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Hôtel De Ville, Clermont-Ferrand
The (, ''City Hall'') is a historic building in Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, central France, standing on the Rue Philippe Marcombes. History Early meetings of the local council were held at Saint-Barthélemy Hospital on the Rue des Gras under the supervision of the Bishop of Clermont, before a building in Place Thomas was acquired for this purpose in 1484. By the early 18th century, the building was very dilapidated, and repairs were carried out in 1715. In the early 19th century, the council decided to commission a more substantial building, which would act as a town hall, courthouse and prison. The site they selected on Rue Philippe Marcombes was occupied by the ancient Palais de Boulogne, which dated back at least to 1200 and had been the home of Robert V and successive Counts of Boulogne, before Catherine de' Medici gave it to the council for use as a courthouse and prison in 1578. After the palais was demolished, work began on the prison wing in 1823, on the courthouse w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neoclassical Architecture
Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing styles of architecture in most of Europe for the previous two centuries, Renaissance architecture and Baroque architecture, already represented partial revivals of the Classical architecture of Roman architecture, ancient Rome and ancient Greek architecture, but the Neoclassical movement aimed to strip away the excesses of Late Baroque and return to a purer, more complete, and more authentic classical style, adapted to modern purposes. The development of archaeology and published accurate records of surviving classical buildings was crucial in the emergence of Neoclassical architecture. In many countries, there was an initial wave essentially drawing on Roman archi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voussoir
A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The keystone is the centre stone or masonry unit at the apex of an arch. The springer is the lowest voussoir on each side, located where the curve of the arch springs from the vertical support or abutment of the wall or pier. The keystone is often decorated or enlarged. An enlarged and sometimes slightly dropped keystone is often found in Mannerist arches of the 16th century, beginning with the works of Giulio Romano, who also began the fashion for using voussoirs above rectangular openings, rather than a lintel (Palazzo Stati Maccarani, Rome, circa 1522). Each wedge-shaped voussoir ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Government Buildings Completed In 1844
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a means by which organizational policies are enforced, as well as a mechanism for determining policy. In many countries, the government has a kind of constitution, a statement of its governing principles and philosophy. While all types of organizations have governance, the term ''government'' is often used more specifically to refer to the approximately 200 independent national governments and subsidiary organizations. The main types of modern political systems recognized are democracies, totalitarian regimes, and, sitting between these two, authoritarian regimes with a variety of hybrid regimes. Modern classification systems also include monarchies as a standalone entity or as a hybrid system of the main three. Historically prevalent forms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buildings And Structures In Clermont-Ferrand
A building or edifice is an enclosed structure with a roof, walls and windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for numerous factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, land prices, ground conditions, specific uses, prestige, and aesthetic reasons. To better understand the concept, see ''Nonbuilding structure'' for contrast. Buildings serve several societal needs – occupancy, primarily as shelter from weather, security, living space, privacy, to store belongings, and to comfortably live and work. A building as a shelter represents a physical separation of the human habitat (a place of comfort and safety) from the ''outside'' (a place that may be harsh and harmful at times). buildings have been objects or canvasses of much artistic expression. In recent years, interest in sustainable planning and building practi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casablanca
Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a population of about 3.22 million in the urban area, and over 4.27 million in Greater Casablanca, making it the most populous city in the Maghreb region, and the List of largest cities in the Arab world, eighth-largest in the Arab world. Casablanca is Morocco's chief port, with the Port of Casablanca being one of the largest artificial ports in Africa, and the third-largest port in North Africa, after Tanger-Med ( east of Tangier) and Port Said. Casablanca also hosts the primary naval base for the Royal Moroccan Navy. Casablanca is a significant financial centre, ranking 54th globally in the September 2023 Global Financial Centres Index rankings, between Brussels and Rome. The Casablanca Stock Exchange is Africa's third-largest in terms of market c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SS Massilia
SS ''Massilia'' was an ocean liner of the Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique. She was launched in 1914 and completed in 1920. Massilia was the Roman city on the site of what is now Marseille. Rationale In 1911 the previous mail contract from the French state for routes to and from South America had been in the hands of Messageries Maritimes, but the new contract was awarded to Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique. As a condition for the contract and to ensure that enough ships were in service to provide a reliable mail service, the company was required to build four 18-knot passenger liners with a minimum length of 175 metres and provide six ''paquebots mixtes'' (passenger freighters). This would maintain a fortnightly mail service between Bordeaux and Buenos Aires. However, these arrangements were not confirmed by the French Parliament until 31 December 1911. Orders were placed, the day after parliamentary approval was achieved, with the Chantiers de l'Atlantique at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vichy Regime
Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against Germany. It was named after its seat of government, the city of Vichy. Officially independent, but with half of its territory occupied under the harsh terms of the 1940 armistice with Nazi Germany, it adopted a policy of collaboration. Though Paris was nominally its capital, the government established itself in Vichy in the unoccupied "free zone" (). The occupation of France by Germany at first affected only the northern and western portions of the country. In November 1942, the Allies occupied French North Africa, and in response the Germans and Italians occupied the entirety of Metropolitan France, ending any pretence of independence by the Vichy government. On 10 May 1940, France was invaded by Nazi Germany. Paul Reynaud res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Mendès France
Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a coalition of Gaullists ( RPF), moderate socialists ( UDSR), Christian democrats ( MRP) and liberal-conservatives ( CNIP). Pierre-Mendès France is primarily remembered as the French Prime Minister who was in office at the outbreak of the Algerian independence war in 1954. During his tenure, France initiated close military cooperation with Israel, selling arms and aircraft to the young state. Mendès-France laid the groundwork for France’s military nuclear program and the early transfer of nuclear technology to Israel. Early life Mendès France was born on 11 January 1907 in Paris, the son of a textile merchant from Limoges. He was descended from Portuguese Jews who settled in France in the 16th century. He studied at the École des scien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Zay
Jean Élie Paul Zay (6 August 1904 – 20 June 1944) was a French politician. He served as Minister of National Education and Fine Arts from 1936 until 1939. He was imprisoned by the Vichy government from August 1940 until he was murdered in 1944. Early life Zay was born in Orléans, in the department of Loiret, about south of Paris. His father, Leon Zay, descended from a Jewish family from Metz, but was born and died in Orléans, where he was the director of a radical socialist regional newspaper, ''Le Progrès du Loiret''. His mother Alice Chartrain was a Protestant and a teacher. He grew up with his sister in the Protestant religion. Zay was educated at the Lycée Pothier in Orléans, and became a lawyer in 1928. He was politically active from his early days, joining the Radical Party aged 21. With his wife, Madeleine Dreux, he had two daughters, Catherine Martin-Zay, and Hélène Mouchard-Zay (born 1940). Political career In May 1932, he was elected to the French p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sepp Dietrich
Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (28 May 1892 – 21 April 1966) was a German politician, general and war criminal in the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) during the Nazi era. Despite having no formal staff officer training, Dietrich was, along with Paul Hausser, the highest-ranking officer in the Waffen-SS, the military branch of the SS. He joined the Nazi Party in 1928 and was elected to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic in 1930. Prior to 1929, Dietrich was Adolf Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard. Reaching the rank of ''SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer'', he commanded units up to army level during World War II. As commanding officer of the 6th Panzer Army during the Battle of the Bulge, Dietrich bore responsibility for the Malmedy massacre, the murder of U.S. prisoners of war in December 1944. After the war, an American military tribunal convicted Dietrich of war crimes at the Malmedy massacre trial. Upon his release from Landsberg Prison in 1955, Dietrich became active in HIAG, a lobby group esta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH (), began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding the Führer's person, offices, and residences. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into an elite division-sized unit during World War II. The LSSAH participated in combat during the invasion of Poland and was amalgamated into the Waffen-SS together with the '' SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT) and the combat units of the ''SS-Totenkopfverbände'' (SS-TV) prior to Operation Barbarossa in 1941. By mid-1942 it had been increased in size from a regiment to a division and was designated SS Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler". It received its final form as a Panzer division in October 1943. Members of the LSSAH perpetrated numerous atrocities and war crimes, including the Malmedy massacre. They killed an estimated 5,000 prisoners of war in the period 1940–1945, mostly o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
