The Brazil captain, Lucio, has agreed to join Internazionale after five years at Bayern Munich, the German club announced today. Lucio, whose contract with Bayern ran until 2010, will sign a three-year deal with the Italian champions.
“The Brazil captain agreed to end the contract running until 30 June 2010,” said Bayern, who did not reveal the financial side of the agreement. “The 31-year-old defender moves with immediate effect to the Italian champions Inter where he will sign a three-year deal.”
Lucio, who was to rejoin Bayern today after his Confederations Cup participation with Brazil, signed for the Germans in 2004 after a stint with Bayer Leverkusen. Part of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup-winning side, he quickly established himself as a rock in Bayern’s defence, helping them clinch the Bundesliga and cup double in 2005, 2006 and 2008.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Friday, 15 May 2009
German Motorsport - The Nürburgring
The Nürburgring, simply known as “The Ring” by enthusiasts, is a motorsport race track in Nürburg, Germany. It was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel, which is about 70 kilometres (43 mi) south of Cologne, and 120 kilometres (75 mi) northwest of Frankfurt. Nicknamed The Green Hell by Jackie Stewart, it is widely considered the toughest, most dangerous and most demanding purpose-built race track in the world.
Originally, the track featured four track configurations: the 28.265 kilometres (17.563 miles) long Gesamtstrecke (”Whole Course”), which in turn consisted of the 22.810 km (14.173 mi) Nordschleife (”Northern Loop”), and the 7.747 km (4.814 mi) Südschleife (”Southern Loop”). There also was a 2.281 km (1.417 mi) warm-up loop called Zielschleife (”Finish Loop”) or better known as Betonschleife, around the pit area.
Between 1982 and 1983 the start-finish area was demolished to create a new GP-Strecke, and this is currently used for all major and international racing events. However, the Nordschleife is still in use.
In the early 1920s, races called ADAC Eifelrennen were held on public roads in the Eifel mountains. This soon was considered impractical and dangerous. In order to provide work and lure tourists into the area, the construction of a dedicated race track was proposed, following the examples of Italy’s Monza and Berlin’s AVUS, yet with a completely different character. The layout of the circuit in the mountains was similar to the Targa Florio, one of the most important motor races at that time. The original Nürburgring was meant to be a showcase for German automotive engineering and racing talent, and was built with both purposes in mind. Construction of the track, designed by the Eichler Architekturbüro from Ravensburg (led by Architect Gustav Eichler), began in September 1925.
The track was completed in spring of 1927, and the ADAC Eifelrennen races were continued there. The first World Cycling Championship race took place on 1927-06-19, and the first German Grand Prix a month later. In addition, the track was opened to the public in the evenings and at weekends, as a one-way toll road. The Gesamtstrecke consisted of 174 bends (prior to 1971 changes), and was 8 to 9 metres (26 to 30 ft) in width on average.
In 1939 the full Ring was used for the last time in major racing events, as future Grands Prix would be held only on the Nordschleife. Motorcycles and minor races mainly used the shorter and safer Südschleife. Many memorable pre-war races took place at the circuit, featuring the talents of early Ringmeister (Ringmasters) such as Rudolf Caracciola, Tazio Nuvolari and Bernd Rosemeyer.
Originally, the track featured four track configurations: the 28.265 kilometres (17.563 miles) long Gesamtstrecke (”Whole Course”), which in turn consisted of the 22.810 km (14.173 mi) Nordschleife (”Northern Loop”), and the 7.747 km (4.814 mi) Südschleife (”Southern Loop”). There also was a 2.281 km (1.417 mi) warm-up loop called Zielschleife (”Finish Loop”) or better known as Betonschleife, around the pit area.
Between 1982 and 1983 the start-finish area was demolished to create a new GP-Strecke, and this is currently used for all major and international racing events. However, the Nordschleife is still in use.
In the early 1920s, races called ADAC Eifelrennen were held on public roads in the Eifel mountains. This soon was considered impractical and dangerous. In order to provide work and lure tourists into the area, the construction of a dedicated race track was proposed, following the examples of Italy’s Monza and Berlin’s AVUS, yet with a completely different character. The layout of the circuit in the mountains was similar to the Targa Florio, one of the most important motor races at that time. The original Nürburgring was meant to be a showcase for German automotive engineering and racing talent, and was built with both purposes in mind. Construction of the track, designed by the Eichler Architekturbüro from Ravensburg (led by Architect Gustav Eichler), began in September 1925.
The track was completed in spring of 1927, and the ADAC Eifelrennen races were continued there. The first World Cycling Championship race took place on 1927-06-19, and the first German Grand Prix a month later. In addition, the track was opened to the public in the evenings and at weekends, as a one-way toll road. The Gesamtstrecke consisted of 174 bends (prior to 1971 changes), and was 8 to 9 metres (26 to 30 ft) in width on average.
In 1939 the full Ring was used for the last time in major racing events, as future Grands Prix would be held only on the Nordschleife. Motorcycles and minor races mainly used the shorter and safer Südschleife. Many memorable pre-war races took place at the circuit, featuring the talents of early Ringmeister (Ringmasters) such as Rudolf Caracciola, Tazio Nuvolari and Bernd Rosemeyer.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Bavarian culture and early history
Bavaria, with almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state (Bundesland) of Germany by area. Its capital is Munich in Upper Bavaria.
The Bavarians emerged in a region north of the Alps, originally inhabited by the Celts, which had been part of the Roman provinces of Raethia and Noricum. The Bavarians spoke Old High German but, unlike other Germanic groups, did not migrate from elsewhere. Rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century AD. These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii, some remaining Romans, Marcomanni, Allemanni, Thuringians, Goths, Rugians, Heruli. The name “Bavarian” (”Baiuvarii”) means “Men of Baia” which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni.
From about 550 to 788, the house of Agilolfing ruled the Duchy of Bavaria, starting with Garibald I and ending with Tassilo III who was deposed by Charlemagne.
After Garibald II little is known of the Bavarians until Duke Theodo I. From 696 onwards he invited churchmen from the west to organize churches and strengthen Christianity in his duchy (it is unclear what Bavarian religious life consisted of before this time). His son, Theudebert, led a decisive Bavarian campaign to intervene in a succession dispute in the Lombard Kingdom in 714, and married his sister Guntrud to the Lombard King Liutprand. At Theodo’s death the duchy was divided among his sons, but reunited under his grandson Hucbert.
At Hucbert’s death (735 AD) the duchy passed to a distant relative named Odilo, from neighbouring Alemannia (modern southwest Germany and northern Switzerland). Odilo issued a law code for Bavaria, completed the process of church organisation in partnership with St. Boniface (739), and tried to intervene in Frankish succession disputes by fighting for the claims of the Carolingian Grifo. He was defeated near Augsburg in 743 but continued to rule until his death in 748.
Tassilo III succeeded his father at the age of eight after an unsuccessful attempt by Grifo to rule Bavaria. He initially ruled under Frankish oversight but began to function independently from 763 onwards. He was particularly noted for founding new monasteries and for expanding eastwards, fighting Slavs in the eastern Alps and along the River Danube and colonising these lands. After 781, however, his cousin Charlemagne began to pressure Tassilo to submit and finally deposed him in 788.
For the next 400 years numerous families held the duchy, rarely for more than three generations. With the revolt of duke Henry the Quarrelsome in 976, Bavaria lost large territories in the south and south east. The last, and one of the most important, of these dukes was Henry the Lion of the house of Welf, founder of Munich. When Henry the Lion was deposed as Duke of Saxony and Bavaria by his cousin, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1180, Bavaria was awarded as fief to the Wittelsbach family, which ruled from 1180 to 1918.
The first of several divisions of the duchy of Bavaria occurred in 1255. With the extinction of the Hohenstaufen in 1268 also Swabian territories were acquired by the Wittelsbach dukes. Emperor Louis the Bavarian acquired Brandenburg, Tirol, Holland and Hainaut for his House but released the Upper Palatinate for the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach in 1329. In 1506 with the Landshut War of Succession the other parts of Bavaria were reunited and Munich became the sole capital.
When Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire, Bavaria became a kingdom in 1806, and its area reduplicated. Tirol and Salzburg were temporarily reunited with Bavaria but finally ceded to Austria. In return the Rhenish Palatinate and Franconia were annexed to Bavaria in 1815. Between 1799 and 1817 the leading minister count Montgelas followed a strict policy of modernisation and laid the foundations of administrative structures that survived even the monarchy and are valid until today. In 1818 a modern constitution was passed, that established a bicameral Parliament with a House of Lords (Kammer der Reichsräte) and a House of Commons (Kammer der Abgeordneten). The constitution was valid until the collapse of the monarchy at the end of World War I.
The Bavarians emerged in a region north of the Alps, originally inhabited by the Celts, which had been part of the Roman provinces of Raethia and Noricum. The Bavarians spoke Old High German but, unlike other Germanic groups, did not migrate from elsewhere. Rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century AD. These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii, some remaining Romans, Marcomanni, Allemanni, Thuringians, Goths, Rugians, Heruli. The name “Bavarian” (”Baiuvarii”) means “Men of Baia” which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni.
From about 550 to 788, the house of Agilolfing ruled the Duchy of Bavaria, starting with Garibald I and ending with Tassilo III who was deposed by Charlemagne.
After Garibald II little is known of the Bavarians until Duke Theodo I. From 696 onwards he invited churchmen from the west to organize churches and strengthen Christianity in his duchy (it is unclear what Bavarian religious life consisted of before this time). His son, Theudebert, led a decisive Bavarian campaign to intervene in a succession dispute in the Lombard Kingdom in 714, and married his sister Guntrud to the Lombard King Liutprand. At Theodo’s death the duchy was divided among his sons, but reunited under his grandson Hucbert.
At Hucbert’s death (735 AD) the duchy passed to a distant relative named Odilo, from neighbouring Alemannia (modern southwest Germany and northern Switzerland). Odilo issued a law code for Bavaria, completed the process of church organisation in partnership with St. Boniface (739), and tried to intervene in Frankish succession disputes by fighting for the claims of the Carolingian Grifo. He was defeated near Augsburg in 743 but continued to rule until his death in 748.
Tassilo III succeeded his father at the age of eight after an unsuccessful attempt by Grifo to rule Bavaria. He initially ruled under Frankish oversight but began to function independently from 763 onwards. He was particularly noted for founding new monasteries and for expanding eastwards, fighting Slavs in the eastern Alps and along the River Danube and colonising these lands. After 781, however, his cousin Charlemagne began to pressure Tassilo to submit and finally deposed him in 788.
For the next 400 years numerous families held the duchy, rarely for more than three generations. With the revolt of duke Henry the Quarrelsome in 976, Bavaria lost large territories in the south and south east. The last, and one of the most important, of these dukes was Henry the Lion of the house of Welf, founder of Munich. When Henry the Lion was deposed as Duke of Saxony and Bavaria by his cousin, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1180, Bavaria was awarded as fief to the Wittelsbach family, which ruled from 1180 to 1918.
The first of several divisions of the duchy of Bavaria occurred in 1255. With the extinction of the Hohenstaufen in 1268 also Swabian territories were acquired by the Wittelsbach dukes. Emperor Louis the Bavarian acquired Brandenburg, Tirol, Holland and Hainaut for his House but released the Upper Palatinate for the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach in 1329. In 1506 with the Landshut War of Succession the other parts of Bavaria were reunited and Munich became the sole capital.
When Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire, Bavaria became a kingdom in 1806, and its area reduplicated. Tirol and Salzburg were temporarily reunited with Bavaria but finally ceded to Austria. In return the Rhenish Palatinate and Franconia were annexed to Bavaria in 1815. Between 1799 and 1817 the leading minister count Montgelas followed a strict policy of modernisation and laid the foundations of administrative structures that survived even the monarchy and are valid until today. In 1818 a modern constitution was passed, that established a bicameral Parliament with a House of Lords (Kammer der Reichsräte) and a House of Commons (Kammer der Abgeordneten). The constitution was valid until the collapse of the monarchy at the end of World War I.
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