+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Following the February 1920 peace treaty with the Soviet Russia, the Estonian Army was demobilized, but the Aviation Company was retained. With the delivery of more aircraft, it was reorganized as an Aviation Regiment (Lennuväe rügement), comprising a landplane squadron, seaplane squadron, flying school and workshops. More bases and seaplane stations were built.

The timing was tight: After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland, and any Estonian military force was neutralized. On 17 June 1940, the three Baltic States were eventually invaded by Soviet forces, and the remains of the Estonian Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars, and the Estonian Air Force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: one pilot

Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)

Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 242.1 ft2 (22.48 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root)

NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 6,700 lb (3,039 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin II liquid-cooled V12 engine, delivering 1,030 hp (768 kW),

driving a de Havilland three blade two pitch constant speed propeller with 9 ft 8 in (2.97 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 362 mph (583 km/h) at 18,500 ft (5,600 m)

Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi (756 km))

Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,135 mi (1,827 km))

Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,125 m)

Rate of climb: 2,490 ft/min (12.6 m/sec) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft2 (133.5 kg/m2)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

Armament:

8× 0.303” (7.62 mm) Browning Mk II machine guns (300 RPG) in the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

Another one of the quickie build from April/May 2019, when I was busy at work and did not have the mojo for a bigger project. This one is a classic whif: something that existed on paper and has a real historic background, but never materialized. And it’s a free, personal interpretation of the subject – for instance, KORA recently released a decal set for Estonian Spitfires, and individual models frequently pop up at model kit conventions.

Since the Spitfire was a relatively young type during this model’s scenario, I decided to use an early Spitfire Mk. I as starting point, and my choice fell on the (vintage) Hasegawa kit, which comes with optional propellers and canopies for the Mk. I. Basically, the kit was built OOB, using the flat, “early” canopy and the three blade propeller that was actually introduced in 1940. For the latter, I just integrated a styrene tube into the front fuselage and added a metal axis to the propeller, so that it could spin freely.

Overall, the Hasegawa kit is a very simple affair, there are certainly better and more detailed kits available – but for this distraction project it was good enough.

Painting and markings:

How could an Estonian Spitfire have looked like? KORA suggests either an all-NMF aircraft or standard RAF camouflage in Dark Green/Dark Earth, but also with the white/black undersides for quick AA ID of the era.

I found the NMF finish, while a plausible option, since types like the Avro Anson were operated in this guise, a bit dull. But the RAF camouflage appeared quite plausible to me, since many other British export fighters of the pre-WWII era were delivered in such a finish, and I used Humbrol 116 and 29 as basic tones), but gave the aircraft a uniform underside in duck egg blue (Humbrol 23). Just inside of the landing gear well, I subtly added the British heritage in the form of a black and white interior. The cockpit was painted in standard RAF cockpit green (Humbrol 78).

Whiffery became more obvious through the markings. The Estonian triangles actually belong to a post-WWI Sopwith Camel. The blue is quite pale, but these markings came with the bonus of a white edge, which improves contrast esp. on the upper surfaces. The Estonian flag on the rudder was improvised with paint and decal material: the blue was mixed individually, trying to match the roundels’ tone, and the white section was painted, too, with a piece of black decal sheet between them.

The same blue was also added to the spinner – I wanted a little individual touch, and this detail was IMHO just enough to make the Estonian aircraft look less RAF-ish.

The other few markings were puzzled together from various sources. The tactical code number comes from an Xtradecal sheet for a Bristol Blenheim, the squadron emblem comes from a Polish pre-WWII aircraft.

The kit received no black ink wash, just some subtle panel post-shading and some soot stains around the machine gun nozzles and the exhausts. Finally, everything was sealed under matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Certainly nothing that raises eyebrows, but a pleasant build, realized in just a couple of days. It just took some weeks to find the right mojo for pics, and the file with the original background story was eaten by a mighty star goat in the meantime and had to be rewritten…

Health and social care practitioners came to our Colchester Campus to take part in a workshop led by Professor Wayne Martin from the Essex Autonomy Project. The workshop was part of a series of events organised to mark the University's 50th anniversary.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Following the February 1920 peace treaty with the Soviet Russia, the Estonian Army was demobilized, but the Aviation Company was retained. With the delivery of more aircraft, it was reorganized as an Aviation Regiment (Lennuväe rügement), comprising a landplane squadron, seaplane squadron, flying school and workshops. More bases and seaplane stations were built.

The timing was tight: After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland, and any Estonian military force was neutralized. On 17 June 1940, the three Baltic States were eventually invaded by Soviet forces, and the remains of the Estonian Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars, and the Estonian Air Force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: one pilot

Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)

Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 242.1 ft2 (22.48 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root)

NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 6,700 lb (3,039 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin II liquid-cooled V12 engine, delivering 1,030 hp (768 kW),

driving a de Havilland three blade two pitch constant speed propeller with 9 ft 8 in (2.97 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 362 mph (583 km/h) at 18,500 ft (5,600 m)

Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi (756 km))

Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,135 mi (1,827 km))

Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,125 m)

Rate of climb: 2,490 ft/min (12.6 m/sec) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft2 (133.5 kg/m2)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

Armament:

8× 0.303” (7.62 mm) Browning Mk II machine guns (300 RPG) in the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

Another one of the quickie build from April/May 2019, when I was busy at work and did not have the mojo for a bigger project. This one is a classic whif: something that existed on paper and has a real historic background, but never materialized. And it’s a free, personal interpretation of the subject – for instance, KORA recently released a decal set for Estonian Spitfires, and individual models frequently pop up at model kit conventions.

Since the Spitfire was a relatively young type during this model’s scenario, I decided to use an early Spitfire Mk. I as starting point, and my choice fell on the (vintage) Hasegawa kit, which comes with optional propellers and canopies for the Mk. I. Basically, the kit was built OOB, using the flat, “early” canopy and the three blade propeller that was actually introduced in 1940. For the latter, I just integrated a styrene tube into the front fuselage and added a metal axis to the propeller, so that it could spin freely.

Overall, the Hasegawa kit is a very simple affair, there are certainly better and more detailed kits available – but for this distraction project it was good enough.

Painting and markings:

How could an Estonian Spitfire have looked like? KORA suggests either an all-NMF aircraft or standard RAF camouflage in Dark Green/Dark Earth, but also with the white/black undersides for quick AA ID of the era.

I found the NMF finish, while a plausible option, since types like the Avro Anson were operated in this guise, a bit dull. But the RAF camouflage appeared quite plausible to me, since many other British export fighters of the pre-WWII era were delivered in such a finish, and I used Humbrol 116 and 29 as basic tones), but gave the aircraft a uniform underside in duck egg blue (Humbrol 23). Just inside of the landing gear well, I subtly added the British heritage in the form of a black and white interior. The cockpit was painted in standard RAF cockpit green (Humbrol 78).

Whiffery became more obvious through the markings. The Estonian triangles actually belong to a post-WWI Sopwith Camel. The blue is quite pale, but these markings came with the bonus of a white edge, which improves contrast esp. on the upper surfaces. The Estonian flag on the rudder was improvised with paint and decal material: the blue was mixed individually, trying to match the roundels’ tone, and the white section was painted, too, with a piece of black decal sheet between them.

The same blue was also added to the spinner – I wanted a little individual touch, and this detail was IMHO just enough to make the Estonian aircraft look less RAF-ish.

The other few markings were puzzled together from various sources. The tactical code number comes from an Xtradecal sheet for a Bristol Blenheim, the squadron emblem comes from a Polish pre-WWII aircraft.

The kit received no black ink wash, just some subtle panel post-shading and some soot stains around the machine gun nozzles and the exhausts. Finally, everything was sealed under matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Certainly nothing that raises eyebrows, but a pleasant build, realized in just a couple of days. It just took some weeks to find the right mojo for pics, and the file with the original background story was eaten by a mighty star goat in the meantime and had to be rewritten…

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Thus many Estonians in the Russian Army returned home to take up arms for their homeland. The Estonian Declaration of Independence in early 1918 was not recognized by Germany, which invaded and occupied the country during 1918. The Estonian armed forces were disbanded.

Plans to acquire Spitfires and Lysanders from Britain were thwarted when the outbreak of World War II in 1939 forced Britain to cancel all export orders. After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland. On 17 June 1940 the three Baltic States were invaded by Soviet forces. During the June 1940 invasion the Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars. The air force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 25 ft 4 in (7.72 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 2 in (10.11 m)

Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)

Wing area: 293 ft² (27.22 m²)

Empty weight: 1,960 lb (890 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 2,885 lb (1,310 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Jupiter V 9-cylinder radial engine, 480 hp (345 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 165 kn (190 mph, 305 km/h) at sea level

Range: 271 nmi (310 mi, 500 km)

Service ceiling: 27,000 ft (8,230 m)

Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (10.480 m/min)

Endurance: 1 hour 20 minutes

Climb to 10,000 ft: 6 min 20 sec

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns

Provision for up to 4× 20 lb (9 kg) bombs under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

I had bought an incomplete Matchbox A.W. Siskin kit a while ago, but lacked a good idea. This eventually came when I searched through the decal stack and came cross a Blue Rider sheet with Estonian triangles (see below) - and thought that an Estonian Siskin could be a good and exotic use. This was quite plausible because the Baltic country actually operated the type before WWII.

However, for a more whiffy touch, and in order to replace some missing parts, a few conversions had to be made. One modification concerns the landing gear, which had to be improvised; the struts came from a Revell Sopwith Triplane, IIRC, and the wheels from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator.

The engine was replaced, too, with a Bristol Jupiter from a Mistercraft PZL P.7 fighter, and a leftover propeller from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator. While the new engine appears a little large, the whole affair looks quite plausible and would even allow a free field of fire for the cowling-mounted, original armament.

Otherwise the simple but pleasant kit was built OOB. Rigging was done with heated black sprue material, glued into place with white glue after painting and decaling.

Painting and markings:

Well, there were not many Estonian aircraft, and most from the inter-war era seemed to carry a NMF/aluminium dope finish. I was able to dig up a profile of an Estonian Siskin IIIDC trainer, and it also shows some dark green round the cockpit area.

I used this as a starting point for a more camouflaged finish, also inspired by Latvian and Swedish Gloster Gladiators of that era, with dark green (FS 34079) upper surfaces, combined with aluminium dope on the undersides. In order to liven things up a little I also added an RAF Dark Green (ModelMaster) area in front of the cockpit, inspired by the Matchbox box art – but the different green tones are hard to tell apart.

Some metal panels were painted with Aluminium (Revell 99), while the fabric-covered areas, incl. the wings' undersides, were painted with Humbrol 56. The upper wing’s supporting struts were painted in black, as well as the cockpit interior – even though the latter is blocked by the pilot figure.

The Estonian national markings come from a Blue Rider sheet and actually belong to a modern 1:72 An-2. The tactical code was created with two layers of white over black single digits from TL Modellbau, creating a fake shadow effect for a better contrast. In order to liven things up a little more, I also a small unit badge to the fuselage flank under the cockpit, even though this was not typical for Estonian Air Force aircraft.

Some light dry-brushing with light grey was done in order to emphasize the nice surface structure of the Matchbox kit. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

A relatively simple build, but the overall result looks quite convincing, despite the exotic markings and the large diameter engine from the PZL P.7. Made me wonder what an Estonian Spitfire – had it been delievered – might have looked like? Hmmm…

Introduction to model used for spinal cord, spinal nerves, autonomic nervous system.

The crown of St Wenceslas is the most important and oldest of the Bohemian crown jewels. It was commissioned by Charles IV in the 1340s and dedicated to St Wenceslas. The original crown is kept at Prague Castle. Unlike many European countries, this symbol of Czech autonomy and statehood is not permanently exhibited. By declaration of the Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, Charles IV, it was deposited in a special chamber in St. Vitus’ Cathedral near the remains of the country’s patron saint and under his symbolic protection. The Bohemian coronation jewels would only be exhibited on special occasions and only on Prague Castle premises.

The Municipal House is situated next to the Powder Gate on the former grounds of the Royal Palace, the magnificent seat of the Bohemian kings from 1383 to 1484. The modern-day Municipal House, erected in 1906–1911, witnessed the proclamation of Czechoslovak independence on October 28, 1918.

It is thus symbolic that the Municipal House management decided to initiate the creation of a copy of the royal crown of St Wenceslas and exhibit it permanently in the Bohemian and Gentlemen’s Club, where important historical events marking the origin of the modern Czech statehood took place. The copy of the crown of St Wenceslas was commissioned by the Gold Coins – Numismatics company.

The copy of St Wenceslas crown was crafted by Jiří Urban, a famous goldsmith from Turnov. Painter Václav Zajíc, head of the department of precious stone cutting and engraving department of the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Trutnov, supplied the glass replicas and compositions of the precious stones.

The copy of the crown of St Wenceslas, a symbol of the Czech state’s independence, is also featured on the CZK 1 coin, which also represents the value as well as independence of the Czech currency. Both “crowns” symbolize the independence and sovereignty of the Czech state and its representatives.

The copy of crown of St Wenceslas, as well as a CZK 1 coin made of pure gold are on a permanent display in the Municipal House. Presented by the Municipal House and Gold Coins – Numismatics.

About the crown:

The crown of St Wenceslas – made of high fineness gold (21 – 22 carats), decorated with precious stones and pearls – is the oldest of the crown jewels. It weighs almost two and a half kilograms, it is 19 cm high, including the cross, 19 cm in diameter and each of the four parts of the crown is 14.5 cm long. It was commissioned by Charles IV for his coronation in 1347, who later dedicated it to the first patron saint of the Czech lands, St Wenceslas, and decreed that it become a state crown, used for coronation of further Bohemian kings, his successors to the Bohemian throne. Charles IV kept modifying it, having it fitted with the most precious stones he managed to acquire, almost until the end of his life (1378), gradually developing into its contemporary look.

Its shape follows the tradition of previous crowns of the Přemyslids as well as kings of France. It is a headdress consisting of four parts, each of which culminates with a large fleur-de-lis. The segments are linked by two bands arching over the top, mounted with ornaments from an older jewel (headdress or band). The apex of the crown, where the two bans cross, features a gold cross with a sapphire cameo, an engraved precious stone. The crown contains a total of 19 sapphires, 44 spinels, 1 ruby, 30 emeralds and 20 pearls.

Charles IV decreed that the new royal crown be permanently held in St Vitus’ Cathedral. Nevertheless, Charles’ very first successor, his son Wenceslas IV evidently at the beginning of the 15th century had the crown jewels transferred to the Karlštejn castle, where they were to be better secured during the tumultuous times of fighting for rule of the country. Since then, they have been kept in many different places, with the transfers happening mainly during political unrest, fights over the Bohemian throne and the threat of war. The turbulent 17th century prepared a dramatic fate for the crown jewels. The place where they were kept changed often, for a time returning to St Vitus’ Cathedral, then being transferred to the office of the Tables of the Province and later to Prague’s Old Town City Hall. During the periods when Prague was no longer safe, they were securely stored in České Budějovice. The ruling Habsburg dynasty designated a more permanent location in Vienna, where they stayed almost until the end of the 18th century. Irrespective of where they were stored, be it the Karlštejn Castle or Vienna, they were always brought for the royal coronation to the Czech lands, or more specifically to Prague Castle.

The official name of the medieval Bohemian state was also derived from the crown of St Wenceslas – the Crown of Bohemian Kingdom or Bohemian Crown (the union of crown lands, which were part of the Bohemian kingdom and were subject to the King of Bohemia).

The new copy of the crown of St Wenceslas is only the second copy to be made. The first replica was made fifty years ago for exhibition purposes and is owned by the Prague Castle Administration.

Last of all Wenceslas is of course the stern but fair monarch depicted in later verses of the famous carol "Good King Wenceslas". He died on September 20th, 929, in his early twenties.

Pay a visit to this website to see a close up image of the crown and Regalia.

www.eximtours.eu/news2

Also try this link to Prague Castle for the history of all the regalia in close up

www.hrad.cz/en/prague-castle/the-bohemian-crown-jewels/in...

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Thus many Estonians in the Russian Army returned home to take up arms for their homeland. The Estonian Declaration of Independence in early 1918 was not recognized by Germany, which invaded and occupied the country during 1918. The Estonian armed forces were disbanded.

Plans to acquire Spitfires and Lysanders from Britain were thwarted when the outbreak of World War II in 1939 forced Britain to cancel all export orders. After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland. On 17 June 1940 the three Baltic States were invaded by Soviet forces. During the June 1940 invasion the Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars. The air force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 25 ft 4 in (7.72 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 2 in (10.11 m)

Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)

Wing area: 293 ft² (27.22 m²)

Empty weight: 1,960 lb (890 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 2,885 lb (1,310 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Jupiter V 9-cylinder radial engine, 480 hp (345 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 165 kn (190 mph, 305 km/h) at sea level

Range: 271 nmi (310 mi, 500 km)

Service ceiling: 27,000 ft (8,230 m)

Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (10.480 m/min)

Endurance: 1 hour 20 minutes

Climb to 10,000 ft: 6 min 20 sec

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns

Provision for up to 4× 20 lb (9 kg) bombs under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

I had bought an incomplete Matchbox A.W. Siskin kit a while ago, but lacked a good idea. This eventually came when I searched through the decal stack and came cross a Blue Rider sheet with Estonian triangles (see below) - and thought that an Estonian Siskin could be a good and exotic use. This was quite plausible because the Baltic country actually operated the type before WWII.

However, for a more whiffy touch, and in order to replace some missing parts, a few conversions had to be made. One modification concerns the landing gear, which had to be improvised; the struts came from a Revell Sopwith Triplane, IIRC, and the wheels from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator.

The engine was replaced, too, with a Bristol Jupiter from a Mistercraft PZL P.7 fighter, and a leftover propeller from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator. While the new engine appears a little large, the whole affair looks quite plausible and would even allow a free field of fire for the cowling-mounted, original armament.

Otherwise the simple but pleasant kit was built OOB. Rigging was done with heated black sprue material, glued into place with white glue after painting and decaling.

Painting and markings:

Well, there were not many Estonian aircraft, and most from the inter-war era seemed to carry a NMF/aluminium dope finish. I was able to dig up a profile of an Estonian Siskin IIIDC trainer, and it also shows some dark green round the cockpit area.

I used this as a starting point for a more camouflaged finish, also inspired by Latvian and Swedish Gloster Gladiators of that era, with dark green (FS 34079) upper surfaces, combined with aluminium dope on the undersides. In order to liven things up a little I also added an RAF Dark Green (ModelMaster) area in front of the cockpit, inspired by the Matchbox box art – but the different green tones are hard to tell apart.

Some metal panels were painted with Aluminium (Revell 99), while the fabric-covered areas, incl. the wings' undersides, were painted with Humbrol 56. The upper wing’s supporting struts were painted in black, as well as the cockpit interior – even though the latter is blocked by the pilot figure.

The Estonian national markings come from a Blue Rider sheet and actually belong to a modern 1:72 An-2. The tactical code was created with two layers of white over black single digits from TL Modellbau, creating a fake shadow effect for a better contrast. In order to liven things up a little more, I also a small unit badge to the fuselage flank under the cockpit, even though this was not typical for Estonian Air Force aircraft.

Some light dry-brushing with light grey was done in order to emphasize the nice surface structure of the Matchbox kit. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

A relatively simple build, but the overall result looks quite convincing, despite the exotic markings and the large diameter engine from the PZL P.7. Made me wonder what an Estonian Spitfire – had it been delievered – might have looked like? Hmmm…

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Thus many Estonians in the Russian Army returned home to take up arms for their homeland. The Estonian Declaration of Independence in early 1918 was not recognized by Germany, which invaded and occupied the country during 1918. The Estonian armed forces were disbanded.

Plans to acquire Spitfires and Lysanders from Britain were thwarted when the outbreak of World War II in 1939 forced Britain to cancel all export orders. After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland. On 17 June 1940 the three Baltic States were invaded by Soviet forces. During the June 1940 invasion the Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars. The air force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 25 ft 4 in (7.72 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 2 in (10.11 m)

Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)

Wing area: 293 ft² (27.22 m²)

Empty weight: 1,960 lb (890 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 2,885 lb (1,310 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Jupiter V 9-cylinder radial engine, 480 hp (345 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 165 kn (190 mph, 305 km/h) at sea level

Range: 271 nmi (310 mi, 500 km)

Service ceiling: 27,000 ft (8,230 m)

Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (10.480 m/min)

Endurance: 1 hour 20 minutes

Climb to 10,000 ft: 6 min 20 sec

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns

Provision for up to 4× 20 lb (9 kg) bombs under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

I had bought an incomplete Matchbox A.W. Siskin kit a while ago, but lacked a good idea. This eventually came when I searched through the decal stack and came cross a Blue Rider sheet with Estonian triangles (see below) - and thought that an Estonian Siskin could be a good and exotic use. This was quite plausible because the Baltic country actually operated the type before WWII.

However, for a more whiffy touch, and in order to replace some missing parts, a few conversions had to be made. One modification concerns the landing gear, which had to be improvised; the struts came from a Revell Sopwith Triplane, IIRC, and the wheels from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator.

The engine was replaced, too, with a Bristol Jupiter from a Mistercraft PZL P.7 fighter, and a leftover propeller from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator. While the new engine appears a little large, the whole affair looks quite plausible and would even allow a free field of fire for the cowling-mounted, original armament.

Otherwise the simple but pleasant kit was built OOB. Rigging was done with heated black sprue material, glued into place with white glue after painting and decaling.

Painting and markings:

Well, there were not many Estonian aircraft, and most from the inter-war era seemed to carry a NMF/aluminium dope finish. I was able to dig up a profile of an Estonian Siskin IIIDC trainer, and it also shows some dark green round the cockpit area.

I used this as a starting point for a more camouflaged finish, also inspired by Latvian and Swedish Gloster Gladiators of that era, with dark green (FS 34079) upper surfaces, combined with aluminium dope on the undersides. In order to liven things up a little I also added an RAF Dark Green (ModelMaster) area in front of the cockpit, inspired by the Matchbox box art – but the different green tones are hard to tell apart.

Some metal panels were painted with Aluminium (Revell 99), while the fabric-covered areas, incl. the wings' undersides, were painted with Humbrol 56. The upper wing’s supporting struts were painted in black, as well as the cockpit interior – even though the latter is blocked by the pilot figure.

The Estonian national markings come from a Blue Rider sheet and actually belong to a modern 1:72 An-2. The tactical code was created with two layers of white over black single digits from TL Modellbau, creating a fake shadow effect for a better contrast. In order to liven things up a little more, I also a small unit badge to the fuselage flank under the cockpit, even though this was not typical for Estonian Air Force aircraft.

Some light dry-brushing with light grey was done in order to emphasize the nice surface structure of the Matchbox kit. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

A relatively simple build, but the overall result looks quite convincing, despite the exotic markings and the large diameter engine from the PZL P.7. Made me wonder what an Estonian Spitfire – had it been delievered – might have looked like? Hmmm…

Sa pamamagitan ng Batas Jones (Ba·tás Jowns) o Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, nalikha ang Senado ng Filipinas mula sa dating Philippine Commission. Isa din ito sa mga batas na naglatag ng magiging kasarinlan ng Filipinas sa paglikha nitó ng mga kondisyon, gaya ng eleksiyon, sa bansa para sa isang matatag at makapagsasariling pamahalaan. Ipinanukala ito ni William Atkinson Jones ng Virginia, Estados Unidos at naisabatas noong ika-29 ng Agosto 1916.

Sa bisà ng Batas Jones, nagkaroon ng paghihiwalay ng kapangyarihan ang ehekutibo at ang lehislatibong sangay ng pamahalaan. Hindi na maaaring maging kasapi ng lehislatura ang gobernador heneral, ang pinakamataas na opisyal sa bansa noon. Bago ang 1916, siyá ang namamahala pati sa Philippine Commission, ang katumbas ng lehislatura. Hinati ng batas sa dalawang kapulungan ang Commission—ang mataas na kapulungan ang naging Senado at ang mababàng kapulungan ang naging Kapulungan ng Kinatawan—at binigyan ito ng kapangyarihan gaya ng paglikha at pagbuwag ng mga departamento sa ilalim ng ehekutibo at pagtatalaga o pagtanggal ng mga pinunò ng mga naturang departamento.

Naibigay sa mga Filipino ang kapangyarihang patakbuhin ang lehislatura ng bansa sa pamamagitan ng eleksiyon. Ang mga miyembro ng Senado ay kumatawan sa 12 distrito. Ihahalal ang 22 senador mula sa 11 distrito na may anim na taóng termino. Dalawang senador naman mula sa Mindanao at Sulu ang hinirang ng gobernador heneral at humawak ng kanilang posisyon hanggang hindi silá inaalis ng gobernador heneral. Mayroon namang 90 miyembro ang Kapulungan ng Kinatawan, 81 ang inihalal at 9 ang hinirang upang katawanin ang mga hindi Kristiyano. (KLL)

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Following the February 1920 peace treaty with the Soviet Russia, the Estonian Army was demobilized, but the Aviation Company was retained. With the delivery of more aircraft, it was reorganized as an Aviation Regiment (Lennuväe rügement), comprising a landplane squadron, seaplane squadron, flying school and workshops. More bases and seaplane stations were built.

The timing was tight: After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland, and any Estonian military force was neutralized. On 17 June 1940, the three Baltic States were eventually invaded by Soviet forces, and the remains of the Estonian Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars, and the Estonian Air Force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: one pilot

Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)

Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 242.1 ft2 (22.48 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root)

NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 6,700 lb (3,039 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin II liquid-cooled V12 engine, delivering 1,030 hp (768 kW),

driving a de Havilland three blade two pitch constant speed propeller with 9 ft 8 in (2.97 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 362 mph (583 km/h) at 18,500 ft (5,600 m)

Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi (756 km))

Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,135 mi (1,827 km))

Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,125 m)

Rate of climb: 2,490 ft/min (12.6 m/sec) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft2 (133.5 kg/m2)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

Armament:

8× 0.303” (7.62 mm) Browning Mk II machine guns (300 RPG) in the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

Another one of the quickie build from April/May 2019, when I was busy at work and did not have the mojo for a bigger project. This one is a classic whif: something that existed on paper and has a real historic background, but never materialized. And it’s a free, personal interpretation of the subject – for instance, KORA recently released a decal set for Estonian Spitfires, and individual models frequently pop up at model kit conventions.

Since the Spitfire was a relatively young type during this model’s scenario, I decided to use an early Spitfire Mk. I as starting point, and my choice fell on the (vintage) Hasegawa kit, which comes with optional propellers and canopies for the Mk. I. Basically, the kit was built OOB, using the flat, “early” canopy and the three blade propeller that was actually introduced in 1940. For the latter, I just integrated a styrene tube into the front fuselage and added a metal axis to the propeller, so that it could spin freely.

Overall, the Hasegawa kit is a very simple affair, there are certainly better and more detailed kits available – but for this distraction project it was good enough.

Painting and markings:

How could an Estonian Spitfire have looked like? KORA suggests either an all-NMF aircraft or standard RAF camouflage in Dark Green/Dark Earth, but also with the white/black undersides for quick AA ID of the era.

I found the NMF finish, while a plausible option, since types like the Avro Anson were operated in this guise, a bit dull. But the RAF camouflage appeared quite plausible to me, since many other British export fighters of the pre-WWII era were delivered in such a finish, and I used Humbrol 116 and 29 as basic tones), but gave the aircraft a uniform underside in duck egg blue (Humbrol 23). Just inside of the landing gear well, I subtly added the British heritage in the form of a black and white interior. The cockpit was painted in standard RAF cockpit green (Humbrol 78).

Whiffery became more obvious through the markings. The Estonian triangles actually belong to a post-WWI Sopwith Camel. The blue is quite pale, but these markings came with the bonus of a white edge, which improves contrast esp. on the upper surfaces. The Estonian flag on the rudder was improvised with paint and decal material: the blue was mixed individually, trying to match the roundels’ tone, and the white section was painted, too, with a piece of black decal sheet between them.

The same blue was also added to the spinner – I wanted a little individual touch, and this detail was IMHO just enough to make the Estonian aircraft look less RAF-ish.

The other few markings were puzzled together from various sources. The tactical code number comes from an Xtradecal sheet for a Bristol Blenheim, the squadron emblem comes from a Polish pre-WWII aircraft.

The kit received no black ink wash, just some subtle panel post-shading and some soot stains around the machine gun nozzles and the exhausts. Finally, everything was sealed under matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Certainly nothing that raises eyebrows, but a pleasant build, realized in just a couple of days. It just took some weeks to find the right mojo for pics, and the file with the original background story was eaten by a mighty star goat in the meantime and had to be rewritten…

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Following the February 1920 peace treaty with the Soviet Russia, the Estonian Army was demobilized, but the Aviation Company was retained. With the delivery of more aircraft, it was reorganized as an Aviation Regiment (Lennuväe rügement), comprising a landplane squadron, seaplane squadron, flying school and workshops. More bases and seaplane stations were built.

The timing was tight: After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland, and any Estonian military force was neutralized. On 17 June 1940, the three Baltic States were eventually invaded by Soviet forces, and the remains of the Estonian Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars, and the Estonian Air Force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: one pilot

Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)

Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 242.1 ft2 (22.48 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root)

NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 6,700 lb (3,039 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin II liquid-cooled V12 engine, delivering 1,030 hp (768 kW),

driving a de Havilland three blade two pitch constant speed propeller with 9 ft 8 in (2.97 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 362 mph (583 km/h) at 18,500 ft (5,600 m)

Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi (756 km))

Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,135 mi (1,827 km))

Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,125 m)

Rate of climb: 2,490 ft/min (12.6 m/sec) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft2 (133.5 kg/m2)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

Armament:

8× 0.303” (7.62 mm) Browning Mk II machine guns (300 RPG) in the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

Another one of the quickie build from April/May 2019, when I was busy at work and did not have the mojo for a bigger project. This one is a classic whif: something that existed on paper and has a real historic background, but never materialized. And it’s a free, personal interpretation of the subject – for instance, KORA recently released a decal set for Estonian Spitfires, and individual models frequently pop up at model kit conventions.

Since the Spitfire was a relatively young type during this model’s scenario, I decided to use an early Spitfire Mk. I as starting point, and my choice fell on the (vintage) Hasegawa kit, which comes with optional propellers and canopies for the Mk. I. Basically, the kit was built OOB, using the flat, “early” canopy and the three blade propeller that was actually introduced in 1940. For the latter, I just integrated a styrene tube into the front fuselage and added a metal axis to the propeller, so that it could spin freely.

Overall, the Hasegawa kit is a very simple affair, there are certainly better and more detailed kits available – but for this distraction project it was good enough.

Painting and markings:

How could an Estonian Spitfire have looked like? KORA suggests either an all-NMF aircraft or standard RAF camouflage in Dark Green/Dark Earth, but also with the white/black undersides for quick AA ID of the era.

I found the NMF finish, while a plausible option, since types like the Avro Anson were operated in this guise, a bit dull. But the RAF camouflage appeared quite plausible to me, since many other British export fighters of the pre-WWII era were delivered in such a finish, and I used Humbrol 116 and 29 as basic tones), but gave the aircraft a uniform underside in duck egg blue (Humbrol 23). Just inside of the landing gear well, I subtly added the British heritage in the form of a black and white interior. The cockpit was painted in standard RAF cockpit green (Humbrol 78).

Whiffery became more obvious through the markings. The Estonian triangles actually belong to a post-WWI Sopwith Camel. The blue is quite pale, but these markings came with the bonus of a white edge, which improves contrast esp. on the upper surfaces. The Estonian flag on the rudder was improvised with paint and decal material: the blue was mixed individually, trying to match the roundels’ tone, and the white section was painted, too, with a piece of black decal sheet between them.

The same blue was also added to the spinner – I wanted a little individual touch, and this detail was IMHO just enough to make the Estonian aircraft look less RAF-ish.

The other few markings were puzzled together from various sources. The tactical code number comes from an Xtradecal sheet for a Bristol Blenheim, the squadron emblem comes from a Polish pre-WWII aircraft.

The kit received no black ink wash, just some subtle panel post-shading and some soot stains around the machine gun nozzles and the exhausts. Finally, everything was sealed under matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Certainly nothing that raises eyebrows, but a pleasant build, realized in just a couple of days. It just took some weeks to find the right mojo for pics, and the file with the original background story was eaten by a mighty star goat in the meantime and had to be rewritten…

Brook lies about a quarter mile from the start of Wye Down, I can see it in the spring when I am orchid hunting, but never really thought about what the village was like, or even called.

After looking at John Vigar's book, I realised there were a few churches in east Kent I had missed out, and Brook was one. I dd not read up on it, so did not know what to expect. In fact, it seems of similar construction to Brabourne, with a stocky tower, and inside, sadly locked, the tower has a private chapel built into it.

But what is obvious is the hole in the north side facing the road. This clearly needed further inspection.

You reach the church via a bridge over a stream, presumably after which the village is named, and there is a path leading to the church door, which was unlocked.

On closer inspection, the recess in the north wall lead to a door, and inside the church, there was an oval door. This is a hagioscope (or squint), but I have never seen one in the outside wall of a church before.

Once home, I did some research, and found out about anchorites, people who decided to leave the cares of the world, lived like hermits attached to a church, with a window into the church so to witness the services.

If this wasn't remarkable enough, elsewhere inside the church had been re-ordered in the 1980s so it now resembles a 12th century Norman church, and has a remarkable collection of wall paintings on top of all that.

To call it breathtaking would be an understatement.

----------------------------------------------

An anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress; adj. anchoritic; from Ancient Greek: ἀναχωρητής, anachōrētḗs, "one who has retired from the world",[2][3] from the verb ἀναχωρέω, anachōréō, signifying "to withdraw", "to retire"[4]) is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, and—circumstances permitting—Eucharist-focused life. Whilst anchorites are frequently considered to be a type of religious hermit,[5] unlike hermits they were required to take a vow of stability of place, opting instead for permanent enclosure in cells often attached to churches. Also unlike hermits, anchorites were subject to a religious rite of consecration that closely resembled the funeral rite, following which—theoretically, at least—they would be considered dead to the world, a type of living saint. Anchorites had a certain autonomy, as they did not answer to any ecclesiastical authority other than the bishop.[6]

The anchoritic life is one of the earliest forms of Christian monastic living. In the Roman Catholic Church today, it is one of the "Other Forms of Consecrated Life" and governed by the same norms as the consecrated eremitic life.[7] From the 12th to the 16th centuries, female anchorites consistently outnumbered their male equivalents, sometimes by as many as four to one (in the 13th century), dropping eventually to two to one (in the 15th century). The gender of a high number of anchorites, however, is not recorded for these periods.

The anchoritic life became widespread during the early and high Middle Ages.[9] Examples of the dwellings of anchorites and anchoresses survive. A large number of these are in England. They tended to be a simple cell (also called anchorhold), built against one of the walls of the local village church.[10] In the Germanic lands, from at least the 10th century, it was customary for the bishop to say the office of the dead as the anchorite entered his cell, to signify the anchorite's death to the world and rebirth to a spiritual life of solitary communion with God and the angels. Sometimes, if the anchorite were walled up inside the cell, the bishop would put his seal upon the wall to stamp it with his authority. Some anchorites, however, freely moved between their cell and the adjoining church.[11]

Most anchoritic strongholds were small, perhaps no more than 12 to 15 ft (3.7 to 4.6 m) square, with three windows. Viewing the altar, hearing Mass, and receiving Holy Communion was possible through one small, shuttered window in the common wall facing the sanctuary, called a "hagioscope" or "squint". Anchorites would also provide spiritual advice and counsel to visitors through this window, as the anchorites gained a reputation for wisdom.[12] Another small window would allow access to those who saw to the anchorite's physical needs, such as food and other necessities. A third window, often facing the street, but covered with translucent cloth, would allow light into the cell.[6]

Anchorites were supposed to remain in their cell in all eventualities. Some were even burned in their cells, which they refused to leave even when pirates or other attackers were looting and burning their towns.[13] They ate frugal meals, spending their days both in contemplative prayer and interceding on behalf of others. Anchorites' bodily waste was managed by means of a chamber pot.[14]

In addition to being the crucial physical location wherein the anchorite could embark on the journey towards union with God and the culmination of spiritual perfection, the anchorhold also provided a spiritual and geographic focus for many of those people from the wider society who came to ask for advice and spiritual guidance. It is clear that, although set apart from the community at large by stone walls and specific spiritual precepts, the anchorite also lay at the very centre of that same community. The anchorhold was clearly also a communal 'womb' from which would emerge an idealized sense of a community's own reborn potential, both as Christians and as human subjects.[8]

An idea of their daily routine can be gleaned from an anchoritic Rule. The most widely known today is the early 13th century text known as Ancrene Wisse.[15] Another, less widely known, example is the rule known as De Institutione Inclusarum written in the 12th century, around 1160–62, by Aelred of Rievaulx for his sister.[16] It is estimated that the daily set devotions detailed in Ancrene Wisse would take some four hours, on top of which anchoresses would listen to services in the church, and engage in their own private prayers and devotional reading.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorite

------------------------------------------------

Since its re-ordering in 1986 Brook church has shown the visitor what a church interior might have looked like in the twelfth century. The chancel is empty except for the medieval stone altar, discovered a few years ago in the churchyard, and now set on two ragstone pillars. The church is large, for throughout the medieval period it belonged to Christ Church, Canterbury. There is much Norman work to be seen, including the three-stage west tower which contains a purpose-built chapel or `westwerk`. The church has a comprehensive series of thirteenth-century wall paintings, overlain by some fourteenth- and seventeenth-century murals, although the early paintings are not as well preserved as in some other churches. In the north wall of the chancel is a small almond-shaped hagioscope to the exterior. It may have connected to an anchorite's cell, but is more likely to have been associated with the exposition of a relic on the high altar. It is certainly not a low side window as the tower bell would have been used for this purpose.

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Brook

--------------------------------------------

LIES the next parish southward from Wye. It is written in antient records both Broc and Broke, and takes its name from its low situation on the stream which runs through it, baroca in Saxon signifying a rivulet. It seems once to have been accounted a hundred of itself; but at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, in the year 1080, it was reputed to be in the hundred of Wye, as it is now.

The parish is very small, and is but little known, lying out of the way of all traffic and throughfare. It is not more than a mile across each way, and has in it about twenty houses. It lies very low and wet, in a deep miry soil. There is some coppice wood in the southern part of it, about forty-three acres, of which twenty-eighty belong to the dean and chapter of Canterbury. The village is nearly in the centre of the parish, having the church at the north end of it. There is a small hamlet, called Little Bedleston, consisting of only two houses, in the eastern part of the parish, close under the high ridge of hills called Braborne-downs, to the foot of which this parish extends eastward.

BROOKE was given, long before the conquest, by Karlemann, a priest, to the church of Canterbury; but it was wrested from the church in the troublesome times which soon after followed, by reason of the Danish wars, and it continued in lay hands at the accession of the Conqueror; soon after which it appears to have been in the possession of Hugh de Montfort, from whom archbishop Lanfranc recovered Brooke again to his church in the solemn assembly of the whole county, held on this occassion by the king's command, at Pinenden-heath in 1076; and then on the division which the archbishop made of the lands of his church, this manor was allotted by him, among others, to the share of the priory of Christ-church, Canterbury; accordingly it is thus entered among the possessions of it, in the survey of Domesday, under the general title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. lands of the monks of the archbishops;

In the hundred of Wi, the archbishop himself holds one manor, which was taxed at one suling, in the time of king Edward the Confessor, and now, for half a suling. The arable land is two carucates. In demesne there is one, and three villeins, with four borderers having two carucates and an half. There is a church, and one mill of two shillings, and two servants, and seven acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of ten hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, it was worth fifty shillings, now four pounds.

This manor was soon after this let to farm, by the monks, to Robert de Rumene, at the above rent, and was allotted de cibo eorum, that is, to the use of their refectory; and the possession of it was confirmed to them both by king Henry I. and II. (fn. 1) King Edward II. in his 10th year, granted to the prior and convent free warren in all their demesne lands in Broke, among other places which they were in possession of at the time of the charter of liberties granted to them by his grandfather Henry III. about which time this manor was valued at 22l. 1s. 10d. In which state it afterwards continued till the dissolution of the priory of Christchurch in the 31st year of Henry VIII. when it came into the king's hands, where it did not remain long, for the king settled it by his dotation-charter, in his 33d year, on his new-erected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions it still remains.

The demesne lands have been constantly let by the dean and chapter on a beneficial lease, at the yearly rent of 13l. 6s. 8d. in money, and four quarters of wheat. The present lessee is Mr. John Berry, of Newbery, Berkshire; but the manerial rights they retain in their own hands.

A court baron is regularly held for this manor. There are no parochial charities.

BROOKE is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge. The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is but small, consisting of one isle and a chancel, with a low square tower at the west end, in which are two bells. There are no memorials of any account in it.

The church of Brooke has always been accounted an appendage to the manor, and as such passed with it from the priory of Christ-church into the hands of the crown, and from thence to the dean and chapter of Canterbury, who are the present patrons of it. The woods belonging to the dean and chapter here, claim an exemption from paying tithes.

¶This rectory is valued in the king's books at 7l. 7s. 3d. and is of the clear yearly certified value of thirty pounds. In 1588 it was valued at thirty pounds. Communicants ninety-two. In 1640 at sixty pounds. Communicants sixty. There are now only ten communicants. In 1724 it was augmented with the sum of 200l. given by the governors of queen Anne's bounty, on the gift of 100l. from the dean and chapter of Canterbury, and the like sum from Dr. Godolphin, dean of St. Paul's; with which there was purchased a piece of land, containing nine acres, called Great Chequer field, adjoining to the town of Wye.

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol7/pp381-384

Albertsons transferred management of most the locations in New Mexico to United Supermarkets since the stores are closer in proximity to United's warehouses.

Since United Supermarkets operates with a lot of autonomy from their parent company (for example, United continues to utilize their own separate IT systems), the Albertsons stores operated by United were rebranded as "Albertsons Market" so customers would not be confused when engaging with company digitally.

The Albertsons Market brand was originally created by Albertsons LLC in 2012 so customers would not confuse their stores with the locations operated by SUPERVALU.

On Coors Road in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Thus many Estonians in the Russian Army returned home to take up arms for their homeland. The Estonian Declaration of Independence in early 1918 was not recognized by Germany, which invaded and occupied the country during 1918. The Estonian armed forces were disbanded.

Plans to acquire Spitfires and Lysanders from Britain were thwarted when the outbreak of World War II in 1939 forced Britain to cancel all export orders. After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland. On 17 June 1940 the three Baltic States were invaded by Soviet forces. During the June 1940 invasion the Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars. The air force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 25 ft 4 in (7.72 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 2 in (10.11 m)

Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)

Wing area: 293 ft² (27.22 m²)

Empty weight: 1,960 lb (890 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 2,885 lb (1,310 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Jupiter V 9-cylinder radial engine, 480 hp (345 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 165 kn (190 mph, 305 km/h) at sea level

Range: 271 nmi (310 mi, 500 km)

Service ceiling: 27,000 ft (8,230 m)

Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (10.480 m/min)

Endurance: 1 hour 20 minutes

Climb to 10,000 ft: 6 min 20 sec

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns

Provision for up to 4× 20 lb (9 kg) bombs under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

I had bought an incomplete Matchbox A.W. Siskin kit a while ago, but lacked a good idea. This eventually came when I searched through the decal stack and came cross a Blue Rider sheet with Estonian triangles (see below) - and thought that an Estonian Siskin could be a good and exotic use. This was quite plausible because the Baltic country actually operated the type before WWII.

However, for a more whiffy touch, and in order to replace some missing parts, a few conversions had to be made. One modification concerns the landing gear, which had to be improvised; the struts came from a Revell Sopwith Triplane, IIRC, and the wheels from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator.

The engine was replaced, too, with a Bristol Jupiter from a Mistercraft PZL P.7 fighter, and a leftover propeller from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator. While the new engine appears a little large, the whole affair looks quite plausible and would even allow a free field of fire for the cowling-mounted, original armament.

Otherwise the simple but pleasant kit was built OOB. Rigging was done with heated black sprue material, glued into place with white glue after painting and decaling.

Painting and markings:

Well, there were not many Estonian aircraft, and most from the inter-war era seemed to carry a NMF/aluminium dope finish. I was able to dig up a profile of an Estonian Siskin IIIDC trainer, and it also shows some dark green round the cockpit area.

I used this as a starting point for a more camouflaged finish, also inspired by Latvian and Swedish Gloster Gladiators of that era, with dark green (FS 34079) upper surfaces, combined with aluminium dope on the undersides. In order to liven things up a little I also added an RAF Dark Green (ModelMaster) area in front of the cockpit, inspired by the Matchbox box art – but the different green tones are hard to tell apart.

Some metal panels were painted with Aluminium (Revell 99), while the fabric-covered areas, incl. the wings' undersides, were painted with Humbrol 56. The upper wing’s supporting struts were painted in black, as well as the cockpit interior – even though the latter is blocked by the pilot figure.

The Estonian national markings come from a Blue Rider sheet and actually belong to a modern 1:72 An-2. The tactical code was created with two layers of white over black single digits from TL Modellbau, creating a fake shadow effect for a better contrast. In order to liven things up a little more, I also a small unit badge to the fuselage flank under the cockpit, even though this was not typical for Estonian Air Force aircraft.

Some light dry-brushing with light grey was done in order to emphasize the nice surface structure of the Matchbox kit. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

A relatively simple build, but the overall result looks quite convincing, despite the exotic markings and the large diameter engine from the PZL P.7. Made me wonder what an Estonian Spitfire – had it been delievered – might have looked like? Hmmm…

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Following the February 1920 peace treaty with the Soviet Russia, the Estonian Army was demobilized, but the Aviation Company was retained. With the delivery of more aircraft, it was reorganized as an Aviation Regiment (Lennuväe rügement), comprising a landplane squadron, seaplane squadron, flying school and workshops. More bases and seaplane stations were built.

The timing was tight: After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland, and any Estonian military force was neutralized. On 17 June 1940, the three Baltic States were eventually invaded by Soviet forces, and the remains of the Estonian Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars, and the Estonian Air Force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: one pilot

Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)

Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 242.1 ft2 (22.48 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root)

NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 6,700 lb (3,039 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin II liquid-cooled V12 engine, delivering 1,030 hp (768 kW),

driving a de Havilland three blade two pitch constant speed propeller with 9 ft 8 in (2.97 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 362 mph (583 km/h) at 18,500 ft (5,600 m)

Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi (756 km))

Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,135 mi (1,827 km))

Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,125 m)

Rate of climb: 2,490 ft/min (12.6 m/sec) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft2 (133.5 kg/m2)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

Armament:

8× 0.303” (7.62 mm) Browning Mk II machine guns (300 RPG) in the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

Another one of the quickie build from April/May 2019, when I was busy at work and did not have the mojo for a bigger project. This one is a classic whif: something that existed on paper and has a real historic background, but never materialized. And it’s a free, personal interpretation of the subject – for instance, KORA recently released a decal set for Estonian Spitfires, and individual models frequently pop up at model kit conventions.

Since the Spitfire was a relatively young type during this model’s scenario, I decided to use an early Spitfire Mk. I as starting point, and my choice fell on the (vintage) Hasegawa kit, which comes with optional propellers and canopies for the Mk. I. Basically, the kit was built OOB, using the flat, “early” canopy and the three blade propeller that was actually introduced in 1940. For the latter, I just integrated a styrene tube into the front fuselage and added a metal axis to the propeller, so that it could spin freely.

Overall, the Hasegawa kit is a very simple affair, there are certainly better and more detailed kits available – but for this distraction project it was good enough.

Painting and markings:

How could an Estonian Spitfire have looked like? KORA suggests either an all-NMF aircraft or standard RAF camouflage in Dark Green/Dark Earth, but also with the white/black undersides for quick AA ID of the era.

I found the NMF finish, while a plausible option, since types like the Avro Anson were operated in this guise, a bit dull. But the RAF camouflage appeared quite plausible to me, since many other British export fighters of the pre-WWII era were delivered in such a finish, and I used Humbrol 116 and 29 as basic tones), but gave the aircraft a uniform underside in duck egg blue (Humbrol 23). Just inside of the landing gear well, I subtly added the British heritage in the form of a black and white interior. The cockpit was painted in standard RAF cockpit green (Humbrol 78).

Whiffery became more obvious through the markings. The Estonian triangles actually belong to a post-WWI Sopwith Camel. The blue is quite pale, but these markings came with the bonus of a white edge, which improves contrast esp. on the upper surfaces. The Estonian flag on the rudder was improvised with paint and decal material: the blue was mixed individually, trying to match the roundels’ tone, and the white section was painted, too, with a piece of black decal sheet between them.

The same blue was also added to the spinner – I wanted a little individual touch, and this detail was IMHO just enough to make the Estonian aircraft look less RAF-ish.

The other few markings were puzzled together from various sources. The tactical code number comes from an Xtradecal sheet for a Bristol Blenheim, the squadron emblem comes from a Polish pre-WWII aircraft.

The kit received no black ink wash, just some subtle panel post-shading and some soot stains around the machine gun nozzles and the exhausts. Finally, everything was sealed under matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Certainly nothing that raises eyebrows, but a pleasant build, realized in just a couple of days. It just took some weeks to find the right mojo for pics, and the file with the original background story was eaten by a mighty star goat in the meantime and had to be rewritten…

181212-N-PO203-0039 HONOLULU, Hawaii (Dec. 12, 2018) The National University of Singapore team launches their autonomous surface vehicle during the Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored Maritime RobotX Challenge in Honolulu, Hawaii. Fifteen teams from the United States, Australia and Asia, compete in the biennial challenge designed to foster student interest in autonomous robotic systems operating in the maritime domain, with an emphasis on the science and engineering of cooperative autonomy. (U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released)

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Following the February 1920 peace treaty with the Soviet Russia, the Estonian Army was demobilized, but the Aviation Company was retained. With the delivery of more aircraft, it was reorganized as an Aviation Regiment (Lennuväe rügement), comprising a landplane squadron, seaplane squadron, flying school and workshops. More bases and seaplane stations were built.

The timing was tight: After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland, and any Estonian military force was neutralized. On 17 June 1940, the three Baltic States were eventually invaded by Soviet forces, and the remains of the Estonian Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars, and the Estonian Air Force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: one pilot

Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)

Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 242.1 ft2 (22.48 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root)

NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 6,700 lb (3,039 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin II liquid-cooled V12 engine, delivering 1,030 hp (768 kW),

driving a de Havilland three blade two pitch constant speed propeller with 9 ft 8 in (2.97 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 362 mph (583 km/h) at 18,500 ft (5,600 m)

Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi (756 km))

Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,135 mi (1,827 km))

Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,125 m)

Rate of climb: 2,490 ft/min (12.6 m/sec) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft2 (133.5 kg/m2)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

Armament:

8× 0.303” (7.62 mm) Browning Mk II machine guns (300 RPG) in the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

Another one of the quickie build from April/May 2019, when I was busy at work and did not have the mojo for a bigger project. This one is a classic whif: something that existed on paper and has a real historic background, but never materialized. And it’s a free, personal interpretation of the subject – for instance, KORA recently released a decal set for Estonian Spitfires, and individual models frequently pop up at model kit conventions.

Since the Spitfire was a relatively young type during this model’s scenario, I decided to use an early Spitfire Mk. I as starting point, and my choice fell on the (vintage) Hasegawa kit, which comes with optional propellers and canopies for the Mk. I. Basically, the kit was built OOB, using the flat, “early” canopy and the three blade propeller that was actually introduced in 1940. For the latter, I just integrated a styrene tube into the front fuselage and added a metal axis to the propeller, so that it could spin freely.

Overall, the Hasegawa kit is a very simple affair, there are certainly better and more detailed kits available – but for this distraction project it was good enough.

Painting and markings:

How could an Estonian Spitfire have looked like? KORA suggests either an all-NMF aircraft or standard RAF camouflage in Dark Green/Dark Earth, but also with the white/black undersides for quick AA ID of the era.

I found the NMF finish, while a plausible option, since types like the Avro Anson were operated in this guise, a bit dull. But the RAF camouflage appeared quite plausible to me, since many other British export fighters of the pre-WWII era were delivered in such a finish, and I used Humbrol 116 and 29 as basic tones), but gave the aircraft a uniform underside in duck egg blue (Humbrol 23). Just inside of the landing gear well, I subtly added the British heritage in the form of a black and white interior. The cockpit was painted in standard RAF cockpit green (Humbrol 78).

Whiffery became more obvious through the markings. The Estonian triangles actually belong to a post-WWI Sopwith Camel. The blue is quite pale, but these markings came with the bonus of a white edge, which improves contrast esp. on the upper surfaces. The Estonian flag on the rudder was improvised with paint and decal material: the blue was mixed individually, trying to match the roundels’ tone, and the white section was painted, too, with a piece of black decal sheet between them.

The same blue was also added to the spinner – I wanted a little individual touch, and this detail was IMHO just enough to make the Estonian aircraft look less RAF-ish.

The other few markings were puzzled together from various sources. The tactical code number comes from an Xtradecal sheet for a Bristol Blenheim, the squadron emblem comes from a Polish pre-WWII aircraft.

The kit received no black ink wash, just some subtle panel post-shading and some soot stains around the machine gun nozzles and the exhausts. Finally, everything was sealed under matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Certainly nothing that raises eyebrows, but a pleasant build, realized in just a couple of days. It just took some weeks to find the right mojo for pics, and the file with the original background story was eaten by a mighty star goat in the meantime and had to be rewritten…

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Following the February 1920 peace treaty with the Soviet Russia, the Estonian Army was demobilized, but the Aviation Company was retained. With the delivery of more aircraft, it was reorganized as an Aviation Regiment (Lennuväe rügement), comprising a landplane squadron, seaplane squadron, flying school and workshops. More bases and seaplane stations were built.

The timing was tight: After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland, and any Estonian military force was neutralized. On 17 June 1940, the three Baltic States were eventually invaded by Soviet forces, and the remains of the Estonian Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars, and the Estonian Air Force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: one pilot

Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)

Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 242.1 ft2 (22.48 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root)

NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 6,700 lb (3,039 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin II liquid-cooled V12 engine, delivering 1,030 hp (768 kW),

driving a de Havilland three blade two pitch constant speed propeller with 9 ft 8 in (2.97 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 362 mph (583 km/h) at 18,500 ft (5,600 m)

Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi (756 km))

Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,135 mi (1,827 km))

Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,125 m)

Rate of climb: 2,490 ft/min (12.6 m/sec) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft2 (133.5 kg/m2)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

Armament:

8× 0.303” (7.62 mm) Browning Mk II machine guns (300 RPG) in the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

Another one of the quickie build from April/May 2019, when I was busy at work and did not have the mojo for a bigger project. This one is a classic whif: something that existed on paper and has a real historic background, but never materialized. And it’s a free, personal interpretation of the subject – for instance, KORA recently released a decal set for Estonian Spitfires, and individual models frequently pop up at model kit conventions.

Since the Spitfire was a relatively young type during this model’s scenario, I decided to use an early Spitfire Mk. I as starting point, and my choice fell on the (vintage) Hasegawa kit, which comes with optional propellers and canopies for the Mk. I. Basically, the kit was built OOB, using the flat, “early” canopy and the three blade propeller that was actually introduced in 1940. For the latter, I just integrated a styrene tube into the front fuselage and added a metal axis to the propeller, so that it could spin freely.

Overall, the Hasegawa kit is a very simple affair, there are certainly better and more detailed kits available – but for this distraction project it was good enough.

Painting and markings:

How could an Estonian Spitfire have looked like? KORA suggests either an all-NMF aircraft or standard RAF camouflage in Dark Green/Dark Earth, but also with the white/black undersides for quick AA ID of the era.

I found the NMF finish, while a plausible option, since types like the Avro Anson were operated in this guise, a bit dull. But the RAF camouflage appeared quite plausible to me, since many other British export fighters of the pre-WWII era were delivered in such a finish, and I used Humbrol 116 and 29 as basic tones), but gave the aircraft a uniform underside in duck egg blue (Humbrol 23). Just inside of the landing gear well, I subtly added the British heritage in the form of a black and white interior. The cockpit was painted in standard RAF cockpit green (Humbrol 78).

Whiffery became more obvious through the markings. The Estonian triangles actually belong to a post-WWI Sopwith Camel. The blue is quite pale, but these markings came with the bonus of a white edge, which improves contrast esp. on the upper surfaces. The Estonian flag on the rudder was improvised with paint and decal material: the blue was mixed individually, trying to match the roundels’ tone, and the white section was painted, too, with a piece of black decal sheet between them.

The same blue was also added to the spinner – I wanted a little individual touch, and this detail was IMHO just enough to make the Estonian aircraft look less RAF-ish.

The other few markings were puzzled together from various sources. The tactical code number comes from an Xtradecal sheet for a Bristol Blenheim, the squadron emblem comes from a Polish pre-WWII aircraft.

The kit received no black ink wash, just some subtle panel post-shading and some soot stains around the machine gun nozzles and the exhausts. Finally, everything was sealed under matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Certainly nothing that raises eyebrows, but a pleasant build, realized in just a couple of days. It just took some weeks to find the right mojo for pics, and the file with the original background story was eaten by a mighty star goat in the meantime and had to be rewritten…

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Following the February 1920 peace treaty with the Soviet Russia, the Estonian Army was demobilized, but the Aviation Company was retained. With the delivery of more aircraft, it was reorganized as an Aviation Regiment (Lennuväe rügement), comprising a landplane squadron, seaplane squadron, flying school and workshops. More bases and seaplane stations were built.

The timing was tight: After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland, and any Estonian military force was neutralized. On 17 June 1940, the three Baltic States were eventually invaded by Soviet forces, and the remains of the Estonian Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars, and the Estonian Air Force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: one pilot

Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)

Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 242.1 ft2 (22.48 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root)

NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 6,700 lb (3,039 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin II liquid-cooled V12 engine, delivering 1,030 hp (768 kW),

driving a de Havilland three blade two pitch constant speed propeller with 9 ft 8 in (2.97 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 362 mph (583 km/h) at 18,500 ft (5,600 m)

Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi (756 km))

Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,135 mi (1,827 km))

Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,125 m)

Rate of climb: 2,490 ft/min (12.6 m/sec) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft2 (133.5 kg/m2)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

Armament:

8× 0.303” (7.62 mm) Browning Mk II machine guns (300 RPG) in the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

Another one of the quickie build from April/May 2019, when I was busy at work and did not have the mojo for a bigger project. This one is a classic whif: something that existed on paper and has a real historic background, but never materialized. And it’s a free, personal interpretation of the subject – for instance, KORA recently released a decal set for Estonian Spitfires, and individual models frequently pop up at model kit conventions.

Since the Spitfire was a relatively young type during this model’s scenario, I decided to use an early Spitfire Mk. I as starting point, and my choice fell on the (vintage) Hasegawa kit, which comes with optional propellers and canopies for the Mk. I. Basically, the kit was built OOB, using the flat, “early” canopy and the three blade propeller that was actually introduced in 1940. For the latter, I just integrated a styrene tube into the front fuselage and added a metal axis to the propeller, so that it could spin freely.

Overall, the Hasegawa kit is a very simple affair, there are certainly better and more detailed kits available – but for this distraction project it was good enough.

Painting and markings:

How could an Estonian Spitfire have looked like? KORA suggests either an all-NMF aircraft or standard RAF camouflage in Dark Green/Dark Earth, but also with the white/black undersides for quick AA ID of the era.

I found the NMF finish, while a plausible option, since types like the Avro Anson were operated in this guise, a bit dull. But the RAF camouflage appeared quite plausible to me, since many other British export fighters of the pre-WWII era were delivered in such a finish, and I used Humbrol 116 and 29 as basic tones), but gave the aircraft a uniform underside in duck egg blue (Humbrol 23). Just inside of the landing gear well, I subtly added the British heritage in the form of a black and white interior. The cockpit was painted in standard RAF cockpit green (Humbrol 78).

Whiffery became more obvious through the markings. The Estonian triangles actually belong to a post-WWI Sopwith Camel. The blue is quite pale, but these markings came with the bonus of a white edge, which improves contrast esp. on the upper surfaces. The Estonian flag on the rudder was improvised with paint and decal material: the blue was mixed individually, trying to match the roundels’ tone, and the white section was painted, too, with a piece of black decal sheet between them.

The same blue was also added to the spinner – I wanted a little individual touch, and this detail was IMHO just enough to make the Estonian aircraft look less RAF-ish.

The other few markings were puzzled together from various sources. The tactical code number comes from an Xtradecal sheet for a Bristol Blenheim, the squadron emblem comes from a Polish pre-WWII aircraft.

The kit received no black ink wash, just some subtle panel post-shading and some soot stains around the machine gun nozzles and the exhausts. Finally, everything was sealed under matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Certainly nothing that raises eyebrows, but a pleasant build, realized in just a couple of days. It just took some weeks to find the right mojo for pics, and the file with the original background story was eaten by a mighty star goat in the meantime and had to be rewritten…

Autonomy etalk’s new corporate headquarters focuses on creating an exciting, hip, and fun space that highlights their software-based products and corporate culture. Special Attention was paid to the lobby and show center to illustrate etalk’s “Meaning Based Computing” system. In the lobby and boardroom, customers enjoy open views to the Dallas Cultural District below. The views are only interrupted by a large fish tank dividing the lobby from the boardroom. Large scale artwork adds dramatic colors to the space and provides an extra touch of fun. To balance these bright colors, a natural color palette was chosen, and texture and materials were carefully selected to create an elegant space, as evidenced by the stone flooring and wool carpeting.

Change management was a critical step in achieving success on this project. The existing employee workstations required a large footprint and included high, enclosed panels. The solution for the new space was to use a 120-degree furniture system with low panels to provide a more efficient real estate solution.

Fun and multifunctional spaces were used throughout to give employees and managers places to explore and collaborate on the next generation of new ideas. For example, a new breakroom/dining/meeting space was designed to include the opportunity for friendly Xbox competitions among employees. Autonomy etalk has found that these community spaces are bringing people together and boosting productivity.

Ampurias, also known as Empúries was a town on the Mediterranean coast of the Catalan comarca of Alt Empordà in Catalonia, Spain. It was founded in 575 BC by Greek colonists from Phocaea with the name of Ἐμπόριον (Emporion, meaning "trading place", cf. emporion). It was later occupied by the Romans (Latin: Emporiæ), but in the Early Middle Ages, when its exposed coastal position left it open to marauders, the town was abandoned.

The ruins are midway between the Costa Brava town of L'Escala and the tiny village of Sant Martí. Ampurias was founded on a small island at the mouth of the river Fluvià, in a region inhabited by the Indigetes. This city came to be known as the Palaiapolis, the "old city" when, towards 550 BC, the inhabitants moved to the mainland, creating the Neapolis, the "new city".

After the conquest of Phocaea by the Persian king Cyrus II in 530 BC, the new city's population increased considerably through the influx of refugees. In the face of strong pressure from Carthage, the city managed to retain its independent Hellenic character. Political and commercial agreements were concluded with the indigenous population long settled in the nearby city of Indika. Situated as it was on the coastal commercial route between Massalia (Marseille) and Tartessos in the far south of Hispania, the city developed into a large economic and commercial centre as well as being the largest Greek colony in the Iberian Peninsula.

During the Punic Wars, Ampurias allied itself with Rome, and Publius Cornelius Scipio initiated the conquest of Hispania from this city in 218 BC.

After the conquest of Hispania by the Romans, Ampurias remained an independent city-state. However, in the civil war between Pompey and Julius Caesar, it opted for Pompey, and after his defeat it was stripped of its autonomy. A colonia of Roman veterans, named Emporiae, was established near Indika to control the region.

From that time onwards, Ampurias began to decline, obscured by the power of Tarraco (Tarragona) and Barcino (Barcelona). At the end of the 3rd century it became one of the first cities in Spain to admit Christian evangelists. In that century, too, the Greek town was abandoned while the Roman town survived as a mint and the largely ceremonial seat of a coastal county, Castelló d'Empúries, until the Viking raids of the mid-9th century. Coinage began again under count Hugh II of Empúries (1078–1117).

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Thus many Estonians in the Russian Army returned home to take up arms for their homeland. The Estonian Declaration of Independence in early 1918 was not recognized by Germany, which invaded and occupied the country during 1918. The Estonian armed forces were disbanded.

Plans to acquire Spitfires and Lysanders from Britain were thwarted when the outbreak of World War II in 1939 forced Britain to cancel all export orders. After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland. On 17 June 1940 the three Baltic States were invaded by Soviet forces. During the June 1940 invasion the Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars. The air force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 25 ft 4 in (7.72 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 2 in (10.11 m)

Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)

Wing area: 293 ft² (27.22 m²)

Empty weight: 1,960 lb (890 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 2,885 lb (1,310 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Jupiter V 9-cylinder radial engine, 480 hp (345 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 165 kn (190 mph, 305 km/h) at sea level

Range: 271 nmi (310 mi, 500 km)

Service ceiling: 27,000 ft (8,230 m)

Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (10.480 m/min)

Endurance: 1 hour 20 minutes

Climb to 10,000 ft: 6 min 20 sec

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns

Provision for up to 4× 20 lb (9 kg) bombs under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

I had bought an incomplete Matchbox A.W. Siskin kit a while ago, but lacked a good idea. This eventually came when I searched through the decal stack and came cross a Blue Rider sheet with Estonian triangles (see below) - and thought that an Estonian Siskin could be a good and exotic use. This was quite plausible because the Baltic country actually operated the type before WWII.

However, for a more whiffy touch, and in order to replace some missing parts, a few conversions had to be made. One modification concerns the landing gear, which had to be improvised; the struts came from a Revell Sopwith Triplane, IIRC, and the wheels from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator.

The engine was replaced, too, with a Bristol Jupiter from a Mistercraft PZL P.7 fighter, and a leftover propeller from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator. While the new engine appears a little large, the whole affair looks quite plausible and would even allow a free field of fire for the cowling-mounted, original armament.

Otherwise the simple but pleasant kit was built OOB. Rigging was done with heated black sprue material, glued into place with white glue after painting and decaling.

Painting and markings:

Well, there were not many Estonian aircraft, and most from the inter-war era seemed to carry a NMF/aluminium dope finish. I was able to dig up a profile of an Estonian Siskin IIIDC trainer, and it also shows some dark green round the cockpit area.

I used this as a starting point for a more camouflaged finish, also inspired by Latvian and Swedish Gloster Gladiators of that era, with dark green (FS 34079) upper surfaces, combined with aluminium dope on the undersides. In order to liven things up a little I also added an RAF Dark Green (ModelMaster) area in front of the cockpit, inspired by the Matchbox box art – but the different green tones are hard to tell apart.

Some metal panels were painted with Aluminium (Revell 99), while the fabric-covered areas, incl. the wings' undersides, were painted with Humbrol 56. The upper wing’s supporting struts were painted in black, as well as the cockpit interior – even though the latter is blocked by the pilot figure.

The Estonian national markings come from a Blue Rider sheet and actually belong to a modern 1:72 An-2. The tactical code was created with two layers of white over black single digits from TL Modellbau, creating a fake shadow effect for a better contrast. In order to liven things up a little more, I also a small unit badge to the fuselage flank under the cockpit, even though this was not typical for Estonian Air Force aircraft.

Some light dry-brushing with light grey was done in order to emphasize the nice surface structure of the Matchbox kit. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

A relatively simple build, but the overall result looks quite convincing, despite the exotic markings and the large diameter engine from the PZL P.7. Made me wonder what an Estonian Spitfire – had it been delievered – might have looked like? Hmmm…

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Following the February 1920 peace treaty with the Soviet Russia, the Estonian Army was demobilized, but the Aviation Company was retained. With the delivery of more aircraft, it was reorganized as an Aviation Regiment (Lennuväe rügement), comprising a landplane squadron, seaplane squadron, flying school and workshops. More bases and seaplane stations were built.

The timing was tight: After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland, and any Estonian military force was neutralized. On 17 June 1940, the three Baltic States were eventually invaded by Soviet forces, and the remains of the Estonian Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars, and the Estonian Air Force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: one pilot

Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)

Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 242.1 ft2 (22.48 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root)

NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 6,700 lb (3,039 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin II liquid-cooled V12 engine, delivering 1,030 hp (768 kW),

driving a de Havilland three blade two pitch constant speed propeller with 9 ft 8 in (2.97 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 362 mph (583 km/h) at 18,500 ft (5,600 m)

Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi (756 km))

Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,135 mi (1,827 km))

Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,125 m)

Rate of climb: 2,490 ft/min (12.6 m/sec) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft2 (133.5 kg/m2)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

Armament:

8× 0.303” (7.62 mm) Browning Mk II machine guns (300 RPG) in the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

Another one of the quickie build from April/May 2019, when I was busy at work and did not have the mojo for a bigger project. This one is a classic whif: something that existed on paper and has a real historic background, but never materialized. And it’s a free, personal interpretation of the subject – for instance, KORA recently released a decal set for Estonian Spitfires, and individual models frequently pop up at model kit conventions.

Since the Spitfire was a relatively young type during this model’s scenario, I decided to use an early Spitfire Mk. I as starting point, and my choice fell on the (vintage) Hasegawa kit, which comes with optional propellers and canopies for the Mk. I. Basically, the kit was built OOB, using the flat, “early” canopy and the three blade propeller that was actually introduced in 1940. For the latter, I just integrated a styrene tube into the front fuselage and added a metal axis to the propeller, so that it could spin freely.

Overall, the Hasegawa kit is a very simple affair, there are certainly better and more detailed kits available – but for this distraction project it was good enough.

Painting and markings:

How could an Estonian Spitfire have looked like? KORA suggests either an all-NMF aircraft or standard RAF camouflage in Dark Green/Dark Earth, but also with the white/black undersides for quick AA ID of the era.

I found the NMF finish, while a plausible option, since types like the Avro Anson were operated in this guise, a bit dull. But the RAF camouflage appeared quite plausible to me, since many other British export fighters of the pre-WWII era were delivered in such a finish, and I used Humbrol 116 and 29 as basic tones), but gave the aircraft a uniform underside in duck egg blue (Humbrol 23). Just inside of the landing gear well, I subtly added the British heritage in the form of a black and white interior. The cockpit was painted in standard RAF cockpit green (Humbrol 78).

Whiffery became more obvious through the markings. The Estonian triangles actually belong to a post-WWI Sopwith Camel. The blue is quite pale, but these markings came with the bonus of a white edge, which improves contrast esp. on the upper surfaces. The Estonian flag on the rudder was improvised with paint and decal material: the blue was mixed individually, trying to match the roundels’ tone, and the white section was painted, too, with a piece of black decal sheet between them.

The same blue was also added to the spinner – I wanted a little individual touch, and this detail was IMHO just enough to make the Estonian aircraft look less RAF-ish.

The other few markings were puzzled together from various sources. The tactical code number comes from an Xtradecal sheet for a Bristol Blenheim, the squadron emblem comes from a Polish pre-WWII aircraft.

The kit received no black ink wash, just some subtle panel post-shading and some soot stains around the machine gun nozzles and the exhausts. Finally, everything was sealed under matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Certainly nothing that raises eyebrows, but a pleasant build, realized in just a couple of days. It just took some weeks to find the right mojo for pics, and the file with the original background story was eaten by a mighty star goat in the meantime and had to be rewritten…

Oesterreichische Nationalbank

Logo of the Austrian National Bank

Headquarters Vienna, Austria

Central Bank of Austria

Currency€

To ISO 4217 EUR

website

www.oenb.at/

Previous Austro- Hungarian Bank

List of Central Banks

Oesterreichische Nationalbank, at Otto-Wagner -Platz No. 3, Vienna

The Austrian National Bank (OeNB), Austria's central bank as an integral part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Eurosystem. It is instrumental in the design of the economic development in Austria and in the euro area. Legally, the OeNB is a public limited company.. However, it is also subject to further enshrined in the National Bank Act regulations resulting from its separate position as a central bank. In the framework of the Eurosystem, the OeNB contributes to a stability-oriented monetary policy. At the national level, it cares about the preservation of financial stability and the money supply and manage foreign exchange reserves to hedge against the euro in times of crisis. The guideline values in terms of the tasks of the Austrian National Bank are "security, stability and trust".

Contents

1 History

1.1 1816 to 1818

1.2 1818 to 1878

1.3 1878 to 1922

1.4 1922 to 1938

1.5 1938 to 1945

1.6 1945 to 1998

1.7 From 1999

2 The OeNB as a modern central bank

3 Legal form and organs

3.1 Legal framework

3.2 organs

3.2.1 General

3.2.2 General

3.2.3 Board of Directors

4 Tasks

4.1 Monetary policy strategies and monetary policy decision-making process

4.1.1 Economic analysis

4.1.2 Production of statistical information

4.1.3 Contribute to international organizations

4.2 Implementation of monetary policy

4.2.1 use of monetary policy instruments

4.2.2 Reserve Management

4.2.3 Money Supply

4.3 Communication of monetary policy

4.4 ensure financial stability

4.4.1 Financial Stability

4.4.2 Payment System Stability and payments

5 The OeNB in the European System of National Banks

6 President / Governors

7 See also

8 Literature

9 links

10 Notes and references

History

1816-1818

As long as 50 years before the founding of the National Bank the Habsburgs carried out first experiments with securities in the form of paper money. Finally, in the 18th Century the issue of banknotes transferred to a state independent institution, while the issue of paper money called "Banco notes," founded in 1705 by the "Vienna City Bank" took place in 1762.

In wartime governance took back control of the money issue, so there was an inflation of Banco-Zettel 1796-1810. The state ordered the forced acceptance of paper money in private transport, which led to a fast-growing discount on bills in the market. 1799 was therefore one for 100 guilders paper money only 92 guilders in silver coins, and at the end of 1810 the value of the paper florin had fallen to 15 % of the nominal value of the Banco-Zettel. Later, the Habsburgs declared a devaluation of the Banco-Zettel in the ratio of 5:1. This act was considered by the business community as a sovereign default, which the paper money experienced a rapid devaluation.

At the end of the Napoleonic wars the Habsburg multinational state ( → Habsburg Monarchy) faced a new challenge: the restoration of a European balance. Church, the nobility, the army and the bureaucracy as elements in the Ancien Régime were not sufficient to solve this problem, a well -founded economic situation was needed. Moreover, one could not ignore readily the laws of supply and demand.

In this regard, were the first June 1816 by Emperor Francis I two patents issued (later to distinguish the "main patent" or "bank patent"), the "privileged Austrian National Bank", conceived as a public company, had to constitute itself as soon a possible, propose the emperor three of its directors for selection of the governor and take up their activity provisionally on 1 July 1816.

The National Bank had henceforth a monopoly on the issuance of paper money, which led to a slowdown in the Austrian monetary system and an increase in the value of paper money. The economy was again a solid source of money keeping constant the value of money regardless of the spending plans of the State. The equity of the Bank justified this by share issues.

Initially comprised the activities of the bank - under temporary management - the redemption of paper money and the issuance of shares. The full effectiveness attained the National Bank until after the issue of 1,000 shares and the associated possibility of shareholders to set the management themselves.

1818-1878

On 15 July 1817 recieved the National Bank as the "first Bankprivilegium" the exclusive right to unrestricted issue of banknotes and in this context a special position in terms of Rediskontgeschäfts (rediscount business). Beginning of 1818 the definitive bank management was ready. Part of it were among leading figures of Viennese society, including the banker Johann Heinrich von Geymüller and Bernard of Eskeles. From 1830 to 1837 the Office of the Governor was held by Adrian Nicholas Baron Barbier.

In the countries of the Habsburg Monarchy, which were characterized in large part by an agricultural oriented activity pattern, some regions showed a lively commercial-industrial growth. The goal now was to create a system of economic exchange between these areas. Successively established the National Bank branch network and thus guaranteed a uniform money and credit supply. From its headquarters in Vienna this network extended over early industrial areas and commercial centers in Eastern and Central Europe to the northern Mediterranean.

Trade bills and coins were preferred assets of the National Bank, less the supply of money to the state. With the exchange transactions, the National Bank supported the economic growth of the monarchy and secured at the same time the supply of silver coins in the event that the need for these increases in exchange for bank notes, contrary to expectations. 1818 was the National Bank, however, by increasing public debt, due to high spending in times of crisis, not spared to make an increase in the government debt positions on the asset side of its balance sheet.

The patent provisions of the founding of the National Bank not sufficiently secured against the autonomy of governance. At the center of the struggle for independence, this was the question of the extent to which the issue of banknotes must be made on the basis of government bonds. In 1841, a renewal of Bankprivilegiums got a weakening of the independence by pushing back the influence of the shareholders in favor of the state administration. During the revolution of 1848/49 followers of constitutional goals received great support from senior figures in the National Bank. For about a hundred years, the Austrian branch of the Rothschild bank (from which from 1855, the "Royal Privileged Austrian Credit-Institute for Commerce and Industry", the later Creditanstalt, was born) was playing a leading role in the banking center of Vienna. Salomon Mayer von Rothschild was involved during the pre-March in all major transactions of the National Bank for the rehabilitation of the state budget.

Special focus the National Bank was putting on the development of the premium that was payable at the exchange of banknotes into silver money in business dealings. The increase, which corresponded to a depreciation of the notes issued by the Bank should be prevented. From an overall state perspective, the increase of the silver premium means a deterioration in terms of the exchange ratio towards foreign countries, influencing the price competitiveness of the Austrian foreign trade adversely. The stabilization of the premium were set some limits. Although the height of the emission activitiy was depending on the Bank, but also the price of silver and the potential effects of increased government debt materially affected the silver premium. Especially the 1848 revolution and conflicts in the following years caused an increasement of the silver premium.

Mid-century, the private banking and wholesale houses were no longer able to cope with the rapidly growing financial intermediation of the Habsburg monarchy. New forms of capital formation were required. From an initiative of the House of Rothschild, the first by the government approved and private joint-stock bank was created. This formation was followed in 1863 and 1864 by two other joint-stock banks, whose major shareholders included important personalities of the aristocracy, who possessed large liquid funds. Overall, grew with these banks the money creation potential of the "financial center of Vienna".

The central bank faced another difficult task: with its limited resources it had to secure sufficient liquidity on the one hand and on the other hand prevent the inflationary expansion of the money supply. Through close contacts with the shareholders of Vienna was a financial center (informal) ballot, especially in times of crisis, easily dealt out. In contrast, it gave differences of opinion in the Fed Board, which required enforcement of decisions.

In 1861, Friedrich Schey Koromla became director of the National Bank. On 27 December 1862 experienced the Bankprivilegium another innovation. The independence of the National Bank of the State was restored and anchored. Furthermore, was introduced the direct allocation of banknotes in circulation by the system of "Peel'schen Bank Act", which states that the fixed budget of 200 million guilders exceeding circulation of banknotes must be covered by silver coins. In 1866, when the German war ended in defeat for Austria, the compliance of the system was no longer met. The state felt itself forced to pay compensation for breach of privilege. This balance was supported by a law of 1872, after the National Bank may issue notes up to a maximum of 200 million guilders and each additional payment must be fully backed by gold or silver.

1873 the economic boom of the Habsburg monarchy was represented in a long-lasting rise in the share price. A now to be expecting break could by the behavior of the Vienna Stock not be intercepted, so it came to the "Great Crash of 1873". The in 1872 fixed restrictions of the circulation of notes for a short time have been suspended. Contrary to expectations, the money supply in crisis peak but only outgrew by nearly 1% the prescribed limit in the bank acts. The banks and the industrial and commercial companies survived the crash without major losses, although the share prices significantly lay below the initial level.

The years with high growth were followed by a period of stagnation.

1878-1922

As part of the compensation negotiations between Austria and Hungary in 1867, the National Bank was able to exercise fully their Privilegialrechte, the Kingdom of Hungary but now had the certified right, every ten years exercisable, to found an own central bank (bank note). As resulted from the first 10 -year period that furthermore none of the two parts of the monarchy wanted to build an independent money-issuing bank (Zettelbank), was built on 28 June 1878, initially to 31 December 1887 limited, an Austro-Hungarian Bank, and equipped with the Fed privilege. The first privilege of the new bank was a compromise in which on the one hand, regulations on liability for national debts as well as regulations limiting the influence of the government on banking businesses were included. 1878 Gustav Leonhardt was Secretary of the Bank.

The General Assembly and the General Council formed the unit of the bank management. Two directorates and major institutions - in Vienna and Budapest - represented the dual nature of the bank. 1892-1900 followed a long discussion finally the currency conversion from guilders (silver currency) to the crown (gold standard) with "Gold Crown" said coins.

Since the new banknotes were very popular in the public, now many gold coins piled up in the vaults of the Austro-Hungarian Bank. This period was characterized by a balanced combination of price growth and damping, the "per capita national product" grew while prices remained mostly stable. Against this background, it was easy for the Fed to encourage a new wave of industrialization.

With a third privilege in 1899 conditions were established under which the bank could be put into the financial services of the two countries, on the other hand there have been important innovations that paved a good exchange policy. By 1914, the exchange ratio of the Austro-Hungarian currency was unchanged with only minor fluctuations. In contrast, was the by conflicts marked political development.

The expansive foreign policy quickly led to high costs from which had to be shouldered by the central bank a significant part. The stability of the currency was in danger. Shortly after the beginning of World War I in 1914, laid down the Military Command to indemnify any seized property with double the price. There was an increasing scarcity of goods, connected with an ongoing expansion of the money supply and finally the increase in the price level on the 16-fold.

The resulting cost of the war of the Dual Monarchy were covered to 40% on central bank loans and 60% through war bonds. Over the duration of the war, the power force built up in recent decades has been frozen at the end of the conflict in 1918, the real income of the workers had fallen to one-fifth of the last year of peace.

With the end of the war the end for the old order had come, too. The decay of Cisleithania and Transleithania caused in several successor states, despite the efforts of the central bank to maintain the order, a currency separation (see Crown Currency in the decay of the monarchy, successor states). First, a separate "Austrian management" of the bank was introduced. It was encouraged to shoulder the shortcomings of the state budget of the Republic of Austria founded in 1918.

The new South Slav state began in January 1919 stamping its crown banknotes. The newly founded Czechoslovak Republic retained the crown currency (to date), but their printed banknotes in circulation as of February 1919 with indications that now these ar Czechoslovak crowns. (The country could an inflation as experienced by Austria avoide.) In March 1919, German Austria began to stamp its crown banknotes.

The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 10 September 1919, by Austria on 25 October 1919 ratified and which on 16 July 1920 came into force, determined the cancellation and replacement of all crown banknotes of all successor states of Austria-Hungary as well as the complete liquidation of the Austro-Hungarian Bank under the supervision of the war winners. The last meetings of the Bank took place mid 1921 and at the end of 1922.

After a period of overvaluation of the crown the dollar rate rose from 1919 again. 1921, had to be paid over 5,000 Austrian crowns per dollar. In addition to the significant drop in the external value existed in Austria rising inflation. End of 1922 was ultimately a rehabilitation program with foreign assistance - the "Geneva Protocol" - passed which slowed down the inflation.

1922-1938

With Federal Law of 24 July 1922 the Minister of Finance was commissioned to build a central bank, which had to take over the entire note circulation plus current liabilities of the Austrian management of the Austro-Hungarian Bank. With Federal Law of 14 November 1922, certain provisions of the law were amended and promulgated the statutes of the Austrian National Bank. By order of the Federal Government Seipel I 29 December 1922, the Board of the Austrian Austro-Hungarian Bank issued authorization for the central bank union activity with 1 January 1923 have been declared extinct and was made ​​known the commencement of operations of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank this day.

The statutes of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) secured the independence from the state, the independence of the Bank under exclusion of external influences and the corresponding equity. First, the stabilization of the Austrian currency was at the forefront. With the Schilling Act of 20 December 1924 was the schilling currency (First Republic) with 1 Introduced in March 1925, it replaced the crown currency. For 10,000 crowns now you got a shilling.

As an important personality in terms of the order of the state budget, Dr. Victor Kienböck has to be mentioned. He was in the time from 1922 to 1924 and from 1926 to 1929 finance minister of the First Republic and from 1932 to 1938 President of the Austrian National Bank. Through his work remained the Austrian Schilling, also beyound the global economy crisis, stable. Under this condition, the Fed was able to cope with the large number of bank failures of the past.

1938-1945

According to the on 13th March issued Anschlussgesetz (annexation law) , the Reichsmark with order of the Fuehrer and Chancellor of 17 was March 1938 introduced in the country Austria and determines the course: A Reichsmark is equal to one shilling fifty pence. On the same day, the Chancellor ordered that the management of the to be liquidated National Bank was transferred to the Reichsbank.

With regulation of three ministers of the German Reich of 23 April 1938, the National Bank was established as a property of the Reichsbank and its banknotes the quality as legal tender by 25 April 1938 withdrawn; public funds had Schilling banknotes until 15th of may in 1938 to accept. All the gold and foreign exchange reserves were transferred to Berlin.

The Second World War weakened the Austrian economy to a great extent, the production force after the war corresponded to only 40% of that of 1937 (see also air raids on Austria). To finance the war, the Reichsbank brought to a high degree banknotes in circulation, which only a great victory of the kingdom (Reich) actual values ​​would have been opposable. Since prices were strictly regulated, inflation virtually could be "banned" during the war.

1945-1998

In occupied postwar Austria about 10 billion shillings by Allied military occupying powers were initially printed, which contributed to significant price increases.

With the re-establishment of the Republic of Austria by the Austrian declaration of independence of 27 April 1945, it came to the resumption of activities of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank. By the "Fed Transition Act" of July 1945 preliminary legal regulations for the operations of the Bank have been established. The restoration of the Austrian currency was their first big job. The goal was the summary of all currencies, which at the time were in circulation, and their secondment to a new Austrian currency. The "Schilling Act" of November 1945, the basis for the re-introduction of the Schilling (Second Republic) as legal tender in Austria. The next step was to reduce excess liquidity to make necessary funds for new business investment available and to make the external value of the shilling for the development of the economy competitive. First, however, less changed the inflationary situation and also the shilling was still significantly undervalued in relation to other currencies.

The "Currency Protection Act" of 1947 brought a significant change in the monetary overhang. Some deposits have been deleted without replacement, others converted into claims against the Federal Treasury. The following exchange operations also significantly reduced the amount of cash: banknotes from 1945 were canceled and exchanged for new schilling notes in the ratio 1:3. Only 150 shillings per person could go 1-1.

To control inflation, the social partners came to the foreground. The associations of employers and employees set in 1947 prices for supplies, wages were also raised. This was the first of the five "wage-price agreements" of the social partners. In 1952, inflation was held back by limiting the use of monetary policy instruments by the National Bank. Also, the external sector slowly relaxed after the end of the Korean War.

In 1955, the Austrian National Bank was re-established by the new National Bank Act as a corporation and the by the National Bank Transition of Authorities Act (Nationalbank-Überleitungsgesetz) established provisional arragement abolished. The National Bank Act stipulated that each half of the capital should be situated at the federal government and private shareholders. In addition to the independence of bank loans of the state, the new National Bank Act also contained an order that the central bank must watch within their monetary and credit policies on the economic policies of the federal government. From now on also included within the instruments of the National Bank were the areas open market and minimum reserve policy.

The Austrian economy increasingly stabilized, through good fiscal and monetary policy a high growth could be attained, with low inflation and long-term maintenance of external equilibrium.

1960, Austria joined the European Free Trade Association and participated in the European integration.

In the sixties came the international monetary system based on gold-dollar convertibility into currency fluctuations and political reforms were necessary. First, the loosening of exchange rate adjustments between several states was an option. However, U.S. balance of payments problems brought with it restrictions on capital movements, and then the Euro-Dollar market was born. In 1971, the convertibility of the U.S. dollar was lifted.

1975 interrupted a recession increasing growth time. International unbalanced ayments caused very extensive foreign exchange movements, whereby the intervention force of Austrian monetary policy has been strongly challenged. Their task now was to control the effect of foreign exchange on domestic economic activities to stabilize the shilling in the context of constantly shifting exchange rates and to control the price rise appropriately. Since the inflow of foreign funds reached to high proportions, so that the economic stability has been compromised, the policy went the way of the independent course design in a pool of selected European currencies.

The collapse of the economy forced the policy makers to a new course with active mutual credit control, subdued wage growth, financial impulses in supply and demand, and interest rates are kept low. This system of regulation, however, kept back the need for structural change, so it had to be given up in 1979. In the same year a fire destroyed large parts of the main building of the Austrian National Bank in Vienna. The repairs lasted until 1985.

Target in the eighties was to strengthen the economic performance using a competitive power comparison. The findings from the seventies stimulated the Austrian monetary policy to align the Schilling course at the Deutsche Mark to ensure price stability in the country. In addition, the structural change was initiated by inclusion in a large area. Stable, if not necessarily comfortable environment of monetary policy was a prerequisite, to secure the companies long-term productivity gains and thus safeguard their position in the economy.

Initially, this development stood a high level of unemployment in the way. Growth until the second half of the decade increased, at the same time increased the competitiveness and current accounts could be kept in balance.

In the nineties, the annexation of Austria took place in the European Community. 1995 Austria became a member of the European Union (EU) and joined the exchange rate mechanism of the European Monetary System. In 1998, the Central Banks (ESCB) have established the independence of institutions or bodies of the European Community and the governments of the EU Member States through an amendment to the National Bank Act of the Austrian National Bank to implement the goals and tasks of the European System. Thus, the legal basis for the participation of Austria in the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was created in 1999.

As of 1999

The Austrian National Bank, and other national central banks including the European Central Bank ( ECB), belongs to the European System of Central Banks.

On 1 January 1999 was introduced in the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union in Austria and ten other EU Member States, the euro as a common currency. The European Central Bank is henceforth responsible for monetary and currency policy, decisions in this regard will be taken in accordance with the Council of the European Central Bank.

Since May 2010, the OeNB is in full possession of the Republic of Austria, after originally lobbies, banks and insurance companies were involved with 50 % of the share capital in it. In 2011, the National Bank Act was adapted by an amendment (Federal Law Gazette I No. 50 /2011) in this circumstance, a renewed privatization is thus excluded by law.

The OeNB as a modern central bank

With the withdrawal from the retail business in the sixties as well as the first major internationalization and implementation of a strategic management in the seventies, the OeNB went on the way to a future-oriented central bank. Another major reform of banking began at the end of the eighties.

In terms of global development, the OeNB established in 1988 as a service company and expanded its guiding values ​​- "security, stability and trust" - to the principles of " fficiency" and "cost-consciousness". The business center was optimized and strategic business experienced through targeted improvements a reinforcement. Be mentioned as examples are intensifying domestic cooperation in the area of ​​payments by encouraging the creation of the Society for the Study co-payments (STUZZA), the liberalization of capital movements, the professional management of foreign exchange reserves, the improvement of the supply of money through the construction of the money center and the internationalization of business activities through the establishment of representative offices in Brussels (European Union), Paris (OECD) and the financial center of New York.

After Austria's accession to the EU in 1995, the OeNB participated in the European Monetary System (EMS ) and its Exchange Rate Mechanism. The integration in the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was the next step towards further development of policy stability. Since the conclusion of the Maastricht Treaty, the Austrian National Bank has very fully considered its role in the ESCB and created a basis for inclusion in the community. The profound economic and monetary policy of Austria was also a reference that qualified the OeNB to actively participate in the monetary future of Europe, a greater harmonization of the statistical framework and monetary policy instruments with a view to the euro system, the preparation of the issue of European banknotes, and the establishment of operational processes and organizational integration of business processes within the ESCB being specific objectives of the OeNB.

In the following, it came, inter alia, to the establishement of an economic study department, of an education or training initiative and to strengthen the position of payment transactions through the TARGET system.

A in 1996 created "OeNB master plan" provided important points for the upcoming transition to the euro.

In May 1998, a new pension system came into force, by which new employees were incorporated into a two-pillar model.

1999, Austria's participation in the third stage of EMU was manifest. The Austrian National Bank - as part of the ESCB - became the owner of the European Central Bank and received new powers in this context in the sense of participation in the monetary policy decision-making at the level of the European Community. With the introduction of the euro, monetary policy functions of the General Council have been transferred to the Governing Council. However, the implementation remains the responsibility of national central banks.

Activities of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank were or are, for example, the further professionalization of asset management, the expansion of the network of representative offices by opening a representative office in the financial center of London, preparation of the smooth introduction of euro cash in 2002 and the participation of the OeNB on the creation of the "A-SIT" (Center for secure Information Technology Center - Austria) and the "A-Trust" (society of electronic security systems in traffic GmbH ) in order to promote security in information technology.

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oesterreichische_Nationalbank

14 April 1978 (UK issue)

I've never understood why this single was released when it was. As you can see from the labels, both songs were taken from Buzzcocks new album 'Another Music In A Different Kitchen', which hit the shops over a month earlier on 10 March 1978. So why put out a 45 containing two songs that are already available on the album?

To be fair, I don't think that Buzzcocks themselves were very impressed with United Artists' release policy, as it hardly represented value for money as far as fans were concerned. I also remember reading that the particularly bland picture sleeve was Malcolm Garrett and the band's little dig at UA - as you can see, their catalogue number and logo are rather large on the back! Nevertheless, the single earned Buzzcocks their debut appearance on Top Of The Pops, so maybe UA weren't so crazy after all (though the poor chart placing of #55 perhaps confirms my theory that this was a marketing blunder).

Needless to say that musically this 45 is brilliant - 'I Don't Mind' is one of Pete Shelley's most enduring love songs and a regular concert opener, while 'Autonomy' sees Steve Diggle finding his voice on a track that is one of the album's lynchpin 'slow builders'. It features a fantastic descending chord pattern and feels like an epic (although it's less that four minutes long!).

For me, this is the least inspiring of the 1978 sleeves...the lack of apostrophe in 'Don't' always drives me mad! What I would really like is a copy of the German issue which comes in a different picture sleeve with a photo of the band on the front.

.

SQUAT - SOUNDS *

AUTONOMES KULTURZENTRUM HANAU

(Besetztes Haus / Metzgerstrasse-Squat in Hanau / Germany).

Photographs 1987-1994

- Please scroll down for english and german info) -

The Squat - Photos:

www.flickr.com/photos/sterneck/sets/72157627799174125

Squating the Parliament (1988):

www.flickr.com/photos/sterneck/sets/72157627923787960

Concert-Photos 1987-1988:

www.flickr.com/photos/sterneck/sets/72157627799191443

Concert-Photos 1989-1990:

www.flickr.com/photos/sterneck/sets/72157627923799072

Concert-Photos 1991-1992:

www.flickr.com/photos/sterneck/sets/72157627923811302

Concert-Photos 1993-1994:

www.flickr.com/photos/sterneck/sets/72157627923815978

- Concert-Photos 1991-1992:

Cage-Sterneck-Project (Hanau) - 1991/92

Charles Hayward (London, England) - 1992

Embryo (Munich, Germany) - 1991

Girls against Boys (Washington, USA) - 1992

Hadayatullah Hübsch (Frankfurt, Germany) - 1991

In den Wolken schwebende Gänse II (Hanau, Germany) - 1991

Kaktuxxe (Hanau, Germany) - 1992

Medusa (Amsterdam?; Netherlands) - 1992

Peter Brötzmann (Wuppertal, Gemany) - 1991

The Ex (Amsterdam, Netherlands) - 1992

The Honkies (London, England) - 1992

Tom Cora (New York, USA) - 1992

..... and Friends and .....

.........

There were a lot more bands playing in the squat.

If you have photographs or recordings - please get in contact:

contact@sterneck.net

Thanx! *

- * -

THE SQUATED AUTONOMOUS CULTURE CENTER

METZGERSTRASSE / HANAU

In December 1986 some people in Hanau (Germany) decided to squat a house that had been empty for a long time, Metzgerstraße 8. They restored it and filled this free space with a new life.

Soon it became an ’Autonomous Culture-Center’ for the people and by the people, and also a focal point for a solidaric projects and for the resistance against ruling systems in all their repressive forms. The center has had a long history of attempts to establish a self-determined culture-center in Hanau, although it has always been repressed by the local city council.

The basic forum of the center is the ”squatter meeting,” which is open to everyone who has an interest in the squat as a counter-cultural free space. Decisions are made on the consent principle, which means that they try to find a decision that can be supported by everyone. Many activists in the squat, but not all, describe themselves as members of the autonomy movement, which connects anarchist, communist and feminist ideas.

At the moment there are a lot of projects, groups, and events that take place in the center. Everything is done on a do-it-yourself and nonprofit basis; no one receives money for her or his work. Solidarity, trust and self-determination are the basis for all work. Here are some examples:

- The ’Infoladen’ (Infoshop): The Infoshop is an opportunity to get information that can’t be found in the normal bourgeois media. There are a lot of autonomous, left radical and feminist leaflets, brochures and newspapers available. There is also a small media center and an archive that includes material on topics like anti-fascism, atomic politics, women’s liberation, internationalism, etc.

- The ’Volxküche’ (Peoples Kitchen): Frequently people from the community cook a vegetarian meal that is available for a small price. The idea behind this is to overcome isolation between people and the patriarchal roles typical in the kitchen, and, of course, to provide a good tasting meal for many people.

- The Concerts: Concerts in the center are organized, and absolutely dedicated to the principle of working in a self-determined way without a manager, an agency, or even a contract. The bands that play in the squat should have a mutual relation to the ideas of the center. There are no musical limits: Local punk bands have played there as well as jazz bands from North-America and Avantguarde projects from Eastern Europe. Some of the performances have been released on tapes and records.

In a way, the things that happen between the people in the center are more important than the events: changes in behavior, opportunities to live together without hierarchical structures, and new ways of relating. Although the squat is like an island in some ways, it’s far from a concrete utopia. Problems in interpersonal relations exist, as well as differences between ideals and real behaviour.

If people want to go alternative ways, the authorities try to stop them. In Hanau the local city council has said for a long time that none of the things the squatters do and organize represent culture. They decided in parliament that the center was to be closed and torn down without an alternative. In place of the squat, they planned to build five parking places. A decision that is very symbolic and characteristic. Certainly, the real aim was to destroy the ideas and the structures this center stands for.

The answer of the supporters of the Autonomous Culture-Center was the squatting of the parliament of the city. The politicians went out of the building and the squatters voted for the continuation of the center.

Up to now the authorities have not been able to realize their plans for various reasons. On the one hand there are many people who support the squat. There are also legal difficulties around closing it, and they are afraid of the resistance and activities that could take place after closing the squat.

But even if they evict the center, they can’t repress the ideas that the squat stands for. It’s about a self-determined culture and a self-determined life. It’s about dreams and ideals. It’s about consequence and change, here and now.

Wolfgang Sterneck, 2001.

Autonomes Kulturzentrum

Metzgerstrasse 8, D-63450 Hanau, Germany.

Autonomes Kulturzentrum Metzgerstraße:

- www.metzgerstrasse-hanau.org

- de-de.facebook.com/people/Metzgerstrasse-Acht-Hanau/10000...

- www.myspace.com/metzgerstrasse

- www.sterneck.net/squat

Info on the Project of John Cage and Sterneck / KomistA in benefit of the squat:

- www.sterneck.net/john-cage/metzgerstrasse-e

- * -

SUBVERSIVE SOUNDS *

Konzerte im Autonomen Kulturzentrum Hanau.

Das besetzte Haus

Im Dezember 1986 kam es in Hanau zur Besetzung eines ehemaligen Nachtclubs in der Metzgerstraße 8. Das Gebäude, das zuvor über Jahre hinweg leer stand, wurde renoviert, neu gestaltet, umbenannt und wird seitdem als Autonomes Kulturzentrum genutzt. Das Ziel der Besetzung war es, einen Freiraum zu schaffen, in dem die Vorstellung einer autonomen Kultur wie auch die Wiederaneignung des entfremdeten Alltags konkret umsetzbar wird.

Vor diesem Hintergrund gelang es, ein Zentrum zu entwickeln, in dem solidarisches Handeln, kollektives Leben und politische Identität auf vielen Ebenen verschmelzen oder sich zumindest annähern. Die Metzgerstraße wurde dadurch zu einem wichtigen Bezugspunkt von dem auf verschiedenen Ebenen vielschichtige politische, soziale und kulturelle Impulse ausgingen.

Im Laufe der Jahre entstanden vielfältige Projekte wie die Volxküche (Essen zum Selbstkostenpreis), der Infoladen (Aktuelle politische Informationen und Archiv) und das Basta-Cafe (Treffpunkt und Sozialberatung). Die politischen Schwerpunkte der im Kulturzentrum aktiven Gruppen liegen unter anderen in den Bereichen 'Internationale Solidarität', Antifaschismus und 'Soziale Veränderung'.

Die Entscheidungen innerhalb des Kulturzentrums werden basisdemokratisch nach dem Konsensprinzip getroffen. Alle Aktivitäten basieren auf einer idealistischen Grundhaltung. Keine Person aus dem Zentrum erhält für ihre Tätigkeiten eine finanzielle Entlohnung.

Selbstbestimmte Kultur ohne Kommerz

Musik hatte von Anfang an in der Metzgerstraße eine besondere Bedeutung. Über das Musikhören hinaus machen viele AktivistInnen selbst Musik, veröffentlichen eigene Aufnahmen oder organisieren Konzerte. Im Sinne des DIY-Prinzipes ('Do it Yourself') werden die Auftritte im direkten Kontakt mit den MusikerInnen ohne Konzertagenturen und auch ohne Verträge auf völlig nichtkommerzieller Basis organisiert.

Eine Grundlage bildet ein solidarisches Verhältnis der MusikerInnen zur Metzgerstraße, was sich unter anderem auch in der Gage ausdrückt, die sich in der Regel auf die für die Band entstandenen Unkosten und die Verpflegung beschränkt. Der Eintrittspreis ist so ausgerichtet, dass er für alle interessierten Personen erschwinglich ist und die anfallenden Kosten deckt bzw. im Rahmen von Benefiz-Konzerten bestimmte Projekte unterstützt.

Freiräume statt Parkplätze

Während der ehemalige sozialdemokratische Kulturdezernat Hanaus davon sprach, dass in der Metzgerstraße keine Kultur stattfindet, bildete dass selbstorganisierte Zentrum durch die Auftritte von Bands aus Westeuropa und Nordamerika einen im Hanauer Kulturleben herausragenden internationalen Bezugspunkt. Die musikalische Bandbreite umfasst unter anderem Rockmusik in den verschiedensten Schattierungen, Punk, Hardcore, Folk und Jazz, sowie experimentelle und improvisierte Musik. Lokale Nachwuchsbands traten im Laufe der Jahre genauso auf wie renommierte Gruppen aus unterschiedlichsten Ländern. Einen Kultcharakter erlangten zudem die Nachtcafe-Sessions, an denen jeder und jede teilnehmen konnte.

Die Aufnahmen einiger Konzerte wurden später auf verschiedenen Tonträgern veröffentlicht. 1992 kam es daneben zur Veröffentlichung eines der Metzgerstraße gewidmeten Stücks des Avantgarde-Komponisten John Cage.

In den Anfangsjahren plante der Hanauer Magistrat das Haus nach einer Räumung abreißen zu lassen, um dort stattdessen fünf Parkplätze zu errichten. Die Kulturpolitik des Magistrates entlarvte sich dadurch in einer kaum zu übertreffenden symbolhaften Weise selbst. Das Vorhaben wurde jedoch nicht zuletzt in Folge einer Besetzung des Stadtparlamentes durch Unterstützerinnen des Kulturzentrums nicht weiter verfolgt.

Rund 25 Jahre nach der Besetzung wird das Haus weiterhin als Kulturzentrum genutzt. Im ansonsten auf Konsum und Kommerz ausgerichteten Stadtzentrum Hanaus ist es mit seinen vielfältigen Projekten kreativer wie auch subversiver Freiraum.

Wolfgang Sterneck, September 2011.

Autonomes Kulturzentrum Metzgerstraße:

- www.metzgerstrasse-hanau.org

- de-de.facebook.com/people/Metzgerstrasse-Acht-Hanau/10000...

- www.myspace.com/metzgerstrasse

- www.sterneck.net/squat

Eine ausführliche Beschreibung der Geschichte des Kulturzentrums:

Freiräume entwickeln - Das besetzte autonome Kulturzentrum Metzgerstraße Hanau

- www.sterneck.net/squat/metzgerstrasse-d

English Info:

The squated Autonomous Culture Center Metzgerstrasse Hanau

- www.sterneck.net/squat/metzgerstrasse-e

Infos zum Benefiz-Projekt von John Cage und Sterneck / KomistA für das Kulturzentrum:

- www.sterneck.net/john-cage

- * -

El Club de Pilota Valenciana de Sumacàrcer campió de Quarta A

The Progon family (Albanian: Progoni) established the first Albanian state, the Principality of Arbër, which fell under the influence of the Byzantine Empire, the Despotate of Epirus and the Serbian Kingdom. Progon, the founder, held the title of archon (lord), while one of his sons, Dimitri, held the title of panhypersebastos. The family enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy.

The family disappears in sources after 1216, following the death of Dimitri.

Dimitri Progoni was the third and the last Prince of the Albanians of the Progon family, reigning from 1208 to 1216. He ruled the mountain stronghold at Kruja (Arbanon), succeeding his older brother Gjin, and he managed to bring Arbanon to its maximum. Dimitri ruled in the alliances of the Republic of Ragusa, Venice and Serbian Kingdom; he married Komnena, the daughter of Stefan Nemanjić. He was later turned against Venice.

According to some, Progon's realm was the first Albanian state during the Middle Ages. Little is known about archon Progon who was the first ruler of Kruja and its surroundings, between 1190 and 1198. The Kruja fortress stayed in the possession of the Progon family, and Progon was succeeded by his sons Gjin, and later Dimitri.[11] Before 1204, Arbanon was an autonomous principality of the Byzantine Empire. The titles archon (held by Progon) and panhypersebastos (held by Dimitri) is a sign of Byzantine dependence.

Family, and titles

Dimitri, the son of Progon of Kruja, was the third and last lord of the Progon family, reigning between 1208 and 1216. He succeeded his brother Gjin and brought the principality to its climax. Contemporary Western sources attribute the titles judex ("judge") and princeps Arbanorum ("prince of the Albanians") to him, while Byzantine records refer to him as megas archon ("grand lord").

Alliances and conflicts

In 1208, Dimitri married Komnena Nemanjić, the daughter of Serbian Grand Prince, later King Stefan Nemanjić (r. 1196–1228).[3][15][16] This resulted in an alliance, and vassalage to Serbia amidst conflicts with the Republic of Venice.

At the same time, George Nemanjić, in Zeta, allied himself with Venice. The struggle between the two Nemanjić branches (between Vukan and Stefan) continued under George.[5] The Gëziq inscription mention the Progon family as judices, and notes their dependence to Mladen and George. George promised military support if Dimitri would attack Venetian territory, in a treaty signed on 3 July 1208. The alliance and conflict may have been related to the Rascian-Zetan struggle, for Dimitri had close ties with Serbia, having married Komnena Nemanjić, the daughter of Stefan. By 1212, the Venetians had left Arbanon, abandoning it to Michael Angelos, in circumstances that remain uncertain. Arbanon remained to its traditional fidelites, Byzantine and Serbian, Orthodox; when Dimitri died, Gregory Kamonas succeeded in ruling Arbanon, and took Komnena as his second wife; ties were strengthened with Serbia, with which ties had been weakened by a Serbian attack on Scutari following the collapse of the Venetian duchy of Durazzo.

In search for allies, Dimitri signed a treaty with the Republic of Ragusa in 1209 and began negotiations with Pope Innocent III regarding his and his subjects’ conversion to Catholicism. This is considered a tactful move, which Dimitri undertook to establish ties with Western Europe against Venice. The friendship with the pope was of short duration, and soon turned into ill-feeling.

Dimtri's closest ally was an archon named Dhimiter Gaba III.

Death and aftermath

After Dimitri died in 1215, the power was left to Komnena, who soon married Greek-Albanian Gregory Kamonas, who took power of Kruja, strengthening relations with Serbia, which had been weakened after a Serbian assault on Scutari. Arbanon remained to its traditional fidelites, Byzantine and Serbian, Orthodox. Komnena had a daughter with Kamonas that married Golem.

Pipa and Repishti conclude that Arbanon was the first sketch of an "Albanian state", and that it retained semi-autonomous status as the western extremity of an empire (under the Doukai of Epirus or the Laskarids of Nicaea).

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Undergraduate Student Jaehwan Lee makes last minute repairs to the exoskeleton built by the STrength Augmenting Robotic eXoskeleton (SPARX) Team as Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Liwen Chen waits for the Applied Collegiate Exoskeleton Competition to begin inside the Bob & Betty Beyster Building on Saturday May 5, 2018 in Ann Arbor, MI.

The first ever collegiate competition brought five teams together to test the designs and overall effectiveness of their robotic exoskeletons.

Photo by Robert Coelius/ Michigan Engineering, Communications and marketing

Mong La Special Region 4. Right on the Burmese - Chinese frontier. Administered by the rebel group called National Democratic Alliance Army, also known as Mong La Army or Eastern Shan State Army. Formed after the collapse of Communist Party of Burma in 1989. The leader, U Sai Lin is the son-in-law of Kokang supreme leader Peng Chia-Sheng. Keep it in the family they say.

The Theosophical Society, founded in New York in 1875, includes a Rosicrucian current that sees the Rosy Cross as ‘the divine light of self-knowledge’ (Franz Hartmann, 1838-1912). Yet there are no commentaries specifically dedicated to the Chymical Wedding in the theosophical literature. Like Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891), the co-founder of the Theosophical Society, the Austrian theosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was convinced that the mysteries of the Rosy Cross were ‘solely passed on through oral tradition’ (1906). Steiner became the Secretary General of the German branch of the Theosophical Society in 1902. He expected to discover authentic Rosicrucian rituals when he joined the Freemasons as his mentor Goethe had. But like the theosophers, he observed that the true spirit of the Rosy Cross was no longer to be found in the secret societies of his day. In 1906, the ‘Rosy Cross of the Theosophical Society’ began presenting the ‘Mystery of Golgotha’ as an entirely unique event in the history of mankind, at odds with the Theosophical Society’s custom of granting equal importance to all religions. In 1917, ten years after leaving Annie Besant’s Esoteric School and five years after founding the Anthroposophical Society, Steiner published a study on the Chymical Wedding in Berlin. The present article shows that this written commentary was a means for him to situate himself in the continuity of the Rosicrucian tradition of esoteric Christianity while introducing his own theosophy, which he called ‘anthroposophy’ or ‘spiritual science’, as the heir of the authentic Rosicrucians. The reference to the authoritative text allowed him to illustrate and justify his former assertions on 1) the actual existence of Christian Rosenkreuz and the Rosicrucian order, 2) the seven stages of Rosicrucian initiation, 3) Rosicrucianism as the best way of initiation for modern European man, 4) the “etheric vision” of Christ based on the action of Christian Rosencreuz’s “etheric body”. These ideas influenced a number of Western esotericists, including Neville Meakin (†1912), Max Heindel (1865-1919) and Jan van Rijckenborgh (1896-1968).

1 Chymical Wedding by Christian Rosencreutz has been the subject of an important reception1 within certain modern Western esoteric currents2, in particular since the end of the 19th century. In a context of criticism of positivism and enthusiasm for spiritualism from the United States, occultism was on the rise in Europe around 1900, and the Rosicrucians were a fashionable subject. In France, for example, the Martinist writer Joseph Péladan (1858-1918) organized between 1892 and 1897, in Parisian art galleries, several Salons de la Rose-Croix in which symbolist artists known as the Belgian painter Fernand Khnopff took part. . In this contribution, I will focus mainly on the period from 1875 – the date of the founding of the Theosophical Society in New York by the Russian occultist Helena Blavatsky, Colonel Henry Steel Olcott and a few others – to 1917, the year of the publication in Berlin of the Commentary on the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rose-Croix by the Austrian occultist Rudolf Steiner. The aim will be to understand Steiner's commentary from the inside, to reconstitute its internal logic from an emic perspective3, and to perceive in doing so the construction of the Rosicrucian myth specific to this esoteric4 vision of the world that is anthroposophy. . It will also be a question of resituating this commentary in the theosophical literature which preceded it and of bringing to light its influence on later esoteric literature.

Theosophical literature and the Chemical Weddings (1877-1902)

5 Franz Hartmann: Unter den Adepten und Rosenkreuzern (Leipzig n.d.). Berlin 1963, p. 96.

2The Theosophical Society is an international association teaching a religious syncretism of occultist and esoteric inspiration with a strong oriental flavor, particularly Buddhist and Hindu. Theosophical literature does not include a commentary dedicated specifically to the Chemical Wedding, but rather scattered reflections emphasizing the importance of Rosicrucianism as a Western path of self-knowledge leading to the knowledge of God. The German theosophist Franz Hartmann (1838-1912) states for example: “Es wird uns klar sein, daß es den Rosenkreuzern nicht so sehr um intellektuelle Forschung und Vielwisserei, als vielmehr um die göttliche Selbsterkenntnis zu tun war und um die Kraft des wahren Glaubens , der zu dieser Gotteserkenntnis führt. 5 The Theosophical Society does not regard any religion as superior to others; all express, according to her, an aspect of a universal truth. According to the famous motto of the Society, “there is no religion superior to truth”. According to Helena P. Blavatsky, the true spirit of the Rose-Croix no longer animates the Rosicrucians of her time:

6 Helena Petrovna Blavatsky: Isis unveiled. Key to the Mysteries of Ancient Science and Theology (...)

The Rose-Croix Brothers, mysterious practitioners of the Middle Ages, still exist, but only in name. They may 'shed tears over the grave of their revered Master Hiram Abiff', but they will search in vain for the true place 'where the acacia branch was placed'. The dead letter remains alone, the spirit has fled.6

3 This spirit is, according to her, much more preserved in literature – and Blavatsky explicitly quotes the famous initiatory novel by the British novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton Zanoni7 – than in the various lodges and groups claiming Rosicrucianism in his time in Europe and in the USA. None seem to find favor in his eyes. We can think of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, a Rosicrucian order founded in London in 1865 by master masons William J. Hughan and Robert W. Little, or L'Aube Dorée, The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret society (whose rituals are inspired by the Golden Rose-Cross, at least for the distribution of degrees) founded in London in 1888 by Samuel Liddell Mathers and William Wynn Westcott, both members of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. Note that Westcott later became theosophist. These groups multiplied at the end of the 19th century. In France, the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Croix founded in 1888 by Stanislas de Guaita (1861-1897) and Joséphin Péladan (1858-1918) had the role of perfecting the training of Martinists and included the French doctor and occultist Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse (1865-1916), known as Papus, among its members. In Germany, the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), a para-Masonic organization oriented towards magic, was animated by a member of the Societas Rosicruciana in Germania, the German-English occultist Theodor Reuß, who in 1902 obtained the right, with the German theosophist Franz Hartmann, to practice the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and the Rite of Memphis-Misraïm.

Rudolf Steiner, the “Rose-Croix” of the Theosophical Society (1902-1906)

8 Gary Lachmann: Rudolf Steiner, a biography. Paris 2009.

9 Rudolf Steiner: Mein Lebensgang. Eine nicht vollendete Autobiography [1925], Rudolf Steiner Gesam (...)

10 Hartmann: Unter den Adepten, quoted by Friedrich Lienhard: Unter dem Rosenkreuz: ein Hausbuch aus (...)

4It was also in 1902 that Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian born in 1861 in a small village in Croatia (which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), became Secretary General of the German section of the Theosophical Society, multiplying the conferences across Germany and beyond8. Steiner states in his autobiography that he became close to the Theosophists because, like them, he was convinced of the existence of a “spiritual world”9. At the beginning of the 20th century, Steiner gave less importance to the Rosicrucian manifestos than to an oral Rosicrucian tradition which would have remained intact within secret societies. He asserted in December 1906 that nothing of authentic Rosicrucianism would be found in the Rosicrucian writings of the early seventeenth century. Steiner endorses the argument of theosophists like Franz Hartmann who describe the essence of the authentic Rose-Croix as "the divine light of self-knowledge"10 and who are convinced that the mysteries of the Rose-Croix are only transmitted orally:

But you can see how difficult it has always been to get to know Rosicrucianism from the fact that Helmont, Leibniz and others were unable to find out anything about the Rosicrucians. The Rosicrucian initiation is historically traced back to a book from the beginning of the 17th century, which states, among other things, that the Rosicrucians dealt with alchemical things, as well as with other things, for example with higher education and so on. So it is written in the Fama Fraternitatis. / Nothing can be found there either about what really is Rosicrucianism, because the mysteries of the Rosicrucians have only been handed down through oral tradition. What has externally attached itself to the name Rosicrucian is very little suitable for fathoming the nature of the Rosicrucians.11

5 Steiner is also nourished by another tradition, in this case German thought and its “great geniuses”, which, according to him, must fertilize theosophy. Steiner thinks in particular of Goethe, whose thought cannot be grasped, according to him, without a deep understanding of its occult foundation. After having studied philosophy in Vienna and read in particular Kant, Fichte, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, after having defended in 1891 a doctoral thesis in philosophy at the University of Rostock, Steiner worked in Weimar on the edition of the scientific work of Goethe, and gave numerous lectures on Goethe to members of the Theosophical Society. Thus, in the lecture “Die okkulte Grundlage in Goethes Schaffen” (1905), he refers to Goethe’s poem Die Geheimnisse (1785), which according to him expresses the mysteries of the Rose-Croix12. Steiner takes Goethe for a Rose-Croix initiate. In 1780, the German poet was initiated into Freemasonry in the Amalia lodge in Weimar, and received in 1783 into the Order of the Illuminated under the name of Abaris. Speeches and many poems bear witness to this interest in Freemasons, but also several passages from Wilhelm Meister, from Dichtung und Wahrheit (Poetry and Truth) as well as Das Märchen (The Fairy Tale of the Beautiful Lily)

6 Steiner attempts to revitalize the Rosicrucian tradition not only by relating himself to the Rosicrucian inspiration of Goethe, but also by concretely seeking authentic Rosicrucians and rituals; he thinks he can do this by joining Freemasonry, like his mentor Goethe. It was in 1904-1905 that Steiner began to participate in Masonic activities, hoping to introduce the occult teachings of Theosophy into them. In 1905, he was initiated by Theodor Reuß into the Rite of Misraïm, with his wife – which cost him dearly, as noted by the German historian Helmut Zander14 –, and in 1906 became President of the “Chapter and Mystical Temple” Mystica Aeterna, in Berlin. In January 1906, he obtained permission from Theodor Reuß to bring into this Freemason Chapter as many members of the Theosophical Society (and other people) as he wished15. But he is somewhat wary of Reuß: “Reuß ist kein Mensch, auf den irgendwie zu bauen wäre. […] Wir haben es mit einem ‘Rahmen’, nicht mit mehr in der Wirklichkeit zu tun. Augenblicklich steckt gar nichts hinter der Sache. Die okkulten Mächte haben sich ganz davon zurückgezogen. 16 According to Helmut Zander, there is no historical proof that Steiner belonged to another Masonic society. In 1907, Steiner was appointed Grand Master of the Rite of Misraïm and led initiation ceremonies in this capacity. The First World War, however, marked the end of Steiner's Masonic activities. Between 1902 and 1906, Steiner developed his Christology independently within the Theosophical Society without this posing any particular problem. His relationship with Annie Besant is excellent: he is part of her Esoteric School and comments glowingly on the German translation of his work Esoteric Christianity published in 1903.

The gradual break with the Theosophists and the founding of the Anthroposophical Society (1906-1912)

18 Steiner, “Die drei Einweihungspfade”, lecture given in Basel on September 19, 1906 before (...)

19 Ibid., p. 92: “der größte der Religionslehrer”.

20 On the action of the Buddha, carried out at the request of the servant of Christ, Christian Rose-Croix, see (...)

7 It was in 1906 that Steiner distinguished for the first time three forms of initiation: the Eastern path, which presupposes the absolute obedience of the student to a guru, the Christian path, which would no longer be adapted to modern man due to the evolution of science and culture, and the Rosicrucian path, which would be free from any enslaving master-disciple relationship18. Alongside this hierarchy of initiatic schools, the "mystery of Golgotha" was mentioned for the first time, at the end of 1906, a concept which would become central to Steiner's Christology: Christ, considered as "the greatest religious teacher"19, embodies in an earthly physical body the solar macrocosmic Christ principle. He gives "the greatest impulse that the soul is able to assimilate" by coming from other worlds to unite with the earth. The Christ impulse, what Steiner calls the "mystery of Golgotha", is for him a completely unique and exceptional fact in the history of humanity. It is no coincidence that in several of his lectures, Steiner emphasizes that the life of Christ goes further than that of the Buddha, since it reaches the resurrection while that of the Buddha ends in the transfiguration20. By focusing his thought on the figure of Christ, Steiner approaches European theological traditions which consider Christ as a personal figure; but he distances himself from the theosophists of Adyar who give equal importance to all religions and consider Jesus as a “great initiate” among others. It was in this context that Annie Besant was elected President of the Theosophical Society in 1907. The same year, Steiner left the Esoteric School of Besant to found an independent esoteric school, teaching a Rosicrucian path rooted in a specifically European esoteric tradition. .

8 According to Helmut Zander, it was above all in opposition to Annie Besant that Steiner increasingly sought, from 1906-1907, to situate himself in a Rosicrucian tradition and to “Christologize” his thought21. The fact that in 1903 Steiner did not mention Christian Rose-Croix in his list of great initiates shows, according to Zander, that the Rosicrucian tradition was built gradually. It is also with the aim of building this European tradition that Steiner would have integrated Christian Rose-Croix in a series of reincarnations: Lazare, Hiram Abiff, the Count of Saint-Germain, etc. When Steiner and Besant agreed at the Munich Congress in May 1907, it was decided that Steiner would teach the Western, "Rosicrucian" path, and Besant the Eastern path. According to Zander, this agreement is superficial and hides a settlement of power. The day after the Congress, Steiner begins the cycle of lectures entitled Die Theosophie des Rosenkreuzers in which he emphasizes the superiority of the Rosicrucian path, and therefore, according to the German historian, his personal superiority over Besant. Zander is of the opinion that in these lectures, in particular in the last lecture of the cycle entitled "Theosophy according to the Rosicrucian method", the Rosicrucian reference would be applied like a thin superstructure on specifically Theosophical themes and, given its vague in the occultist circles of his time, would serve as an empty frame that Steiner could fill as he pleased with content from Christian and European esotericism22. This theory only seems partly relevant because the reference to the Rosicrucians is present long before the break with Besant and anchored in the German tradition, in Goethe in particular. From 1903-1904, Steiner presented Christian Rose-Croix and Jesus as the "two great Masters of the West", thus minimizing the influence of the Eastern Masters. In 1906 Steiner described the seven stages of the Rosicrucian path23, also present or explained in other texts, as in the Science of the Occult (1910) for example.

9 The fundamental disagreement concerns the theory of the return of Christ developed by Besant after the Munich Congress and explains that Steinerian Christology developed with increased speed after 1907. In 1908, Steiner clearly asserts the superiority of Christianity: “[… ] das Christentum ist größer als alle Religion! Das ist die Rosenkreuzerweisheit. 24 In 1911 he held conferences on Christian Rosicrucians at the newly created Rosicrucian branch of the Theosophical Society, where the disagreements appeared more and more evident. Unlike the Theosophists, Steiner considers Christian Rose-Croix as a personality who really lived in the 13th century, and the Rosicrucian order as an organization that really existed. The influence of the spiritual entity that is Christian Rose-Croix would be exerted mainly from his “etheric body”25, incarnated or not26. The action of Christ can take place according to Steiner only from the "etheric"27, that is to say from a subtle field of life forces made up of four ethers and located between the material and the astral plane. For Steiner, there can be no return of Christ to the physical plane, as the Theosophists assert. When leaders of the Theosophical Society believe they have found a new Messiah in the person of the young Hindu Jiddu Krishnamurti, Steiner separates definitively from the Theosophical Society to found, at the end of 1912, the Anthroposophical Society.

Rudolf Steiner anthroposophist: the role of the Chemical Weddings in the construction of a Rosicrucian tradition (1912-1917)

28 Rudolf Steiner: The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rose-Croix 1459, recorded by J. V. Andreae, Stud (...)

29 Rudolf Steiner: Die Theosophie des Rosenkreuzers, Vierzehn Vorträge, München 22. May bis 6. June 1 (...)

11 Steiner no doubt chose to comment on the Wedding because it was the Rosicrucian text he knew best31, but that is not the only reason. The importance he attached to this commentary is evident in the fact that, unlike many other things he has said about Christian Rose-Croix at conferences, it is a written study that he wrote himself. This is indicative of a change in initiatory method in modern times:

32 Bettina Gruber: “Überlegungen zu einer Begriffsdiskussion”. In: Moritz Baßler / Hildegard Châtel (...)

33 Aurélie Choné: Rudolf Steiner, Carl Gustav Jung, Hermann Hesse, Passeurs between East and West. (...)

As the written expression of the traditional teaching transmitted from master to disciple, the book increasingly replaces the oral transmission of knowledge within secret societies, and becomes what connects the instructor and the reader, or more precisely, the Real. and the reader. Reading thus becomes the occasion for a practice, that of a conscious relationship. This ‘self-initiation through reading’32 is a characteristic trend of modernity, perceptible as early as the 19th century. It is based on respect for the subject and his autonomy of thought, but in return requires significant self-discipline and a very firm will.33

30 Rudolf Steiner: Das rosenkreutzerische Christentum. Stuttgart 1950.

10 In 1917, five years after the foundation of the Anthroposophical Society, Steiner published in Berlin a study devoted to the Chemical Weddings28. A series of questions does not fail to arise: how to explain that Steiner felt the need to give a commentary on the Weddings when he did not comment on either the Fama or the Confessio? How to explain that he found it necessary to write a study insisting on the importance of this text eleven years after having affirmed that the oral tradition was more important than the Manifestos? Why did you publish this commentary precisely in 1917, more than a century ago, when he had already given several lectures in previous years on the Rosicrucian path, in particular ten years earlier, in 1907, Die Philosophie des Rosenkreuzers29 and in 1911-1912, on Rosicrucian Christianity30? And finally, for what purpose does he write this comment?

12 As secret societies no longer conveyed the authentic message according to Steiner, it no doubt seemed necessary to him, sensing the end of his life approaching, to write down what he knew of this original message. We will show that this written commentary was a means for him, at a time when he needed to affirm the identity of his movement in the face of the theosophists, to situate himself in the continuity of the Western tradition of Christian esotericism and to present anthroposophy as the heiress of the authentic Rosicrucians. If he appeals to an authoritative text, Les Noces Chymiques, it is to illustrate and justify his previous remarks:

on the real existence of Christian Rose-Croix and the Rosicrucian Order,

on the content of the Rosicrucian initiatory path,

on the superiority of the Rosicrucian path at the present time,

on the etheric vision of Christ thanks to the action of Christian Rose-Croix from the "etheric world".

The real existence of Christian Rose-Croix and the Order of the Rose-Croix

34 On this subject, see the article by Stefania Salvadori in this volume.

13 For Steiner, Johann Valentin Andreae (1586-1654) is the author of Les Noces Chymiques and he wrote the work in 1603, thirteen years before its publication in Strasbourg in 1616. It should be noted that these dates are roughly in line with the assertions of the most current researchers. Steiner does not seek to challenge by means of historical arguments the assertions of historians who hold the work to be “a kind of literary deception” (NC, 264). But he considers it impossible that a young man of seventeen had “the maturity required to ridicule the evaporated minds of his time, by presenting them with a phantasmagoria under the name of the Rosicrucian current”. Moreover, the spiritually very high content of Les Noces is not for him contradictory with the young age of the author. In his eyes, Andreae wrote under the dictation of “great intuitive forces” (NC, 269). Later, having become a pietistic theologian, Andreae would have lost this intuition, which explains why he was able to deny his story afterwards. Steiner points out that in transcribing the experiences of Christian Rose-Croix, the young Andreae encountered strong resistance, in this case “events similar to those which led to the Thirty Years’ War” (NC, 8). By comparing this situation to the one he knew himself, at a time when the development of anthroposophy was hampered by opposing forces, he clearly places himself in the continuity of the Rosicrucian current.

14 In his commentary, Steiner begins by explaining how the work should be approached, devoting several pages to the “method”, or rather to the attitude to adopt when faced with the text. Because it is precisely not an intellectual, scientific method in the usual sense of the word. Humility, self-knowledge and purification of the soul are the necessary conditions for the spiritual world to be able, through the text, to speak to the soul in the form of images, symbols, "secret figures" such as those of the Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer35. A rather similar attitude of attentive listening with regard to images (and the products of the unconscious) characterizes the psychology of the depths of C. G. Jung (in particular the active imagination): it is not a question of seeking to understand intellectually the image that presents itself, but rather to let it act, to mature in the soul, to brood over it in oneself, until its meaning becomes clear; this requires great patience and the awareness that, as in any deep esoteric text, the message is never completely unveiled, deeper layers always remaining hidden.

15 The key to Steiner's argument therefore rests on a precise method, which he claims to deduce from the attitude and mode of perception of Christian Rose-Croix himself, as described in the novel. The historical method seems to him inappropriate for clarifying overly complicated controversies. “Spiritual Science” is presented as the most adequate way to deduce from the text itself the authenticity of the experiences described, and therefore the reality of the existence of Christian Rose-Croix as well as of the Rosicrucian current. It is not for him an allegory, but a true story, which confirms what he affirmed in his lectures of 1911 on the historical, and not mythical, figure of Christian Rose-Croix.

The content of the Rosicrucian initiatory school

16 In his commentary of 1917, Steiner explains, through the lived experience of Christian Rose-Croix, the seven stages of the Rosicrucian path which he had already exposed ten years earlier, in Die Theosophie des Rosenkreuzers: the study, the imagination, inspiration, the preparation of the Philosopher's Stone, the correspondences between macrocosm and microcosm, diving into the macrocosm and bliss. The seven days correspond to the stages of the initiatory path of Christian Rose-Croix towards the suprasensible worlds and reflect a process of alchemical transformation which leads him towards his spiritual rebirth.

17 From the first day, it is a question of an “imaginative vision” that Christian Rose-Croix had seven years earlier, which announced to him that he would be invited to the “Chymic Wedding”. Another imagination has him “see” a young woman in a blue dress studded with stars – the “manifestation of an entity from the spirit world” (NC, 195) according to Steiner. Another imagination reveals to him a portal, the threshold of the suprasensible world according to Steiner, and a castle, place of spiritual experience. Then comes the fourth day, with the presentation to the Kings and their decapitation: these symbols are for Steiner “authentic imaginations, in conformity with the laws which govern the evolution of the soul” (NC, 243). The ordeals that kings undergo foreshadow what must happen to Christian Rose-Croix himself. He feels the tragedy of the royal hall “as if his own soul lived it: Decapitation is a stage in his own evolution. (NC, 244) According to Steiner, the whole alchemical process described highlights "the mystery of psychic metamorphosis" (NC, 263), namely "the way in which the forces of knowledge, developed by the organism in the ordinary course of life, are transformed into forces of supersensible investigation. (NC, 253) The term "power of knowledge" is imbued with the philosophy of life (Lebensphilosophie) present at the time of Steiner, but it is a question of directing this vitalism towards a spiritualism by transforming sensitive knowledge in supersensible knowledge, which is possible only on condition "of being penetrated by the forces of death." (NC, 247) Thus Christian Rose-Croix contemplates the death of the "kings" in his soul, namely the death of "his means of knowledge, such as they result from the metamorphosis of the material processes of his organism, without himself intervenes. (NC, 248-249) By passing from natural alchemy to the art of alchemy, he will be able to confer on his ordinary faculties of knowledge a particular character which the processes of organic evolution have removed from them. The purpose of the fifth day is precisely, according to Steiner, to complete the natural alchemy. Christian Rose-Croix directs his gaze towards the “laboratory” of nature, where it “gives birth to the vital element of growth” (NC, 249). In the Tower of Olympus, during the preparation of the Stone of the Sages, the inanimate forces of knowledge are brought to life.

18 The seventh day describes the accomplishment of the alchemical work and the promotion of Christian Rose-Croix to the rank of “Knight of the Stone of Gold”. The man whose forces of the soul – thought, feeling, will – are transformed, is as if born again: he becomes the “father” of his own faculties of knowledge. It is a true gnosis in the sense of knowledge, the birth of new forces of supersensible knowledge. This also explains the Steinerian interpretation of the end of the story: Christian Rose-Croix expects to expiate the "fault" of having succumbed to the temptation by looking at Venus naked on the fifth day, and to be condemned to the charge of guardian; but this is not the case, because this guardian turns out in fact to be only a part of himself that he is able to distinguish from himself; and here we are almost approaching a Jungian interpretation of The Wedding , except that the existence of a spiritual world is clearly posed in Steiner: “He becomes the guardian of his own psychic life; but this office in no way prevents him from maintaining free relations with the world of the spirit. (NC, 260-261)

The Rosicrucian path, the initiatory school most suited to modern Europeans

19 Steiner also explains in his commentary on the Marriage why the Rosicrucian way is the most suitable for modern Western man.

20 First, it does not involve blindly following a guru as in the Eastern path as Steiner imagines it, or having absolute faith in the personality of Jesus Christ as in the Christian path. The Rosicrucian path gives less importance to feelings than to facts that can be observed and studied. The first stage of the journey, study, demonstrates the importance of a scientific approach. Steiner emphasizes that Christian Rose-Croix was versed in the knowledge provided by the study of the “Liberal Sciences and Arts” of his time and that he sought to unite knowledge and faith. This is also, according to Steiner, the objective of anthroposophy and as he can situate it in the continuity of the Rosicrucian current: neither religion nor philosophy, the Science of the mind (Geisteswissenschaft) aims to know the worlds suprasensibles with the same rigor as science studies the phenomena of the physical, sensible world.

36 Steiner: “The mission of Christian Rose-Croix, his character and his task. The mission of Gautama Bu (...)

21 This is only possible through the knowledge of nature, the very object of natural alchemy. In his commentary on the Wedding, Steiner clearly opposes the paths of mysticism and alchemy: “The alchemist seeks a knowledge of nature which opens the way to a true knowledge of man. (NC, 214) as the mystic turns inward. According to Steiner, it is quite revealing that the Rosicrucian current was born in the 15th century – a very dark period marked, according to him, by the appearance of the materialist current, which played a major role in scientific theories, especially in matters astronomy; with the beginnings of modern science – Copernicus (1473-1543), Galileo (1564-1642), Kepler (1571-1630), etc. – developed, according to him, “a vision of the world which saw in the macrocosm only an immense machinery composed of material globes”36. A new science must bring the necessary corrective to this materialistic tendency; and Steiner sees it represented in the Weddings through the figure of the Virgin whose name is Alchemy: "this suprasensible science comes from the spiritual worlds whereas the knowledge of the Seven 'Liberal Arts' is acquired on the sensible plane" (NC, 236).

22 In the same spirit, Agrippa von Nettesheim (1487-1535) and Paracelsus (1493-1541) sought, according to Steiner, to explore the laws of nature and access the superior worlds from the natural sciences, through the study of the five elements . The alchemist learns to know his soul as well as nature and discovers that the same forces act there. This is the fifth stage of the Rosicrucian path, the correspondences between macro- and microcosm. The contemplation of natural processes like dissolution and putrefaction becomes meditation, fervent prayer, and arouses a sense of devotion. According to Steiner, the sanctity of nature is at the center of Les Noces, the mission of Christian Rose-Croix being to discover the spirit in nature. As a Knight of the Stone of Gold, he will have to live in accordance with the two mottos inscribed on the medal he receives, as well as the other Knights, on the seventh day: "Art is the servant of nature" and “Nature is the daughter of time. (NC, 259)

37 Antoine Faivre: Access to Western esotericism. Paris vol. I 1986, vol. II, 1996.

23 Steiner presents the Science of the Spirit as the heir to the Rosicrucian current in that it seeks to rediscover the religious character that the study of nature had in the Middle Ages, to reveal the spiritual reality behind the veil of nature. At the same time, he seeks to show the evolution of the Rosicrucian teaching. Mainly based on the natural sciences in the Middle Ages, in connection with alchemy, it became in its time "Science of the mind" in connection with the natural sciences in the Goethean sense of the term. The great Rosicrucian meditation on the symbol of the cross surrounded by seven roses, described for example in 1910 in Die Geheimwissenschaft (Science of the Occult), is deeply linked to living Nature, one of the criteria of esotericism according to Antoine Faivre37, since it is first of all a question of representing a plant which opens out, its roots which plunge into the darkness, its stem which rises towards the light. It involves the transformation of the forces of life into spiritual forces by a process of transmutation of the "etheric" into supersensible energy: this inner alchemy constitutes the very essence of the new Rosicrucian mysteries according to Steiner.

38 Johann Valentin Andreae: The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rose-Croix. In: Bernard Gorceix: The bi (...)

24 Finally, Steiner wishes to show through the experiences of Christian Rose-Croix and his companions that the Rosicrucian initiation is a personal path at the service of society: “The presence of such men in the social order will be a leaven for those who it and will help clean it up. (NC, 261) On reading Les Noces, it clearly appears that Christian Rose-Croix will play a special role because he is led to see more marvels38 than his companions who "only perceive what is shown to them, without the intervention of their personal will. (NC, 230) By continuing to serve as a guardian after receiving the supreme reward, he does not return to his solitary life, out of the world; he sees himself obliged to link spiritual life and social life in the service of others (karma-yoga, one would say in the Indian tradition), which is characteristic of a modern initiation. Steiner situates anthroposophy in the continuity of this tradition by insisting on education for freedom and by showing the importance of the concrete societal applications of its ideas in fields as diverse as pedagogy, agriculture, medicine and science. 'architecture.

25 In his commentary on Les Noces, Steiner particularly insists on the visions and imaginations of Christian Rose-Croix, which would be produced by the action of his “etheric body”. On Easter Friday, Christian's supersensible perception allows him to have the vision of the woman in the blue dress: "This activity of the etheric body can be compared to the bringing into action of a radiant light. (NC, 195-196) It is this activity that every human being is called upon to develop thanks to a daily meditative practice allowing the metamorphosis of his soul and the development of faculties of supersensible perception. Through this central practice in the Rosicrucian initiation as Steiner understands it, the student feels the influence of the etheric body of Christian Rose-Croix and can perceive the appearance of Christ in his own etheric body, that is, say realize the Christ in himself, the inner Christ, without going through a guru or other spiritual master. According to Steiner, all of humanity would be called to live this experience of the road to Damascus, and not only the circle of Rosicrucian initiates. The mission of the "Science of the Spirit" would be to divulge the Rosicrucian mystery to as many people as possible today.

39 On this subject, see Véronique Liard's contribution: “Carl Gustav Jung and the Chymic Weddings. Alc (...)

40 I refer here to chapter 10 of C. G. Jung's Psychological Types: Psychologische Typen. Zurich (...)

41 However, this interpretation should be qualified. Indeed, experience plays a very important role (...)

26We can see a certain affinity between the Steinerian commentary and the Jungian reading39 of the Wedding: in both cases, the initiatory journey of Christian Rose-Croix expresses the “mystery of psychic metamorphosis” (NC, 263). The big difference comes from the way of thinking of Jung and Steiner, and their opposite attitude towards reality. From a Jungian perspective,40 one could perhaps qualify Steiner’s philosophical temperament as “extroverted” and that of Jung as “introverted” (this is moreover how he saw himself); indeed, the anthroposophist links his thought closely to real objects while the founder of depth psychology is above all concerned with his inner world. Steiner is an idealist in that the spiritual world has for him a character of truth and absolute in the same way as the objects which are in front of him, without possible contestation, while for Jung, nourished by Kant, thought partially derives from subjectivity, which places all metaphysics beyond the reach of human understanding and establishes an empirical approach to reality. Jung needs to look within himself for landmarks to evolve in his inner world, without resorting to metaphysics to name things outside of him; he tends to see in him realities which, for the extrovert, are external.

42 We can think in particular of biodynamic agriculture – the processes of decomposition, putr (...)

43 See the third stage of the conjunction described at the end of Carl Gustav Jung: Mysterium conjunct (...)

44 On the comparison of these paths, see Aurélie Choné: Rudolf Steiner, Carl Gustav Jung, Herman (...)

27 Steiner considers the mystical path (introverted attitude according to the Jungian typology) unsuited to the materialistic modern age, and considers the alchemical path (extroverted attitude according to the Jungian typology) which passes through the knowledge of nature, as the most appropriate today. today. Could this be the reaction of an extrovert who does not understand the other attitude? Jung also uses alchemy, but more in the psychological sense of an inner psychic transformation; he emphasizes the writings that translate external experiences into symbolic processes revealing the archetypes of the collective unconscious, which he wants to find in order to shed light on his journey and that of his patients. But if Jung seems to be more interested in the interior side (oratory) and Steiner in the operative side of alchemy42 (laboratory), the fact remains that the psychiatrist also integrates a much broader dimension through the notion of unus mundus43, and that the anthroposophist pays great attention to inner processes, emphasizing the passage from natural alchemy to the Science of the mind. Anthroposophy, which seeks to develop our perception of the supersensible world, and depth psychology, which aims to approach the Self in order to reach the totality of our being, have important similarities in the journey they offer towards greater freedom. and autonomy.

28 If Les Noces has caught the attention of such different thinkers, it is undoubtedly because this writing offers a fine example of a balanced appreciation between the two points of view. The oratory is as important there as the laboratory. There is both the experimental side (Tower of Olympus) and the importance of moral purification (weighing test, vault of Venus). Extroverts tend to make it a laboratory affair by denying the other side, while introverts stress the projection of psychic contents onto matter and make it a process of individuation, neglecting the experimental side which is very vague in the definitions of the materials, which vary from one to another. But the secret undoubtedly lies in the right balance between extroversion and introversion, science and faith, laboratory and oratory.

Assessment and posterity of the anthroposophical reception of Les Noces until today

29 All the arguments deployed in Steiner’s extremely dense Commentary combine to demonstrate that the Weddings are “an objective relationship of an authentic quest” (NC, 263). Steiner felt the need to give a commentary on the Wedding - rather than on the Fama or the Confessio - because this story contains a wealth of images and symbols which make visible, in the form of evocative imaginations, the passage from sensitive to supersensitive. This commentary aims to anchor Steiner's theosophy, which he calls anthroposophy, in the Rosicrucian tradition of esoteric Christianity. Steiner thus stands out from the Theosophical Society and Eastern initiation by proposing a “Rosicrucian initiation” adapted to modern man in that it brings together faith and science, knowledge and contemplation of nature. Starting from the Manifesto, he seeks to prove what he has asserted in previous conferences and to give greater authority to his words through the exegesis of the source text itself. In doing so, he presents himself as the successor to the Rosicrucian current, which is supposed to express the quintessence of the great previous religions, and therefore the cutting edge of all spiritual teachings.

30 His reception of Les Noces will find an important echo in the anthroposophical milieu, among students and close friends like Michael Bauer46 (1871-1929), who was a member of his esoteric School. Today, the Rosicrucian reference is still very present among anthroposophists. According to the Dutch writer Jelle van der Meulen, for example, Steiner was initiated by Christian Rose-Croix47. The links between Anthroposophy and Rosicrucianism have been studied by engineer Viktor Stracke (1903-1991) and physician Peter Selg (1963- )48. Les Noces gave rise to a new commentary by Bastiaan Baan, director of the seminary of the Fellowship of Christians in North America, and former Waldorf school teacher. Overall, the interpretation of Les Noces is the object of a deepening in two main directions: meditation50 and cosmology51.

52 The outer order of the Stella Matutina was known as the Mystic Rose or Order of the M.R. i (...)

53 Crispian Villeneuve: Rudolf Steiner in Britain: A Documentation of His Ten Visits, 1902‑25, vol. 1 (...)

54 The Table Round (Ordo Tabulae Rotundae) is a neo-Arthurian mystical order that Felkin also exported (...)

55 Zander: Anthroposophy in Deutschland. t. I, p. 844.

56 See the contribution of Sébastien Gregov in this volume.

31 We also mention the influence of Steiner on the English doctor Robert Felkin, who in 1903 created the magical order Stella Matutina (Morning Star)52 in England, a splinter group from the Golden Dawn, and on Neville Meakin53, a member of the Stella Matutina. They saw in him an authentic representative of the Rosicrucian tradition, the missing link in the chain of the Rose-Croix dating back to the 17th century. Known by the initials EOL (Ex oriente Lux), Grand Master of the neo-Arthurian Order Ordo Tabulae Rotundae54, Meakin met Steiner in 1910 and 1912, received the initiation of adeptus minor in the Chapter Mystica aeterna and embarked in 1911 for Constantinople, traveling in the footsteps of the pilgrimage described in the Fama Fraternitatis. Steiner's ideas on the real existence of Christian Rose-Croix and his Order, as well as on the different incarnations of Christian Rose-Croix, will influence Max Heindel (1865-1919), who was vice-president of theosophy of Adyar in California in 1904-1905 and student of the Esoteric School of Steiner in 1907-1908. In 1909 Heindel created the Rosicrucian Fellowship in California. Steiner would accuse him in 1913 of having plagiarized several of his lectures55. Finally, let us mention the obvious influence of the Steinerian reading of the Wedding on the Dutch Rosicrucian Jan van Rijckenborgh, a former disciple of Heindel who founded the Lectorium Rosicrucianum in the 1920s.

journals.openedition.org/rg/679

Nigel Harrison ‘Autonomy’, Macquarie University Sculpture Park, Sydney

台大新任校長 管中閔講座教授於一月五日依法當選為校長，卻因教育部發動「卡管」而無法上任，至今已逾百日。

因此台大師生於一週前 (4/23) 在臉書上發起「還我校長 黃絲帶的關懷」：請繫上一條黃絲帶，請在你喜歡的樹下、窗前、書包或單車繫上一份祝福。並且在傅鐘下發出沈痛的呼聲：給我們一個校長！還我校長！

Taipei, Taiwan.

2018/4/30

h53190L

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Thus many Estonians in the Russian Army returned home to take up arms for their homeland. The Estonian Declaration of Independence in early 1918 was not recognized by Germany, which invaded and occupied the country during 1918. The Estonian armed forces were disbanded.

Plans to acquire Spitfires and Lysanders from Britain were thwarted when the outbreak of World War II in 1939 forced Britain to cancel all export orders. After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland. On 17 June 1940 the three Baltic States were invaded by Soviet forces. During the June 1940 invasion the Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars. The air force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 25 ft 4 in (7.72 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 2 in (10.11 m)

Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)

Wing area: 293 ft² (27.22 m²)

Empty weight: 1,960 lb (890 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 2,885 lb (1,310 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Jupiter V 9-cylinder radial engine, 480 hp (345 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 165 kn (190 mph, 305 km/h) at sea level

Range: 271 nmi (310 mi, 500 km)

Service ceiling: 27,000 ft (8,230 m)

Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (10.480 m/min)

Endurance: 1 hour 20 minutes

Climb to 10,000 ft: 6 min 20 sec

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns

Provision for up to 4× 20 lb (9 kg) bombs under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

I had bought an incomplete Matchbox A.W. Siskin kit a while ago, but lacked a good idea. This eventually came when I searched through the decal stack and came cross a Blue Rider sheet with Estonian triangles (see below) - and thought that an Estonian Siskin could be a good and exotic use. This was quite plausible because the Baltic country actually operated the type before WWII.

However, for a more whiffy touch, and in order to replace some missing parts, a few conversions had to be made. One modification concerns the landing gear, which had to be improvised; the struts came from a Revell Sopwith Triplane, IIRC, and the wheels from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator.

The engine was replaced, too, with a Bristol Jupiter from a Mistercraft PZL P.7 fighter, and a leftover propeller from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator. While the new engine appears a little large, the whole affair looks quite plausible and would even allow a free field of fire for the cowling-mounted, original armament.

Otherwise the simple but pleasant kit was built OOB. Rigging was done with heated black sprue material, glued into place with white glue after painting and decaling.

Painting and markings:

Well, there were not many Estonian aircraft, and most from the inter-war era seemed to carry a NMF/aluminium dope finish. I was able to dig up a profile of an Estonian Siskin IIIDC trainer, and it also shows some dark green round the cockpit area.

I used this as a starting point for a more camouflaged finish, also inspired by Latvian and Swedish Gloster Gladiators of that era, with dark green (FS 34079) upper surfaces, combined with aluminium dope on the undersides. In order to liven things up a little I also added an RAF Dark Green (ModelMaster) area in front of the cockpit, inspired by the Matchbox box art – but the different green tones are hard to tell apart.

Some metal panels were painted with Aluminium (Revell 99), while the fabric-covered areas, incl. the wings' undersides, were painted with Humbrol 56. The upper wing’s supporting struts were painted in black, as well as the cockpit interior – even though the latter is blocked by the pilot figure.

The Estonian national markings come from a Blue Rider sheet and actually belong to a modern 1:72 An-2. The tactical code was created with two layers of white over black single digits from TL Modellbau, creating a fake shadow effect for a better contrast. In order to liven things up a little more, I also a small unit badge to the fuselage flank under the cockpit, even though this was not typical for Estonian Air Force aircraft.

Some light dry-brushing with light grey was done in order to emphasize the nice surface structure of the Matchbox kit. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

A relatively simple build, but the overall result looks quite convincing, despite the exotic markings and the large diameter engine from the PZL P.7. Made me wonder what an Estonian Spitfire – had it been delievered – might have looked like? Hmmm…

Outdoor Image of MRISAR’s World-Class Philanthropic & Humanitarian “Interactive; Robotics, Technology, Invention, Art & Nature Center” Project. At this time in our transformation, Public Admission is by Appointment Only!

Photo taken in New Leipzig, North Dakota on 10-11-15 by MRISAR Team Member Victoria Croasdell-Siegel.

MRISAR is a family owned and operated international business, whose 4 member R & D Team has Designed, Fabricated & Marketed the Earth’s Largest Selection of "Internationally Renowned & Awarded" World-Class Robotics Exhibits & Devices; and “Hands On” Scientific, Technological & Interactive Art Exhibits in order to fund their own Philanthropic “Interactive; Robotics, Technology, Invention, Art & Nature Center” Project and their Humanitarian R & D that has been presented before and/or published and awarded by: the United Nations, NASA-Emhart, Stanford, Cambridge, ICORR, ROMAN, IEEE, Discover Awards, International Federation of Robotics (IFR), etc. Their 1990's circa, original innovative R & D in "Facial Feature Controlled Technology" and "Artificial Sense of Touch Technology" (Adaptive Technology prototypes for the disabled), has helped pioneer those fields! They were the only company in the world to be awarded an entire chapter regarding their work in the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) “World Robotics; Service Robotics, 2011”.

Customers who purchase their public use robotic and interactive science and art exhibits include World-Class Science Centers, Museums, Universities, NASA, Royalty, Foreign & Domestic Governments, the Film Industries for inclusion in media productions, etc. They specialize in Cybernetics, Bionics, Mechatronics, Autonomics, Animatronics & Teleoperated devices.

In 2010 MRISAR purchased a disused 36,000 sq. ft. school complex, surrounded by 10 acres on the plains of North Dakota and relocated their business there. They also began the slow transformation of the complex into “The earth’s only World-Class, Public Accessible: Interactive, Robotics, Technology, Invention, Art & Nature Center” that incorporates “Responsible Technologies”, “In House” Invention Labs and Production Workshops for R&D projects and world-class educational exhibits. The project goals are to solve real world issues, inspire, educate and to provide guidance and collaboration. MRISAR’s goals in creating such a center are to share their experience with such projects as an example of the potential of the human mind and spirit when it is focused on creativity and care for others to the benefit of the world and its people, through both complicated projects and simple acts of kindness. They wish to encourage others to explore their own beneficial potentials, ideals and abilities and to develop practical solutions to problems of the current day and future.

Description of MRISAR’s “Interactive; Robotics, Technology, Invention, Art & Nature Center”.

1- Our 7,000 sq. ft. Exhibit Hall will feature; our standard line of interactive robotic & technology exhibits that we sell to Centers world-wide and our exclusive collection of robotic exhibits & devices that we will not sell to anyone else. Our talking Rail Robot Guide will lead visitors through the exhibit hall. Interact with our innovative, lifelike, futuristic, Robotic creations. Examples; Play with & feed Artificial Life forms in a Robot Zoo! Challenge robots with your human intelligence! Interact with otherworldly artistic, interactive, robotic sculptures! It will also feature Responsible Technologies.

2- Our Art Galleries will display the hundreds of pieces of family friendly, original 2D, 3D and Interactive Art that our team has already created, plus have revolving Family Oriented Local Artists Exhibitions.

3- The surrounding 10 acres is slowly being transformed into an Outdoor Interactive Art & Nature Area that will be filled with paths, trees, gardens and kinetic & interactive, solar & wind, technological art sculptures. The emphasis is edible, medicinal & organic landscapes that promote sustainability & health. As of 2015 over 3,000 edible and medicinal trees and shrubs have been planted.

4- We will provide “Special Tours” of behind the scenes areas. Examples are; (a) our Humanitarian & Environmental Research & Development Think Tank Invention labs that feature our R & D Projects. (b) the actual workshops where the attractions are created (similar to visiting the workshops & creations of Jim Henson’s creature shop). (c) a behind the scenes view of the production studio for the web series we are creating called the “Mysterious Lab of Robotics” (our robotic version of “Bill Nye the Science Guy” or “Beakman’s World”). (d) a chance to meet MRISAR’s internationally renowned robotics R & D team. A four member family team who since 2000 has designed, fabricated & marketed the earth’s largest selection of world-class robotic exhibits. The 2 youngest members joined the team as preschoolers.

5- “Public Enrichment Events”. Examples are; (a) special overnight events called “A Night with the Robots” (available no-where else in the world). Families can make reservations to spend the night on the center floor in sleeping bags or cots and experience special robotic demonstrations in a futuristic atmosphere. In recent years “A Night at the Museum” events have become very popular and highly accepted. (b) special classes on robotics for the general public. (c) Robotics Competitions. We are already providing technical assistance to teachers and academic establishments (both in the state and outside of the country), that are trying to enter robotic competitions, but lack the knowledge to fully instruct and inspire their students. A natural progression for this, once we are open for tourism, would be to offer to hold regional, national and international competitions at our location. (d) International conferences regarding Robotics and Beneficial R & D Conferences. (e) Collaborations, enrichment classes and internships in enhanced technologies with higher academic establishments; combining elements such as Cybernetics, Bionics, Mechatronics, Autonomics, Animatronics & Teleoperation.

6- Admission will be free to the underprivileged. We hope to inspire the upcoming generation to create careers in responsible technologies that improve the quality of life.

7- The proceeds from the Center will help fund our R & D and further our creation of a “Prototype Environment, low cost, low impact, self-sustaining, alternative energy powered, Humanitarian R&D Institute with Think Tank Invention labs”. Our purpose is to invent and present responsible, low cost and easy to implement, beneficial humanitarian and environmental based technologies and methods that assist with social, ecological, sustainable and economic solutions. Accomplishing the prototype environment alone requires R&D of new technologies & improvement of existing technologies.

Areas of MRISAR’s current beneficial R&D are: Rehabilitation Robotics, Medical Electronics, Medical Basics, Dental, Waste Management, Alternative Energy, Energy Conservation, Human Augmentation, Guidance Systems, Emergency, Surveillance & Security Devices & Systems, Aerospace, Digital Electronics, General Robotics, Prototype Self-sustaining Environments, Telepresence , Telemanipulators, Water Purification, Manmade Disaster Cleanup, Agriculture, Scientific Alternative Healing, Innovative Economics, Housing Innovations. 

DISTINCTION FOR CATEGORY 1

©Paul Beuchat; See also bit.ly/snsf_comp_copy

This drone is controlled by algorithms that enable it to fly autonomously. “The hand represents the human component, responsible for creating the algorithms and breathing life into the machine, which is represented implicitly by the space between the hand and the quadcopter,” said the researcher.

JURY COMMENT: The research and development involved in manufacturing such an elaborate piece of technology can be felt by the scientist as an act of creation.

--

My research field is Automatic Control and hence the object of my research is algorthims for autonomous decision making. The photo depicts a Crazyflie 2.0 nano-quadcopter with 3 reflective markers that are used for Localisation via a motion capture system. The hand in the photo respresents the human element in the creation of the algorithms that the quadcopter uses for decision making. The object of study, the algorithm, is thus implied as the gap between the hand and the quadcopter, it connects and it separates the human and the machine.

What came first, autonomy or localisation? The answer of course is both and neither. For example, our strive towards autonomous vehicles drives the development of novel sensing technologies, which in turn will become ubiquitous and inspire new concepts for autonomy. My research focuses on novel methods for a swarm of robots to make decisions independently, while ensuring that their individual actions are synchronised towards achieving a common goal. Thus, to see my research in the photo you must focus on the space linking the hand and the flying robot. The hand represents the spark of human creativity that is required to breathe life into the robots of today and the future. The quadcopter is an example of a robot that is awe-inspiring to gaze at, and most important to realise is that the embodiment of a robot gives it life to inspire researchers in unexpected ways. It is this collaboration linking human and machine that brings forth improvement. In closing, to contrast with a phrase that is now commonplace yet elusive to define, I like to refer to my research field as Agumented Intelligence (AI). ¦ Image#1_40

Images of some of the original Interactive Robotic Exhibits that MRISAR’s R&D Team has designed and fabricated.

MRISAR’s World-Class “Interactive; Robotics, Technology, Invention, Art & Nature Center”. At this time in our transformation, Public Admission is by Appointment Only!

In 2010 MRISAR, (a business that has Designed, Fabricated & Marketed the Earth’s Largest Selection of “Internationally Renowned & Awarded, World-Class Robotics Exhibits & Devices”; and “Hands On” Scientific, Technological & Interactive Art Exhibits), purchased a disused school on the plains of North Dakota and relocated to it. Profit from their International Exhibit Sales helps fund their Humanitarian R&D and the transformation of the 36,000 sq. ft. complex, surrounded by 10 acres in North Dakota, into a World-Class “Interactive, Robotics, Technology, Invention, Art & Nature Center”.

Description of MRISAR’s “Interactive; Robotics, Technology, Invention, Art & Nature Center”.

1- Our 7,000 sq. ft. Exhibit Hall will feature; our standard line of interactive robotic & technology exhibits that we sell to Centers world-wide and our exclusive collection of robotic exhibits & devices that we will not sell to anyone else. Our talking Rail Robot Guide will lead visitors through the exhibit hall. Interact with our innovative, lifelike, futuristic, Robotic creations. Examples; Play with & feed Artificial Life forms in a Robot Zoo! Challenge robots with your human intelligence! Interact with otherworldly artistic, interactive, robotic sculptures! It will also feature Responsible Technologies.

2- Our Art Galleries will display the hundreds of pieces of family friendly, original 2D, 3D and Interactive Art that our team has already created, plus have revolving Family Oriented Local Artists Exhibitions.

3- The surrounding 10 acres is slowly being transformed into an Outdoor Interactive Art & Nature Area that will be filled with paths, trees, gardens and kinetic & interactive, solar & wind, technological art sculptures. The emphasis is edible, medicinal & organic landscapes that promote sustainability & health. As of 2015 over 3,000 edible and medicinal trees and shrubs have been planted.

4- We will provide “Special Tours” of behind the scenes areas. Examples are; (a) our Humanitarian & Environmental Research & Development Think Tank Invention labs that feature our R & D Projects. (b) the actual workshops where the attractions are created (similar to visiting the workshops & creations of Jim Henson’s creature shop). (c) a behind the scenes view of the production studio for the web series we are creating called the “Mysterious Lab of Robotics” (our robotic version of “Bill Nye the Science Guy” or “Beakman’s World”). (d) a chance to meet MRISAR’s internationally renowned robotics R & D team. A four member family team who since 2000 has designed, fabricated & marketed the earth’s largest selection of world-class robotic exhibits. The 2 youngest members joined the team as preschoolers.

5- “Public Enrichment Events”. Examples are; (a) special overnight events called “A Night with the Robots” (available no-where else in the world). Families can make reservations to spend the night on the center floor in sleeping bags or cots and experience special robotic demonstrations in a futuristic atmosphere. In recent years “A Night at the Museum” events have become very popular and highly accepted. (b) special classes on robotics for the general public. (c) Robotics Competitions. We are already providing technical assistance to teachers and academic establishments (both in the state and outside of the country), that are trying to enter robotic competitions, but lack the knowledge to fully instruct and inspire their students. A natural progression for this, once we are open for tourism, would be to offer to hold regional, national and international competitions at our location. (d) International conferences regarding Robotics and Beneficial R & D Conferences. (e) Collaborations, enrichment classes and internships in enhanced technologies with higher academic establishments; combining elements such as Cybernetics, Bionics, Mechatronics, Autonomics, Animatronics & Teleoperation.

6- Admission will be free to the underprivileged. We hope to inspire the upcoming generation to create careers in responsible technologies that improve the quality of life.

7- The proceeds from the Center will help fund our R & D and further our creation of a “Prototype Environment, low cost, low impact, self-sustaining, alternative energy powered, Humanitarian & Environmental Research & Development institute with Think Tank Invention labs”. Our purpose is to invent and present responsible, low cost and easy to implement, beneficial humanitarian and environmental based technologies and methods that assist with social, ecological, sustainable and economic solutions. Accomplishing the prototype environment alone requires research & development of new technologies & improvement of existing technologies.

We have Designed, Fabricated & Marketed the Earth’s Largest Selection of "Internationally Renowned & Awarded" World-Class Robotics Exhibits & Devices; and “Hands On” Scientific, Technological & Interactive Art Exhibits. Our innovative, interactive, inexpensive, durable & easy to maintain creations incorporate interactive technologies & designs for people with disabilities and other special needs. We also provide our own Educational Kits & Materials for K thru 12/College & University level curriculums.

Our Exhibit Sales Customers include World-Class Science Centers, Museums, Universities, NASA, Royalty, Foreign & Domestic Governments, the Film Industries for inclusion in media productions, etc. We specialize in Cybernetics, Bionics, Mechatronics, Autonomics, Animatronics & Teleoperated devices.

Our Humanitarian & Environmental Research & Development has been presented before and/or published and awarded by: the United Nations, NASA-Emhart, Stanford, Cambridge, ICORR, ROMAN, IEEE, Discover Awards, International Federation of Robotics (IFR), etc. Our 1990's circa, original innovative R & D in "Facial Feature Controlled Technology" and "Artificial Sense of Touch Technology" (Adaptive Technology prototypes for the disabled), has helped pioneer those fields! We were the only company in the world to be awarded an entire chapter regarding our work in the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) “World Robotics; Service Robotics, 2011”.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The roots of the Estonian Air Force go back to the Russian revolution of February 1917, after which the Estonian state obtained a degree of autonomy within Russia, which included the establishment of national armed forces. Thus many Estonians in the Russian Army returned home to take up arms for their homeland. The Estonian Declaration of Independence in early 1918 was not recognized by Germany, which invaded and occupied the country during 1918. The Estonian armed forces were disbanded.

Plans to acquire Spitfires and Lysanders from Britain were thwarted when the outbreak of World War II in 1939 forced Britain to cancel all export orders. After the defeat of Poland, Estonia was forced to accept a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, signed on 28 September 1939. This allowed the Russians to establish military bases in Estonia, which were later used in the Winter War against Finland. On 17 June 1940 the three Baltic States were invaded by Soviet forces. During the June 1940 invasion the Air Defence took no action and subsequently aircraft remained locked in their hangars. The air force became the Aircraft Squadron of the 22nd Territorial Corps of the Soviet Army in the summer of 1940.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 25 ft 4 in (7.72 m)

Wingspan: 33 ft 2 in (10.11 m)

Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)

Wing area: 293 ft² (27.22 m²)

Empty weight: 1,960 lb (890 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 2,885 lb (1,310 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Jupiter V 9-cylinder radial engine, 480 hp (345 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 165 kn (190 mph, 305 km/h) at sea level

Range: 271 nmi (310 mi, 500 km)

Service ceiling: 27,000 ft (8,230 m)

Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (10.480 m/min)

Endurance: 1 hour 20 minutes

Climb to 10,000 ft: 6 min 20 sec

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns

Provision for up to 4× 20 lb (9 kg) bombs under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

I had bought an incomplete Matchbox A.W. Siskin kit a while ago, but lacked a good idea. This eventually came when I searched through the decal stack and came cross a Blue Rider sheet with Estonian triangles (see below) - and thought that an Estonian Siskin could be a good and exotic use. This was quite plausible because the Baltic country actually operated the type before WWII.

However, for a more whiffy touch, and in order to replace some missing parts, a few conversions had to be made. One modification concerns the landing gear, which had to be improvised; the struts came from a Revell Sopwith Triplane, IIRC, and the wheels from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator.

The engine was replaced, too, with a Bristol Jupiter from a Mistercraft PZL P.7 fighter, and a leftover propeller from a Matchbox Gloster Gladiator. While the new engine appears a little large, the whole affair looks quite plausible and would even allow a free field of fire for the cowling-mounted, original armament.

Otherwise the simple but pleasant kit was built OOB. Rigging was done with heated black sprue material, glued into place with white glue after painting and decaling.

Painting and markings:

Well, there were not many Estonian aircraft, and most from the inter-war era seemed to carry a NMF/aluminium dope finish. I was able to dig up a profile of an Estonian Siskin IIIDC trainer, and it also shows some dark green round the cockpit area.

I used this as a starting point for a more camouflaged finish, also inspired by Latvian and Swedish Gloster Gladiators of that era, with dark green (FS 34079) upper surfaces, combined with aluminium dope on the undersides. In order to liven things up a little I also added an RAF Dark Green (ModelMaster) area in front of the cockpit, inspired by the Matchbox box art – but the different green tones are hard to tell apart.

Some metal panels were painted with Aluminium (Revell 99), while the fabric-covered areas, incl. the wings' undersides, were painted with Humbrol 56. The upper wing’s supporting struts were painted in black, as well as the cockpit interior – even though the latter is blocked by the pilot figure.

The Estonian national markings come from a Blue Rider sheet and actually belong to a modern 1:72 An-2. The tactical code was created with two layers of white over black single digits from TL Modellbau, creating a fake shadow effect for a better contrast. In order to liven things up a little more, I also a small unit badge to the fuselage flank under the cockpit, even though this was not typical for Estonian Air Force aircraft.

Some light dry-brushing with light grey was done in order to emphasize the nice surface structure of the Matchbox kit. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

A relatively simple build, but the overall result looks quite convincing, despite the exotic markings and the large diameter engine from the PZL P.7. Made me wonder what an Estonian Spitfire – had it been delievered – might have looked like? Hmmm…

via Instagram bit.ly/2XOBbdf

31st May 2016 - Meet the Author: European Youth Forum Report: Social Inclusion & Autonomy. OECD, Paris, France.

Marianna Georgallis, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, European Youth Forum

Allan Päll, Secretary General, European Youth Forum

Photo: OECD/Christian Moutarde

Autonomy etalk’s new corporate headquarters focuses on creating an exciting, hip, and fun space that highlights their software-based products and corporate culture. Special Attention was paid to the lobby and show center to illustrate etalk’s “Meaning Based Computing” system. In the lobby and boardroom, customers enjoy open views to the Dallas Cultural District below. The views are only interrupted by a large fish tank dividing the lobby from the boardroom. Large scale artwork adds dramatic colors to the space and provides an extra touch of fun. To balance these bright colors, a natural color palette was chosen, and texture and materials were carefully selected to create an elegant space, as evidenced by the stone flooring and wool carpeting.

Change management was a critical step in achieving success on this project. The existing employee workstations required a large footprint and included high, enclosed panels. The solution for the new space was to use a 120-degree furniture system with low panels to provide a more efficient real estate solution.

Fun and multifunctional spaces were used throughout to give employees and managers places to explore and collaborate on the next generation of new ideas. For example, a new breakroom/dining/meeting space was designed to include the opportunity for friendly Xbox competitions among employees. Autonomy etalk has found that these community spaces are bringing people together and boosting productivity.

Autonomy etalk’s new corporate headquarters focuses on creating an exciting, hip, and fun space that highlights their software-based products and corporate culture. Special Attention was paid to the lobby and show center to illustrate etalk’s “Meaning Based Computing” system. In the lobby and boardroom, customers enjoy open views to the Dallas Cultural District below. The views are only interrupted by a large fish tank dividing the lobby from the boardroom. Large scale artwork adds dramatic colors to the space and provides an extra touch of fun. To balance these bright colors, a natural color palette was chosen, and texture and materials were carefully selected to create an elegant space, as evidenced by the stone flooring and wool carpeting.

Change management was a critical step in achieving success on this project. The existing employee workstations required a large footprint and included high, enclosed panels. The solution for the new space was to use a 120-degree furniture system with low panels to provide a more efficient real estate solution.

Fun and multifunctional spaces were used throughout to give employees and managers places to explore and collaborate on the next generation of new ideas. For example, a new breakroom/dining/meeting space was designed to include the opportunity for friendly Xbox competitions among employees. Autonomy etalk has found that these community spaces are bringing people together and boosting productivity.

Campions 2022

Source: livinghistories.newcastle.edu.au/nodes/view/54384

Procession through Newcastle on Autonomy Day, University of Newcastle, NSW Australia, 1967.

Replica seahorse and R. Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome replica at head of procession.

Shops in background:

Spectacles Centre - Northern Spectacle & Optical Co. Pty Ltd

Shipmates Beach Hut

Shipmates Sugar and Spice

Dairy Frost Pies

More information about Autonomy Day is available at uoncc.wordpress.com/2007/07/26/universitys-grant-of-arms-....

The original colour slide was taken by Ross Smith, and is published here with his permission.

Source: livinghistories.newcastle.edu.au/nodes/view/54378

Procession along Hunter Street Newcastle on Autonomy Day, University of Newcastle, NSW Australia, 1967.

A.F. Toll Pty Ltd truck carrying Art School students and placards reading:

BOOF ART

ART FOR 20c

KEEP BARK IN BLACKBUTT

LOAFERS UNITE HELP STAMP OUT OUR

More information about Autonomy Day is available at uoncc.wordpress.com/2007/07/26/universitys-grant-of-arms-....

This photograph was taken by Ross Smith, and is published here with his permission.