1.
Davos
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Davos is a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,109, Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range. At 1,560 m, it is the highest town in Europe, Davos is host to the World Economic Forum, an annual meeting of global political and business elites and the home of one of Switzerlands biggest ski resorts. At the end of year it serves as the site of the annual Spengler Cup ice hockey tournament. The current settlement of the Davos area began in the High Middle Ages with the immigration of Rhaeto-Romans, the village of Davos is first mentioned in 1213 as Tavaus. Natives still speak a dialect that is atypical for Graubünden, showing similarities with German idioms of western parts of Switzerland, in 1436, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions was founded in Davos. Robert Louis Stevenson, who suffered from tuberculosis, wintered in Davos in 1880 upon the recommendation of his Edinburgh physician Dr. George Balfour, arthur Conan Doyle wrote an article about skiing in Davos in 1899. A sanatorium in Davos is also the inspiration for the Berghof Sanitorium in Thomas Manns novel Der Zauberberg, between 1936 and 1938, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, then at the end of his life and living in Davos since 1917, depicted Davos and the Junkerboden. His painting has a both Romantic and pantheistic atmosphere and simplified formal structure, during the natural ice era of winter sports, Davos and the Davos Eisstadion were a mecca for speed skating. Many international championships were held here, and many records were set. The only European Bandy Championship was held in the town in 1913, subsequently, Davos became a famous ski resort, especially frequented by tourists from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. After peaking in the 1970s and 1980s, the city settled down as a leading, Davos has an area, of 283.98 km2. Of this area, about 35. 0% is used for agricultural purposes, of the rest of the land,2. 3% is settled and 40. 5% is unproductive land. In the 2004/09 survey a total of 337 ha or about 1. 2% of the area was covered with buildings. Over the same period, the amount of recreational space in the municipality increased by 10 ha and is now about 0. 22% of the total area. Of the agricultural land,1,296 ha is fields and grasslands and 9,056 ha consists of alpine grazing areas, since 1985 the amount of agricultural land has decreased by 736 ha. Over the same period the amount of forested land has increased by 481 ha. Rivers and lakes cover 285 ha in the municipality, until 2017 the municipality was located in the Davos subdistrict of the Prättigau/Davos district, after 2017 it was part of the Prättigau/Davos Region
2.
Bern
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The city of Bern or Berne is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to by the Swiss as their Bundesstadt, or federal city. With a population of 141,762, Bern is the fourth-most populous city in Switzerland, the Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000, Bern is also the capital of the canton of Bern, the second-most populous of Switzerlands cantons. The official language in Bern is German, but the language is an Alemannic Swiss German dialect. In 1983, the old town in the centre of Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bern is ranked among the top ten cities for the best quality of life. The etymology of the name Bern is uncertain and it has long been considered likely that the city was named after the Italian city of Verona, which at the time was known as Bern in Middle High German. As a result of the find of the Bern zinc tablet in the 1980s, it is now common to assume that the city was named after a pre-existing toponym of Celtic origin. The bear was the animal of the seal and coat of arms of Bern from at least the 1220s. The earliest reference to the keeping of bears in the Bärengraben dates to the 1440s. No archaeological evidence that indicates a settlement on the site of city centre prior to the 12th century has been found so far. In antiquity, a Celtic oppidum stood on the Engehalbinsel north of Bern, fortified since the second century BC, during the Roman era, a Gallo-Roman vicus was on the same site. The Bern zinc tablet has the name Brenodor, in the Early Middle Ages, a settlement in Bümpliz, now a city district of Bern, was some 4 km from the medieval city. The medieval city is a foundation of the Zähringer ruling family, according to 14th-century historiography, Bern was founded in 1191 by Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen. In 1218, after Berthold died without an heir, Bern was made an imperial city by the Goldene Handfeste of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. In 1353, Bern joined the Swiss Confederacy, becoming one of the eight cantons of the period of 1353 to 1481. The city grew out towards the west of the boundaries of the peninsula formed by the river Aare, the Zytglogge tower marked the western boundary of the city from 1191 until 1256, when the Käfigturm took over this role until 1345. It was, in turn, succeeded by the Christoffelturm until 1622, during the time of the Thirty Years War, two new fortifications – the so-called big and small Schanze – were built to protect the whole area of the peninsula
3.
University of Bern
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The University of Bern is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern and it is a comprehensive university offering a broad choice of courses and programs in eight faculties and some 150 institutes. With around 17,428 students, the University of Bern is the third biggest University in Switzerland, the University of Bern operates at three levels, university, faculties and institutes. Other organizational units include interfaculty and general university units, the universitys highest governing body is the Senate, which is responsible for issuing statutes, rules and regulations. Directly answerable to the Senate is the University Board of Directors, the Board comprises the Rector, the Vice-Rectors and the Administrative Director. The structures and functions of the University Board of Directors and the organizational units are regulated by the Universities Act. The University of Bern offers about 39 bachelor and 72 master programs, with enrolments of 7,869 and 4,425, the university also has 2,648 doctoral students. Around 1,575 bachelor,1,566 masters degree students and 534 PhD students graduate each year, for some time now, the university has had more female than male students, at the end of 2014, women accounted for 56% of students. Unlike other universities, the University of Bern does not have a large campus on the edge of the city. Most institutes and clinics are still in the Länggasse, the university district adjoining the city centre. The University has won awards for its intelligent, ecological. The vonRoll site, another factory building, is in the process of being refurbished to house the Faculty of Human Sciences. The roots of the University of Bern go back to the century, when, as a consequence of the Reformation. As part of its reorganization of education, the government of Bern transformed the existing theological college into an academy with four faculties in 1805. Henceforth, it was possible to not only theology in Bern. As in other countries of Europe, nineteenth century politics in Switzerland were dominated by the struggle between conservative and liberal currents. The liberals gained control of the Canton of Bern in 1831 and in 1834 turned the academy into a university, with an academic staff of 45 to teach 167 students. Owing to the situation, it was not until the promulgation of the federal constitution in 1848 that the university was able to embark on a period of peaceful development
4.
Canton of Bern
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The canton of Bern is the second largest of the 26 Swiss cantons by both surface area and population. Located in west-central Switzerland, it borders the canton of Jura, to the west lie the canton of Neuchâtel, the canton of Fribourg and Vaud. To the south lies the canton of Valais, east of the canton of Bern lie the cantons of Uri, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Lucerne and Aargau. The canton of Bern is bilingual and has a population of 1,017,483, as of 2007, the population included 119,930 foreigners. The cantonal capital, also the capital of Switzerland, is Bern. Bern joined the Swiss Confederation in 1353 and was between 1803 and 1814 one of the six directorial cantons of the Napoleonic Swiss Confederation and these caves were used at various times during the last ice age. The first open-air settlement in the area is an upper paleolithic settlement at Moosbühl in Moosseedorf, during the warmer climate of the mesolithic period, increasing forest cover restricted the movement of hunters, fishers and gatherers. Their temporary settlements were built along lake and marsh edges, which remained free of trees due to fluctuations in water level, important mesolithic sites in the Canton are at Pieterlenmoos and Burgäschisee lake along with alpine valleys at Diemtig and Simmental. During the neolithic period, there were a number of settlements on the shores of Lake Biel, several of these sites are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the best explored neolithic sites is at Twann, in the Twannbach delta there were about 25 Cortaillod culture and Horgen culture villages that existed between 3800 and 2950 BC. One of the oldest examples of bread from Switzerland, a sourdough from 3560–3530 BC, simple copper objects were already in use in the 4th millennium BC, including a copper pin from Lattrigen from 3170 BC and a knife blade from Twann. Shortly before 2000 BC bronze production entered the area and brought about a surge in development, settlements began to spread into the pre-Alpine and Alpine areas. The area between Lake Thun and the Niedersimmental were densely settled, Late Bronze Age settlements along Lake Biel have yielded up a wealth of items. During the early Iron Age changes in climate forced them to settlements along many waterways and in the valley floors and move to the plateaus. With increased trade contacts across the Alps, the influence of the Mediterranean grew in the area. Evidence of this include a hydria which was discovered in Grächwil. Burial rituals and social classes became more developed during this time, the so-called princely graves became more common, many of the burial mounds were over 30 m in diameter and 4 m high and richly outfitted with grave goods. In a grave mound in Bützberg the first burial in the mound was followed by later burials
5.
University of Strathclyde
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The University of Strathclyde is a Scottish public research university located in Glasgow, United Kingdom. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgows second-oldest university and it takes its name from the historic Kingdom of Strathclyde. The University of Strathclyde is Scotlands third-largest university by number of students, with students, the institution was awarded University of the Year 2012 and Entrepreneurial University of the year 2013 by Times Higher Education. Entry into many of the courses in the university is competitive and this means that successful applicants to Strathclyde have the third-highest average score in Scotland, and is ranked twelfth overall in the UK. It is also one of the 39 old universities in the UK comprising the second cluster of elite universities after Oxbridge. The University later named its city centre campus after him, in 1828, the institution was renamed Andersons University, partially fulfilling Andersons vision of two universities in the city of Glasgow. The name was changed in 1887, to reflect the fact there was no legal authority for the use of the title of university. Undergraduate students could qualify for degrees of the University of Glasgow or the equivalent Associate of the Royal College of Science, the University of Strathclyde was the UKs first technological university reflecting its history, teaching and research excellence in technological education. In 1993, the University incorporated Jordanhill College of Education, in July 2015, Her Majesty The Queen has opened the Technology and Innovation Centre, at the University of Strathclyde. The centrepiece building has long been the massive Royal College Building, started in 1903 and completed in 1912, it was partially opened in 1910 and at the time was the largest educational building in Europe for technical education. Originally built as the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College Building, it now houses Bioscience, Chemistry, meanwhile, a new biomedical sciences building was opened in early 2010. It was designed by Shepparrd Robson, and aims to bring the multi-faceted disciplines of the Institute together under one roof, sited on Cathedral Street in Glasgow, the 8,000 m2 building is the gateway to the University campus and city centre from the motorway. The James Weir Building has been reconstructed and reopened in 2014 after a fire resulted in many rooms being unusable. The Architecture Building, completed in 1967, is considered to be the best post-war building on campus and it was designed by Frank Fielden and Associates, Frank Fielden being the Professor of Architecture in the Architecture School at the time. In 2012, Historic Scotland granted Listed Building Status to it, along with the Wolfson Building designed by Morris,2012 also saw the 20th Century Society select the Architecture Building as their Building of the Month for September due to its cultural significance and enduring appeal. The Andersonian Library is the library of the University of Strathclyde. Established in 1796, it is one of the largest of its type in Scotland and it is situated in the Curran building. Situated over 5 floors at present, the Andersonian Library has more than 2,000 reader places,450 computer places and extensive wi-fi zones for laptop use
6.
Technical University of Berlin
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The Technische Universität Berlin, known as TU Berlin and unofficially as the Technical University of Berlin, is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1879 and became one of the most prestigious institutions in Europe. It has one of the highest proportions of students in Germany. It belongs to the Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education, the TU Berlin is home of two innovation centers designated by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. The university is known for its highly ranked engineering programmes, especially in engineering and engineering management. The university alumni and professor list include US National Academies members, the TH Charlottenburg was named after the borough of its location in Charlottenburg just outside Berlin. Beforehand, the college had been, however, for several decades under the auspices of the Frederick William University. After Charlottenburgs absorption into Greater Berlin in 1920 and Germany being turned into Weimar Republic, in 1927, the Department of Geodesy of the Agricultural College of Berlin was incorporated into the TH Berlin. The shell construction remained unfinished after the outbreak of World War II and after Beckers suicide in 1940, the north section of the main building of the university was destroyed during a bombing raid in November 1943. Due to the fighting at the end of the Second World War. Planning for the re-opening of the school began on June, 2nd 1945, once the acting rectorship led by Gustav Ludwig Hertz and Max Volmer was appointed. As both Hertz and Volmer remained in exile in the Soviet Union for some time to come, since 2009 the TU Berlin houses two Knowledge and Innovation Communities designated by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. The TU Berlin covers 604,000 m², distributed over various locations in Berlin, the main campus is located in the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. The seven schools of the university have some 33,933 students enrolled in 90 subjects, El Gouna campus, Technische Universität Berlin has established a satellite campus in Egypt to act as a scientific and academic field office. The nonprofit public-private partnership aims to offer services provided by Technische Universität Berlin at the campus in El Gouna on the Red Sea, in addition there are 2,651 student assistants and 126 trainees. International student mobility is applicable through ERASMUS programme or through Top Industrial Managers for Europe network, the new common main library of Technische Universität Berlin and of the Berlin University of the Arts was opened in 2004 and holds about 2.9 million volumes. The library building was sponsored partially by Volkswagen and is named officially University Library of the TU Berlin, a source of confusion to many, the letters above the main entrance only state Volkswagen Bibliothek – without any mentioning of the universities. Bruno Ahrends, architect Steffen Ahrends, architect Stancho Belkovski, Bulgarian architect, head of Higher Technical School in Sofia, wilhelm Cauer, mathematician, essential contributions to the design of filters
7.
National Council (Switzerland)
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The National Council is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the upper house being the Council of States. With 200 seats, the National Council is the larger of the two houses, adult citizens elect the councils members, who are called National Councillors for four year terms. These members are apportioned to the Swiss cantons in proportion to their population, both houses meet in the Federal Palace of Switzerland in Berne. With 200 members, the National Council is the house of the Swiss legislature. When the Swiss federation was founded in 1848, the number of seats was not yet fixed, according to the provisions of the federal constitution at that time, a canton was to receive one National Council member for every 20,000 citizens. Thus, the first National Council, which met in 1848, had 111 members, in 1963, the number of members was fixed at 200. The division of the seats between the individual cantons is determined by each percentage of the national population, as revealed in the national census. A change in the division of the seats occurred in 2003, every canton is entitled to at least one seat in the National Council. Elections are held for the National Council every four years by the Swiss people, the most recent election took place on Sunday,18 October 2015. Since a popular initiative in 1918, elections have been by proportional representation, since 1971 women have been entitled to vote and stand in National Council elections. There is a proviso that each canton is entitled to at least one seat, the number of seats given to the cantons which are entitled to more than one seat is determined using the largest remainder method. Cantons which can are only entitled to send one councillor to the National Council, the cantons use a unique system of proportional representation, sometimes called a free list. Each citizen may cast as many votes as there are available to their constituency. For every vote received by a candidate, that candidates party also receives a vote, voters also list a party vote, in which all blank candidate votes contribute towards the parties total. In elections, political parties publish lists in the cantons with their candidates, each list contains at most the number of candidates which the canton is entitled to send to the National Council. It is possible for one or more candidates to be listed twice, in addition, each party can produce multiple lists to the canton. It is also possible for parties to enter a single shared list. Voters are entitled to choose a party list without making changes or they can alter it by cumulative voting or panachage
8.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
9.
Politics of Switzerland
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Switzerland is a democratic federal republic. The federal legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Federal Assembly, the National Council and the Council of States, the Federal Council holds the executive power and is composed by seven power-sharing Federal Councillors elected by the Federal Assembly. The judiciary branch is represented by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, Switzerland has a tradition of direct democracy. For any change in the constitution, a referendum is mandatory, for any change in a law, in addition, the people may present a constitutional popular initiative to introduce amendments to the federal constitution. The people also assumes a similar to the constitutional court, which does not exist. Cantonal and municipal politics vary in the different cantons, which may have different systems, Switzerland features a system of government not seen in any other nation direct representation, sometimes called half-direct democracy. Referenda on the most important laws have used since the 1848 constitution. Any citizen may challenge a law that has passed by parliament. Also, any citizen may seek a decision on an amendment they want to make to the constitution, for such a federal popular initiative to be organised, the signatures of 100,000 voters must be collected within 18 months. Such a federal popular initiative is formulated as a new text whose wording can no longer be changed by parliament. After a successful signature gathering, the council may create a counterproposal to the proposed amendment. Such counter-proposals are usually a compromise between the status quo and the wording of the initiative, voters will decide in a national vote whether to accept the initiative amendment, the counter proposal put forward by the government if any, or both. If both are accepted, one has to additionally signal a preference, the Swiss Federal Council is a seven-member executive council that heads the federal administration, operating as a combination cabinet and collective presidency. Any Swiss citizen eligible to be a member of the National Council can be elected, candidates do not have to register for the election, the Federal Council is elected by the Federal Assembly for a four-year term. Present members are, Doris Leuthard, Guy Parmelin, Ueli Maurer, Didier Burkhalter, Simonetta Sommaruga, Johann Schneider-Ammann and Alain Berset. The largely ceremonial President and Vice President of the Confederation are elected by the Federal Assembly from among the members of the Federal Council for one-year terms that run concurrently. The President has almost no powers over and above his or her six colleagues, the current President and Vice President are Doris Leuthard and Alain Berset, respectively. The Swiss executive is one of the most stable governments worldwide, since 1848, it has never been renewed entirely at the same time, providing a long-term continuity
10.
Matura
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It is taken by young adults at the end of their secondary education, and generally must be passed in order to apply to a university or other institutions of higher education. Matura is an examination and can be compared to A-Level exams or Abitur. The official name is Matura Shtetërore which was introduced in 2006 by the Ministry of Education, the Matura is the obligatory exam one must pass after finishing the gjimnaz to have ones education formally recognized and to become eligible to enroll in universities. Vocational schools are part of the Matura with a different exam structure. The two compulsory subjects to complete secondary education are Albanian language and literature and mathematics, for being admitted in a university students must take two additional exams which they choose themselves out of a list of eight subjects. The Matura exams take place in three days usually in the June/July period. The two first days are for each of the subjects, the third day is for the two additional exams. The basic marks range from 4 to 10, for university admissions though a more complex system called MeP is used, the State Matura and the MeP replaced an admission system conducted individually by each faculty/university which was seen as abusive. The official term for Matura in Austria is Reifeprüfung, the document received after the successful completion of the written and oral exams is called Maturazeugnis. All examinations are held at the school which the candidate last attended and this paper also needs to be defended in the corresponding oral exam. The grading system is the one used in Austrian schools,1 is excellent,2 is good,3 is satisfactory,4 is passed and 5 means that the candidate has failed. In addition, a candidates Maturazeugnis contains an overall assessment, mit ausgezeichnetem Erfolg bestanden, mit gutem Erfolg bestanden, bestanden. Candidates who have failed may re-take their exams in September/October or February/March of the school year. Compulsory subjects for the finals are always German and Mathematics. Schools with a focus on science may require their students to take written finals in Biology or Physics, perhaps the most striking aspect of the Austrian Matura is that it is a decentralized affair. There is only one external examiner, Candidates are set both for their written and oral finals by their own teachers. Oral exams are held publicly, but attendance by anyone other than a former schoolmates is not encouraged. It is possible for Austrians of all age groups to take the Matura, adults from their twenties on are usually tutored at private institutions of adult education before taking their final tests, held separately before a regional examination board
11.
Buchholterberg
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Buchholterberg is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Buchholterberg is first mentioned in 1268 as Bucholtron, the municipality was gradually settled as farmers moved out from other villages into the villages that would make up Buchholterberg. By 1257 Graf Ulrich von Buchegg was mentioned as owning property in the villages. Other Bernese patricians also held lands in the area, in 1399, the entire area was acquired by the city of Bern and added to the Röthenbach District. It was later assigned to the Landvogtei of Signau and then the Konolfingen District before joining the Thun District in 1864, originally Buchholterberg, Wachseldorn, Süderen and Bleiken were all combined into the Buchholterberg-third of the parish of Oberdiessbach. In 1805 parts of Buchholterberg and Wachseldorn-Gützenschwendi merged to form a political municipality, however, in 1823, they separated into two political municipalities, but remained a combined parish under Oberdiessbach. In 1860 the independent Buchholterberg parish was created, which included all the municipality along with Wachseldorn, traditionally the local residents practiced seasonal alpine herding where they raised cattle in high meadows during the summer and over wintered on the valley floor. Only a limited number of crops were grown on the valley floor, in 1857-68 a road was built linking the municipality with Steffisburg and the rest of the Aare river valley. Other roads eventually connected it to Oberdiessbach and the upper Emmental, however, the large, sparsely settled municipality remains very rural and agrarian. In 1990 over half of the residents commuted to jobs in nearby cities, there are three primary schools in the municipality, Badhaus, Wangelen and Bruchbühl. The school house in Bruchbühl was built on the site of the first school in the municipality, Secondary students travel to the secondary schools in Oberdiessbach or Unterlangenegg. Buchholterberg has an area of 15.32 km2, as of 2012, a total of 8.82 km2 or 57. 6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 5.34 km2 or 34. 9% is forested. The rest of the municipality is 0.96 km2 or 6. 3% is settled,0.04 km2 or 0. 3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.11 km2 or 0. 7% is unproductive land. During the same year, housing and buildings made up 3. 6%, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land,19. 6% is used for growing crops and 36. 4% is pasturage, all the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located in the hills north-east of Thun, near Rothachen canyon and it includes the village of Heimenschwand, the regions known as Obere Allmendgemeinde, Untere Allmendgemeinde and the new developments of Heimenegg, Höh and Längmatt. Obere Allmendgemeinde includes part of Heimenschwand, Zihl and Bätterich, Untere Allmendgemeinde has the rest of Heimenschwand, Marbach, Schaubhaus, Badhaus, Ibach, Wangelen, Teufenbach, Wyler and Rothachen. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Thun, the former district, was dissolved
