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EXPLORING EUROPE (10 of 10)

Turkey, where Europe meets Asia

Tour guide, writer and photographer: Aage Myhre
aage.myhre@VilNews.com

Today’s journey:

From there it was only a short distance through the Bosporus Strait until Istanbul, or Miklagard (‘The Great City’) as they named the city – at that time the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, with hundreds of thousands of residents and colossal treasures the Vikings had never seen before.

Huge walls met them when they sailed in here from the Black Sea and docked in the harbour of the Golden Horn. The huge wealth made contemporary Istanbul a tempting prey for the Vikings, but the size made them chose to go into service of the emperor instead of trying to conquer the city. He appointed them to a guard of mercenaries, known as 'The Varings.'  Their most famous chief was Harald Hardrada (1015 - 1066), half brother to the Norwegian king Olav who was killed in the famous Battle of Stiklestad outside Trondheim in the year 1030. Harald became king of Norway in the year 1046. During the seven years he was here in Miklagard, he had a comet career and was named the top-commander of the The Varings. From Constantinople he led a total of 18 major battles around the Mediterranean Sea, such as against Sicily and North Africa. He conquered no less than 80 cities.

The Viking era in Istanbul came to an end after 344 years(!) here on the banks of the Bosporus, in 1204, when the Crusaders conquered the city.

From my terrace I look over to the mosque that was once the world’s largest church building, Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom Church). It was completed in the year 537. On one of the pillars is written, clearly visible to this day, 'Halvdan was here'. Carved into the pillar-marble in the contemporary Norse language, the Runes, some time at the end of the 800's. Think about it. A Norwegian Viking was behind the world's first graffiti ...

Down at the Bosporus shore I see the lavishly beautiful Dolmabahce Palace. It was there in the palace he died in 1938, Turkey's first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938). Founder of the country as a republic and a modern, democratic society, a revolutionary and wise statesman, who more than any other has made Turkey a tolerant nation where the country's many nationalities and religions generally live in peaceful coexistence. Probably also the best guarantor for conflict management in the Middle East. It is said that Turkey is the very barometer of how the state of peace and harmony in the world. Atatürk's famous epigram, "Peace in the home country, peace in the world" still applies.

My international family gathered at Hotel Conrad's rooftop in Istanbul. Phenomenal views of the Bosporus and the Asian part of the city. Lithuanian, Iranian, American and Norwegian in perfect harmony!

Istanbul

Istanbul is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province (municipality) had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe (including the Asian side of the city) after London and Moscow. Istanbul is a megacity, as well as the cultural, economic, and financial centre of Turkey. It is located on the Bosporus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosporus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents. Istanbul is a designated alpha world city.

During its long history, Istanbul has served as the capital of the Roman Empire (330–395), the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). When the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed on 29 October 1923, Ankara, which had previously served as the headquarters of the Turkish national movement during the Turkish War of Independence, was chosen as the new Turkish State's capital. Istanbul was chosen as a joint European Capital of Culture for 2010 and the European Capital of Sports for 2012. Istanbul is currently bidding to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. The historic areas of the city were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province

Istanbul is nothing but amazing

Water and land are living together in great harmony here in Istanbul.
A captivating beautiful, ancient, modern city.
Photo: Aage Myhre

Galatia, in the centre of today’s Turkey, was a
Biblical land of Celts from Ireland and Britain

The Roman province Galatia in Asia Minor.

During the time of St. Paul people here spoke Galatian, an extinct Celtic language spoken from the 3rd century BC up to at least the 4th century AD, although ancient sources suggest it was still spoken in the 6th century.

During nine centuries the Galatians lived here in the mountainous areas of Asia Minor. They were Celts who had come all the way from Ireland and Britain to settle.

They were the people Apostle Paul wrote two letters to, both ‘published’ the New Testament of the Holy Bible.

Apostle Paul went on foot from Istanbul to his birthplace Tarsus in southern Turkey, now called Yalvac (Psidian Antioch). It was here in today’s southern Turkey that Paul and Barnabus lived, and from here introduced Christianity to our pagan world. Yalvacs history dates back to 280 BC. In Paul's time the area had a mixture of Jews, Romans and Greeks.

The many people movements through the history of mankind never cease to surprise me. It might well have been that it was through the Galatians that Christianity came to north Europe.

Reaching the Mediterranean Sea

The sun has already disappeared into the evening azure Mediterranean Sea as we slowly descend towards Antalya. I can still easily study the pine-clad Taurus Mountains, sloping down towards the sparkling clear sea outside the irregular coastline of rocky headlands and secluded coves. It is said that Antalya is bathed in sunshine 300 days a year. It is therefore not surprising that this is a tourist paradise with a focus on sunbathing, swimming and water sports. But Antalya also has a large number of historical sites, beautiful mosques and much more scattered in the surrounding landscape characterized by pine forests, olive and citrus trees, palms, avocado and banana plantations.

This is the fascinating backdrop to my visit. I have come to Antalya to participate in the inauguration of a so-called "Religious Garden" which will include a mosque, a church and a synagogue, designed to beautifully symbolize the glorious history of many nationalities and religions living side by side here in Turkey since historic times.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has arrived from Ankara to perform the official opening, and as he opens this complex of Muslim, Christian and Jewish places of worship, he emphasizes that his government will eliminate all remaining obstacles to religious freedom in Turkey.

During the subsequent dinner, the Prime Minister tells us that religious tolerance in Turkey is a legacy from the Ottoman Empire. He cites the regulations that once upon a time were introduced by Mehmet the Conqueror, the sultan who captured Istanbul in 1453, that the Ottoman Empire would always show respect for non-Muslims."Because of this significant historical experience, Turkey is currently a guarantor of peace and brotherhood in this region," concludes Prime Minister Erdogan.

Netherlands’ 'European Affairs Ministers', Atzo Nikolai, and members of the diplomatic community in Ankara and religious leaders representing Turkish, Greek, Armenian and Jewish minorities participate in the ceremony. Applaud the Prime Minister's speech.

"People will be able to freely practice their religion in this Garden of Tolerance. This is a very important message," says AtzoNikolai, and adds: "The EU will continue to encourage reforms in Turkey. It will probably still be frictions sometimes but the reforms Turkey has undertaken are encouraging. "

Leaders of Turkey's non-Muslim minorities support the opening of the new "Garden of Religions", but not without acerbic remarks about legal matters that increasingly restrict their activities. "Catholics are able to practice their religion in Turkey, but has no property rights over their own churches. I hope we will get this right one day," said Father Alphonse Sammut, a representative of the Catholic church in the country.

The Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Mesrob II, emphasizes that non-Muslim places of worship as soon as possible should be opened in all major Turkish cities. "This should be done either by renovating historical sites or to build new ones such as the one here," he says.

That evening I walk along one of the endless, soft Antalya beaches, listening to the lazy waves that slowly wash in from the Mediterranean Sea. A clear, dark sky with billions of twinkling stars arches over me. Almost reflecting the dramatic historical events that have taken place in this area through more than 2000 years. I wonder about tolerance, religious freedom, brotherhood and peace can really begin to grow out from here to neighbouring countries in the Middle East, where war and hatred still dominate...

That evening I walk along one of the endless, soft Antalya beaches, listening to the lazy waves that slowly wash in from the Mediterranean Sea.
Photo: Aage Myhre.

The Ottoman Empire

Europe in 1430, when The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire both were leading forces.
The Ottoman Empire was a Turkish empire which lasted from 27 July 1299 to 29 October 1923. Grand Duchy of Lithuania) was a European state from the 12th century until 1795. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija. The duchy later expanded to include large portions of the former Kievan Rus' and other Slavic lands, covering the territory of present-day Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and parts of Moldova, Poland, Russia and Ukraine. At its greatest extent in the 15th century, it was the largest state in Europe. It was a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state with great diversity in languages, religion, and cultural heritage.

The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and longest lasting empires in history; such that the Ottoman State, its politics, conflicts, and cultural heritage in a vast geography provide one of the longest continuous narratives. During the 16th and 17th centuries, in particular at the height of its power under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the empire became the most powerful state in the world – a multinational, multilingual empire that stretched from the southern borders of the Holy Roman Empire (until the outskirts of Vienna), Royal Hungary (modern Slovakia) and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the north to Yemen and Eritrea in the south; from Algeria in the west to Azerbaijan in the east; controlling much of southeast Europe, western Asia, and North Africa. The empire contained 29 provinces and numerous vassal states, some of which were later absorbed into the empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries.

With Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), and vast control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, the empire was at the center of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for six centuries.

After the international recognition of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNA) headquartered in Ankara, by means of the Treaty of Lausanne signed on 24 July 1923, the GNA proclaimed on 29 October 1923 the establishment of the Republic of Turkey as the new Turkish State that succeeded and formally ended the defunct Ottoman Empire, in line with the treaty. The Ottoman Caliphate was abolished on 3 March 1924.

Turkey is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in South-eastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.

Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.

Myra, Turkey – where Santa was born

(sorry Finland...)

St. Nicholas, who later became known as Santa Claus, was a popular bishop at Myra in the 4th century AD, born in Patara between 260 AD and 280, famous for his miracles and known for his kindness.  His parents died of the plague and he was left a wealthy young man.

It is said that he was thrown into prison by Emperor Diocletian, perhaps participated in the Council of Nicaea, implored Emperor Constantine for a large tax reduction for Myra which was granted and destroyed Myra's renowned temple of Artemis (among many others).  After the death of St. Nicholas, Myra became a rich pilgrimage centre with many new churches built.

St. Nicholas' cult spread beyond the Byzantine Empire in the 6th -11th centuries, celebrated especially in Holland and the East Church under Russian imperial patronage.  He later became the patron saint of Greece and Russia as well as of children, sailors, merchants, scholars, those unjustly imprisoned and travellers.

St. Nicholas was known for his charitable nature and humility.  Several legends about him have been based on his kind and giving nature and have led to the development of Santa Claus.

For more information about St. Nicholas, see the website St. Nicholas: Discovering the Truth About Santa Claus.

Myra was a leading city of the Lycian Union and surpassed Xanthos in early Byzantine times to become the capital city of Lycia.  Its remains are situated about 1.5 km north of today's Demre, on the Kaş-Finike road. Most of the ancient city is now covered by Demre and alluvial silts, for it is located on the river Demre Cay in a fertile alluvial plain.  Today this large plain is almost covered with greenhouses stuffed full of tomatoes.  In ancient times this area was probably farmed extensively, for export and trade with the interior of Lycia.

The date of Myra's foundation is unknown.  There is no literary mention of it before the 1st century BC, when it is said to be one of the six leading cities of the Lycian Union (the other five were Xanthos, Tlos, Pinara, Patara and Olympos).  It is believed to date back much further however, as an outer defensive wall has been dated to the 5th century BC.

The city is well known for its amphitheatre (the largest in Lycia) and the plethora of rock-cut tombs carved in the cliff above the theatre.

Myra once had a great temple of the goddess Artemis Eleuthera (a distinctive form of Cybele, the ancient mother goddess of Anatolia), said to be Lycia's largest and most splendid building.  It was built on large grounds with beautiful gardens and had an inner court defined by columns, an altar and a statue of the goddess.  Not a trace of it remains today, however, since St. Nicholas (the bishop of Myra in the 4th century AD) in his zeal to stamp out paganism in the region, had the temple of Artemis, along with many other temples, completely destroyed.  See more about St. Nicholas below.

In Roman times the emperor Germanicus and his wife Agrippina paid Myra a visit in 18 AD and were honoured with statues of themselves erected in Myra's harbour (Andriace, located 5 km southwest of Myra).

St. Paul changed ships at Myra's port on his way to his trial in Rome, in about 60 AD, after he had been arrested in Jerusalem after being charged with inciting to riot.  Andriace was a chief port for Egyptian vessels passing through the area; Egypt was the breadbasket of the Roman Empire and the imperial government had a fleet of grain ships that carried grain to Rome and other parts of the Empire.  Andriace was a major trans-shipment point for grain from Alexandria - grain came from the plain near Myra, and was also possibly brought in by boats, to be shipped onwards from Lycia.  It is likely that Paul made the trip to Rome on a grain ship as these were often used to transport passengers as well.

People I’ve met in Turkey

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My views of Mediterranean Turkey

Bosporus – between Asia & Europe

Hanseatic ships from Germany, Scandinavia and other European countries sailed during the 13^th – 17^th
centuries precisely here, along the endless, white sand beaches that so significantly
characterize the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Baltic Sea coast.
Photo: Aage Myhre

EXPLORING EUROPE (8 of 10)

A Hanseatic route

through the Baltic States

Tour guide, writer and photographer: Aage Myhre
aage.myhre@VilNews.com

Today’s tour:

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe. It stretched from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period (c. 13th–17th centuries).

The League was created to protect commercial interests and privileges granted by foreign rulers in cities and countries the merchants visited. The Hanseatic cities had their own legal system and furnished their own protection and mutual aid. Despite this, the organization was not a city-state, nor can it be called a confederation of city-states; only a very small number of the cities within the league enjoyed autonomy and liberties comparable to those of a free imperial city.

Estonian and Latvian cities reaped huge profits from Hanseatic trade. Their connections to the Hansa were stronger than Lithuanian contacts because there were a large proportion of Germans in Livonia. Lithuania, on the other hand, retained its independence as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually came under Polish rule. German settlers were unwelcome in Lithuania and local peasants had more control over their own lands and product than in Livonia, where higher profits could be made by Hansamerchants. Nonetheless, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an important supplier of agricultural products and forest products from the banks of the Daugava to the Hansathrough the Livonian Hansa port at Riga..

Lübeck in northern Germany became a main base for merchants from Saxony and Westphalia trading eastward and northward. Well before the term Hanse appeared in a document (1267), merchants in different cities began to form guilds or Hansa with the intention of trading with towns overseas, especially in the economically less-developed eastern Baltic. This area was a source of timber, wax, amber, resins, furs, along with rye and wheat brought down on barges from the hinterland to port markets. The towns raised their own armies, with each guild being required to provide levies when needed. The Hanseatic cities came to each other's aid, and commercial ships often had to be used to carry soldiers and their arms.

Lübeck's location on the Baltic provided access for trade with Scandinavia and Kiev Rus, putting it in direct competition with the Scandinavians who had previously controlled most of the Baltic trade routes. A treaty with the Visby Hansa put an end to competition: through this treaty the Lübeck merchants also gained access to the inland Russian port of Novgorod, where they built a trading post or Kontor. Other such alliances formed throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Yet the League never became a closely managed formal organisation. Assemblies of the Hanseatic towns met irregularly in Lübeck for a Hansetag (Hanseatic Diet), from 1356 onwards, but many towns chose not to send representatives and decisions were not binding on individual cities. Over time, the network of alliances grew to include a flexible roster of 70 to 170 cities.

Riga joined the Hanseatic League in 1282, and become the first Hanseatic City in Livonia. Tallinn was the next Livonian city to join the group. In Lithuania, local merchants were subject to the laws of the grand Duchy of Lithuania and were free to conduct trade with Hansa merchants, but the Hansa merchants found it difficult to secure a monopoly on Lithuanian trade. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was hostile to the Germans after attempts at conquest. Tariffs were exacted at the Lithuanian borders with Poland and Livonia. Hansa merchants were tolerated, if they paid their tariffs, and developed trade routes through Lithuania all the way down to the Bug river where the Ukraine is today.

At the start of the 16th century, the League found itself in a weaker position than it had known for many years. The rising Swedish Empire had taken control of much of the Baltic. Denmark had regained control over its own trade, the Kontor in Novgorod had closed, and the Kontor in Bruges had become effectively moribund. The individual cities which made up the League had also started to put self-interest before their common Hanseatic interests. Finally, the political authority of the German princes had started to grow—and so to constrain the independence of action which the merchants and Hanseatic towns had enjoyed. By the late 16th century, the League had imploded and could no longer deal with its own internal struggles, the social and political changes that accompanied the Protestant Reformation, the rise of Dutch and English merchants, and the incursion of the Ottoman Empire upon its trade routes and upon the Holy Roman Empire itself. Only nine members attended the last formal meeting in 1669 and only three (Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen) remained as members until its final demise in 1862.

Tallinn, capital city of Estonia, was the northernmost city of the Hanseatic League.
Photo: Wikipedia.

Estonia is the northernmost Baltic State. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation (338.6 km). Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia covers 45,227 km2 (17,462 sq mi), and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. The Estonians are a Finnic people, and the official language Estonian, is closely related to Finnish.

Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic divided into 15 counties. The capital and largest city is Tallinn. With a population of 1.34 million, Estonia is one of the least-populous members of the European Union, Eurozone and NATO. Estonia has the highest GDP per person among former Soviet republics. Estonia is listed as a "High-Income Economy" by the World Bank, as an "advanced economy" by the International Monetary Fund and the country is an OECD member. The United Nations lists Estonia as a developed country with a Human Development Index of "Very High". The country is also ranked highly for press freedom, economic freedom, democracy and political freedom and education.

There are seven Hanseatic League towns in Estonia and each summer everyone is welcome to join the Hanseatic Days which recreate the spirit of that era.  On Hanseatic days people dress up in medieval clothing, cook medieval food and play medieval games and music. Handmade goods are offered at the medieval market. Masters demonstrate, and apprentices learn, how to make things using leather, wool, rope, cloth, wood, twigs and clay. These sessions are a lot of fun and highly educational – perfect for families.

Tallinn’s St. Olaf's church was the tallest building in the world between 1549 and 1625.

Tallinn – the medieval 'Danish town’ that had the world's first Christmas tree

Tallinn means supposedly ‘The Walled Danish City 'in Estonian.
Photo: Tourism.tallinn.ee.

It was in 1219 that Danish crusaders, under the command of King Valdemar II (the victorious), won the crucial battle over Estonia’s pagans. During the last phase of this battle, says the legend, God gave the Danes the win by letting a red banner with a white cross fall from the sky, over the hard-pressed Crusaders. Inspired by this 'divine miracle' the Danes strength came back and they won the battle. The Danes are thus still ‘in debt’ to Estonia for its flag, Dannebrog, the world's oldest state flag still in use. The name Tallinn means supposedly the walled Danish city’. In Estonian, the legacy of Denmark lives, even today.

In 1285 Tallinn became the northernmost member of the Hanseatic League, which during the 1300s concerned the Danish kings more and more. The Hanseatic League power grew, and in 1346 the Danes ‘gave in’ and sold Tallinn, along with large areas of land in northern Estonia, to the Teutonic Order. The city, with a population of 8000, was at that time very well entrenched within a strong city wall with 66 defense towers.

In contrast to other capitals in Europe, Tallinn managed to preserve the totality and the structures of its medieval and Hanseatic origin. Most of the cobbled streets are still as they once were. Buildings, dated as far back as the 11th century, are preserved in their original form.

The City Hall - Town Hall Square - stands still, after seven centuries, as the ancient, well preserved heart of the city. The City Hall itself, the only intact Gothic town hall in Northern Europe, is now a museum and concert hall.

The Town Hall Square is also known for something Estonians themselves claim is a historical fact, that it was here the world's very first Christmas tree was born. Here Christmas lights were lit already in 1441...

The medieval feeling creeps over me as we walk along the old city wall and its 26 watchtowers. We stop at the narrow Müürivahe Street (near Viru Gate) where the old wall has been preserved in its original form. Further medieval I'm hardly ever.

Jūrmala is a resort town in Latvia, about 25 kilometres west of Riga. Jūrmala is a stretching
32 kilometres (20 mi) along the amazing beaches, with a population of 55,580.
Photo: Wikipedia.

Latvia is the Baltic State 'in the middle'. It is bordered to the north by Estonia (border length 343 km), to the south by Lithuania (588 km), to the east by the Russian Federation (276 km), to the southeast by Belarus (141 km), and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden. With 2,067,887 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi) it is one of the least populous and least densely populated countries of the European Union. The capital of Latvia is Riga. The official language is Latvian and the currency is called Lats (Ls).

The Latvians are a Baltic people, culturally related to the Lithuanians. Together with the Finno-Ugric Livs (or Livonians), the Latvians are the indigenous people of Latvia. Latvian is an Indo-European language and along with Lithuanian the only two surviving members of the Baltic branch. Indigneous minority languages are Latgalian and the nearly extinct Finno-Ugric Livonian language. Latvia and Estonia share a long common history: historical Livonia, times of German, Polish-Lithuanian, Swedish, Russian, Nazi German and Soviet rule, 13th century Christianization and 16th century Protestant Reformation. Both countries are home to a large number of ethnic Russians (26.9% in Latvia and 25.5% in Estonia) of whom some are non-citizens. Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant, except for the region of Latgalia in the southeast which is historically predominantly Roman Catholic.

Latvia is a unitary parliamentary republic and is divided into 118 administrative divisions of which 109 municipalities and 9 cities. There are five planning regions: Courland (Kurzeme), Latgalia (Latgale), Riga (Rīga), Vidzeme and Zemgale. The Republic of Latvia was founded on November 18, 1918. It was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1945–1991 and by Nazi Germany between 1941–1945. The peaceful "Singing Revolution" between 1987 and 1991 and "Baltic Chain" demonstration on August 23, 1989 led to the independence of the Baltic states. Latvia declared the restoration of its de facto independence on August 21, 1991.

Latvia is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Council of Europe, NATO, OSCE, IMF and WTO, and is part of the Schengen Area. It was a member of the League of Nations (1921–1946) and the Baltic Free Trade Area (1994–2004). Latvia is also a member of the Council of the Baltic Sea States and Nordic Investment Bank, and is together with Estonia and Lithuania involved in trilateral Baltic States cooperation and Nordic-Baltic cooperation.

After economic stagnation in the early 1990s, Latvia posted Europe-leading GDP growth figures during 1998–2006. In the global financial crisis of 2008–2010 Latvia was the hardest hit of the European Union member states, with a GDP decline of 26.54% in that period. Commentators noted signs of stabilisation in the Latvian economy by 2010. The United Nations lists Latvia as a country with a Human Development Index (HDI) of "Very High".

Riga – the Hanseatic city that became the world's leading Art Nouveau Centre

The Town Hall Square in Riga.
Photo: Rigalatvia.net.

Riga is the largest Baltic city. Around 700,000 live here. Riga is located at the mouth of the Daugava River, which has functioned as a trade route since ancient days. From here the Viking ships sailed up the rivers on their way to the Caspian Sea and Constantinople, today's Istanbul. Riga's history goes back to the 2nd century, but began to develop as a centre when the Viking trade took off in the early Middle Ages. In 1282 Riga became a member of the Hanseatic League. Hansa was instrumental in giving Riga economic and political stability, and the town has retained its position as the energy point of the Baltic Sea's southeastern shore.

Still today is part of the old wall from the 14th century intact. Most of the wall was originally removed to give the city room for expansion. As for the other two Baltic capitals, the old town is interesting. Soviet buildings outside the city centre is just sad stuff. Just a shame you see them too well when you drive into the old town; where cobbled streets, gabled houses, churches, shops and restaurants are creating a phenomenally warm, good atmosphere.

When I first came here to the old town, in January 1991, it was freezing cold outside. But the Latvians had lit bonfires, many, and made themselves a human wall around the parliament to prevent the Soviet forces, who stood around, to come in. It was while I was in Parliament here that I experienced the Soviet Union's propaganda lies. When I was in the Parliament the 17^th of January 1991, Soviet television reported that their soldiers had taken over the parliament building. I, and many others, were inside the building, listening in disbelief as no single Soviet soldier was to see inside.

At the end of the 1800s, many European traders settled in Riga. They left their distinctive marks on the city, not least by raising many buildings in Art Nouveau style. This was the original French genre reflecting creative freedom; classic elements interwoven with flowing lines and decorative shapes and objects.

Riga is said to contain the largest concentration of Art Nouveau buildings in the world. And the Art Nouveau architecture in Riga is truly fascinating. Many buildings have been restored in full glory, as they were built during the years 1894-1914. There are over 800 Art Nouveau buildings here, which makes it extremely interesting to walk around the streets here. I am overwhelmed by these wonders.

The Hanseatic Riga Port.
Photos: Aage Myhre.

The  Friedricho pasažas (Friedrich passageway) is a unique restaurant complex in

Lithuania’s coastal city Klaipėda.

Photo: Aage Myhre.

Lithuania is the southernmost and largest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and a Russian exclave (Kaliningrad Oblast) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 3.2 million as of 2011, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. The Lithuanians are a Baltic people, and the official language, Lithuanian, is one of only two living languages (together with Latvian) in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.

For centuries, the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea was inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, who was crowned as King of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the first Lithuanian state, on 6 July 1253. During the 14th - 16th century, Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe: present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.

In the aftermath of World War I, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the re-establishment of a sovereign state. Starting in 1940, Lithuania was occupied first by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end in 1944 and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania.

On 11 March 1990, the year before the break-up of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare independence. Prior to the global financial crisis of 2007–2010, Lithuania had one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union. Lithuania is a member of NATO, the Council of Europe, and the European Union. Lithuania is also a full member of the Schengen Agreement. The United Nations Human Development Index lists Lithuania as a "Very High Human Development" country. In 2011, Lithuania hosted the European men's basketball championship, EuroBasket 2011, and the OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting.

Klaipeda – Lithuania's 'German' port city, at the best Baltic Sea beaches

Photo: Aage Myhre.

The image of the Baltic States as dull, gray and Soviet like is very much incorrect. This I learned already during my first visit here in 1990. Still, it surprised me to come to Klaipeda, a city quite different from the other Lithuanian cities. More German looking in a way. I soon learned that the Lithuanian port city once was called Memel and that the area out here on the Baltic Sea coast some time ago belonged to Germany.

A trip from Vilnius to Klaipeda takes less than three hours on the 4-lane motorway. But the difference in architectural style is as if to drive from Florence to Hamburg....

Klaipeda was founded in 1252, and in this old town you can see many, many buildings that each tells stories about the life and development over 700 years. Houses with timber frames and masonry, some pure brick houses, adorn the cobblestone streets side by side. Lithuania's 10 mil-long coast has also the Baltic Sea's most beautiful sandy beaches. The two picturesque tourist towns, Nida and Palanga, are located just a few kilometres away from here.

Photos: Aage Myhre.

Kaunas – the Hanseatic trading point at the Nemunas River

House of Perkunas (God of thunder and the sky), the most original and archaic Gothic
secular building in the Old Town of Kaunas. Originally built by Hanseatic
merchants, serving as their office from 1440 till 1532.

Since the end of the 14th century, Lithuania's trading relationships with Königsberg and, especially, Danzig, which became the most popular of the Hanseatic towns in Northern and Eastern Europe, got increasingly significant. Lithuania and Danzig started their trading relationships already at the end of the 14th century. During Vytautas' term of office, Lithuania and Danzig maintained regular relationships. The waterway Nemunas (Lithuania’s largest river) - Kaunas Sea - Deimė - Prieglius - Aismarės - Vistula was the way transporting cheap staples from Lithuania to Danzig, which greatly profited the intermediates.

In order to improve accessibility of cheap goods, by the advantageous Nemunas quay the Hanseatic counting-house was established. The main outbound goods were wax, fur, leather, wood, mould, tar, and, since the 15th century, grain. What Kaunas used to receive was other goods, such as salt, which could not be substituted, and also ironware and baize. The office was open till the middle of the 16th century, and these were the most glorious and the most venerable times of Western Europe's city Kaunas.

Kaunas is the sole Lithuanian town that belongs to 'The new Hansa Union' that was established in 1980. It is an organisation of economically and politically active member-cities of the old Hanseatic League that aim for close cooperation. At the moment, the organisation unites more than 170 European towns.

Every year, Kaunas presents itself at the annual event of the union "International Hansa Days" by introducing the heritage of cuisine, folk art, music, theatre, etc. Furthermore, since 2005, at the end of August, Kaunas draws crowds of people from the entire Lithuania, who can admire the unique Kaunas Old Town and lose themselves in the Middle Ages, i.e. try armour, play medieval games, taste the old European dishes, listen to the troubadours' songs, wield a sword, enjoy watching the night's sky coloured by amazing fireworks, and a lot more.

The public institution "Hansa Kaunas" and Kaunas local government that organise the festival already for the fourth time have managed to achieve that the festival be known not only in Lithuania but also outside. Now the event has become the priority of the town and it now has gained its face, traditions and lots of devoted supporters.

The festival has broadened: on the stage one can see not only Lithuanian performers but also guest artists from Germany, Poland, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Norway and Holland. Moreover, three documentary films have already been produced. Financing is increased as more and more supporters are found. Appropriations of both the local government and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania have been increased.

Kaunas castle is the oldest masonry castle in Lithuania. It was first mentioned in documents in year 1361.

Since the end of the 14th century, Lithuania's trading relationships with Königsberg and, especially, Danzig, which became the most popular of the Hanseatic towns in Northern and Eastern Europe, got increasingly significant. Lithuania and Danzig started their trading relationships already at the end of the 14th century.
During Vytautas' term of office, Lithuania and Danzig maintained regular relationships. The waterway
Nemunas (Lithuania’s largest river) - Kaunas Sea - Deimė - Prieglius - Aismarės - Vistula was the way transporting cheap staples from Lithuania to Danzig, which greatly profited the intermediates.
Photos: Aage Myhre.

Many tend to think of Russia as a sad and grey country, often forgetting
what a prominent cultural power this nation in fact is.
Photo: Russianballetschool.es

EXPLORING EUROPE (8 of 10)

From east to west

in European Russia

Tour guide: Aage Myhre
aage.myhre@VilNews.com

To Siberia – probably the only one ever going there voluntary, without a visa

I decide to take the chance. Not long after we land in Moscow. Flights from Vilnius still belong to the category domestic, despite the months that have now passed since Lithuania was officially approved as an independent nation, also by Russia. Therefore, no passport control, neither in Vilnius nor on arrival in Moscow. The very long journey around the metropolis, to the other airport, the one that operates flights to the east of Russia, is also fine. Not long after we are smoothly seated in a Yak-42 from the airline Aeroflot. This is a flight I will never forget. There is no food on board, so many of the passengers sit in the aisle to eat food brought along. Not to forget the drinks. The only thing missing is someone lighting a bonfire for cooking or frying food. Passengers have distinctive facial characteristics. Asian, Mongolian. The vodka they generously share with us is very handy in reducing anxiety for what might happen with this incredibly smelly plane...

We land in winter dressed Orenburg a late, dark January evening in 1992. Two meters of snow and very cold. We are picked up by our hosts. One car in front, one behind, we in the middle. There is much here in the Russian wilderness that is about security and protection these days. The dacha, the house, which awaits us there, deep in the Ural forests, is brightly lit, surrounded by high barbed wire fences. German Shepherd Dogs barking persistently. I feel uncomfortable. This gives me associations to a concentration camp, to thge Stalin prison camps further east, on Siberia's frozen tundra. The Gulags.

Inside the house two lightly dressed ladies are waiting in the lavishly decorated dacha that soon proves to be a small luxury hotel. Facial expressions of the young ladies are indescribable when they see that I have brought my wife with me. But the food is good. The same is the French cognac and Scotch whisky they serve us, all 'blue label'.

"Only one western delegation has visited the city before you, namely Swedish Volvo," tells our host. This is a fact that has made them nervous about our safety. They say that a whole 'army' surrounded the runway when we landed. All with sharp loaded Kalashnikov machine guns, ready to protect us. Just in case ... Over the next few days we visit the city's mayor and discuss possible business with the hosts. A total abundance of food and fine beverages always available...

The flight back to Moscow takes place in daytime, in sparkling sun over the endless snow-covered plains and forests west of the Urals. Soon we arrive in Moscow. We check in at the Hotel Metropol right on Red Square. Luxury for $500 per night. But it feels good after the trip to the Siberian gateway. No one checks my papers.

Orenburg winter.
Photo: Shamil Kazakbaevin

Moscow is enormous – a city I do not easily become familiar with

About 10 million people live in Moscow. It makes the city to number seven in the world, largest in Europe.

Moscow is enormous. Everything is big here. Inhuman. The outskirts are characterized by gloomy gray block houses from the Soviet era, while the city centre has many historic and newer buildings that really deserve closer acquaintance.

I have tried several times, but there is something about Moscow as a whole that I never feel comfortable with. The greyness. Doldrums. New rich oligarchs in expensive luxury cars, while the majority is living in rather poor conditions.

The often harsh atmosphere of business at any cost. The country Russia drowns in greed, corruption and fraud. Terribly sad, because Russia has so many good aspects and qualities to be proud of.

Moscow is the city with 'rush hour' round the clock. "Russia has two problems: fools and roads", said author Nikolai Gogol nearly two centuries ago. The Russians have a tendency to protest by saying that there are fools all around the world, but when it comes to roads they agree. Today's traffic is Russia's Achilles heel, a disaster that seems to have no salvation.

Moscow's endless traffic jams have become the icon that defines the Russian capital. More than the Lenin Mausoleum, the prostitutes on Leningradskoe Shosse, and unregistered taxi drivers from various Stan Republics offering services from their abandoned car wrecks.

Kremlin and the Red Square in Moscow.
Photo: Wikipedia.

Russia, officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation, is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the United States by the Bering Strait.

At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms.

A Viking was the first Russian ruler

Two tsars competing with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

During that time a number of regional magnates, in particular Novgorod and Pskov, fought to inherit the cultural and political legacy of Kievan Rus'. After the 13th century, Moscow came to dominate the former cultural centre. In the 15th century, the grand princes of Moscow went on gathering Russian lands to increase the population and wealth under their rule. The most successful practitioner of this process was Ivan III (the Great) who laid the foundations for a Russian national state. Ivan competed with his powerful northwestern rival, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, for control over some of the semi-independent Upper Principalities in the upper Dnieper and Oka River basins.

The development of the Tsar's autocratic powers reached a peak during the reign (1547–1584) of Ivan IV (the Terrible). He strengthened the position of the monarch to an unprecedented degree, as he ruthlessly subordinated the nobles to his will, exiling or executing many on the slightest provocation. Nevertheless, Ivan is often seen as a farsighted statesman who reformed Russia as he promulgated a new code of laws (Sudebnik of 1550), established the first Russian feudal representative body (Zemsky Sobor), curbed the influence of clergy, and introduced the local self-management in rural regions.

Although his long Livonian War for the control of the Baltic coast and the access to sea trade ultimately proved a costly failure, Ivan managed to annex the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia.

By the 18th century, the Grand Duchy of Moscow had become the huge Russian Empire, stretching from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth eastward to the Pacific Ocean. Expansion in the western direction sharpened Russia's awareness of its separation from much of the rest of Europe and shattered the isolation in which the initial stages of expansion had occurred. Successive regimes of the 19th century responded to such pressures with a combination of halfhearted reform and repression. Russian serfdom was abolished in 1861, but its abolition was achieved on terms unfavorable to the peasants and served to increase revolutionary pressures. Between the abolition of serfdom and the beginning of World War I in 1914, the Stolypin reforms, the constitution of 1906 and State Duma introduced notable changes to the economy and politics of Russia, but the tsars were still not willing to relinquish autocratic rule, or share their power.

The Russian revolution in 1917

The Russian Revolution in 1917 was triggered by a combination of economic breakdown, war weariness, and discontent with the autocratic system of government, and it first brought a coalition of liberals and moderate socialists to power, but their failed policies led to seizure of power by the Communist Bolsheviks on 25 October. Between 1922 and 1991, the history of Russia is essentially the history of the Soviet Union, effectively an ideologically based state which was roughly conterminous with the Russian Empire before the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The approach to the building of socialism, however, varied over different periods in Soviet history, from the mixed economy and diverse society and culture of the 1920s to the command economy and repressions of the Joseph Stalin era to the "era of stagnation" in the 1980s. From its first years, government in the Soviet Union was based on the one-party rule of the Communists, as the Bolsheviks called themselves, beginning in March 1918. However, by the late 1980s, with the weaknesses of its economic and political structures becoming acute, the Communist leaders embarked on major reforms, which led to the fall of the Soviet Union.

Following the Russian Revolution, Russia became the largest and leading constituent of the Soviet Union, the world's first constitutionally socialist state and a recognized superpower, which played a decisive role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the world's first human spaceflight. The Russian Federation was founded following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, but is recognized as the continuing legal personality of the Soviet state.

Today’s Russia

The history of the Russian Federation is brief, starting from the late 1991. Russia was recognized as the legal successor to the Soviet Union on the international stage. However, Russia has lost its superpower status as it faced serious challenges in its efforts to forge a new post-Soviet political and economic system. Scrapping the socialist central planning and state ownership of property of the Soviet era, Russia attempted to build an economy with elements of market capitalism, with often painful results. Even today Russia shares many continuities of political culture and social structure with its tsarist and Soviet past.

Russia has the world's 11th largest economy by nominal GDP or the 6th largest by purchasing power parity, with the 5th largest nominal military budget. It is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Russia is a great power and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the G8, G20, the Council of Europe, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Eurasian Economic Community, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and is the leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the number one natural gas producer as well as number one oil producer globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.

Russian-Lithuanian relations

During the course of the 19th century, the Presidential Palace in Vilnius served as a residence for several Imperial Russian governors, such as Mikhail Muravyov, nicknamed "The Hangman". In 1812, both the Russian Tsar Alexander I and the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte used the Palace as their residence. During Napoleon's invasion of Russia, he organized military operations and Lithuanian army units from the Palace, including five regiments of infantry, four cavalry regiments, and the National Guard of Vilnius. He received Lithuanian noblemen, newly appointed officials of the administration, and other dignitaries in the Palace as well. After Napoleon's defeat in 1812, the Palace was used for ceremonial proposes; it was here that then-general Mikhail Kutuzov was awarded Russia's highest military award – the Order of St. George. During 1824-1834, the Palace was reconstructed by the prominent St. Petersburg architect Vasily Stasov in the Empire style, under supervision of Karol Podczaszyński. Stasov's reconstruction of the Palace has remained to this day.

During the Northern Wars (1655–1661), the Lithuanian territory and economy were devastated by the Swedish army. Before it could fully recover, Lithuania was ravaged during the Great Northern War (1700–1721). The war, plague, and famine caused the deaths of approximately 40% of the country's population.

Foreign powers, especially Russia, became dominant in the domestic politics of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that had been established in 1569 (Union of Lublin). Numerous factions among the nobility used the Golden Liberties to prevent any reforms. Eventually, the Commonwealth was partitioned in 1772, 1792, and 1795 by the Russian Empire, Prussia, and Habsburg Austria.

The largest area of Lithuanian territory were occupied by the Russian Empire in 1795. After unsuccessful uprisings in 1831 and 1863, the Tsarist authorities implemented a number of Russification policies. They banned the Lithuanian press, closed cultural and educational institutions, and made Lithuania part of a new administrative region called Northwestern Krai. These ruthless Russification policies failed owing to extensive network of book smugglers and secret Lithuanian home schooling.

The Russian domination was rather inconsistent with the direction of Lithuanian history. Russians were Orthodox Christians, Lithuanians were Catholics, Lithuanians used Latin script, as opposed to Russia’s Cyrillic, Lithuanians felt culturally more related to Scandinavians, Poles and Germans, than to Russians, and Lithuania was united by trade routes through the Baltic Sea to Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain, rather than through the great rivers and into Russia.

After the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), when German diplomats assigned what were seen as Russian spoils of war to Turkey, the relationship between Russia and the German Empire became complicated. The Russian Empire resumed the construction of fortresses at its western borders for defence against a potential invasion from Germany in the West.

On 7 July 1879 the Russian Emperor Alexander II approved of a proposal from the Russian military leadership to build the largest "first-class" defensive structure in the entire state – the 65 km2 (25 sq mi) Kaunas Fortress.

The Kaunas Fortress was constructed and renovated between 1882 and 1915 to protect the Russian Empire's western borders, and was designated a "first-class" fortress in 1887. During World War I, the complex was the largest defensive structure in the entire state, occupying 65 km2 (25 sq mi). The fortress was battle-tested in 1915 when Germany attacked the Russian Empire, and withstood eleven days of assault before capture. After World War I, the fortress' military importance declined as advances in weaponry rendered it increasingly obsolete. It was used by various civil institutions and as a garrison. During World War II, parts of the fortress complex were used by the governments of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union for detention, interrogation, and execution. About 50,000 people were executed there, including more than 30,000 victims of the Holocaust. Some sections have since been restored; the Ninth Fort houses a museum and memorial devoted to the victims of wartime mass executions. The complex is the most complete remaining example of a Russian Empire fortress.

A more organised movement for independence of Lithuania emerged in the 1880s, with their own publications, and exile institutions, mainly in Prussia. The tsar allowed a Lithuanian nationalist congress to convene in Vilnius in 1905, and the congress demanded autonomy from Russia, restoration of previous borders, and restoration of Lithuanian language as language of instruction in schools.

Between 1868 and 1914, approximately 635,000 people, almost 20% of the population, emigrated from Lithuania. Large numbers of Lithuanians went to the United States in 1867–1868 after a famine.

Before any of Lithuania’s demands vs.  Russia were met, World War I broke out and Lithuania was occupied by Germany. At the end of the war, Lithuania declared itself independent. The Bolshevik Red Army invaded and installed a puppet government, but by May 1920, Lithuanian and German forces had driven the Russians out. Lithuania was recognised as independent, and remained so until 1940.

In 1939, Germany took control of parts of Lithuania, but let the Soviets take over, in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact. In 1940, the Soviet Union invaded Lithuania, installed a puppet Communist government, and the Lithuanian SSR was established (the Nazis re-invaded Lithuania for the period 1941-1944).

The Soviets immediately began various russification measures, and deported tens of thousands of ‘suspected’ Lithuanian people, first in 1941, then for the period 1944-1953 and later. The numbers of Lithuanians in Siberia and Central Asia increased dramatically when this large portion of Lithuanians were involuntarily deported into these areas. After de-Stalinization, however, most of them returned home. Some Lithuanian communities in certain regions of Soviet Union were formed during the Soviet occupation; Later, some Lithuanians were relocated to work in other areas of the USSR; some of them chose not to return to Lithuania, even after it became independent.

It is estimated that some 50,000 Lithuanians still live in Russia.

In 1944, Soviet forces "liberated" Lithuania, and Stalin immediately set about eliminating Lithuanian nationalism. Tens of thousands suspected nationalists were killed and several hundred thousand were sent to Gulag prison camps. All in all, during World War II and Stalin's reign of terror, around one third of the Lithuanian population was killed or deported. Lithuanian guerillas continued to fight the Soviets until around 1953.

Collectivisation and careless industrialisation severely damaged Lithuania's economy and ecology. Soviet rule also brought many Russians to Lithuania, with promises of good jobs and housing.

Both in the 1950s and the 1970s, there were political protests in Lithuania, but it was not until Gorbachev came to power in the mid 1980s, that the winds of change began to blow. Gorbachev himself, in 1987 began discussing more openly the possibility of more autonomy for the Baltic States, and in 1988, a popular front was established, under the name "Sajudis".

A strong expression of the Lithuanians’, Latvians’ and Estonians’ commitment to independence from the Soviet Union took place in 1989, when an enormous number of people from the three nationalities joined hands - literally - in a 600 kilometre (400 miles) chain from Tallinn via Riga to Vilnius, facing west towards Europe, and turning their backs at the Soviet Union.

In February 1990, multi-party elections were held, and the Sajudis movement won a majority in the new parliament. In March, they declared Lithuania independent. Gorbachev sent troops and introduced an embargo. An agreement was reached, by which Lithuania agreed to somehow "freeze" the independence declaration.

In the beginning of 1991, many crises between Moscow and Vilnius occurred over military conscripts and other issues, including the fatal Soviet attacks on Lithuania 11-13 January 1991. But the Soviet Union was falling apart, and in the wake of the failed coup in Moscow in August, Lithuanian independence became a reality.

Deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia

The cruel deportations of hundreds of thousand Lithuanians to Siberia during and after World War II is the very saddest chapter in the relations between Russia (USSR) and Lithuania. An exhibition that in 2012 was shown in the famous Balzekas Museum in Chicago showed the true face of these atrocities.

Let us also commend Dr. Audrius Plioplysa marvellous work to collect so many touching letters from some of the exiled Lithuanians.

Letters from Lithuanians deported to Siberia

The Balzekas Museum's Hope & Spirit exhibit and programme, commemorating 70 years since the start of Soviet deportations to Siberia (1941-2011), included 157 original handwritten and personal letters from Lithuanian deportees to their relatives living in London, England; Sydney, Australia; Chicago, Illinois; Bogota, Columbia; Toronto, Ontario; and other cities. Among these letters are 20 written by children who were deported. The exhibit included 218 original photographs from Siberia and 71 addressed envelopes. All of these items are extremely rare and of immense historical value and were being presented to the public for the first time in 2011.

Family of 8 deported

Posted on October 10, 2011

Kazimieras Janusonis with his wife Agota, and 6 children were deported to work in the same collectivized farm in Siberia. The location of the Bilchirsk kolkhoz was in the northerly portion of the Irkutsk region. Agota wrote letters to her brother-in-law, P. Janusonis, who was living in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

She wrote, “We work in the kolkhoz. Our family has 7 members: me, 4 daughters and 2 sons. (She notes 7 family members because when she wrote this letter, her husband had already died–AVP.) The oldest is my daughter Petronelija, then my son Jonas, thirdly my daughter Agota, and fourth, my son Antanas. All 4 work in the kolkhoz. My younger 2 daughters, Janute and Valiute, are students. Janute completed grade 9 and now attends grade 10. Valiute, my youngest, 12 years old, finished grade 4…We did not bring anything with us besides what were able to stuff into one bag. Adequate clothing is very difficult for all of us…Winters are very cold and summers very hot. We are surrounded by mountains and forests. There is little flat ground.”

In another letter she wrote, “We are surrounded by tall mountains which are covered with impenetrable forests. Wild animals live there–polar bears and wolves. We live in a valley near a small stream. We use it’s water because there is no well. Without fur coats, it is not possible to go outside, even for a brief period of time, in the winter. And then, the fur freezes solid as an animal’s horn. Thus, we wear cotton coats. We live with the Buriats (related to the Mongols–AVP).”

Kazimieras Janusonis died in Siberia, shortly after the photograph was taken. After serving 10 years of hard labor on the kolkhoz, Agota and her children were allowed to return to Lithuania. However, they were not allowed to return to their family farm.

On display we have 5 letters and 3 envelopes from the Janusonis family as part of the Hope and Spirit exhibit which I have organized. The exhibit is at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, in Chicago, and has been extended until the end of April, 2012.

Posted in Letters from Siberia

Mother buries her two infants in Siberia

Posted on October 10, 2011

In these two photographs, Veronika Norkunas buries her two young children near the city of Barnaul, in Siberia.

In the top picture, 4 year old, Livija-Liucija Norkunaite is being buried. She was born in Lithuania, and died on September 21, 1941, in Siberia.

In the bottom picture, 16 month old Zenonas Norkunas is being buried. He was born in Lithuania, and died on September 22, 1941, in Siberia.

On one September day, Veronika buried her four year old, and on the next day, her 16 month old.

The pictures were sent to A. Norkunas who was living in Adelaide, Australia.

These young children survived only 3 months after their deportation in June, 1941. They only survived 3 months in Stalin’s new society.

There is no available further information about this Norkunas family.

These two images are from over 230 original deportee photographs from Siberia which are on display in the Hope and Spirit exhibit, which I have organized, at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, in Chicago. Quite literally, due to popular demand, the exhibit has been extended to the end of April, 2012.

Posted in Letters from Siberia

14 months old–deported to Siberia; 14 years old–dead

Posted on October 10, 2011

Zigmas Zarunskis was 14 months old when he, with his family, were deported to Siberia. At the age of 14 years, instead of attending school, he was assigned to work as a lumberjack. While chopping trees, a limb fell down on him, killing him. The photograph was mailed to a relative in Jackson Heights, New York. In it, standing from left to right, are Zigmas’ parents, Pranas and Ona, his younger brother Jonas (who was born in Siberia), and his older sister, Zita. No further information is available about the Zarunskis family.

This photograph is one over over 230 which are on display in the Hope and Spirit exhibit, which I have organized, at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, in Chicago. Quite literally, due to popular demand, the exhibit has been extended to the end of April, 2012.

Posted in Letters from Siberia

Health care and God’s will

Posted on September 2, 2011

Konstancija and Jonas Marmas, with their three children, in the Krasnoyarsk Region of Siberia

The Marmas family was deported, from their family farm in Griskabudis to work as lumberjacks for 10 years. The uncle of Jonas Marmas was Dr. Vincas Kudirka, the author of the Lithuanian national anthem. Possibly it was because of this familial relationship that they were deported.

In this letter, written to Alfonsas Lietuvninkas, in Chicago, Mr. Marmas comments about the health care system. Apparently Mr. Lietuvninkas was having health issues. Mr. Marmas writes: “You wrote that health care costs are expensive. For us, from one aspect, it is very good–we do not have to pay for anything. Along with this, there also are no medicines available. It would be better to pay and at least feel that your health is improving, instead of waiting to see if the illness clears or not. What can you do, if that is God’s will?”

He further wrote that during the winters, temperatures were frequently -55 to -60 degrees Centigrade (-75 degrees F) with 5 to 6 feet of snow. During the short summers the temperature would reach 50 degrees Centigrade (120 degrees F), and at night fall to freezing, destroying even the potatoes that were their main food source. There is no further available information about the Marmas family.

The Marmas family letters and photographs are currently on display as part of the Hope and Spirit exhibit which I have organized, at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, in Chicago. This exhibit, and extensive programs, will continue into January 2012.

Posted in Letters from Siberia

10th grade graduation present: 167 hard labor jobs and meningitis

Posted on August 9, 2011

Dobilas Ralys and his mother in Siberia. The letter was written by his sister, Ramune Ralys, and was sent to their uncle, V. Cizinas, in Paterson, New Jersey. In this letter she details some of her own life events upon being exiled to Siberia with her family. She was attending the 7th grade at the time of deportation. In the Krasnoyarsk District’s farm labor camp (kolkhoz) the middle school was located 2 miles away, which she attended until completing grade 10. At that time, she took over the labor tasks of her mother, who was too ill to work.

The Ralys family had been living in Kaunas, where Mr. Ralys worked as a bank accountant. In 1910 and into the 1920′s he wrote general interest articles under the pseudonym of Vargovaikas (Child of Misery). The family was deported to a forced labor camp to serve a 6 year term. Upon returning to Kaunas, the family was allowed to live in the house that they had previously owned, but only in a portion of the basement. Mr. Ralys died within a year of returning to Lithuania. He was 66 years old at the time of deportation.

In this letter, Ramune details some of the tasks that she had to do. “Shoveled snow…worked as a camp cook…collected and burned straw, planted corn, weeded wheat fields, collected silage, transported logs, transported grains, cleaned grains, and so on. In all, I did 167 different jobs.” During September of the second year’s hard labor, she became ill with what appears to have been a form of meningitis/encephalitis. She suffered the entire winter, but was able to return to labor in the spring.

This letter, and several hundred like it, are on display as part of the Hope and Spirit exhibit that I have organized at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture in Chicago. The exhibit will continue through mid-January 2012.

Posted in Letters from Siberia

$4 for one egg, $70 for a pound of butter

Posted on July 18, 2011

Morta Abromaviciene, at the age of 67, was deported to Siberia with her husband Stasys, who was 74. Mr. Abromavicius died 3 years later, while Mrs. Abromaviciene was able to serve her prison term in Tinsk, in the Krasnoyarsk District. After 7 years of hard labor, her health was broken–she was so frail and weak that she was transferred to the Tupik sanatorium, in the Shirinsky District of Khakassia, for one year to recover. It was while she was in the sanatorium, that she was able to write letters to one of her daughters, who was living in Chicago.

In the early 1900′s, Mr. and Mrs. Abromavicius had both, independently, traveled to work in the United States. They met in Braddock, Pennsylvania, where they were married in 1906. With their two young daughters they returned to Lithuania in 1913, and bought a small family farm. All totaled, they had 2 daughters and 4 sons. During the war, one son died, and the other children moved to the United States.

When she returned to Lithuania from Siberia, she found all of her farmhouses burned to the ground. She went to the nearby larger city, Marijampole, where she lived and died 10 years later. She was able to survive only because her children continued to send her packages.

In her letters from Siberia she notes that the winters are very cold, with the temperature frequently minus 40 degrees Centigrade (which is exactly minus 40 degrees F).

She is thankful to her children for the packages that she has received, and mentions the items that she needs to obtain. She notes that when packages arrive, the other residents of the sanatorium crowd around as the package is opened. She gives most of the contents to the other residents, keeping only the essential items for herself.

One time, her daughter made an error and sent her $50 in cash (I am changing the actual amounts into what would be current US$ value, given years of inflation). To exchange this currency into rubles, she had to travel to a bank in a distant city. The travel cost was $32, leaving her very little.

In another letter she notes how expensive even the most basic items are. One egg cost $4. One kilogram of butter, $140–which means $70 for one pound of butter!

Why was this family treated like criminals? Landowners, because they might object to Stalin’s new political system, needed to be either exterminated or deported. This was genocide, pure and simple, on the basis of political motives. This happened to the Abromavicius family, and to millions of other families across Eastern Europe.

The letters of Morta Abromaviciene are on display as part of the Hope and Spirit exhibit, which I have organized, at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, 6500 S. Pulaski Rd., Chicago, Illinois. The exhibit has been extended, and will continue until mid-January, 2012.

Posted in Letters from Siberia

Prague centre is full of life!

EXPLORING EUROPE (7 of 10)

Warsaw, Kraków, Prague,

Bratislava, Budapest

Tour guide, writer and photographer: Aage Myhre
aage.myhre@VilNews.com

Szeged in South Hungary – where the 1956 revolts started

“The Szeged initiative could be seen as the first crack on a dam where water is about to pour through. Of course, you don’t immediately realise when you see a small stream of water; that what follows it is going to overwhelm you. The Communist leadership did not see right away what actually was about to happen, as they did not expect such a massive force appearing in just a few days.”

Dénes Fejér, who was 23 when the revolt started, stands here in the Aula that looks more or less the same as it did in 1956, demonstrating how things started evolving exactly here that October evening 55 years ago.

Hungarians gather around the head of the toppled Stalin Monument in Budapest 1956.

I ask Dénes Fejér to explain more about the 1956 revolt that started here in Szeged:

You were yourself present in that Aula meeting, and if I understand you correctly, this meeting became a fateful event (among several other developments in those days) which led inevitably to the outbreak of the revolution. It was the first meeting after World War II where questions were not pre-arranged slogans glorifying the regime, but where - because of the insistence of the audience - everyone was allowed to speak, and raise questions. What would you say were the most significant things happened at that assembly?

For two years after the end of the war in 1945, there was a plural political system in Hungary. Different political parties existed, and in the 1945 general elections the Independent Smallholder and Civil Party received absolute majority with 54% of the votes and the Communist Party only received 17%. Stalin realised that the people of Hungary did not want to embrace its system. The 1947 elections were already fraudulent and the Communist forces won. In 1948 the Social democratic Party was forcibly incorporated into the Communist party. The general wave of terror appeared only after this time. Forced nationalisation was started with businesses, commercial institutions, industrial entities and later, even private property like houses. A terror organisation was created within the Internal Ministry, called the AVO (State Security Authority) which later became an independent entity, having its own rules and methods.

This was the background where the MEFESZ was established, as the very first independent organisation in Communist Hungary. The programme and its demands were summarised in twenty points of the there are a few that are interesting. These included the request for open and free debates, the open trial of guilty Communist functionaries, the abolishment of death penalty in political cases, democratic elections, freedom of speech, and the that the 15th of March, the Commemoration Day of the 1848 Revolution should become an official national day. As you can see, these conditions and demands are natural in a free country but were unknown and unthinkable in a dictatorship. Although not part of the twenty points, another demand was phrased by the participant of the meeting. This was later a key phrase of the revolution: Russians, go home! The most fundamental demand was for the truth, that is to say that the leaders of the country should not lie and should not make the young people and the population lie. Telling the truth in Hungary at that time meant sever prison sentences.

To my knowledge, the assembly started as a rather innocent gathering where the students simply asked: “Why are the Soviet troops still stationed in our country?”, but ended with a the clear demand: “Ruszkik, haza!” - “Russians, go home!” From such a radical manifestation of the demands, you must have known that this was about to become dangerous?

The whole meeting started as a regular Communist youth organisation meeting. The Communist youth leaders gathered before it and reviewed the demands of the MEFESZ leaders, like András Lejtényi. When they learn the radical nature of these, they became frightened and left immediately for higher authority, the Communist party representatives at the university. Then the MEFESZ leaders went to meet the gathered students, read their demands, and the MEFESZ had the day!

“There was a general feeling of freedom among the participants. Fear disappeared. Saying the truth was a standard, normal thing during the event that caused happiness and joy among the audience.”

Didn‘t you realise that, according the Soviet system of those days, your collective name was "Shut up!" Did you not know that the Aula microphones were only for the Party collaborators and that nobody else were supposed to talk?

Nobody thought of ‘Shut up!’ at that time. After the first few words, there was a general feeling of freedom among the participants. Fear disappeared. Saying the truth was a standard, normal thing during the event that caused happiness and joy among the audience. The principle of ‘Shut up!’ had accumulated an amount of pressure in everyone that just erupted then. The age of ‘sober thoughts’ ended and the demand of freedom and truth became prevalent for the university youth.

You were yourself working as a journalist those days, and on the 23rd of October the newspaper “Delmagyarorszag” published your article called “Az igazsag keresesenek utjan”. What was the essence of this article and what reactions did you get?

This article, titled the ways of finding the truth, summarised what I have just explained above. It is very typical that we were not even sure whether the article would appear at all. The official, Communist newspaper Délmagyarország reported the event but left out the most important aspect which was the break of the dam, the shedding of the Communist oppression!

The period of hope to win over the mighty Soviet Union by peaceful measures, however, did not last long, and soon fights started spreading all over Hungary and the revolution began before your eyes. How will you describe this outcome of your efforts from the Aula assembly?

The main fighting happened in Budapest. This was the obvious and visible sign of the revolution. The fighting, the combat on the streets. The AVO, the armed troops and the Soviet soldiers were all surprised that ‘here they shoot back’. It was believed that a demonstration of force with tanks on the street would frighten people and prevent the escalation of the events, thus helping the consolidation of the Communist dictatorship. It didn’t happen like that.

Probably the Hungarian national character contributed to this as well. The courage to start again, to love one’s country, the national tradition of not giving in to slavery.

The revolutionaries of Budapest used bottles filled with petrol against tanks. They had no heavy weapons or anti-tank artillery. They fixed a burning piece of rag on the bottle and tossed it to the moving vehicle. The burning liquid turned the steel monsters into burning coffins. When the Soviet soldiers were abandoning their vehicles, they became easy preys to the weapons of the fighters.

There was an interrelation between the demands of the Szeged students, the fighting in Budapest and the revolutionary state nation-wise. The mental preparation rallied the fighters. The machine guns and the words were equally weapons of the revolution. Words changed things without bloodshed. From the smallest villages in Hungary to any institution or organisation, everyone of them had revolutionary councils. They replaced the very often incompetent previous leadership whose only added value to the system was their loyalty to the oppressing regime. The highest authority in the Communist state, the Central Committee and the Political Committee was simply dismissed. Instead of them reliable and trustworthy people were elected by the population or members of institutions or organisations. With open or secrets ballots. I was elected by a secret ballot to be on the workers’ council of the press in Szeged, and on the city’s revolutionary council.

I think this was the real result of the revolution. Replacing the old, Soviet puppets, the Communist leadership, and raising new, honest people into the power. This was created by the synergy of the students’ wishes and of the fighting in Budapest.

“For those who have never lived in oppression, in fear and in deprivation, for those who, on a daily basis, enjoy freedom and the rights of liberty, they probably don’t really know what freedom means for a prisoner.”

It has been said that something nearly supernatural stirred the hearts, minds and consciousness of the Hungarian people those days. Those shared feelings with friends and strangers must have been very special?

This special, disturbing experience is not difficult to describe for those who lived through it. The beautiful memories must be recalled from the past half-century. For those who have never lived in oppression, in fear and in deprivation, for those who, on a daily basis, enjoy freedom and the rights of liberty, they probably don’t really know what freedom means for a prisoner. I believe that it was this everlasting desire for freedom that prevailed back then. It was as if we were not even walking on the face of the Earth, as if floating in air. The communication changed among people, they were smiling to each other. They were nice, understanding towards each other. We even believed that the ‘guards’, our oppressors could change because they would realise that it is, in fact, better to live like this, free. It is probably also true that the experience of freedom created delusions.

By mid November 1956, it became evident that your revolution was lost. Not only the street fights, but also the lengthy demands of the students, which were fully supported by the whole society, were not going to be met. Instead, more and more of reprisals and arrests happened and an air of bitter disillusionment began to replace the heady days of the victorious revolution. How would you describe these days?

In the first days of November, it became obvious that the revolution had failed. Not in its results, not in its memories, not in its principles but in its survival. It was not our weakness but the overwhelming Soviet military power that defeated it. The twelve days a freedom turned into a totally different direction. In a few days we suddenly had to realise that those who had pretended to be with us till the 4th of November in 1956, turned into bloodthirsty puppets of the occupying forces and lost their human faces, becoming willing executioners.

The new puppet regime with Soviet arms behind it could only gradually strengthen its own position. They were expecting results, agreements, and waiting for their supporters t show once again. This started very slowly with the dismissed Communist leaders and members appearing again and again. Once they were feeling safe, the brutal punishment started.

We were hoping that they might have learnt their lesson, that we could not be treated the same way as we had been treated for nine years before the revolution. This was not the case, they continued everything in much the same way as it had been before. Everything came back, the deportation camps, the beatings, the prisons, the torture. Hungary again became a prison and we again humiliated prisoners.

It took some time before the Soviet rulers of your country were able to close the borders completely, and Austria was very willingly letting thousands of refugees cross into their country. You decided not to leave, why was that?

It became obvious that for those who had participated in the revolution, there was no place in Hungary any more. And many of them indeed left the country. Maybe some left because of fear, some because of adventure or new possibilities. Almost 200.000 people left the country. One of my best friend left who is currently living in New York while I was kept in a Soviet military prison in Eastern Hungary. Another friend of mine, who was briefly arrested with me, was inviting me to go to France.

It had never occurred to me that I could or would leave. Never, for a moment. I knew that I had account for all my activities eventually, and I was hoping that my life would be spared. During the revolution I did not fight, did not kill anyone. In my captivity Major Zokov, the Russian officer was interrogating me about all these things. Ha was trying to convince me that we were counter-revolutionaries while I was trying to convince him that we were revolutionaries. We couldn’t convince each other of course. I do not recall any fear gripping me, when, together with seven of my colleagues, I was transported in an ambulance, escorted by two armed armoured personnel carriers. I was wearing a white shirt and, when we were disembarked at the main square of Csongrád to be taken to the nearby hills, I remember thinking that anyone could easily recognise the white on a corpse, and might be able to inform my mother about my fate. I was not executed, but taken to Debrecen to the Soviet military airfield.

After I was released from prison, I did not want to leave. I couldn’t leave my country. I would not replace Hungary for any other place. I have seen a few peaceful spots in the world where life could be different than here. Once a Hungarian poet has said that for a Hungarian patriot ‘whether your faith may be blessed or cursed, here [ie. in Hungary] you must either live or die’. This is a moral command for me.

Some of your fellow students were executed and the Soviet jails were filling up during the next few months. You were among them arrested, hence it would be interesting to hear your personal story from the time after the revolution was so brutally crushed?

In the spring of 1957 I was arrested again, this time by the Hungarian political police. But before that an interesting episode happened in my life. When I was released from the Soviet prison, in February I returned to Szeged where I was approached by the newly organising Communist party, through two veteran leaders, Vince Bite and Károly Csíszár. I used to know Uncle Vince, since when I was ten to twelve, I used to be his helper in playing bowling at the beach. They told me to become member of the MSZMP [the newly formed Communist party] because I had been selected to be chief editor of the Délmagyarország newspaper. I had three days to consider their offer. I turned it down. Have you given it enough thoughts? Uncle Vince asked me. I have, I told him. Well, I hope you won’t regret it, he answered.

In two months time, I was arrested. I was interned. The whole thing became only a little bit clearer when I was released after one year. The temporary imprisonment that required no court verdict, could be prolonged indefinitely after every six months. When I was released, I was only allowed to do manual labour, only as a non-qualified worker, despite having a university degree with a certificate that allowed me to teach. My driving license was withdrawn, my reserve officer rank of the army was taken away, I did not get a passport, and could not travel abroad. As I recall, it did not really affect me because after finishing secondary school, I went to work on the Tisza bridge and learnt the craftsmanship of carpenters. This enabled me to work with my own two hands, and solved my financial problems.

What was difficult was the social exclusion. When my friends saw me on the streets, they went to the other side. Nobody dared speaking to me, or to be seen in the company of a convicted ‘counter revolutionary’. I was living with my mother and with my elder sister because I had lost my elder brother who had died in Russian captivity in the war.

During the sixties the terror had waned a little bit. I was allowed to teach in elementary school, although only subjects that were practical based, handcrafts. On regular basis a political officer appeared to check on me, and to try to make me work with them as an agent. I refused, and eventually got fed up with it all, and I returned to the construction industry. In the end I became a foreman, then a project manager. I was applying for eight years to the Szeged university law faculty but was always turned down. In the late 80s I was invited to be as chief editor of one of the first independent publishers. This was already the end of the Kádár-regime [János Kádár was the leader of Communist Hungary after 1956, till 1989. The period between 1956 and 1989 was often referred as the Kádár-regime.

“It was only after many years that we learnt that the USA and the Great Britain informed the USSR that they would not oppose their intervention in Hungary.”

The governments of the free world watched your Hungarian Revolution with deep admiration even if none of them seriously considered providing military support, nor condemnation strong enough to stop the brutal actions of the Soviet Union. How do you view the behaviours of the Western countries those days?

The Western world provided enormous help to those almost 200.000 Hungarians who left the country. Those who went not as adventurers were appreciated by their new countries. Among the refugees you can find people who still come back to Hungary and who in fact, have two countries now. They have no roots, and their children have departed from Hungary for good.

The Western influence that we had in the days of the revolution was deceiving. It was only after many years that we learnt that the USA and the Great Britain informed the USSR that they would not oppose their intervention in Hungary.

Radio Free Europe was continuously encouraging the fighters to carry on because they were promised foreign help. This has led me to conclude that if it succeeds, if we had national local government in Szeged, I would suggest to change the name of Roosevelt Square in Szeged (like it was changed from Stalin Square) as I cannot support a liar, a friend of Soviets, even if he had once been the President of the USA.

Roosevelt Square in Szeged. The inscription lauds Franklin for his stand against
Fascism. Dénes Fejér, however, wants to change the name of the square.
“I cannot support a liar, a friend of the Soviets, even if he had been once
President of the USA,” he tells me.

Dangerous undertows erode the stability
of Central and Eastern Europe

An article by Stan Backaitis, Washington DC

EXPLORING EUROPE (6 of 10)

Scandinavia & Finland

Tour guide, writer and photographer: Aage Myhre
aage.myhre@VilNews.com

The Geiranger Fjord at Norway’s west-coast is a 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) long branch
of the Storfjord (Great Fjord). The small village of Geiranger is located at the
end of the fjord where the Geirangelva river empties into it.
The fjord is one of Norway's most visited tourist sites.
Photo: www.allempires.net

Our today’s trip starts in the Barents Sea – between Norway and the North Pole

Oil and gas exploration in the Barents Sea began in the 1970s. Discoveries were made on both the Russian and Norwegian sides. The first major producing field is Sn¸hvit in the Norwegian sector. The largest discovery to date is the Shtokman field in the Russian sector. For decades there was a boundary dispute between Norway and Russia, with the Norwegians favouring the Median Line and the Russians favouring a meridian based sector. A compromise treaty announced 27 April 2010 settled the border in the approximate middle of these two stances. Sn¸hvit (Sn¸hvit means Snow White in Norwegian) is the name of a natural gas field situated 140 km (87 mi) northwest of Hammerfest, Europe's northernmost town. The gas from Sn¸hvit is being used for LNG production at Melk¸ya close to Hammerfest. The total costs of field development will be around NOK 34.2 billion ($ 6 billion).

North Cape – on the very top of Norway and Europe

Midnight sun at North Cape, a cape on the island of Mager¸ya in Northern Norway. Its 307 metres (1,007 ft) high, steep cliff is often referred to as the northernmost point of Europe, located at 71°10′21″N 25°47′40″E, 2,102.3 kilometres (1,306.3 mi) from the North Pole.

Finnmark County – where Sámi (Lappish) people and reindeers live…

We move from the rough coast, to the inner parts of Finnmark, where many Sámi families are actively
engaged with their reindeer herds year round. The Sami are indigenous people who
came to Norway more than 10 000 years ago.

Troms¸ – the world’s northern light capital…

Troms¸ is the capital of North Norway also called the world's northern lights capital.
Here you will also find the world's northernmost university, including an advanced
northern lights observatory. International airport in the city centre!

The northern lights

Watch nature's own theatre unfold above you as the most spectacular light show takes centre stage: The northern lights with you in the front row.

The northern lights

Source: Visitnorway

Welcome to my birthplace Olaheim at the Senja island!

My home place Olahaeim at the island of Senja.
Photo by the world famous Senja photographer Hugo L¸hre.

Lofoten has the world’s best waters for cod fishing

Lofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, North Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude. The islands have for more than 1,000 years been the centre of great cod fisheries, especially in winter, when the cod migrates south from the Barents Sea and gathers in Lofoten to spawn. Bergen in southwestern Norway was for a long time the hub for further export south to large parts of Europe, particularly so when trade was controlled by the Hanseatic League.

Is Trondheim, where I studied architecture, the most ideal city in the world?

Trondheim is a green, beautiful city in Mid Norway. The city's Old Town, Midtbyen, is located on a peninsula formed by the river Nidelven, before it flows into the Trondheim Fjord and ends its long, wet journey from Selbusj¸en southeast in the county. Scandinavia's largest church, the Nidarosdomen Cathedral is seen in the middle of the picture.
Photo: Aage Hojem, Trondheim Havn.

When you visit Trondheim, you will notice the wide meandering loop of the Nid river (Norwegian: Nidelva) round the city centre, with sections of the old warehouses still intact along its shores. The harbour has for a long time been important in Trondheim. A long stretch of the Nidelva River is lined with wooden warehouses mainly from the 19th century. The houses were used for storage and could be reached both from the river, where boats could load and unload cargo, and from the land. Today there is no use for warehouses of this kind so you will find restaurants, real estate agents and other business in these houses.
Foto: Trondheim.no.

Scandinavia’s largest church, the Nidaros Cathedral, is located in Trondheim. The cathedral was built over the burial place of Saint Olaf, who was killed in the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. It was the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros from its establishment in 1152 until its abolition in 1537. Since the Reformation, it has been the cathedral of the Lutheran bishops of Trondheim (or Nidaros) in the Diocese of Nidaros. The architectural style of the cathedral is Romanesque and Gothic. Historically it was an important destination for pilgrims coming from all of Northern Europe. It is the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world.

Oslo – home of the Vikings and the world’s largest sculpture park

The Vigeland Park in Oslo is the world's largest sculpture park made by a single artist, and is one of Norway's most popular tourist attractions. The park is open to visitors all year round. The unique sculpture park is Gustav Vigeland's lifework with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron. Vigeland was also in charge of the design and architectural layout of the park. The Vigeland Park was mainly completed between 1939 and 1949. Most of the sculptures are placed in five units along an 850 meter long axis: The Main gate, the Bridge with the Children's playground, the Fountain, the Monolith plateau and the Wheel of Life.

Karl Johans gate is Oslo’s main street. Colourful.

Oslo is a very green city.

The Oslo Viking Ship Museum presents great Viking ship discoveries from Gokstad, Oseberg and Tune as well as other finds from Viking tombs around the Oslo Fjord. The museum displays the world's two best-preserved wooden Viking ships built in the 9th century, as well as small boats, sledges, a cart with exceptional ornamentation, implements, tools, harness, textiles and household utensils.

Some of my Oslo Fjord impressions.

The capital of Norway is also the country’s largest city. It has over 600,000 inhabitants and covers 454 square kilometres, 242 of which are forests. The city is located at the head of the 100-kilometre Oslo Fjord. The fjord’s 40 islands are great for recreation, and many of them can be reached by ferry. Over half of the municipality of Oslo is covered by forests and parks, making Oslo a truly green city, where opportunities for outdoor recreation are always nearby.

Oslo’s climate is milder than its latitude might indicate. Summer temperatures often equal those of cities much further south, yet the winters are usually cold enough to make Oslo a great skiing destination.

The prestigious Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually on 10 December in Oslo City Hall.

Lithuania, please look to Norway!

In 1973, during the Yom Kippur war, Denmark was 98% dependent on foreign oil for its power. Today, 40 years later, the country derives 21% of its energy from wind and is a net exporter of energy.

“Hipp Hipp Hurra!” by the Danish/Norwegian painter Peder Kr¸yer (1851-1909), the ringleader of a group of
genre painters who gathered in the Danish fishing and tourist village of Skagen.

Copenhagen – Scandinavia’s cosmopolitan city

Str¸get 'in Copenhagen is considered the world's oldest and longest pedestrian street.
Photo: Copenhagenet.dk.

Nyhavn is part of the original Copenhagen Harbour all the way back to the founding of Haven,
as Copenhagen was called in the 12th century.

"I am not an Athenian, or a Greek, but a citizen of the world," said Socrates. That is Copenhagen in a nutshell. My favourite Scandinavian city, a world city where people are more laid-back, where the famous Danish 'grin' is never far away. Where shops are permitted to sell alcohol, and even exhibit the bottles in their windows. Miles away from the Swedish and Norwegian chastity. The old buildings have been standing here for hundreds of years. Copenhagen represents majestic dignity, but has also a fine-meshed network of narrow streets, small squares and architectural details that often dates back to the Middle Ages.

Copenhagen's city council decided in 1962 to establish a car-free pedestrian street from City Hall Square in the west to the Kongens Nytorv in the eastern part of the town. The world's first pedestrian-revolution was called "Str¸get". Not just one street, but a maze of alleyways and historic sites, with a total length of over 3 km, the oldest and longest pedestrian system in the world. Nygaden, Vimmelskaftet and ¨stergade, the main thoroughfare, is winding between the beautiful old buildings. Known, loved shops and restaurants on both sides. The people flow waves back and forth. Day and night. Summer and winter.

This is what I call a vibrant city!

The pubs and restaurants at Gråbr¸dretorv, Kongens Nytorv, and along both quaysides in Nyhavn are as genial as the Danes themselves. Hviids Vinstue at Kongens Nytorv is a must for me when I'm in Copenhagen. With a few drops of ‘Gammel Dansk (Old Danish)'. Then a 'sm¸rrebr¸d’ with herring. Or liver and bacon. A foaming Bajer belongs to the meal. The narrow and dark rooms in Hviids Vinstue have witnessed the dramatic historical events over nearly 300 years. It sits in the walls.

The restaurant St. Gertrud's Kloster experienced as a journey back to medieval times. Narrow basement times and restaurant rooms over several floors. All in spartan monastic style, only lit by candles under the brick-vaults. On Gråbr¸dretorv I have two favourites: The restaurants Peder Oxe and Bof & Ost. Rustic taverns with a relaxed square. Salad Tables and tender beef. Copenhagen at its best.

Copenhagen is the Danish capital and Scandinavian’s largest city. Copenhagen was founded by the Danish bishop Absalon in 1167 - who built a little fortress on a small isle outside of the growing town that today is inhabited with over 1.8 million people and is an international metropolis with the biggest airport in northern Europe. In Copenhagen the Danish parliament is located together with the Royal residence Amalienborg - as the capital became a regal city in 1443.

A Danish king came to Palanga in year 1161, but he was not a tourist

Sweden is the biggest country of Northern Europe and the fifth of whole Europe. With 449,964 sq km (173,732 sq mi) it is almost as big as Spain or France. But it has a completely different shape. The extreme distance from north to south in Sweden is about 1,575 km (about 980 mi). If you turn Sweden around at the southern end, you will see the north end up as south as Naples in Italy. The distance from east to west is only 500 km (about 310 mi).

Almost 9 million people live in this long-shaped country. With such a small population it is not a surprise this vast country is dominated by nature. One of the main facts about Sweden for tourists to remember is that Sweden is not a country for sensation-seekers.

Instead it is perfect for those who love nature, space, clean air, beautiful landscapes and outdoor activities. Great sceneries are among the major tourist attractions.

The more you get to the north the landscape becomes wilder, with ever bigger forests and literally thousands of lakes.

The north (Lapland) is often called the last wilderness in Europe, with high mountains, swamps and wild rivers, treeless highlands and impenetrable birch forests. In this part of Sweden the Saami live, also called the Lapps, one of the last nomad peoples in Europe.

Although at a very northern latitude, Sweden has a moderate climate. It has rainfall in spring, summer and fall, but never very much. In winter there is always snowfall. It is freezing cold then, especially in the northern parts of the country. The summers are sunny with an average temperature of 22°C (71°F). Daylight hours increase in summer and decrease in winter.

Sweden is a monarchy, now ruled by king Carl GustavXVI. In reality his function is purely ceremonial. The country is governed by a democratically chosen parliament. Social-democrats are traditionally the main political force, with the Moderate Party in second place.

The crown or krona is the Swedish currency. Sweden has a tradition of pacifism. It is the only European state that was not involved in any armed conflict for almost 200 years.

Kista - Sweden´s IT Capital

Kista Science Tower.

They call it Wireless Valley, Mobile Valley or the Silicon Valley of the North. Its formal name is Kista Science City, located in north-west Stockholm. It’s where you’ll find many of the world’s foremost ICT* companies, gathered together to take advantage of Sweden’s strong position in mobile communications. Kista Science City is one of the world’s leading high-tech clusters.

The Kista urban area is Sweden’s biggest corporate centre. Here are more companies and employees within a limited space than anywhere else in the country. Of the nearly 28,000 employees in some 750 Kista companies, two-thirds work in the ICT sector. Here is everything from the major international enterprise to the small, entrepreneur owned ICT business. Ericsson has its head office in Kista and is the largest single employer with a staff of more than 9,000.

Kista Science City is located centrally in the Stockholm region, 15 minutes from Central Station on the underground railway and 15 minutes from the main Stockholm airport at Arlanda. It also has the advantage of being close to Sweden’s financial centre in central Stockholm.

Companies and researchers are found along the entire value chain within wireless systems, mobile services and broadband systems - the three strategic areas for Kista Science City.

Stockholm – the city of thousand Islands

Post-war Stockholm makes me think that architects, urban planners and reform eager politicians too often lack the ability to see connections, physical and in a time perspective. How on earth could a beautiful city like this otherwise be so much destroyed around 1960? The world's worst city destruction ever, it is said, bombings and wars included. The ideas of the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, by some called the 20century's foremost, destroyed the good old Stockholm.

Only Gamla Stan and certain enclaves remain. Sweden wished to demonstrate its leading position in the postwar Europe. As the most modern of all cities. They managed. Unfortunately...

From my window here at the Sheraton Hotel, I see the great water-Stockholm. But I also look down on the street where there was once a bustling street life in the Klara district, where bohemian Stockholm once existed.

Fortunately, nature and the many islands of Stockholm is built on such strong force that people failed to do too much damage. I love to stroll through the narrow streets of Gamla Stan out at Riddarholmen. I like Skeppsholmen, Kungsholmen, Djurgården. The waters around the islands are full of small boats. A buzz that makes Stockholm deserve the designation 'Venice of the North'.

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the country’s largest city. It is located in the heart of Scandinavia, on Sweden's south east coast, by the Baltic Sea. The city was founded in the early 13th century, and is renowned for its beauty, clean open water, fascinating history, broad variety of arts and culture and its high environmental friendly standards.

The city spreads across 14 islands as it faces proudly out to the Baltic Sea. You can get to just about all of Stockholm’s many wondrous sites on foot, which is the perfect way to see the city. You can also take a boat trip that will give you a different facet of Scandinavia’s largest and probably most beautiful city.

The Stockholm region has a population of more than 2 million, whereas 850 000 live in the very city.

Sweden and Lithuania building power bridge across the Baltic Sea

Finland is called ''the land of a thousand lakes,'' but at last count there were 187,888 of them - more lakes in relation to a country's size than any other. Indeed, with a population of about five million, Finland has one lake for every 26 people. Most of the lakes are in a region that stretches from above Kuopio in the north to Lahti in the south, and from Tampere in the west to Punkaharju and the Russian border in the east.

Finland borders Norway (727km) to the north, Sweden (614km) to the west and Russia (1,313km) to the east, with the Gulf of Finland to the south dividing it and the Baltic state of Estonia. It has a modest national population of just 5.2 million people, with its capital city, Helsinki, home to 10% of that figure.

Since it implemented huge education reforms 40 years ago, Finland's school system has consistently come at the top for the international rankings for education systems.

The mobile phone company Nokia has played an extremely important role for Finland. In 2000, Nokia produced 21 per cent of Finnish exports and paid €1.1-billion or 20 per cent of all corporate tax revenue. Then the smart phone wars began, prompting the rapid loss of market share to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform. In 2010, Nokia generated 13 per cent of Finnish exports and paid out just €100-million in taxes.

Had the Finnish forces not held out, however, it is likely that the whole Finland would have been occupied. Finland was forced to cede 10% of its territory and 20% of its industrial capacity, mainly forest industry, the Soviet Union. 10% of the population had to flee their homes and properties. The death toll for the Winter War is believed to have been about. 26,000 dead in Finland and the 270,000 on the Soviet side.

Helsinki and the distinctive Finnish architecture

It's good to come to Helsinki. It is good to wander along the quays. See the huge ferries from Viking or Silja Line. Feel the good smell of the sea. Stroll along the Alexander Street and Mannheim Road. Sitting down with

a cold beer in the park area Pohjoisesplanadi. The town centre here at the park is homogeneous neoclassical. One understands why the city was nicknamed the 'Nordic white city'. But Helsinki is perhaps even more famous for its numerous Art Nouveau buildings (Finnish Art Nouveau) buildings from the early 1900's. These buildings are strongly influenced by the Kalevala, a very popular theme in Finland's national romantic art of that time. The master of Finnish Art Nouveau was the architect Eliel Saarinen (1873-1950), in this city known for his architectural masterpiece, the Helsinki main railway station. One would also not have walk many hundred meters before encountering Alvar Aalto buildings.

Helsinki’s seafront, with The Cathedral right behind.

Rovaniemi in North Finland claims to be the home of Santa Claus…

Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland in Finland, located at the northern Arctic Circle. Lying at the junction of North and South on the border to the Arctic, Rovaniemi has become a modern town, full of life with its own unique characteristics.

There are eight different seasons this far north, each having its own type of daylight, temperature and natural phenomena. The changing seasons offer excellent settings for a whole variety of activities. During the frosty twilight, you can ride a snowmobile through snowy forests or over a frozen river, the Midnight Sun on the other hand, takes you cruising in a boat on the river. Each season offers an opportunity to experience the town in a totally different light.

Although Christmastime comes but once a year, in Rovaniemi you can experience Christmas throughout the year. Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland, is the hometown of Santa Claus who can be met on any day of the year at the Santa Claus Office on the Arctic Circle.

Scandinavian option
for the Baltic States?
Dangerous undertows erode the stability
of Central and Eastern Europe

An article by Stan Backaitis, Washington DC

EXPLORING EUROPE (5 of 10)

Authentic Austria – generous Germany

Tour guide, writer and photographer: Aage Myhre
aage.myhre@VilNews.com

Austria is a landlocked country of roughly 8.47 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,855 square kilometres (32,377 sq mi) and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 metres (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speak local Austro-Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other local official languages are Burgenland Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.

Vienna - Roof top Sculpture at Hofburg Palace.
Photo: Aage Myhre.

Vienna – home of Sigmund Freud and the Strauss family

At the turn of the 20th century, Vienna, capital of the vast but ailing Austro-Hungarian Empire, reflected on its past with pride and its future with uncertainty. The empire had nurtured Beethoven, Brahms, and Strauss. The city was home to Sigmund Freud (whose father family came from Lithuania!), and considered a world leader in science, philosophy, and research. With 2 million inhabitants, Vienna was one of the most populous and multi-ethnic cities on earth, a melting pot of immigrants from across the empire.

But Vienna seethed with provincial nationalism, socialist ideals, and an odious wave of anti-Semitism. Vienna also nurtured the young Adolf Hitler, and, after his rise to power, played a significant part in supporting the Nazi reign of terror. Vienna is rife with reminders of those dark years.

Though its culture and science still predominate, modern Vienna is, of course, a very different place. In the old town section, the Innere Stadt, throngs of tourists fill the streets, lost in reveries over their fabulous surroundings.

Johann Strauss Sr. "Radetzky March", the last piece at the New Year's Concert
In Vienna 1987, with Austrian Herbert Von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Vienna is packed with life and culture!

My kids dancing on the grass in front of the Belvedere Palace right in the heart of Vienna.
Photo: Aage Myhre.

Vienna, a city of full of life and history, has cultivated itself through many eras and embodies the very definition of culture: the tending of natural growth. Apart from Vienna’s rich history, the 20th Century alone offers enough ‘culture’ to fill an entire textbook with intricate descriptions. Starting with Freud’s Vienna, which was largely preoccupied with death and dark, unconscious drives, switching to Art Nouveau or the paintings of Gustav Klimt, going through the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein and logical positivism, and finally culminating in Nobel Prize-winning Viennese Elfriede Jelinek, the city offers an abundance of history and inspiration, which only justifies Terry Eagleton’s claim that culture is “one of the two or three most complex words in the English language.”Vienna, among other things, is a place to feel how slowly and gracefully life progresses. Literally overflowing with sidewalk cafes, shadowy landscaped parks, wine bars and pastry shops, it is an ideal place to stop and relax for a while, observe and, in the Viennese cynical fashion, make witty remarks. Here you can savour various samples of the city’s cultural buffet, be it classical music, art, literature or theatre performances. Vienna’s architecture, which is comprised of cutting-edge contemporary buildings, Art Deco, Neo-Classical, Baroque and Rococo pieces, is a significant part of the city’s splendour. Food and drink are also part of Vienna’s allure, with the city offering excellent dining options just around the corner from the most desirable and important sightseeing locations.

This cosmopolitan centre, which incorporates Eastern European, Oriental and Western modes of thinking, has been a melting pot for cultural identities throughout the centuries. Thus, the Viennese represent a peculiar blend of many nationalities and cultural belongings. Vienna started off as a Celtic settlement of the Danube, which was later occupied by the Romans, and eventually evolving into the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire in more recent times. Being defined by the iron fist of the Habsburg dynasty, the city has always been a vital spot for European history. Vienna has been through wars, occupations, it has been the victor of many battles, and in more recent history, has switched from a monarchy to a republic. Vienna is the world’s most famous music centre. A lot of talented musicians lived and worked here: Mozart, Beethoven, Hayden, Schubert, Brahms and many others. It's also the city of the legendary Vienna Boys' Choir and various musical events, such as the New Year Concert or the Annual Ball in the Vienna Opera House.

Johann Strauss II. Statue in the Vienna City Park.
Photo: Aage Myhre

Hofburg Royal Palace, surrounded by Vienna’s typical horse carriages.
Photo: Aage Myhre.

Austrian wining & dining

Photo: Cassandra Myhre.

Watching each other... Neptune statue at the Royal Palace Hofburg, Vienna.
Photo: Aage Myhre.

Linz – birthplace of Lithuanian Grand Duchesses

Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria (German: Oberösterreich). It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately 30 km (19 mi) south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is 189,367, and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about 271,000.

Salzburg – birthplace ofthe world's most prominent composer of all time

View of Salzburg City Centre.

Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital city of the federal state of Salzburg. The "Old Town" (Altstadt) has internationally renowned baroque architecture and one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its Alpine setting.

Salzburg was the birthplace of 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the mid-20th century, the city was the setting for parts of the American musical and film The Sound of Music.

The city has three universities. It has a large population of students who add liveliness and energy to the area, and the universities provide culture to the community.

How to recognise, understand and appreciate genius?

A ‘must see’ collage from the film 'Amadeus'.
Salieri, Austria's court composer by then, discusses the time he first met Mozart.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791), was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.

Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood in Salzburg. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position, always composing abundantly. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of Mozart's death. The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons.

Mozart learned voraciously from others, and developed a brilliance and maturity of style that encompassed the light and graceful along with the dark and passionate. His influence on subsequent Western art music is profound.

Beethoven wrote his own early compositions in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote that "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years. Now more than 250 years have passed since Mozart was born...

aches and pains, which afflict different regions in different ways. America’s symptoms are mild. Central Europe seems to have acquired immunity. After unification 85% of Poles looked upon Germany as a threat, recalls Eugeniusz Smolar of the Centre for International Relations in Warsaw. Now just a fifth do. It is among Germany’s long-standing west and south European partners that the German question feels debilitating, and where a dangerous flare-up still seems a possibility. Germany’s answer to the question matters not only to them. It will shape Europe, and therefore the world.

Germans have not forgotten that their country was the author of the horrors of the 1930s and 1940s but, says Renate Kocher of Allensbach, a polling firm, they want to “draw a line under the past”. That does not mean ignoring its lessons or neglecting to teach them to the next generation. A new exhibition on “Hitler and the Germans” at the German Historical Museum in Berlin is drawing blockbuster crowds. But Germans are no longer so ready to be put on the moral defensive or to view the Nazi era as the defining episode of their past. Even non-Germans seem willing to move on. Recent books like “Germania” and “The German Genius” suggest that English-language publishing may be entering a post-swastika phase. Germany still atones but now also preaches, usually on the evils of debt, the importance of nurturing industry and the superiority of long-term thinking in enterprise. Others are disposed to listen. “Everyone orients himself towards Germany,” says John Kornblum, a former American ambassador.

Germany is a federal parliamentary republic. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.

A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Age, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Versailles Treaty. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and the Second World War. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.

Germany was a founding member of the European Community in 1957, which became the EU in 1993. It has the world's fourth largest economy by nominal GDP and the fifth largest by purchasing power parity. It is the second largest exporter and third largest importer of goods. The country has developed a very high standard of living and a comprehensive system of social security.

München mag Dich - Munich likes you

We have left Austria behind. We approach Munich, the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, behind Berlin and Hamburg. About 1.35 million people live within the city limits. Munich hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics.

The city's motto is "München mag Dich" (Munich likes you). Its native name, München, is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat of arms. Black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the city's official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian.

Modern Munich is a financial and publishing hub, and a frequently top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate location in livability rankings. Munich achieved 7th place in frequently quoted Mercer livability rankings in 2010. For economic and social innovation, the city was ranked 15th globally out of 289 cities in 2010, and 5th in Germany by the 2thinknow Innovation Cities Index based on analysis of 162 indicators. In 2010, Monocle ranked Munich as the world's most livable city.

Romantische Strasse and Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Don’t miss The Romantic Road (Romantische Straße) when you are in Bavaria! This a theme route coined by travel agents in the 1950s to describe the 350 kilometres (220 mi) road in southern Germany. In medieval times it used to be a trade route, connecting the centre of Germany with the South. Today this region is thought by many international travellers to possess "quintessentially" German scenery and culture, specifically in towns and cities such as Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl and Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The route is also known for passing a lot of castles, such as Burg Harburg and the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. The Romantic Road is marked with brown signs along the road.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a town at the Romantische Strasse, well known for its
well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the world.

Nuremberg – the romantic city that became venue for the post-war Nazi Trial

Nuremberg is a beautiful city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 500,000. The "European Metropolitan Area Nuremberg" has 3.5 million inhabitants. Nuremberg is often referred to as having been the 'unofficial capital' of the Holy Roman Empire.

But what a contrast isn’t it, knowing that it was right here the trial against the Nazi leaders took place during the immediate years after World War II...

Nuremberg: Nazis on trial

By Professor Richard Overy

In the aftermath of World War Two the Allies sought to bring the aggressors to justice. How did the surviving Nazi leaders give account for their actions?

In November 1945, in the German city of Nuremberg, the victors of the World War Two began the first international war crimes trial. The choice of the city was significant for it was here that the National Socialist Party held its annual rallies.

Adolf Hitler intended it to be rebuilt as the 'party city'. Now many of the leaders of the party were on trial for their lives, only a short distance from the grand arena where they had been fêted by the German people.

The 21 defendants came from very different backgrounds. Some, like Hitler's chosen successor Hermann Goering, were senior politicians - their responsibility clear.

Others were there because senior party leaders Heinrich Himmler, head of the feared SS, and Joseph Goebbels, head of propaganda - had killed themselves rather than face capture and trial. Their deputies or juniors stood on trial instead of them. But most of them were regarded by the western public, rightly or wrongly, as key playmakers in a system that had brought war to Europe and cost the lives of 50 million people.

This catalogue of sin was difficult for many of the defendants to come to terms with.

The charges laid at their door were extraordinary. They were collectively accused of conspiring to wage war, and committing crimes against peace, crimes against humanity (including the newly defined crime of genocide) and war crimes in the ordinary sense (abuse and murder of prisoners, killing of civilians and so on). This catalogue of sin was difficult for many of the defendants to come to terms with.

One of them, Robert Ley, best known for his role as head of the 'Strength through Joy' movement, which masterminded the Volkswagen car, hanged himself in his cell a few weeks before the trial started, so shamed was he by the accusations of crime. Ley's suicide was the most extreme example of the many ways the defendants responded to the trial.

The reaction of the others covered a very wide spectrum, from confident defiance to full admission of responsibility. In the case of Rudolf Hess, Hitler's former deputy, the reality was almost complete memory loss.

Two prisoners in particular came to represent opposite poles in their reaction to the trials and the accusation of massive crimes. Hermann Goering, the man Hitler chose as his successor in the 1930s and the most flamboyant and ambitious of the party hierarchy, prepared to defend Hitler and the Reich's war policy rather than admit that what had been done was criminal.

On the other hand Albert Speer, the youthful architect who rose to run Germany's armaments effort during the war, accepted from the start the collective responsibility of the defendants for the crimes of which they were accused and tried to distance himself from Hitler's ghostly presence at the tribunal.

Hermann Goering: 'Prisoner Number One'

Defendant Hermann Goering consults with his lawyer, Dr. Otto Stahmer, in the
Nuremberg prison at the International Military Tribunal trial of war criminals.

Goering was captured shortly after the end of the war with large quantities of his looted artworks. He thought he could negotiate with the Allies as Germany's most senior politician, but he found himself under arrest, stripped of everything, and held in an improvised prison camp before his transfer to Nuremberg to stand trial.

He was a big personality in every sense. The guards nicknamed him 'Fat Stuff' and bantered with him. He was charming, aloof and confident, and from the start was determined to dominate the other prisoners and make them follow his line of defence.

Goering insisted that everything that they had done was the result of their German patriotism. To defy the court was to protect Germany's reputation and to maintain their loyalty to their dead leader.

From the start Goering was determined to dominate the other prisoners and make them follow his line of defence.

With the start of the trial, Goering assumed at once the informal role as leader and spokesman for the whole cohort of prisoners. He was given the most prominent position in the dock.

When it came to his cross-examination he prepared carefully and in the opening exchanges with the American chief prosecutor Robert Jackson he emerged an easy winner.

So frustrated did Jackson become with Goering's clever, mocking but evasive responses that at the end of the session he threw down the headphones he had been wearing to hear the translated answers and refused to continue.

'If you all handle yourselves half as well as I did,' Goering boasted to the other prisoners, 'you will do all right.' Only after his cross-examination by the more experienced British barrister, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, was Goering at last cut down to size.

For the prosecution teams, Goering's domineering role among the prisoner body posed a problem. In mid-February 1946, on the recommendation of the psychologist who monitored prisoner behaviour, Goering was forced to exercise and take his meals on his own.

His isolation allowed the other prisoners to talk freely to each other and in the courtroom. The united front that Goering wanted soon collapsed.

During the long summer months, when he had to listen to the catalogue of crimes and atrocities laid at the door of the system he had served, he became less confident. But he maintained his loyalty to Hitler until the very end, when he finally confessed to the prison psychologist his realisation that in the eyes of the German people Hitler had 'condemned himself'.

Goering was found guilty on all the charges laid against him and condemned to death. He regarded the whole trial as simply a case of victors' justice and had not expected to escape with his life. At the very end he cheated his captors. On 14 October 1946, the night before he was to be executed, he committed suicide with a phial of cyanide either hidden in his cell or smuggled in by a sympathetic guard.

Read the complete BBC article at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/nuremberg_article_01.shtml

Würzburg – capital of the Franconian white wines

Schwarzwald – Germany’s beautiful black forest...

Frankfurt am Main – where EU’s financial decisions are made...

The European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union (EU) that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered here in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt am Main, commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of almost 700,000. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010. The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region which has a population of 5,600,000 and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region.

Frankfurt is the financial and transportation centre of Germany and the largest financial centre in continental Europe. It is seat of the European Central Bank, the German Federal Bank, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Trade Fair, as well as several large commercial banks, e.g. Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and DZ Bank. Frankfurt Airport is one of the world's busiest international airports, Frankfurt Central Station is one of the largest terminal stations in Europe, and the Frankfurter Kreuz is one of the most heavily used Autobahn interchanges in Europe. Frankfurt lies in the former American Occupation Zone of Germany, and it was formerly the headquarters city of the U.S. Army in Germany.

Frankfurt is considered an alpha world city as listed by the Loughborough University group's 2010 inventory, was ranked 20th among global cities by Foreign Policy's 2010 Global Cities Index and was ranked 6th among global cities for economic and social innovation by the 2thinknow Innovation Cities Index in 2010.

Frankfurt is an international centre for commerce, finance, culture, transport, education, and tourism. According to the Mercer cost of living survey, Frankfurt is Germany’s second most expensive city, and the 48th most expensive in the world. Frankfurt also ranks among the 10 most livable cities in the world according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

Quedlinburg – where the name Lithuania was first mentioned

Magdeburg – the city that set rules for Lithuanian towns

Leipzig

Leipzig is, along with Dresden, one of the two largest cities in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. Both have a population of about 525,000. Leipzig is situated about a hundred miles south of Berlin at the confluence of the Weisse Elster, Pleisse and Parthe rivers at the southerly end of the North German Plain.

Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing. After World War II, Leipzig became a major urban centre within the Communist German Democratic Republic but its cultural and economic importance declined.

Leipzig later played a significant role in instigating the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, through events which took place in and around St. Nicholas Church. Since the reunification of Germany, Leipzig has undergone significant change with the restoration of some historical buildings, the demolition of others, and the development of a modern transport infrastructure. Leipzig has many institutions and opportunities for culture and recreation including a football stadium which has hosted some international matches, an opera house and a zoo.

In 2010 Leipzig was included in the top 10 of cities to visit by the New York Times.

The Old Townhall of Leipzig is one of the most important Renaissance buildings in Germany.
It was constructed in just nine month in 1556/57 under the direction of the Leipzig architect
Hieronymus Lotter.

Berlin

Berlin’s famous Brandenburg Gate.

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union. Located in north-eastern Germany, it is the centre of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, which has 4.4 million residents from over 190 nations. Located in the European Plains, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.

First documented in the 13th century, Berlin was the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and the Third Reich (1933–1945). Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world. After World War II, the city became divided into East Berlin—the capital of East Germany—and West Berlin, a West German exclave surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961–1989). Following German reunification in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of Germany, hosting 147 foreign embassies.

Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media, and science. Its economy is primarily based on the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, media corporations, and convention venues. Berlin also serves as a continental hub for air and rail transport, and is a popular tourist destination. Significant industries include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, biotechnology, electronics, traffic engineering, and renewable energy.

Berlin is home to renowned universities, research institutes, orchestras, museums, and celebrities, as well as host of many sporting events. Its urban settings and historical legacy have made it a popular location for international film productions. The city is well known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts, public transportation networks and a high quality of living.

Most famous attractions of Berlin

Alexanderplatz
Layer upon layer of Berlin’s urban history is located in Alexanderplatz, interweaving centuries of social, political, and architectural history and repeatedly the subject of public debate and urban design competitions.more»

Berliner Dom
The Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral), completed in 1905, is Berlin’s largest and most important Protestant church as well as the sepulchre of the Prussian Hohenzollern dynasty.more»

Friedrichstadt-Palast

Experience Berlin's biggest Show in Europe's largest Show Palace, "Yma - too beautiful to be true". Can you fall in love with a show? Yes, with this one, you can.more»

Brandenburger Tor
The Brandenburg Gate is one of Berlin’s most important monuments – a landmark and symbol all in one with over two hundred years of history.more»

Checkpoint CharlieCheckpoint Charlie, along with Glienicker Brücke (Glienicker Bridge) was the best known border-crossing of Cold War days.more»

EXPLORING EUROPE (4 of 10)

From Strasbourg to

Benelux and England

Tour guide, writer and photographer: Aage Myhre
aage.myhre@VilNews.com

Strasbourg centre is built on an island. Fantastic waterways, excellent riverside restaurants...
Photo: Aage Myhre

Getting to Strasbourg is for me like coming home. It was here I lived one year to study architectural psychology in the 1980s at Université Louis Pasteur, after my architect studies back home in Norway. Strasbourg is an architectural gem, and a city full of life, sounds, smells ... Fantastic food, good wine, good beer. The best of German and French culture in perfect harmony. This is a city I love!

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking, explaining the city's Germanic name. In 2006, the city proper had 272,975 inhabitants and its urban community 467,375 inhabitants. With 638,670 inhabitants in 2006, Strasbourg's metropolitan area (aire urbaine) (only the part of the metropolitan area on French territory) is the ninth largest in France. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 884,988 inhabitants in 2008.

Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory) and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. The city is the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine.

Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. Strasbourg is fused into the Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a bridge of unity between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture.

Economically, Strasbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as of road, rail, and river communications. The port of Strasbourg is the second largest on the Rhine after Duisburg, Germany. In terms of city rankings, Strasbourg has been ranked third in France and 18th globally for innovation.

The Strasbourg Cathedral is 142 m high

Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg is a Roman Catholic cathedral. Although considerable parts of it are still in Romanesque architecture, it is widely considered to be among the finest examples of high, or late, Gothic architecture. Erwin von Steinbach is credited for major contributions from 1277 to his death in 1318. At 142 metres (466 feet), it was the world's tallest building from 1647 to 1874, when it was surpassed by St. Nikolai's Church, Hamburg. Today it is the sixth-tallest church in the world. Described by Victor Hugo as a "gigantic and delicate marvel", and by Goethe as a "sublimely towering, wide-spreading tree of God", the cathedral is visible far across the plains of Alsace and can be seen from as far off as the Vosges Mountains or the Black Forest on the other side of the Rhine. Sandstone from the Vosges used in construction gives the cathedral its characteristic pink hue.

The European Parliament is situated in Strasbourg

Lithuanian members in the European Parliament – they are there for you!

Alsace – the land of amazingly aromatic white wines...

The eastern side of the river Rhine south of Strasbourg is German territory. On the western side lies Alsace. My favourite town here is Riquewihr, a romantic little medieval town at the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. This is the village of wine. Not far away are the picturesque towns of Colmar, Ribeauvillé, Hunawihr, Eguisheim and Kaysersberg. Alsace has changed between being German and French five times since the 1800s. The unique combination of history, culture, nature, food and wine makes Alsace one of Europe's most attractive destinations.

The name "Alsace" can be traced back to the Old High German Ali-saz or Elisaz, meaning "foreign domain". An alternative explanation derives it from a Germanic Ell-sass, meaning "seated on the Ill", a river in Alsace. The region was historically part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was gradually annexed by France in the 17th century under kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV and made one of the provinces of France. Alsace is frequently mentioned in conjunction with Lorraine, because German possession of parts of these two régions (as the imperial province Alsace-Lorraine, 1871–1918) was contested in the 19th and 20th centuries, during which Alsace changed hands four times between France and Germany in 75 years. Although the historical language of Alsace is Alsatian, today all Alsatians speak French, the official language of France. About 39% of the adult population, and probably less than 10% of the children, are fluent in Alsatian. There is therefore a substantial bilingual population in contemporary Alsace.

The fantastic Alsace wines, which for historical reasons have a strong Germanic influence, are produced under three different Appellations d'Origine Contrôlées (AOCs): Alsace AOC for white, rosé and red wines, Alsace Grand Cru AOC for white wines from certain classified vineyards and Crémant d'Alsace AOC for sparkling wines. Both dry and sweet white wines are produced, and are often made from aromatic grapes varieties. Along with Austria and Germany, it produces some of the most noted dry Rieslings in the world, but on the export market, Alsace is perhaps even more noted for highly aromatic Gewürztraminer wines.

Riquewihr is the most romantic...

The wine village Riquewihr is the most romantic medieval city in Alsace, hidden among vineyards and the Vosges mountains. Riquewihr looks today more or less as it did in the 16th century.

The Witch trials of Trier in Germany in the years from 1581 to 1593 was the perhaps biggest witch trial in Europe. The persecutions started in the diocese of Trier in 1581 and reached the city itself in 1587, where it was to lead to the death of about three hundred and sixty eight people, and was as such the perhaps biggest mass-execution in Europe in peace time. This counts only the executed within the city itself, and the real number of executed, counting also the executed in the entire witch hunts within the diocese as a whole, was thereby even larger. The exact number of executed have never been established; 1000 in total have been suggested but not confirmed.

Trier, today a beautiful city in western Germany was historically called in English Treves. The city is located on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC. Trier lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of ruddy sandstone in the west of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, near the border with Luxembourg and within the important Mosel wine region.

Luxembourg is by far the richest country in the European Union in terms of gross domestic product per capita, five times more affluent than Lithuania.

The European Union's statistics office Eurostat says GDP per capita measured in purchasing power standard (PPS) was 283 in Luxembourg in 2010, against the euro zone average of 108 and 58 for Lithuania.

The wealth of Luxembourg is partly due to the large number of people from neighbouring France, Germany and Belgium who work, but do not live in Luxembourg, therefore contributing to GDP but not being counted for the division of the wealth. The Netherlands was the second richest country in the EU, with GDP per capita less than half of Luxembourg's at 134 PPS. Denmark and Austria came in third with 127 PPS.

Central and eastern European countries remained at the bottom of the wealth table -- Romania was second poorest with 45 PPS, Latvia third from the bottom with 52, Lithuania fourth with 58 and the region's biggest country, Poland, fifth poorest with 62 PPS per capita.

GDP per capita in countries outside the EU: United States - 146 PPS, Switzerland - 146 PPS, Norway - 181 PPS.

Luxembourg City.
Photo: Wikipedia.

Luxembourg is a landlocked country, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland ("good country") in the south. Luxembourg has a population of over half a million people in an area of approximately 2,586 square kilometres (998 sq mi). A representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, it is ruled by a grand duke. It is now the world's only remaining sovereign grand duchy. The country has a highly developed economy, with the world's highest GDP (nominal) per capita according to the IMF. Its historic and strategic importance dates back to its founding as a Roman era fortress site and Frankish count's castle site in the Early Middle Ages. It was an important bastion along the Spanish Road when Spain was the principal European power influencing the whole western hemisphere and beyond in the 16th–17th centuries.

Luxembourg is a member of the European Union, NATO, OECD, the United Nations, and Benelux, reflecting the political consensus in favour of economic, political, and military integration. The city of Luxembourg, the largest and capital city, is the seat of several institutions and agencies of the EU.

Luxembourg culture is a mix of Romance Europe and Germanic Europe, borrowing customs from each of the distinct traditions. Luxembourg is a trilingual country; German, French and Luxembourgish are official languages. Although a secular state, Luxembourg is predominantly Roman Catholic.

NETHERLAND > Nether – Land, Nether = Neder (Dutch) = Low, Land = Land (Dutch) = Land; = LOWLANDS

Photo: http://www.uwgroup.org/netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. The country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces.

The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 25% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, and 50% of its land lying less than one metre above sea level. This distinct feature contributes to the country's name in many other European languages (e.g. German: Niederlande, French: Les Pays-Bas, Italian: Paesi Bassi and Spanish: Países Bajos, literally mean "(The) Low Countries"). Significant land area has been gained through land reclamation and preserved through an elaborate system of polders and dikes. Much of the Netherlands is formed by the estuary of three important European rivers, which together with their distributaries form the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. Most of the country is very flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast and several low-hill ranges in the central parts.

The Netherlands was one of the first countries to have an elected parliament. Among other affiliations the country is a founding member of the EU, NATO, OECD and WTO. With Belgium and Luxembourg it forms the Benelux economic union. The country is host to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and five international courts: the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The first four are situated in The Hague as is the EU's criminal intelligence agency Europol and judicial co-operation agency Eurojust. This has led to the city being dubbed "the world's legal capital".

Maastricht in southern Netherlands – birthplace of EU and EURO...

Amsterdam – canals and red lights…

Photo: http://www.roamintl.com

Amsterdam is an amazing city, filled with impressive architecture and beautiful canals that meander throughout the city. This is the capital of the Netherlands, and is a very popular travel destination for tourists from all over the world. There is literally something for every type of traveller, whether they may have a preference for history and culture, a vibrant night life, or simply the calming charm of an old European city. Amsterdam is the largest city in Netherlands and is considered to be the creative and cultural centre of this region of Europe.

Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population of 1,209,419 and a metropolitan population of 2,158,592. The city is in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. It comprises the northern part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe, with a population of approximately 7 million. Its name is derived from Amstelredamme, indicative of the city's origin: a dam in the river Amstel. Settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age, a result of its innovative developments in trade. During that time, the city was the leading center for finance and diamonds. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. Amsterdam's main attractions, including its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam, Anne Frank House, Amsterdam Museum, its red-light district, and its many cannabis coffee shops draw more than 3.66 million international visitors annually.

Rotterdam – Europe’s largest port

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, built in 1270, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre. Its strategic location at the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta on the North Sea and at the heart of a massive rail, road, air and inland waterway distribution system extending throughout Europe deliver the reason that Rotterdam is often called the Gateway to Europe.

Located in the Province of South Holland, Rotterdam is found in the west of the Netherlands and at the south end of the Randstad. The population of the city proper was 616,003 in November 2011. The population of the greater Rotterdam area, called "Rotterdam-Rijnmond" or just "Rijnmond", is around 1.3 million people. Rotterdam is one of Europe's most vibrant and multicultural cities. It is known for its university (Erasmus), its cutting-edge architecture, and lively cultural life. A striking riverside setting, Rotterdam's maritime heritage and the Rotterdam Blitz should also be added to the list.

Along the centre of Rotterdam, one can experience the thriving river with lots of traffic, a freeway on water if you wish, connecting its huge, modern port with the hinterland of Europe. The largest port in Europe and still one of the busiest ports in the world, the port of Rotterdam was the world's busiest port from 1962 to 2004, at which point it was surpassed by Shanghai. Rotterdam's commercial and strategic importance is based on its location near the mouth of the Nieuwe Maas (New Meuse), one of the channels in the delta formed by the Rhine and Meuse on the North Sea. These rivers lead directly into the centre of Europe, including the industrial Ruhr region.

Rotterdam is famous for its innovative architecture. Its impressive skyline can be seen from afar, enhancing the city’s imposing appearance characterised by such landmarks as the Euromast observation tower and the swan-like curve of the Erasmus Bridge. Photo: www.trendcocktailcom