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In the pouring rain this seagull is either too stupid to find shelter or loves this type of weather.
Copyright © 2013 Mark Kennedy. All rights reserved.
The copyright for this photo belongs solely to Mark Kennedy. This image or any others by Mark Kennedy may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way without the expressed, written permission of the photographer. Any violation of this copyright is illegal and will be punished by law. If you require details on this photo, please contact the photographer.
Arriving in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center – a site better known as the Killing Fields.
Its has tranquil paths, leading to a Memorial Stupa housing 8,000 human skulls from those killed by the Khmer Rouge,
You will also see many mass graves during your time at Choeung Ek (although 86 out of 129 have been uncovered so far) – one is home to 450 victims, while another is filled with the bodies of Khmer Rouge soldiers, those whom Pol Pot accused of having a “Cambodian body, but Vietnamese head.”
Today the graves are protected beneath open-air shelters and surrounded by bamboo fences – and on each and every fence post there are bracelets; brightly colored friendship bracelets, ones made from ribbons, and others that read Cambodia on their sides.
Thousands and thousands of bracelets will most likely move you the most.
Apparently they are an important part of Baci ceremonies, tied around a person’s wrist for good luck.
What else can you do but hope and pray and believe for healing and leave something, anything, behind you that says we were here, and that we remember?
An family waits for cars to pass before crossing an unlit street in the capital of the Kurdish Autonomous Region
Die Ausstellung zeigt Arbeiten von zeitgenössischen Fotokünstlern, die sich motivisch wie inhaltlich auf bekannte Bilder der Kunstgeschichte beziehen. Dazu bedienen sie sich unterschiedlicher Verweistechniken. Die Künstler paraphrasieren etwa das jeweilige Vorbild als Ganzes oder unterziehen es leichten Veränderungen und versehen es mit neuen Bildvorstellungen. Andere zitieren einzelne Elemente und stellen sie in neue Kontexte. Während einige Arbeiten den expliziten Hinweis auf ihre Vorbilder geben, lassen andere auf den Einfluss durch etwa Bildaufbau, Lichtführung oder Sujet rückschließen. Die Ausstellung spürt den Entstehungsprozessen von Kunst nach und arbeitet dabei die Reflexionsebenen der einzelnen Positionen heraus, um aufzuzeigen, dass Kunst und hier im speziellen die Fotokunst sich stets auf Kunst bezieht.
Gezeigt werden Arbeiten von Claudia Angelmaier, Johannes Brus, Victor Burgin, Jose Dávila, Elger Esser, Christiane Feser, Günther Förg, Beate Gütschow, Axel Hütte, Delia Keller, Annette Kelm, Gerd Kittel, Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, Timm Rautert, Evelyn Richter, Georges Rousse, Andres Serrano u.a. Quelle: www.dzbank-kunstsammlung.de/de/aktuelles/article/deja-vu-...
Heusden is een gerestaureerde vestingstad in de Nederlandse gemeente Heusden (provincie Noord-Brabant), gelegen aan de Maas en de Bergsche Maas. Zij telt ongeveer 1.325 inwoners (2021). In 1968 is begonnen met het in oude stijl restaureren van de vestingstad Heusden. Dit grootscheepse restauratieproject liep twintig jaar. Heusden is de hoofdstad van het Land van Heusden. Dichtstbijzijnde steden zijn Waalwijk ten zuidwesten van Heusden en 's-Hertogenbosch in het oosten. Heusden draagt de bijnamen 'Galeriestad', 'Vestingstad' en 'Maasstad'.
De eerste vermelding van Heusden dateert uit 722, als Hunsata Super fluvium Mosam. In 839 zou de plaats door de Noormannen verwoest zijn. Vermoedelijk ging het hierbij niet om de stad Heusden zoals we die in de moderne tijd kennen, die is van later datum. Het zou om een plaats kunnen gaan die overeenkomt met het huidige Oudheusden, dat aan de toenmalige loop van de Maas gelegen was.
Het Kasteel Heusden dateert uit de 12e eeuw. In de buurt van dit kasteel ontwikkelde het huidige stadje Heusden zich. In het jaar 1157 was er al sprake van een conflict over het bezit van de kapel tussen de abt van Sint-Truiden en een Tempelier.[5] In het jaar 1210 werd vervolgens melding gemaakt van een kerk. Heusden lag op de strategische grens tussen het hertogdom Brabant, het graafschap Holland en het hertogdom Gelre, terwijl ook het graafschap Kleef er aanvankelijk rechten bezat. Hierdoor was de politieke situatie van Heusden onduidelijk. Zo werd Heusden in 1279 ingenomen door hertog Jan I van Brabant en dit wordt als het begin van de Brabantse invloed beschouwd, hoewel er al eerder schermutselingen waren tussen de drie machtsblokken.
Het is niet duidelijk wanneer de plaats stadsrechten kreeg. Diverse bronnen vermelden jaren als 1231, tussen 1290 en 1296, en 1318. Jan van Wijnvliet, burggraaf van Heusden verbouwde en versterkte de burcht in de jaren 1338-1339 met een muur. In 1340 werd Wijnric van Oyen door Jan van Wijnvliet aangesteld tot drossaard van het Land van Heusden. In 1357 werd het Land van Heusden verkocht aan het Graafschap Holland en werd dus Hollands. De reden van de verkoop lag in het feit dat de Graaf van Holland partij zou kiezen voor een Brabantse kandidaat in een opvolgingskwestie. Omstreeks 1810 werd Heusden bij de huidige provincie Noord-Brabant gevoegd.
In Heusden hebben zich meerdere rampen voorgedaan. In 1569 werd de stad door de Spanjaarden belegerd en geheel verwoest. Meerdere keren werd de stad getroffen door de pest. Tijdens de grote brand in 1572 werd bijna de hele stad in de as gelegd. Van het prachtige stadhuis was niets meer over. In 1680 werden het kasteel en omliggende huizen verwoest, doordat de bliksem in de kruittoren sloeg.
Jacob Kemp ontwierp aan het einde van de 16e eeuw een moderne omwalling volgens het oud-Nederlands vestingstelsel. De middeleeuwse ommuring had vier stadspoorten: de Wijkse poort, de Bossche poort, de Oudheusdense poort en de Veerpoort. Toen de ommuring werd gesloopt, ten behoeve van de aarden vestingwerken, verdween de Bossche Poort en werd de Herptse Poort gebouwd. De Wijkse Poort werd verplaatst en later uitgebreid tot de huidige vorm. De graaf de Mirabeau wees op de patriottische gezindheid van Heusden en nam het stadje op in zijn aanvalsplan. Ook Cornelis Krayenhoff zou in 1794 via Heusden optrekken.
De laatste tragische gebeurtenis vond plaats tegen het einde van de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Terwijl de geallieerden oprukten, zochten de Duitsers hun heil achter een nieuwe linie, de Bergsche Maas. Zij lieten de hoogste punten in de vesting, het stadhuis en twee kerktorens, opblazen. Dat deden de Duitsers ook elders, om de oprukkende geallieerden te beletten hoge gebouwen als uitkijkposten te gebruiken.
Het Heusdense stadhuis werd algemeen gezien als het mooiste stadhuis van heel Nederland. Tijdens de geallieerde beschietingen hielden vele Heusdenaren zich schuil in de grote kelder van het stadhuis. Een deel ervan verbleef in de kelder tijdens de onaangekondigde opblazing. In de nacht van 4 op 5 november 1944 werd de toren van het stadhuis opgeblazen, maar het hele stadhuis stortte in en 134 mannen, vrouwen en kinderen kwamen om. Destijds was dit tien procent van de totale bevolking. Nog geen vier uur later reden de Schotse tanks en Poolse divisies Heusden binnen. De daders van de aanslag werden nooit gevonden, en Heusden verloor een deel van zijn inwoners en een historisch bouwwerk.
-Exterior Fabric: Heavyweight Cotton
* A wonderful blush peony floral in full blossom printed on a dark Lemon Custard background which has been further enriched with a lovely & light floral embossing.
-Lining: Du. Silk - Rustic Tangerine
-Double Reinforcement: layers of heavyweight stabilizer and interfacing
- reinforced stitching
- sleek Antique Brass frame
- Featured clutch will be the one received (no pattern variation).
-Measurements: (Medium- see shop’s Profile for reference to sizing )
* frame width is 6 in.
* Bottom of clutch is 7 in.
* Height of clutch is 5 ¼ in.
* Depth of clutch is 1 ¼ in.
A few shots from a wedding I did a few weeks ago. It was a wonderful day, even if the sun didn't shine (a bummer for a beach wedding).
Comparing Disney Parks Cinderella from the year 2011 (deboxed, to the left) and the current 2013 doll (to the right, boxed), that I just purchased from Disneyland today (4/21/2013). The only apparent change is to the color and swirl pattern of the bodice, skirt and headband. The 2013 doll's dress is a little bluer, and swirl pattern is a little rounder, with thicker stitching. The doll and the rest of her outfit appear to be identical in both models.
in the front of the budget buffet car;
this kind of gastronomy is highly represented all over Mongolia;
One of the UK’s remaining RAF overseas bases is on Cyprus, it was subject to a drone attack on Monday. It also has a rare endemic orchid growing near its perimeter fence. So, with all the fuss of the drone attack from earlier in the week, and with things getting back to normal, that is where we would be heading this day.
A part of the island that is literally part of Great Britain.
It was a good hour and twenty minute drive there, and we are on course to see all species on the hit list, so we started the day at nine, after a lazy breakfast. Jools headed to Paphos early to join a walking tour round the old town, so I was on my own, with just the cats and Dave, the tour co-lead, to have breakfast on the terrace as the morning warmed, with views over the bay.
We all got in the bus, and we drove to Paphos via the supermarket for supplies of insect repellent and cold juice, before driving to the motorway by way of the phenomenon on the mountain road, then down to the coast and joining the motorway to head east.
First stop was just beyond the airport, a roadside bank covered in orchids with the first new species of the day, Ophrys iricolor, a fine small orchid with an oversize interflorance.
The area around the base is British sovereign territory, and until yesterday there were roadblocks for non-service personnel after Monday’s drone attacks.
We got through with no problem, but once we had bought more supplies at the base Waitrose, we drove to some salt flats beside the base, with strict instructions not to point our fingers of our cameras towards the base, as the military police patrol the area.
Hidden in the long grass and shrbs is the key endemic species, Ophrys kotschyi, a drmatic mono-coloured orchid, and one suffereing from the early heat, as those spikes in the open were already burned.
But we found some in good condition, and took our shots. But also found some that had been apparently trampled, and one spike broken totally. There were several other species, so we snapped them, and two butterfly species, then made our way to the nearby monastery of the cats.
Cats.
And there were cats.
Lots of cats.
As we arrived, something like fifty strays headed towards us. Just as well as we had bought bags of kibbles, so we fed them. But more and more cats came, and soon they were meowing and begging for morsels from our lunches. One cat took half a sandwich from my bag, took the top off, removed the ham and cheese and scoffed them.
It was then that the next suspect drone attack took place.
A long and loud siren, signifying an emergency filed the air. Jets took off, and we stood frozen.
It stopped after ten minutes or so, but more drones had been spotted. And there was us, chasing orchids and feeding cats!
We headed out to another coastal site, where another new species was seen, before we headed to the hills, were more new species were seen.
Orchis x sezikiana is a stable hybrid between two other orchis species, neither found on Cyprus (!), and produce diminutive plants, but wonderfully spotted lips.
We slowed to turn, and three cars behind us crashed, blocking the road. Of this, we were unaware, so we took pictures of the orchids, but upon leaving, the police were there trying to work out what happened.
We drove away quietly.
At the bottom of a deep valley, near a hairpin bend, we found the last new species of the day: Ophrys lapethica, a fine looking orchid, only slightly different from about four other species.
We climbed the low wall to get out shots, then faced with a 90 minute drive back to the hotel, down from the mountain, along the motorway to Paphos, then along the coast to home.
We got back at half five, time for a quick drink before the end of day debrief, then drinks, dinner, more drinks.
Phew.
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O. alasiatica was first described by Segers, Walraven and Kreutz from Larnaca (Cyprus) in 2002 and it takes its name from Alasia, the ancient Egyptian name for the Island of Cyprus.
This species is endemic to Cyprus and is one of four similar O. mammosa group members that occur there, the others being O. morio, O. posteria and O. mammosa itself. When these species appear in typical form they can be separated relatively easily, they do however, all exhibit natural variation, which together with hybridization can create real identification issues. The species close proximity inevitably encourages interbreeding and hybrid clusters containing genetic influences from any or all of the above species are far from uncommon. Some of the photographs here depict flowers with uncharacteristic features but photos 1, 3, 5, 8 and 11 depict good representations of type.
O. alasiatica in its typical form has several characteristics that help differentiate it. 1. The beak at the end of the column is rather short (particularly as compared to O. morio. 2. The basal protuberances tend to be attenuated. 3. The dorsal sepal is often curved forwards over the column. 4. The perianth is shorter and often more rounded than in either O. morio or O. mammosa. 5. The distal half of the lip is usually bordered by a broad margin that can range in colour from bright yellow to orange/red. 6. The basal field is normally of a lighter colour than the lip. This last feature can reasonably accurately distinguish O. alasiatica from O. mammosa and the later flowering O. posteria but is however a characteristic shared with O. morio.
www.orchidsofbritainandeurope.co.uk/Ophrys%20alasiatica.html
These photos were taken on a Saturday in November when the Braan was running extremely fast and full.
Dumfries House is a Palladian country house in Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located within a large estate, around 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of Cumnock. Noted for being one of the few such houses with much of its original 18th-century furniture still present, including specially commissioned Thomas Chippendale pieces, the house and estate is now owned in charitable trust by the The Great Steward of Scotland's Dumfries House Trust, which maintains it as a visitor attraction and hospitality and wedding venue. Both the house and the gardens are listed as significant aspects of Scottish heritage.
The estate and an earlier house was originally called Lochnorris, owned by Craufords of Loudoun. The present house was built in the 1750s for William Dalrymple, 5th Earl of Dumfries, by John Adam and Robert Adam. Having been inherited by the 2nd Marquess of Bute in 1814, it remained in his family until 7th Marquess decided to sell it due to the cost of upkeep.
Due to its significance and the risk of the furniture collection being distributed and auctioned, after three years of uncertainty, in 2007 the estate and its entire contents was purchased for £45m for the country by a consortium headed by Charles, Prince of Wales, including a £20m loan from the Prince's charitable trust. The intention was to renovate the estate to become self-sufficient, both to preserve it and regenerate the local economy. As well as donors and sponsorship, funding is also intended to come from constructing the nearby housing development of Knockroon, a planned community along the lines of the Prince's similar venture, Poundbury in Dorset
There are plenty of baths in old Tbilisi, as there seem to be sulphur springs with healing properties.
20100522_0567
Boeing/Stearman Model 75
Gross weight: 2950 lbs.
Maximum Baggage: 60 lbs.
Fuel: 46 gal. (gravity feed, 4-7 gal not available in flight)
Oil: 4.4 gal.
Power Off Stall Speed: 55 mph (48 kts)
Power On Stall Speed: 51 mph (44 kts)
Do not exceed speed: 186 mph (163 kts)
Normal Cruise Speed: 95 mph (83 kts)
Fuel consumption: 12-13 gal./hour
Endurance: 3.4 hours (approx.) most pilots plan 2.5 hrs
Maximum Range: 300 sm (260 nm, no reserve, most pilots plan 200 sm)
Service Ceiling: 13,300 ft.
Initial Rate of Climb: 800 ft./min.
Take-Off Distance: 600 ft.
Landing Distance: 300-500 ft.
🌍 #ReisenImKopf: In 80 Bildern um die Welt. 🌏 🌎 Die Straßen von San Francisco scheinen wie gemacht für steile Verfolgungsjagden: So lernten viele in der gleichnamigen TV-Serie mit Karl Malden und Michael Douglas als seinen Juniorpartner die kalifornische Stadt am Pazifik kennen. Ihre zahlreichen Hügeln, die steil vom Meer ansteigen, bieten eine sensationelle Kulisse, in legendären Filmen verewigt: Von Bullitt mit dem megacoolen Steve McQueen in seinem Ford Mustang, The Rock mit Sean Connery und Nicolas Cage, bis zum Peter Bogdanovich Film mit Barbara Streisand, What's Up, Doc? Auf Websites kann man die Fahrtrouten nachschauen und dann mit einem der lustigen gelben, gocart-artigen Autos nachfahren. Ein Highlight: Lombard Street, die steilste Straße der Stadt, die nur in zahlreichen S-Kurven gefahren werden kann. San Franciscos Flair ist aus den verschmolzenen Kulturen geprägt: Das Italienische im Viertel North Beach, die ewige Gegenkultur in Haight-Ashbury, China Town, die Latino-Einflüsse im Mission District, die reichen, vorwiegend weißen Snobs mit der besten Aussicht auf Nob Hill. Und natürlich die Kino-reife Kulisse der Gefängnisinsel Alcatraz: Eine exzellente Audio-Führung macht schnell klar, dass das Leben in dieser Verbannung ein überaus schlechter Film war. Abends am besten ab nach Yoshi's, dem Jazzclub mit Fusion Kitchen in Oakland (es gibt auch einen Ableger in San Francisco).
(38/80) GPS: 37.802252, -122.419587
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#weltreise #ReisenImKopf #sanfrancisco #streetsofsanfrancisco #kalifornien #california #fotografie #photography #isolationcreation #80BilderumdieWelt #travelphotography📷 #reisefotografie #traveltheworld
Volgograd, formerly Tsaritsyn (1589–1925) and Stalingrad (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of 859.4 square kilometres (331.8 square miles), with a population of slightly over one million residents. Volgograd is the 16th-largest city by population size in Russia, the second-largest city of the Southern Federal District, and the fourth-largest city on the Volga.
The city was founded as the fortress of Tsaritsyn in 1589. By the 19th century, Tsaritsyn had become an important river-port and commercial centre, leading to its rapid population growth. In November 1917, at the start of the Russian Civil War, Tsaritsyn came under Bolshevik control. It fell briefly to the White Army in mid-1919 but returned to Bolshevik control in January 1920. In 1925, the city was renamed Stalingrad in honor of Joseph Stalin, who then ruled the country. During World War II, Axis forces attacked the city, leading to the Battle of Stalingrad, arguably the largest and bloodiest battle in the history of warfare, from which it received the title of Hero City. In 1961, Nikita Khrushchev's administration renamed the city Volgograd as part of de-Stalinization.
Volgograd today is the site of The Motherland Calls, an 85-metre (279 ft) high statue dedicated to the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad, which is the tallest statue in Europe, as well as the second tallest statue of a woman in the world. The city has many tourist attractions, such as museums, sandy beaches, and a self-propelled floating church. Volgograd was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Tsaritsyn was established in 1555 and was named after the Tsaritsa river. The name of Tsaritsyn was written as Царицынъ, with the hard sign.
When Vladimir Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin took charge as the General Secretary; Tsaritsyn was renamed Stalingrad in honour of his role in the defence of the city. The name is derived from the compound of Stalin (Сталин; his name) and grad (град: name for a settlement in Russian).
In the aftermath of Stalin's death, Nikita Khrushchev announced the policy of De-Stalinization. The name was changed to Volgograd in 1961, derived from name of the Volga river, on whose bank the city is situated.
Although the city may have originated in 1555, documented evidence of Tsaritsyn at the confluence of the Tsaritsa and Volga rivers dates from 1589. The structure stood slightly above the mouth of the Tsaritsa River on the right bank. It soon became the nucleus of a trading settlement.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the garrison consisted of 350 to 400 people. In 1607 the fortress garrison rebelled for six months against the troops of Tsar Vasili Shuisky. In the following year saw the construction of the first stone church in the city, dedicated to St. John the Baptist.
In 1670 troops of Stepan Razin captured the fortress; they left after a month. In 1708 the insurgent Cossack Kondraty Bulavin (died July 1708) held the fortress. In 1717 in the Kuban pogrom, raiders from the Kuban under the command of the Crimean Tatar Bakhti Gerai [ru] blockaded the town and enslaved thousands in the area. In August 1774 Cossack leader Yemelyan Pugachev unsuccessfully attempted to storm the city.
In 1691 Moscow established a customs-post at Tsaritsyn. In 1708 Tsaritsyn was assigned to the Kazan Governorate; in 1719[citation needed] to the Astrakhan Governorate. According to the census in 1720, the city had a population of 408 people. In 1773 the settlement was designated as a provincial and district town. From 1779 it belonged to the Saratov Viceroyalty. In 1780 the city came under the newly established Saratov Governorate.
In the nineteenth century, Tsaritsyn became an important river-port and commercial center. As a result, it also became a hub for migrant workers; in 1895 alone, over 50,000 peasant migrants came to Tsaritsyn in search of work. The population expanded rapidly, increasing from fewer than 3,000 people in 1807 to about 84,000 in 1900. By 1914, the population had again jumped and was estimated at 130,000. Sources show 893 Jews registered as living there in 1897, with the number exceeding 2,000 by the middle of the 1920s. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Tsaritsyn was essentially a frontier town; almost all of the structures were wooden, with neither paved roads nor utilities. The first railway reached the town in 1862. The first theatre opened in 1872, the first cinema in 1907. In 1913 Tsaritsyn got its first tram-line, and the city's first electric lights were installed in the city center.
Between 1903 and 1907, the area was one of the least healthy in Europe, with a mortality rate of 33.6 for every 1000 persons. Untreated sewage spilled into the river, causing several cholera epidemics between 1907 and 1910. Although the region had an active Sanitary Executive Commission that sent out instructions on the best ways to prevent outbreaks and dispatched a delegate from the Anti-Plague Commission to Tsaritsyn in 1907, local municipal officials did not put any precautions into place, citing economic considerations. The city's drinking water came directly from the river, the intake pipe dangerously close to both the port and the sewage drain. There were neither funds nor political will to close the port (the main hub of economic activity) or move the intake pipes. As a result, in the three years spanning 1908 to 1910, Tsaritsyn lost 1,045 people to cholera. With a population of only 102,452 at the time, that amounted to a 1.01% loss of the population.
Between 1908 and 1911, Tsaritsyn was home to Sergei Trufanov, also known as the 'mad monk' Iliodor. He spent most of his time causing infighting and power struggles within the Russian Orthodox Church, fomenting anti-semitic zeal and violence in local populations, attacking the press, denouncing local municipal officials and causing unrest wherever he went. The most permanent mark he left on the city was the Holy Spirit Monastery (Russian: Свято-Духовский монастырь), built in 1909, parts of which still stand today.
In light of the explosive population growth, the lack of political action on sanitation and housing, the multiple epidemics and the presence of volatile personalities, it is no surprise that the lower Volga region was a hotbed of revolutionary activity and civil unrest. The inability of the Tsarist government to provide basic protections from cholera on the one hand and subjecting the populace to strict but ineffective health measures on the other, caused multiple riots in 1829, in the 1890s and throughout the first decade of the 1900s, setting the stage for multiple Russian revolutions and adding fuel to the political fire. During the Russian Civil War of 1917–1923, Tsaritsyn came under Soviet control from November 1917. In 1918 White Movement troops under Pyotr Krasnov, the Ataman of the Don Cossack Host, besieged Tsaritsyn. The Reds repulsed three assaults by the Whites. However, in June 1919 the White Armed Forces of South Russia, under the command of General Denikin, captured Tsaritsyn, and held it until January 1920. The fighting from July 1918 to January 1920 became known as the Battle for Tsaritsyn.
On April 10, 1925, the city was renamed Stalingrad, in honor of Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party. This was officially to recognize the city and Stalin's role in its defense against the Whites between 1918 and 1920.
Once the Soviets established control, ethnic and religious minorities were targeted. The only Jewish school in the area was closed down in 1926. In 1928, a campaign was launched by the Regional Executive Council to close down the synagogue in Stalingrad. Due to local pushback, they were not successful until 1929, when the council convened a Special Commission. The Commission convinced local municipal powers that the building was in need of major repairs, was unsafe and much too small for the over 800 worshippers who regularly showed up for high holidays.
In 1931, the German settlement-colony Old Sarepta (founded in 1765) became a district of Stalingrad. Renamed Krasnoarmeysky Rayon (or "Red Army District"), it was the largest area of the city. The first higher education institute was opened in 1930. A year later, the Stalingrad Industrial Pedagogical Institute, now Volgograd State Pedagogical University, was opened. Under Stalin, the city became a center of heavy industry and transshipment by rail and river.
During World War II, German and Axis forces attacked the city, which, in 1942, became the site of one of the war's pivotal battles. The Battle of Stalingrad was the deadliest single battle in the history of warfare (casualties estimates vary between 1,250,000 and 2,500,000).
The battle began on August 23, 1942, and on the same day, the city suffered heavy aerial bombardment that reduced most of it to rubble. Martial law had already been declared in the city on July 14. By September, the fighting reached the city center. The fighting was of unprecedented intensity; the city's central railway station changed hands thirteen times, and the Mamayev Kurgan (one of the highest points of the city) was captured and recaptured eight times.
By early November, the German forces controlled 90 percent of the city and had cornered the Soviets in two narrow pockets, but they were unable to eliminate the last pockets of Soviet resistance before Soviet forces launched a huge counterattack on November 19. This resulted in the Soviet encirclement of the German Sixth Army and other Axis units. On January 31, 1943, Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, the Sixth Army's commander, surrendered; by February 2, with the elimination of straggling German troops, the Battle of Stalingrad was over.
The bombing campaign and five months of fighting destroyed 99% of the city. Of the population of more than half a million before the battle, only 1,515 remained following the battle's conclusion.
In 1945, the Soviet Union awarded Stalingrad the title Hero City for its resistance. Great Britain's King George VI awarded the citizens of Stalingrad the jeweled "Sword of Stalingrad" in recognition of their bravery.
A number of cities around the world (especially those that had suffered similar wartime devastation) established sister, friendship, and twinning links (see list below) in the spirit of solidarity or reconciliation. One of the first "sister city" projects was that established during World War II between Stalingrad and Coventry in the United Kingdom; both had suffered extensive devastation from aerial bombardment.
On 10 November 1961, Nikita Khrushchev's administration changed the name of the city to Volgograd ("Volga City") as part of his programme of de-Stalinization following Stalin's death. This action was and remains somewhat controversial, because Stalingrad has such importance as a symbol of resistance during World War II.
During Konstantin Chernenko's brief rule in 1984, proposals were floated to revive the city's Stalinist name for that reason. There was a strong degree of local support for a reversion, but the Russian Soviet government did not accept such proposals.
On May 21, 2007, Roman Grebennikov of Communist Party was elected as mayor with 32.47% of the vote, a plurality. Grebennikov became Russia's youngest mayor of a federal subject administrative center at the time.
In 2010, Russian monarchists and leaders of the Orthodox organizations demanded that the city should take back its original name of Tsaritsyn, but the authorities rejected their proposal.
On January 30, 2013, the Volgograd City Council passed a measure to use the title "Hero City Stalingrad" in city statements on nine specific dates annually. On the following dates, the title "Hero City Stalingrad" can officially be used in celebrations:
February 2 (end of the Battle of Stalingrad),
February 23 (Defender of the Fatherland Day),
May 9 (Victory Day),
June 22 (start of Operation Barbarossa),
August 23 (start of the Battle of Stalingrad),
September 2 (Victory over Japan Day),
November 19 (start of Operation Uranus),
December 9 (Day of the Fatherland's Heroes)
In addition, in January 2013, 50,000 people signed a petition to Vladimir Putin, asking that the city's name be permanently changed to Stalingrad. President Putin has replied that such a move should be preceded by a local referendum and that the Russian authorities will look into how to bring about such a referendum.
Notable People:
Nikolay Davydenko, tennis player
Sasha Filippov, spy
Oleg Grebnev, handball player
Yekaterina Grigoryeva, sprinter
Larisa Ilchenko, long-distance swimmer
Yelena Isinbayeva, pole vaulter
Lev Ivanov, association football manager
Yuriy Kalitvintsev, association football manager
Elem Klimov, film director
Egor Koulechov professional basketball player
Alexey Kravtsov, jurist
Vladimir Kryuchkov, statesman
Tatyana Lebedeva, jumper
Maxim Marinin, figure skater
Maksim Opalev, sprint canoeist
Aleksandra Pakhmutova, composer
Denis Pankratov, Olympic swimmer
Evgeni Plushenko, Olympic figure skater
Yevgeny Sadovyi, Olympic swimmer
Natalia Shipilova, handball player
Yelena Slesarenko, high jumper
Leonid Slutsky, football coach
Yuliya Sotnikova, 400m athlete
Yulia MacLean Townsend, classical opera singer
Igor Vasilev, handball player
Oleg Veretennikov, association football player
Natalia Vikhlyantseva, tennis player
Vasily Zaytsev, Soviet sniper and a Hero of the Soviet Union
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