germanic language. Germ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deutschlandradio Kultur
Deutschlandfunk Kultur (; abbreviated to ''DLF Kultur'' or ''DKultur'') is a culture-oriented radio station and part of Deutschlandradio, a set of national radio stations in Germany. Initially named ''DeutschlandRadio Berlin'', the station was renamed ''Deutschlandradio Kultur'' on 1 April 2005. The present name was adopted on 1 May 2017. The station's studios are in what was the RIAS building at Hans-Rosenthal-Platz in Schöneberg, Berlin. History Deutschlandfunk Kultur's roots go back to the first Deutschlandsender, set up in 1926. After World War II, ''Deutschlandsender'' became the main national radio station of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), with programming aimed at all of Germany. In the 1970s it was merged with the main Berlin station ''Berliner Welle'' and renamed ''Stimme der DDR'' - "Voice of the GDR". It lasted until February 1990 when it again became ''Deutschlandsender'', and in May 1990 it merged with Radio DDR 2. The merged entity was named ''Deutschland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rundfunk Im Amerikanischen Sektor
RIAS (german: Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor; en, ''Radio in the American Sector'') was a radio and television station in the American Sector of Berlin during the Cold War. It was founded by the US occupational authorities after World War II in 1946 to provide the German population in and around Berlin with news and political reporting. History By the end of 1945 the US military administration in Allied-occupied Berlin decided to establish its own broadcasting system, after the Soviets had refused to provide air time on the ''Berliner Rundfunk'' radio station. Supervised by the US Information Control Division, broadcasting commenced on 7 February 1946. For the first months the programme could be distributed via telephone line only (as DIAS – '' Drahtfunk im amerikanischen Sektor''), until a first medium wave transmitter was installed in September. By its creative and innovative programming, the station quickly gained much popularity. Its importance was magnified du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to as “New Year’s Eve”. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinking, and watching or lighting fireworks. Some Christians attend a watchnight service. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, 1 January. The Line Islands (part of Kiribati) and Tonga, in the Pacific Ocean, are the first places to welcome the New Year, while American Samoa, Baker Island and Howland Island (part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands) are among the last. By region Africa Algeria In Algeria, New Year's Eve (french: Réveillon; '' ar, Ra’s al-‘Ām'') is usually celebrated with family and friends. In the largest cities, such as Algiers, Constantine, Annaba, Oran, Sétif, and Béj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society. Christmas celebrations in the denominations of Western Christianity have long begun on Christmas Eve, due in part to the Christian liturgical day starting at sunset, a practice inherited from Jewish tradition and based on the story of Creation in the Book of Genesis: "And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day." Many churches still ring their church bells and hold prayers in the evening; for example, the Nordic Lutheran churches. Since tradition holds that Jesus was born at night (based in Luke 2:6-8), Midnight Mass is celebrated on Christmas Eve, traditionally at midnight, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mayor Of West Berlin, Willy Brandt, Presents A Gift To President John F
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as the means by which a mayor is elected or otherwise mandated. Depending on the system chosen, a mayor may be the chief executive officer of the municipal government, may simply chair a multi-member governing body with little or no independent power, or may play a solely ceremonial role. A mayor's duties and responsibilities may be to appoint and oversee municipal managers and employees, provide basic governmental services to constituents, and execute the laws and ordinances passed by a municipal governing body (or mandated by a state, territorial or national governing body). Options for selection of a mayor include direct election by the public, or selection by an elected governing council or board. The term ''mayor'' shares a linguistic or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Democratic Party Of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together with Lars Klingbeil, who joined her in December 2021. After Olaf Scholz was elected chancellor in 2021 the SPD became the leading party of the federal government, which the SPD formed with the Greens and the Free Democratic Party, after the 2021 federal election. The SPD is a member of 11 of the 16 German state governments and is a leading partner in seven of them. The SPD was established in 1863. It was one of the earliest Marxist-influenced parties in the world. From the 1890s through the early 20th century, the SPD was Europe's largest Marxist party, and the most popular political party in Germany. During the First World War, the party split between a pro-war main ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernst Reuter
Ernst Rudolf Johannes Reuter (29 July 1889 – 29 September 1953) was the mayor of West Berlin from 1948 to 1953, during the time of the Cold War. Biography Early years Reuter was born in Apenrade (Aabenraa), Province of Schleswig-Holstein (now in Denmark). He spent his childhood days in Leer where a public square is named after him. Reuter attended the universities of Münster and Marburg where he completed his studies in 1912 and passed the examinations as a teacher. Moreover, he was member in a fraternity called "SBV Frankonia Marburg". The same year he became a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Reuter opposed Kaiser Wilhelm's regime at the start of the First World War. After being drafted, Reuter was sent to the Eastern front where he was wounded and captured by the Russians. During the 1917 October Revolution Reuter joined the Bolsheviks and organized his fellow prisoners into a soviet. After his release, Lenin sent him to Saratov in the to-be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Jendretzky
Gustav Ernst Hans Jendretzky (20 July 1897 – 2 July 1992) was a German Communist politician. He was a prominent politician of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). He became a member of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1919 and of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1920. In the 1920s, he was one of the most prominents members of the KPD, and was head of the Roter Frontkämpferbund in Berlin. He was a member of the Parliament of Prussia from 1928 to 1932. In 1934, he was sentenced to three years of prison, being charged with "conspiracy to commit high treason." After World War II, he became active in communist politics in the Soviet Occupation Zone, and was president of the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB) 1946-1948, First Secretary (head) of the East Berlin SED district from 1948 to 1953. He was a candidate to the politburo from 1950, deputy minister of the Interior from 1957 to 1960, a memb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Socialist Unity Party Of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany) from the country's foundation in October 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Marxist–Leninist communist party, established in April 1946 as a merger between the East German branches of the Communist Party of Germany and Social Democratic Party of Germany. Although the GDR was a one-party state, some other institutional popular front parties were permitted to exist in alliance with the SED; these parties included the Christian Democratic Union, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Farmers' Party, and the National Democratic Party. In the 1980s, the SED rejected the liberalisation policies of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, such as ''perestroika'' and ''glasnost'', which would lead t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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