title: Durgapur

text: The administrative setup came in stages. In 1837, when Bankura district was formed, Durgapur area was part of it. In 1847, Raniganj subdivision was formed with three police stations – Raniganj, Kanksa, and Neamatpur - and it was made a part of Bardhaman district. In 1906, the subdivisional headquarters was shifted to Burdwan and the subdivision renamed accordingly. In 1910, the police stations in Asansol subdivision were Asansol, Ranigunj, Kanksa, Faridpur, and Barakar. On 14 April 1968, Durgapur subdivision was carved out of Asansol subdivision.


title: Durgapur

text: Durgapur is home to National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, an autonomous institution in eastern India of national importance. It is one of the 31 N.I.T.s in the country. N.I.T. Durgapur is one of the 8 old Regional Engineering Colleges established in 1956.


title: Durgapur

text: Durgapur Government College is the only government college not only in the home district of Burdwan but also in the neighbouring districts of Bankura, Purulia and Birbhum. It was established on 15 September 1970 and was affiliated to the University of Burdwan which later got affiliated to Kazi Nazrul University.


title: Durgapur

text: The Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (also known as CSIR-CMERI Durgapur or CMERI Durgapur) is a public engineering research and development institution in Durgapur, West Bengal, India. It is a constituent laboratory of the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The institute is dedicated to work in the mechanical and allied engineering disciplines.


title: Durgapur

text: The National Power Training Institute (Also known as NPTI(ER) and formerly known as PETS, Durgapur) is an institute under Ministry of Power, Government of India which offers postgraduate education in the field of power plants. This institute is also associated with several industrial bodies for imparting training to plant personnel.


title: Durgapur

text: Durgapur Institute of Advanced Technology and Management, Dr. B.C. Roy Engineering College and the Bengal College of Engineering and Technology offer engineering degrees. They are affiliated to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), formerly known as West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT). Durgapur Women's College and Michael Madhusudan Memorial College are general degree colleges affiliated to Kazi Nazrul University.


title: Durgapur

text: Durgapur houses a large number of government aided and public schools in addition to two Kendriya Vidyalaya and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (under the Government of India). Notable private schools include: St. Michael's School, St. Xavier's School,Carmel Convent High School, Pranavananda Vidyamandir and Amrai High School.


title: Durgapur

text: Durgapur has several electronic media houses. Express News, DSTV (owned by DSP), Hallow India, TV Bangla are some of them., are printed from the city. Anandabazar Patrika is published from Ghutgoria, near Durgapur, in Bankura District, and has a separate Asansol-Durgapur edition. Samay Sanket is another newspaper published from Durgapur. Dainik Jagaran has a Durgapur Edition, too. Durgapur does not have any F.M. stations. However All India Radio 100.3 FM, 92.7 Big FM, 93.5 Red FM and Radio Mirchi 95 FM has stations at Asansol and serve both Asansol and Durgapur.


title: Ben Elliot

text: Benjamin William Elliot (born 11 August 1975) is a British businessman and fund-raiser for the Conservative Party who served as Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party from July 2019 alongside James Cleverly (2019–2020), Amanda Milling (2020–2021), Oliver Dowden (2021–2022), and Andrew Stephenson (2022) before resigning on 5 September 2022. In 2018, Elliot was appointed by Michael Gove, the secretary of state for the environment, as the UK government's first Food Surplus and Waste Champion. Elliot is the co-founder of the Quintessentially Group, a global luxury concierge service, and the co-founder of Hawthorn Advisors, a communications consultancy based in London. He is the nephew of King Charles and Queen Camilla.


title: Ben Elliot

text: Elliot was born and raised in Dorset, England. He is the son of Simon Elliot, a Dorset landowner, and Annabel Elliot (née Shand), an interior designer and antiques dealer. He has two sisters. His mother is the sister of Queen Camilla, and Mark Shand. His maternal grandparents were Major Bruce Shand and the Hon. Rosalind Cubitt. Elliot was educated at Eton College and the University of Bristol, graduating with a BSc in Politics and Economics.


title: Ben Elliot

text: Elliot is the co-founder of Quintessentially Group, a luxury lifestyle group with a 24-hour global concierge service, which he started in London in December 2000. The company has boasted about how it serves wealthy Russian clients, which includes opening an office in Russia and creating a "dedicated Russian team". After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the company deleted its webpage that boasted about serving Russian elite clients.


title: Ben Elliot

text: He is a regular contributor to the "Financial Times", "The New York Times and" "Country Life" amongst other publications.


title: Ben Elliot

text: Elliot was included in the "Evening Standard's" Progress 1000 list, named as one of 'London's most influential people 2016 - Business Brains'. He was the executive producer of the award-winning documentary "Fire in Babylon".


title: Ben Elliot

text: Elliot was asked to act as treasurer for the Conservative Party's 2016 London mayoral campaign and was responsible for all campaign fundraising efforts. Elliot acts as a trustee for the Eranda Rothschild Foundation and has been Chairman on the Philanthropy Board of the Royal Albert Hall since 2015. In December 2016, he was appointed as a trustee to the board of the Victoria and Albert Museum by Prime Minister Theresa May. The four-year term officially commenced on 1 January 2017. Following October 2017's relaunch of the Centre for Policy Studies, Elliot was asked by Lord Saatchi to join his board as honorary treasurer.


title: Ben Elliot

text: In December 2018, Elliot was appointed by Michael Gove, the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, as the government's first Food Surplus and Waste Champion. Following Elliot's appointment, Gove commented: "Food waste is an economic, environmental and moral scandal. We must end it. That's why I am delighted Ben Elliot is taking up this position and know he will bring the enthusiasm and skills this important role needs. His first task will be to help ensure our £15 million food waste fund redistributes surplus food that would otherwise be wasted to those most in need."


title: Ben Elliot

text: In July 2019, Elliot was appointed by incoming Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the co-chairman of the Conservative Party, working alongside fellow co-chairman James Cleverly. Cleverly was demoted to become a joint Foreign Office and Department for International Development minister in the 2020 cabinet reshuffle and was replaced as Chairman by Amanda Milling. Milling was succeeded by Oliver Dowden in the 2021 cabinet reshuffle. Dowden resigned in June 2022.


title: Ben Elliot

text: Elliot is a founding trustee of the Quintessentially Foundation charity, which has raised in excess of £13 million for charitable causes since 2008.


title: Ben Elliot

text: In 2021, BBC News described Elliot as the "Tories' chief fundraiser". He raised nearly £2 million from donors with links to the Vladimir Putin regime in Russia.


title: Ben Elliot

text: Elliot married Mary-Clare Winwood, US-born daughter of the musician Steve Winwood, in Gloucestershire in 2011. They have two sons and live in West London. Elliot is a member of 5 Hertford Street, a private members' club in Mayfair, London.


title: Dick's Last Resort

text: Dick's Last Resort is a bar and restaurant chain in the United States, known for its intentional employment of an obnoxious staff. The chain consists of seventeen restaurants. The restaurant has its origins in Dallas with the original owner, Dick Chase's opening of a "fine-dining" establishment in 1985. The establishment was a complete failure, which resulted in bankruptcy. Rather than continue with the upscale restaurant motif, Dick retooled his efforts and decided to "go sloppy." Chase's likeness is still featured on their T-shirts and promotional materials. The end result was a success, leading to the creation of more locations.


title: Dick's Last Resort

text: In 1995, the company attempted to expand to Europe and opened a restaurant in London, but the effort was abandoned and the restaurant was sold in early 1996.


title: Dick's Last Resort

text: The company is now owned by Deja Vu, a large entertainment and restaurant conglomerate, and the concept has expanded to dozens of states.


title: Dick's Last Resort

text: Dick's Last Resort teaches its servers to be obnoxious. In addition to the staff, the decor is considered to be "wacky." The restaurant uses picnic-style tables and paper tablecloths. Patrons of Dick's are expected to be insulted, or placed in uncomfortable situations. Adult bibs and large, hand-made, paper hats with insults written on them are given to diners to wear during their stay. There are no napkins on the tables; they are generally thrown at the customers by the serving staff.


title: Dick's Last Resort

text: Dick's menu is influenced by Southern cuisine, consisting of hamburgers, barbecue, and seafood items.


title: Dick's Last Resort

text: In addition to food and drink, Dick's offers souvenirs such as "Real Women Love Dick's" T-shirts and "I Love Dick's" bumper stickers.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is 315m above sea level, with a hot desert climate, and an average rainfall of 235mm. The closest major city is Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, which is more than 500km to the southwest and linked via route A32.


title: Broken Hill

text: The town is prominent in Australia's mining, industrial relations and economic history after the discovery of silver ore led to the opening of various mines, thus establishing Broken Hill's recognition as a prosperous mining town well into the 1990s. Despite experiencing a slowing economic situation into the late 1990s and 2000s, Broken Hill itself was listed on the National Heritage List in 2015 and remains Australia's longest running mining town.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill, historically considered one of Australia's boomtowns, has been referred to as "The Silver City", and less commonly as the "Oasis of the West", and the "Capital of the Outback". Although over 1100km west of Sydney and surrounded by desert, the town has prominent park and garden displays and offers a number of attractions, such as the Living Desert Sculptures. The town has a high potential for solar power, given its extensive daylight hours of sunshine. The Broken Hill Solar Plant, which was completed in 2015, is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.


title: Broken Hill

text: In the Broken Hill region the major Aboriginal language groups are the Paakantji, Mayyankapa, and Nyiimpaa.


title: Broken Hill

text: Unlike the rest of New South Wales, Broken Hill (and the surrounding region) observes Australian Central Standard Time (), the same time zone used in nearby South Australia. This is because at the time the Australian dominions adopted standard time, Broken Hill's only direct rail link was with Adelaide, not Sydney. Similarly, Broken Hill is regarded as part of South Australia for the purposes of postal parcels rates and telephone charges. Broken Hill also used to be a break of gauge station where the state railway systems of South Australia and New South Wales met.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill is Australia's longest-lived mining city. In 1844, the explorer Charles Sturt saw and named the Barrier Range, and at the time referred to a "Broken Hill" in his diary. Silver ore was later discovered on this "broken hill" in 1883 by boundary rider Charles Rasp. The "broken hill" that gave its name to Broken Hill actually consisted of a number of hills that appeared to have a break in them. This "broken hill" no longer exists, having been mined away.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver–lead–zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the orebody stood out as a jagged rocky ridge amongst undulating plain country on either side. This was known as the broken hill by early pastoralists. Miners called the ore body the Line of Lode. A unique mineral recently identified from Broken Hill has been named Nyholmite after Ron Nyholm (1917–1971). Lead with the isotope signature of the Broken Hill deposits has been found across the entire continent of Antarctica in ice cores dating back to the late nineteenth century.


title: Broken Hill

text: The earliest human settlers in the area around Broken Hill are thought to have been the Wiljakali Indigenous Australians, once thought to have only intermittently lived in the area because of the lack of permanent water sources.


title: Broken Hill

text: The first Europeans to visit the area was then Surveyor General of New South Wales, Major Thomas Mitchell, in 1841. Three years later in 1844, the explorer Charles Sturt saw and named the Barrier Range while searching for an inland sea; so naming it because it was blocked to his journey north. Burke and Wills passed through the area on their famous 1860–61 expedition, setting up a base camp at nearby Menindee. Pastoralists first began settling the area in the 1850s, and the main trade route to the area was along the Darling River.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill was founded in 1883 by boundary rider Charles Rasp, who patrolled the Mount Gipps fences. In 1883 he discovered what he thought was tin, but the samples proved to be silver and lead. The orebody they came from proved to be the largest and richest of its kind in the world. Rasp and six associates founded the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP), later BHP Billiton, and now BHP again, in 1885 as the Syndicate of Seven. By 1915 BHP had realised that its ore reserves were limited and began to diversify into steel production. Mining at the BHP mines at Broken Hill ceased 28 February 1939. BHP was not the only mining operation at Broken Hill though, and mining continued at the southern and northern ends of the Line of Lode. In the early 20th century, Broken Hill was a centre of mining innovation resulting in a viable froth flotation process. Currently the southern and northern operations are run by Perilya Limited, who plan to open further mines along the Line of Lode.


title: Broken Hill

text: In 1892 Broken Hill Gaol was built, designed by the Colonial Architect, James Barnet, who also designed the Sydney Museum, among others. Its construction cost £15,000, and was carried out by Dobbee and Son. It opened on 8 November 1892 as a 90-bed facility with five prison wardens and initially holding two female and 19 male prisoners.


title: Broken Hill

text: The Battle of Broken Hill took place on New Year's Day 1915 when two Afghan men, pushing an ice-cream cart, hoisted a Turkish Flag and fired upon a trainload of people who were headed to a New Years Day picnic. Since Australia was at war at the time with the Ottoman Empire, the men were first thought to be Turkish, but were later identified as being from the British colony of India (modern day Pakistan). They killed four and wounded six, before they were killed by a group of policemen and soldiers. The battle witnessed one of the first shots on Australian soil during World War I.


title: Broken Hill

text: In 1918, the Italian Ambassador to Australia, Emilio Eles, with the help of the Australian police and the army, organised the roundup of Italian deserters working there as miners, to be forcibly sent back to Italy to fight in the war.Broken Hill is also known for its input into the formation of the labour movement in Australia, and has a rich trade union history. Some of the most bitter industrial disputes have been fought in Broken Hill in 1892, 1909 and 1919. The last of these led to the formation in 1923 of the Barrier Industrial Council, a group of 18 trade unions, which became one of the most influential organisations in the politics of the city. Like many "outback" towns, Broken Hill was built on precious metals, having once had the world's richest deposits of lead, zinc and silver. Although now depleted somewhat, mining still yields around two million tonnes annually. Some mine tours are available. Sheep farming is now one of the principal industries in the area and there are considerably more sheep than people – almost 2 million Merino sheep.


title: Broken Hill

text: On 10 January 2007, the Broken Hill City Council was dismissed by the NSW Minister for Local Government following a public inquiry.


title: Broken Hill

text: Parts of the town received record rainfall totals since records began in 1884, with total exceeding fell in a 24 hour period on 16 March 2022. The main street resembled a river in the floods that followed resulting in the death of one man.


title: Broken Hill

text: The town was listed in 2001 as a National Engineering Landmark by Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.


title: Broken Hill

text: In 2015, Broken Hill became the first city in Australia to be included on the National Heritage List.


title: Broken Hill

text: By the 1920s most of the nine mines on the Line of Lode had their own steam-powered electrical generators to power the surface and underground workings. As Broken Hill is in a desert with little water and virtually no fuel, steam generation was an expensive option. In 1927 a plan for a central power-generating facility was proposed by F. J. Mars, consulting electrical engineer with the Central Mine. The proposed powerhouse would provide electricity and compressed air.


title: Broken Hill

text: The mines agreed and formed Western New South Wales Electric Power Pty Ltd to construct and operate the plant. The Sulzer diesel-powered plant was completed in 1931. This was one of the earliest examples of the use of diesel power generation in Australia. The plant was enlarged in 1950 to cope with increased demand from the North Mine. At the same time, a new power station run by the Southern Power Corporation (owned by Consolidated Zinc) was erected near the New Broken Hill Consolidated Mine to provide power to the southern end of the Line of Lode. Both stations were connected to a common grid that serviced the mines on the "Line of Lode".


title: Broken Hill

text: A HVDC back-to-back station with a maximum transmission rate of 40 megawatts was built at Broken Hill in 1986, to draw from the National Grid. It consists of 2 static inverters working with a voltage of 8.33 kV. After this station was operational, the two other power stations closed and the equipment was gradually removed from the Central Power Station. The mothballed Southern Power Station, now owned by remnant miner Perilya, still houses five, 9 cylinder, Nordberg marine engines and two Mirrlees V16 marine engines.


title: Broken Hill

text: In 2010, the Central Power Station (CPS) buildings were handed back to Broken Hill City Council for a proposed re-development as a film studio, due to the perceived need for a facility in Broken Hill by some local people in preparation for the production of "". The historic machinery was all removed and presumably scrapped and the giant pits that the motors were housed in were filled with concrete to convert the buildings into a warehouse type layout. The Broken Hill City Council has received considerable funding and spent a large amount of money and resources on establishing a film studio in the buildings but as at late 2014 these buildings remain largely empty and unused as the production of "Fury Road" shifted to Namibia, Africa, following higher than expected rainfall.


title: Broken Hill

text: The high potential for solar power given the extensive daily hours of sunshine in the town led to construction of the 53 MW Broken Hill Solar Plant by AGL Energy. It was funded and supported by the Australian Government and New South Wales Government in a bid to encourage the move away from coal generated power in favour of renewable energy. The plant was completed in 2016 and is one of the largest in Australia.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill has never had a permanent local water supply that meets the town's needs. By 1888 when the town's population had reached 5,000, the state government built a series of small storage tanks.


title: Broken Hill

text: By the 1890s, mining development had increased to the point that there was a severe water shortage and the mines and the people fought for water. Emergency water supplies were shipped by rail from the Darling River. In 1891, the Stephens Creek Reservoir was completed by a private company. The cost of water was high but not excessive and people were willing to pay because the environment was arid. Another reservoir was built at Umberumberka, however variable rainfall meant supplemental supplies by rail and rationing was still needed.


title: Broken Hill

text: In 1952, Broken Hill's demands for a permanent water supply were met with the completion of a pipeline from Menindee. The pipeline could supply of water per hour. Water storage facilities that are part of the Menindee Lakes Scheme on the Darling River secured the water supply to Broken Hill, making it a relative oasis amid the harsh climate of the Australian outback. High evaporation rates have resulted in the policy of using the local storage for supply before using the pipeline.


title: Broken Hill

text: In 2004, due to severe drought across much of the Murray Darling Basin Catchment area, the Darling River ceased to flow and the Menindee Lakes dried out. Broken Hill essentially ran out of water, with a muddy sludge coming out of some taps around Christmas time in 2004. The high salt content of the water led to a lot of damage to evaporative air conditioners and rusted out hot water systems at an alarming rate.


title: Broken Hill

text: Due to the over-extraction of water from the tributaries to the Darling River in the early part of the 21st century, the Menindee pipeline became an insecure supply for the city, in its harsh semi-arid climate. In April 2019, a new New South Wales Government-funded pipeline was commissioned. The pipeline was constructed in a joint venture between John Holland Group, MPC Kinetic Group and TRILITY, running 270 km from Wentworth on the Murray River. There are four pumping stations along the route and a 720 megalitre bulk water storage facility 25 kilometres south of Broken Hill. The pipeline can supply up to of raw water per day.


title: Broken Hill

text: The city's isolation was a problem until the Adelaide narrow gauge railway link was finished in 1888. Since the New South Wales Government would not allow the South Australian Government to build a railway across the border, the last were built by a private company as the Silverton Tramway. The line was so named because it was originally intended to serve the mining town of Silverton, but by the time the railway reached the town it was already being eclipsed by the newer and bigger mine at Broken Hill. The main purpose of the railway was to transport concentrates and ores from the mines to the smelters and port facilities on the coast at Port Pirie, South Australia. As a backload to Broken Hill it transported supplies, principally coal for boilers at the mines and timber for the timber sets used underground in mining. The Silverton Tramway Company was the most profitable railway company on the Australia Stock Exchange.


title: Broken Hill

text: The main sidings and locomotive servicing facilities were in Railwaytown, a suburb of Broken Hill, with sidings running to the south and north to serve the mines. The main passenger station was at Sulphide Street.


title: Broken Hill

text: From the later 1890s, Broken Hill Council campaigned for a tramway to provide public transport around town and to the mines. Eventually the NSW Government decided to build a tramway which was opened on 19 March 1902. It was run by steam trams transferred from Sydney by sea and then by rail across South Australia. It was a curious operation which after World War I suffered increasingly bad losses until the New South Wales Government closed the system in December 1926.


title: Broken Hill

text: Another curiosity was the Tarrawingee Tramway which was a narrow gauge railway line which ran north from Broken Hill for about to an area of limestone deposit which was quarried and transported to Broken Hill for use in the smelters at the mines. The tramway opened in 1891 but closed in 1898 as the smelters moved to Port Pirie. In 1889 the Public Works Committee of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly recommended that the Government take over the line and it subsequently became a narrow gauge part of the New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) run under contract by the Silverton Tramway Company.


title: Broken Hill

text: It was an excursion train on the Silverton Tramway that was fired on by two Afghan immigrants in 1915 (see Battle of Broken Hill).


title: Broken Hill

text: In 1919, a rail link from Broken Hill to Menindee was opened to transport water from the Darling River to Broken Hill. It was built as the first stage in a planned direct route to Sydney. The terminus for the train was at Crystal Street station, some distance from the Silverton Tramway Company's Sulphide Street station. The railway mainly hauled water from the Darling River. The rolling stock all had to be transported by sea to South Australia and the railway was supervised by the superintendent of the Broken Hill Government Tramways.


title: Broken Hill

text: In November 1927 the direct link to Sydney was completed. In September 1937 the NSWGR placed into service the "Silver City Comet", the first air conditioned train in Australia, which ran between Broken Hill and Parkes.


title: Broken Hill

text: During World War II, land transportation between South Australia and Eastern Australia became important because of the threat posed by submarines and mines to coastal shipping. Extensive transshipment yards were constructed at Broken Hill in 1942 to allow transshipment of munitions. However, the threat was never fully realised.


title: Broken Hill

text: With the purchase of the Sulphide Corporation by the Zinc Corporation in 1948, the modern Cockle Creek Smelter was constructed south of Newcastle. This started to take lead and zinc concentrates directly from Broken Hill via rail in the 1960s, marking the first major use of the rail link to NSW. This was the well known W44 Concentrate Train.


title: Broken Hill

text: In 1970 the gauge railway from Port Pirie to Broken Hill was superseded by a new gauge line, mostly laid alongside the narrow gauge line. This completed the standard transcontinental gauge line from Sydney to Perth.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill railway station is one of the stops of the Indian Pacific passenger service, operated by the Journey Beyond, from Sydney to Perth via Adelaide. The weekly NSW TrainLink "Outback Xplorer" service was introduced in 1996; it arrives from Sydney on Mondays at 19:10, departing Broken Hill on Tuesdays at 07:45 for the return to Sydney. NSW TrainLink also operates a daily road coach service, departing the Broken Hill Tourist Information Centre at 15:45, connecting at Dubbo with the "Central West XPT" to Sydney. The return journey arrives daily at 22:45. On 24 June 2019, NSW TrainLink introduced a twice weekly coach service to Adelaide.


title: Broken Hill

text: Regional Express operates air services from Broken Hill Airport to and from Adelaide, Dubbo, Griffith, Melbourne via Mildura and Sydney. Silver City Scenic Flights provide local scenic flights over the city, longer air safaris to various destinations in outback Australia and also private air charter services from Broken Hill Airport.


title: Broken Hill

text: Local public transport is provided by CDC Broken Hill, operating four city bus routes from Monday to Saturday. The city is also serviced by two urban taxi companies.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill has a hot desert climate ("BWh") under the Köppen climate classification. Winters in Broken Hill are relatively mild and dry, although the night and early morning can be cold with moderate frost, while summers are highly variable – mostly hot and dry with some variation (summer storms with high humidity are not uncommon). The average maximum during the summer months (November to March) is about with an average of 25% humidity, although occasional rainfall and cooler weather occur. Broken Hill averages 157.3 clear days per year. Dust storms are a common problem in the desert, but in the late 1930s the people of Broken Hill, led by Mr Keast of the Zinc Corporation mine, created green reserves to surround the town thus protecting it from the worst of the storms. Dewpoints in the summer average between .


title: Broken Hill

text: In 1933, Broken Hill was the third largest urban incorporated area in New South Wales, having a population of 26,925. Broken Hill's population peaked at around 30,000 in the early 1960s and has shrunk by one third since the heyday of the 1970s zinc boom, with the decrease attributed to migration from the closure and consolidation of mining operations.


title: Broken Hill

text: The estimated urban population of Broken Hill at June 2018 was 17,734. The impact on Broken Hill's economy of the shrinking mining industry and the more efficient mining rates resulted in a higher proportion of part-time employment, higher employment participation rate by females, a general reduction in overall household incomes, and an increase in the average age of the populace as the young leave seeking work.


title: Broken Hill

text: In December 2016, Broken Hill had an unemployment rate of 7.9%, which was higher than the state average of 5.1%.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill has always had a small indigenous community. In recent decades, the proportion of the population identifying as Aboriginal has increased markedly; from 0.6% in 1971 to 5.1% in 2006, partly owing to the migration of non-indigenous Australians away from Broken Hill.


title: Broken Hill

text: In the 19th and early 20th century Broken Hill was home to a community of Afghans. Afghans worked as camel drivers in parts of outback Australia, and they made a significant contribution to economic growth when transport options were limited. The camel drivers formed the first sizeable Muslim communities in Australia, and in Broken Hill they left their mark in the form of the first mosque in New South Wales (1880).


title: Broken Hill

text: At June 2018 Broken Hill had a population of 17,734. Broken Hill's population was 19,604 in June 2008. The median age is 45; higher than the national average of 38. 8.4% of residents are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander; the median age in this group is 22.


title: Broken Hill

text: 86.9% of residents are born in Australia; significantly higher than the national average of 66.7%. The most common other countries of birth are England (0.9%), Philippines (0.7%) and New Zealand (0.4%). The most common reported ancestries in Broken Hill are Australian, English and Irish. 77.9% of residents reported both parents being born in Australia, notably higher than the national average of 47.3%.


title: Broken Hill

text: The top religious groups in Broken Hill are Catholic 23.1%, Anglican 12.4% and Uniting Church 9.3%. 35.2% stated no religion and 10.1% did not answer the question.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill has been and still is a town dominated by the mining industry, which led to considerable town prosperity in the 19th and 20th century. The mines founded on the Broken Hill Ore Deposit – the world's richest lead-zinc ore body – have until recently provided the majority of direct employment and indirect employment in the city. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company became Australia's largest mining company, and later became part of the world's largest mining company, BHP.


title: Broken Hill

text: Before the 1940s, mining was done by hand tools with high labor usage rates and included horse-drawn carts underground. The advent of diesel powered mining equipment in the late 1940s and the move toward mechanised underground mining has resulted in less labor used per tonne of ore recovered, and the mine workforce has declined.


title: Broken Hill

text: While the low metal prices of the 1990s led to the failure of miner Pasminco, the recent resurgence in metal prices has returned the sole existing operator, Perilya Limited, to profitability and prompted Consolidated Broken Hill Limited to advance development of the untouched Western Lodes and Centenary Lodes. This created over 70 jobs during development and will lead to a second, new, milling operation built within the town.


title: Broken Hill

text: Owing to its exposure to the vagaries of the mining industry, and because of a swiftly shrinking population, similar to other rural centres, and compounded by its isolation, Broken Hill has encouraged its widespread artistic credentials and is promoting itself as a tourism destination to become less reliant upon mining as a source of employment.


title: Broken Hill

text: Average incomes in Broken Hill are lower than the national average. According to the 2016 Australian Census the median weekly household income in the city was $968; considerably lower than the national average of $1,438.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill and the surrounding area has many natural and man-made attractions on offer for the tourist. These include mining operations (some open to the public), a visitor's centre and lookout on top of the original Line of Lode mine, historic buildings, town history walking trails, many resident artists and galleries, the Sculpture Symposium, COBB & Co coach & wagon rides, Silverton Camel Farm, Stephen's Creek, several quarries, lakes, the Mundi-Mundi plains, and sunsets. The Albert Kersten Mining and Minerals Museum, located on Bromide Street and Crystal Lane, explores the mining history of the town through geology exhibits.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill is a major base for both the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia and School of the Air.


title: Broken Hill

text: The Brushmen of the Bush was a group of artists who formed in Broken Hill in 1973. Members included Pro Hart and Jack Absalom. The Pro Hart Gallery and Sculpture Park contains a large collection of Hart's paintings and sculptures, as well as many artworks of others that he collected during his lifetime. The gallery also features the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow that he painted in his unique style.


title: Broken Hill

text: Many clubs exist and are open most nights of the week until late. Establishments catering to both locals and tourists include the Musician's Club and the Barrier Social Democratic Club.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill has many literary connections. Crime writer Arthur Upfield developed a nostalgic association with the city after his first visit in 1910, and published "The Bachelors of Broken Hill" featuring his character Bonaparte. in 1958. Ion L. Idriess wrote the novel "The Silver City" based on the town. Kenneth Cook's 1961 novel "Wake in Fright"—set in the fictional mining town of Bundanyabba—is a thinly disguised portrait of Broken Hill. Cook based the novel on eccentric ocker characters he befriended in Broken Hill, drawing on their penchant for ritualistic drinking, two-up, hunting and alpha-male mateship. The novel was adapted into a 1971 film of the same name, shot on location in Broken Hill and starring Gary Bond, Donald Pleasence and Broken Hill native Chips Rafferty in his final film role.


title: Broken Hill

text: More recently, much of Australian novelist Max Barry's 2013 novel "Lexicon" was set in Broken Hill. Writing celebrating this unique community is featured in “from this Broken Hill”.


title: Broken Hill

text: Visitors are often fascinated by the houses with corrugated iron walls. Although corrugated iron was widely used as a roofing material throughout Australia, it was not commonly used for walls of houses.


title: Broken Hill

text: Cheese slaw is a common and popular side dish in Broken Hill, and some residents claim the dish originated in the city.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill and the surrounding town of Silverton have been used as the base of various film productions.


title: Broken Hill

text: One of the most well known films to heavily feature Broken Hill is "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" where various scenes in town and surrounding outback were filmed.


title: Broken Hill

text: Mario's Palace, now trading as The Palace Hotel, has the "tack-o-rama" mural featured in "The Adventures of Priscilla".


title: Broken Hill

text: Another well known film to be produced in the surrounds of Broken Hill is "Mad Max 2" with principal photography taking place across twelve weeks. Scenes were shot at the Pinnacles as well as the Mundi Mundi Plains. In 2022 filming for Mad Max film "Furiosa" will take place in Silverton.


title: Broken Hill

text: Health effects related to the mining industry were endemic to Broken Hill for many years. In 1895, as many as 1 in 50 miners were estimated to be affected by lead poisoning. As recently as 1991, over 80% of children under 5 years of age had blood lead levels higher than government guidelines.


title: Broken Hill

text: In the early 1990s an extensive government funded Lead Education program was established and people with children under 5 were able to have free lead testing of their children, homes and gardens to assess lead contamination levels. Any property that had considerably high lead levels in ceiling dust or garden soil was provided with free remediation works to reduce potential exposure to lead dust.


title: Broken Hill

text: Lead contamination continues to be one of the most serious health concerns, particularly in children in Broken Hill. All infants are required to receive blood tests to examine lead levels. Streets located next to the major mine, including Gaffney, Eyre, and Slag Streets have the unenviable award of being classified as some of the most contaminated residential streets in New South Wales.


title: Broken Hill

text: The town is served by the local newspaper, the "Barrier Daily Truth". Major metropolitan and national newspapers from Adelaide and Sydney are also available in Broken Hill.


title: Broken Hill

text: Although Broken Hill is in New South Wales, the programming schedules for these channels (excluding the ABC) is the same as those of Nine, Ten and Seven in Adelaide, with local adverts inserted and some variations for coverage of Australian Football League or National Rugby League matches, local and national news and current affairs programs, some lifestyle and light entertainment shows and infomercials. This is because Broken Hill, unlike the rest of New South Wales, is on Central Time. ABC channels are relayed from Sydney, so all programming is a half-hour earlier than advertised.


title: Broken Hill

text: Southern Cross GTS/BKN broadcasts Seven Network programming including AFL telecasts and other sporting and major events. Southern Cross Ten broadcasts Network Ten output and some programming from 10 Bold and 10 Peach.


title: Broken Hill

text: On 31 October 2010, Southern Cross GTS/BKN commenced broadcasting a full-time Channel Nine relay service. This service was initially a relay of TCN Sydney, with local advertising inserted until 2013 when it switched to a relay of NWS Adelaide.


title: Broken Hill

text: The Seven Central service (unrelated to the original Central GTS/BKN) and Imparja Television are available via satellite and terrestrial transmission in the adjacent areas.


title: Broken Hill

text: Broken Hill Correctional Centre, the state's fourth-oldest prison still in operation, is located at 109 Gossan Street. It is important to the Far West region, as it allows for imprisonment closer to families who live in the area.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Captain Arthur J. M. Hastings, OBE, is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie as the companion-chronicler and best friend of the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. He is first introduced in Christie's 1920 novel "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" (originally written in 1916) and appears as a character in seven other Poirot novels, including the final one "Curtain: Poirot's Last Case" (1975), along with a play and many short stories. He is also the narrator of several of them.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Hastings is today strongly associated with Poirot, due more to the television adaptations than to the novels. Many of the early TV episodes of "Agatha Christie's Poirot" were adaptations of short stories, in most of which he appeared in print. A few were stories into which he had been adapted (for example, "Murder in the Mews"). In Christie's original writings, however, Hastings is not in every short story or novel. He is not a character in either "Death on the Nile" or "Murder on the Orient Express", the two best-known Poirot novels. Of the twenty-two Poirot novels published between 1920 and 1937, he appears in seven. Moreover, when Christie expanded "The Submarine Plans" (1923) as "The Incredible Theft" (1937), she removed Hastings.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Hastings appears to have been introduced by Christie in accordance with the model of Sherlock Holmes's associate, Doctor Watson, to whom he bears a marked resemblance. Both narrate in the first person, both are slow to see the significance of clues, and both stand as a form of surrogate for the reader. There are even similarities of role: Hastings is Poirot's only close friend and the two share a flat briefly when Poirot sets up his detective agency. Similarly to Watson, Hastings also has a penchant for speculation and gambling, as well as a military background in the colonial Middle East. The presence of Chief Inspector Japp, a close "literary descendant" of Holmes's Inspector Lestrade, fleshed out Christie's adoption of the Holmes paradigm.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: In the novels, Hastings's literary function changes with Poirot's method. In the earlier phase of his career, Hastings is valued for his imaginative approach to cases, inevitably giving rise to fanciful hypotheses that Poirot gently mocks. Poirot himself characterised Hastings thus in "The Mystery of the Spanish Chest" (1932): "How my dear friend, Hastings, would have enjoyed this! What romantic flights of imagination he would have had. What ineptitudes he would have uttered! Ah "ce cher" Hastings, at this moment, today, I miss him..." Later in her career, Christie's apparatus is less fanciful and the opportunity for wild speculation much diminished. When the need for a sidekick arises in the later novels and stories it is either as:


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Although Hastings remains the most popular of Poirot's sidekicks, his appearance in only eight of the thirty-three Poirot novels indicates that the character's service to Christie's literary purpose was somewhat limited.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Similarly to his friend Poirot, details of Hastings's life before 1916 are not revealed, though the reader is able to pinpoint Hastings's approximate birth year as 1886 from the first chapter of "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", as he mentions that John Cavendish was 'a good fifteen years [his] senior' though hardly looking 'his forty-five years'. This makes Hastings thirty years old at the start of the novel. It is also mentioned later on that he was employed at Lloyd's prior to the war. Neither his first name nor his rank is mentioned in this novel. Elsewhere he states that he attended Eton College.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Hastings meets Poirot in Belgium several years before their meeting on 16 July 1916, at Styles Court, Essex, which is their first encounter in literature. The two remain friends right up to Poirot's death. Although there is little evidence regarding their possible subsequent meetings, Hastings saw Poirot a year before the latter's death.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Hastings, while being no great detective himself, serves Poirot in many ways. A former British Army officer in World War I, he is brave. He has courage and is often used by Poirot for physical duties such as catching and subduing a criminal. Poirot likes to tease Hastings about being dim-witted at times, but he clearly enjoys the Captain's company. In "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" and "The A.B.C. Murders", Hastings plays a prominent role in the resolution of the mystery, with a casual observation that leads Poirot to the guilty party: In case of the former, by mentioning that Poirot had to straighten some spill holders and ornaments in Styles, he prompts Poirot to realise that someone had moved them, causing Poirot to discover a crucial piece of evidence. In the case of the latter, he suggests that the error in recipient address of a letter by the murderer was deliberate, thus causing Poirot to realise the murderer had attached greater importance to that particular murder.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Hastings represents the traditional English gentleman—not too bright but absolutely scrupulous, a throwback to the Victorian-era gentleman who is always concerned about "fair play". Hastings himself notes that he is somewhat old-fashioned. While Poirot, who is not above lying, surreptitiously reads other people's letters or eavesdrops, Hastings is horrified of such acts and usually refuses to perform them to help Poirot in one of his cases. Although he lacks Poirot's intellect, Poirot often compliments Hastings' ability to remember facts and details about their cases even if he deplores the manner in which Hastings tells the story at times. Hastings' physical appearance is rarely described in the novels because he is often the narrator. However, it is mentioned that he, like Poirot, has a moustache which becomes a target of the detective's criticism in "Peril at End House": 'And your moustache. If you must have a moustache, let it be a real moustache, a thing of beauty such as mine.' Although he has served in the army, Hastings is not a ruthless man by nature, with Poirot noting during his final letter to Hastings in "Curtain" that he "knows" that Hastings is not a murderer.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Hastings has a soft spot for auburn-haired women. Back in "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", Hastings was charmed with auburn-haired Cynthia Murdoch and proposed to her. This would become a running gag in the series, with Poirot often teasing Hastings. Whenever Hastings suggests the innocence of a young, beautiful, female murder suspect, Poirot slyly asks "Does she have auburn hair?" This pronounced weakness for pretty women with auburn hair gets Hastings and Poirot into trouble more than once: in "The Big Four", while posing as secretary for millionaire Abe Ryland, Hastings trusts false information from a woman with auburn hair, while in the short story "Double Sin", Hastings believes auburn-haired Mary Durant.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Despite his preference for auburn hair and his Victorian ideas about not marrying outside one's class, he eventually falls in love with a dark-haired music-hall actress, singer and acrobat, Dulcie Duveen, the self-styled 'Cinderella'. They meet in the story "Murder on the Links," the second full-length Poirot novel. Poirot plays a rather significant part in uniting the couple. Hastings then acquires a ranch in Argentina and settles down to a life as a ranchholder.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Hastings's appearances in Poirot's later novels are restricted to a few cases in which he participates on his periodic returns to England from Argentina. Poirot comments in "The ABC Murders" that he enjoys Hastings's visits because he always has his most interesting cases when Hastings is with him. In the course of "The Big Four", Dulcie's life is threatened by members of an international conspiracy. Hastings is forced to risk Poirot's life in return for her promised safety. In other respects there is very little personal detail regarding Hastings in these novels, until "Curtain: Poirot's Last Case", which takes place after World War II: with his wife now dead, Hastings rejoins Poirot at Styles to help tackle one last case. The novel culminates with Poirot dying of a heart attack, leaving Hastings a confession explaining his role in events as he tracked a criminal who manipulated others to commit murder for him. Poirot's friendship with Hastings is further referenced when the murderer's attempt to manipulate Hastings in such a manner leaves Poirot resolved to kill his adversary, despite his disapproval of murder, as he knew that his friend would normally never do such a thing.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: "Curtain" provides additional details on Hastings's family: He and Dulcie have two sons and two daughters. One son joins the Royal Navy, while the other and his wife manage the ranch after Dulcie's death. Hastings's daughter Grace is married to a British officer stationed in India. His other daughter, Judith, appears as a character in "Curtain". Judith is Hastings's youngest child and his favourite, albeit the child whom he understands the least. She marries Dr John Franklin, a medical researcher, and moves to Africa with him. In the postscript of "Curtain", Poirot suggests that Hastings should consider a second marriage with Elizabeth Litchfield, the younger sister of a woman who was manipulated into killing her abusive father by the novel's antagonist. Poirot notes that Elizabeth must be reassured that she is not tainted by her sister's actions and that Hastings is still not unattractive to women. Age is not specifically discussed for Hastings after the first book; he is said to be 30 in "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", which would leave him at least 60 years old in the earliest setting for "Curtain". That novel was published in 1975, though written during the Second World War. No specific time is made clear in "Curtain", unlike most of the Poirot stories, however when Poirot says “the food, it is disgusting”, Hastings says “rationing, I suppose”. Food rationing was in place in Britain until midnight on 4 July 1954, nine years after the end of the Second World War. In addition, it is clear that the story is set when capital punishment by hanging was still occurring in the UK; the last woman hanged in the UK was in 1955. These two facts place the events of "Curtain" in time no later than 1954, and Hastings is therefore, as he says himself, “I’m pushing it a bit”; with four adult children and having done service in the First World War, he must be in his 60s.


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Hastings has been portrayed on film and television by several actors, Richard Cooper in "Black Coffee" (1931) and "Lord Edgware Dies" (1934); Robert Morley in "The Alphabet Murders" (1965); Jonathan Cecil in three TV films – "Thirteen at Dinner" (1985), "Dead Man's Folly" (1986) and "Murder in Three Acts" (1986); Dmitry Krylov in the Soviet film "Mystery Endhauz" (1989, directed by Vadim Derbenyov); and Hugh Fraser, who portrayed Hastings alongside David Suchet's Poirot in 43 of the 70 episodes of "Agatha Christie's Poirot". He is also a main character in the anime "Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple".


title: Arthur Hastings

text: In the BBC Radio 4 dramatisations starring John Moffatt as Hercule Poirot, Captain Hastings was played by Jeremy Clyde in "Murder on the Links" (1990), and by Simon Williams in "Lord Edgware Dies" (1992), "The ABC Murders" (2000), "Peril at End House" (2000), "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" (2005), and "Dumb Witness" (2006).


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Hastings narrates the majority of the short stories featuring Poirot, but appears in only eight of the novels, seven of which were written before 1940:


title: Arthur Hastings

text: Hastings is the narrator of all stories in "Poirot Investigates" (1924), a collection of short stories. Hastings is also present in Christie's play "Black Coffee" (1930) and its novelisation alongside Poirot.


title: Strike Witches

text: A spin-off of the original series titled "Brave Witches" aired from October to December 2016, and a second spin-off titled "Luminous Witches" aired from July to September 2022.


title: Strike Witches

text: On an alternate Earth during the World War II era, the world has been invaded by a mysterious alien force known as the Neuroi who take on forms similar to aircraft and spread a corrosive miasma. As a result, the armed forces of the world have allied together to combat the Neuroi threat instead of fighting among themselves. As the regular weaponry have no effect against the Neuroi's technology, the military instead calls upon Witches, young girls who possess magical abilities capable of fighting against the Neuroi. The Witches, who are inspired by famous real-life pilots, grow animal ears and tails when using their magic, and can use special machines known as Striker Units, which feature designs based on real-life aircraft, to fly through the sky and increase the strength of their magical ability in combat.


title: Strike Witches

text: The light novel series follows the Suomus Independent Volunteer Aerial Squadron, focusing on a dogfighter named Tomoko Anabuki. The main anime franchise follows Yoshika Miyafuji, a girl from the Fuso Empire who joins the titular Strike Witches to investigate the death of her father and help fight off the Neuroi. The spin-off anime series, "Brave Witches", follows a Fuso girl named Hikari Karibuchi, who joins the titular Brave Witches to fight in the place of her injured sister Takami.


title: Strike Witches

text: In a postscript column in "Comp Ace", Fumikane Shimada had mentioned his desire to use his Mecha Musume concepts across a variety of media, leading to the production of the "Strike Witches" OVA by Gonzo. However, at about the same time Fumikane was also contracted to create the character designs for "Sky Girls", which had its televised run in late 2007. During this time there was no word on the further development of a "Strike Witches" animated series, although promotional items such as plastic figures of the OVA's characters were released. Not until December 2007 was the anime officially announced, after which details were slowly released, such as the casting of the remaining main characters that had no lines in the OVA.


title: Strike Witches

text: Three separate light novel series have been published. The first, , was written by Noboru Yamaguchi and illustrated by Hashigo Ueda. The first volume was published on September 30, 2006, and the third and last on June 28, 2008. The "Suomus Misfits Squadron" series is set in a different time period and location from the anime, and uses a different cast of characters. A reboot of the first series of light novels began in October 2018. It is written by Toshihiko Tsukiji and illustrated by Kōsuke Tsukinami. As of October 2020 four volumes have been published using the title "Silent Witches Suoms Iranko Company ReBOOT!."


title: Strike Witches

text: The second light novel series, titled , was written by Hidehisa Nanbō and illustrated by Hashigo Ueda. As of June 30, 2010, the fourth and last volume has been published. The publication of this series coincided with the anime television series, and uses the same cast of characters; however, while some of the chapters are adaptations of the anime episodes, several are original.


title: Strike Witches

text: The third light novel series is the stories about the 506th Joint Fighter Wing. The timeline of the story happens in between from the beginning of the Season 2 anime to the before of the film. It is authored by Hidehisa Nanbō. The first volume was published in Japan on 1 January 2015. Volume 2 was published on 1 May 2015 and Volume 3 is published on 1 October 2015. Volume 4 was published on 1 March 2016 and volume 5 was published on 1 November 2016. The latest volume 8 was published on 1 May 2018. There are versions with the five original CD dramas from volumes 3 to 7.


title: Strike Witches

text: An original video animation directed by Kunihisa Sugishima and produced by Gonzo was released on January 1, 2007. The first anime season was produced by Gonzo and broadcast in Japan from July 3 to September 18, 2008. Aside from the traditional televised broadcast, the series was also made available with English subtitles and an English dub through YouTube, BOST TV and Crunchyroll, using a simultaneous release schedule similar to that of "The Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk", also produced by Gonzo. The YouTube and Crunchyroll broadcasts operate under a streaming window, allowing users to freely watch each new episode of the series on the day of their release for a set amount of time. Crunchyroll also offers individual episodes to be purchased and downloaded during and after this streaming window has ended. An uncensored version of the series was later released on Region 2 DVD, containing nudity that was obscured for the TV broadcast. The first volume was made available on September 26, 2008, the second on October 24, the third volume on November 28, the fourth volume on December 26, and the fifth volume on January 30, 2009. The anime has been licensed by Funimation and was released on March 30, 2010.


title: Strike Witches

text: A second series entitled "Strike Witches 2" was produced by AIC and aired between July 7, 2010, and September 23, 2010. This season has also been acquired by Funimation Entertainment and was simulcast on their video portal, with an intended home video release in September 2011. The release was held back until October 2, 2012. Manga Entertainment released the series in the United Kingdom on September 24, 2012. A three-part OVA series produced by Silver Link titled "Strike Witches: Operation Victory Arrow", which features three short stories taking place between the second anime season and the film, was released between September 20, 2014, and May 2, 2015.


title: Strike Witches

text: A spin-off series by Silver Link, titled "Brave Witches", began airing on October 5, 2016. The series is not a continuation of the previous seasons and instead focuses on the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing. Crunchyroll simulcasted the series worldwide. Funimation has released an English dub of the series. The series is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2017. A 13th episode aired in theatres in 2017. Madman Entertainment is importing Funimation's release in Australia and New Zealand.


title: Strike Witches

text: On July 8, 2018, a "Strike Witches" anime project titled "Strike Witches: 501st Joint Fighter Wing Take Off!" was announced as part of the "World Witches" series to commemorate the franchise's tenth anniversary. The 12-episode anime adaptation is based on the 2011 comedy spin-off 4-koma manga series by Makoto Fujibayashi. It aired from April 9 to June 25, 2019, on Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, MBS and BS11. The original cast of "Strike Witches" returned to reprise their roles. Acca effe and Giga Production are animating the series with Fumio Ito as director. Seiko Nagaoka, returned from "Brave Witches" to produce the music at Nippon Columbia. Production I.G and Anime Beans have been credited for animation production assistance. Funimation has acquired the licence to stream the series with English subs the same day as Japan, with an English dub set for premiere on April 23. The spin-off also received a 30-minute nationwide theatrical release planned for October 4 with returning cast and production committee from the spin-off TV show. A new anime series titled "World Witches Take Off!" aired from January 13 to March 31, 2021, with the cast and staff from "Strike Witches: 501st Joint Fighter Wing Take Off!" reprising their roles. The series will run for 12 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the series with English subtitles.


title: Strike Witches

text: A third season of "Strike Witches" series titled "Strike Witches: Road to Berlin" has been announced and aired from October 7 to December 23, 2020. David Production is animating the series with Kazuhiro Takamura returning as director, Striker Unit is handling the series composition, and Tatsuhiko Urata ("Strike Witches" and "Strike Witches 2" scriptwriter) is credited as the chief writer. Seikou Nagaoka will produce the music at Nippon Columbia. Funimation is streaming the series with an English dub and Crunchyroll is streaming the series with subtitles.


title: Strike Witches

text: Another new "Strike Witches" anime project titled as "Luminous Witches" has been announced. Initially scheduled to air in 2021, it was later delayed to 2022 due to "various circumstances." Shaft is animating the series with Shouji Saeki, who served as episode director and scriptwriter for "Strike Witches" and "Strike Witches 2," directing the anime and handling the series composition. Shinya Murakami is credited for the "Witches series literature." Kadokawa is producing the music. The series aired from July 3 to September 25, 2022. The cast members performed the opening theme song "Wonderful World", as well as the ending theme song "Watashi to Minna no Uta". Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series.


title: Strike Witches

text: On October 28, 2010, a film adaptation of "Strike Witches" was announced to have been greenlit. Produced by AIC, the film was released in Japanese theaters on March 17, 2012, and on DVD and BD on October 26, 2012. The film was licensed by Funimation; they released it on Blu-ray on October 4, 2016.


title: Strike Witches

text: A new 30-minute film for "Strike Witches: 501st Joint Fighter Wing Take Off!" was released in Japanese theaters on October 4, 2019. The main cast members and staff reprise their roles from the anime.


title: Strike Witches

text: The first season used two pieces of theme music. , performed by Yoko Ishida is used as the opening. is used as the ending. "Bookmark A Head" is performed by the main cast as usually duets and the singers vary from episode to episode. , translated by Takaaki Suzuki, and performed by Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke (Rie Tanaka), is used as an insert song in episode 8. In Funimation's release, , a song also sung by Rie Tanaka from the CD album for the "Strike Witches: What I Can Do Along With You" game, was substituted for Lili Marleen.


title: Strike Witches

text: The single for "Strike Witches: To Do What I Can" was released on August 20, 2008, by Columbia Music Entertainment and also a version of "Bookmark A Head" performed by Misato Fukuen. An album entitled the was released on October 10, 2008, by Columbia Music Entertainment, containing all versions "Bookmark A Head" as well as the insert "Lili Marleen". The original soundtrack containing 36 tracks was released on September 9, 2008.


title: Strike Witches

text: For the second season, the opening theme is by Yoko Ishida and the ending theme is "Over Sky", which is once again performed by members of the vocal cast.


title: Strike Witches

text: For the third season, the opening theme is by Ishida while the ending theme is performed by the vocal cast.


title: Strike Witches

text: There are currently five games based on the "Strike Witches" franchise. While mainly based on the characters featured in the anime, characters from the two manga series also appear in some of the games. The first three "Strike Witches" games have the same opening, "private wing" by Yoko Ishida


title: Strike Witches

text: John Oppliger of AnimeNation listed "Strike Witches" as one of the best girls with guns anime series, stating that "its numerous shooting scenes and its stellar action scene animation qualify it for recognition as one of anime’s outstanding girls with guns shows."


title: Clerical fascism

text: Clerical fascism (also clero-fascism or clerico-fascism) is an ideology that combines the political and economic doctrines of fascism with clericalism. The term has been used to describe organizations and movements that combine religious elements with fascism, receive support from religious organizations which espouse sympathy for fascism, or fascist regimes in which clergy play a leading role.


title: Clerical fascism

text: The term "clerical fascism" (clero-fascism or clerico-fascism) emerged in the early 1920s in the Kingdom of Italy, referring to the faction of the Roman Catholic Partito Popolare Italiano (PPI) which supported Benito Mussolini and his régime. It was supposedly coined by Don Luigi Sturzo, a priest and Christian democrat leader who opposed Mussolini and went into exile in 1924, although the term had also been used before Mussolini's March on Rome in 1922 to refer to Catholics in Northern Italy who advocated a synthesis of Roman Catholicism and fascism.


title: Clerical fascism

text: Sturzo made a distinction between the "filofascists", who left the Catholic PPI in 1921 and 1922, and the "clerical fascists" who stayed in the party after the March on Rome, advocating collaboration with the fascist government. Eventually, the latter group converged with Mussolini, abandoning the PPI in 1923 and creating the Centro Nazionale Italiano. The PPI was disbanded by the fascist régime in 1926.


title: Clerical fascism

text: The term has since been used by scholars seeking to contrast authoritarian-conservative clerical fascism with more radical variants. Christian fascists focus on internal religious politics, such as passing laws and regulations that reflect their view of Christianity. Radicalized forms of Christian fascism or "clerical fascism" (clero-fascism or clerico-fascism) were emerging on the far-right of the political spectrum in some European countries during the interwar period in the first half of the 20th century.


title: Clerical fascism

text: In 1870, the newly formed Kingdom of Italy annexed the remaining Papal States, depriving the Pope of his temporal power. However, in the 1929 Lateran Treaty, Mussolini recognized the Pope as sovereign ruler of the Vatican City state, and Roman Catholicism became the state religion of Fascist Italy.


title: Clerical fascism

text: In March 1929, a nationwide plebiscite was held to publicly endorse the Lateran Treaty. Opponents were intimidated by the fascist regime: the Catholic Action organisation ("Azione Cattolica") and Mussolini claimed that "no" votes were of those "few ill-advised anti-clericals who refuse to accept the Lateran Pacts". Nearly nine million Italians voted, or 90 per cent of the registered electorate, and only 136,000 voted "no".


title: Clerical fascism

text: Almost immediately after the signing of the Treaty, relations between Mussolini and the Church soured again. Mussolini "referred to Catholicism as, in origin, a minor sect that had spread beyond Palestine only because grafted onto the organization of the Roman empire." After the concordat, "he confiscated more issues of Catholic newspapers in the next three months than in the previous seven years." Mussolini reportedly came close to being excommunicated from the Catholic Church around this time.


title: Clerical fascism

text: In 1938, the Italian Racial Laws and "Manifesto of Race" were promulgated by the fascist regime to persecute Italian Jews as well as Protestant Christians, especially Evangelicals and Pentecostals. Thousands of Italian Jews and a small number of Protestants died in the Nazi concentration camps.


title: Clerical fascism

text: In January 1939, the "Jewish National Monthly" reports "the only bright spot in Italy has been the Vatican, where fine humanitarian statements by the Pope have been issuing regularly". Pope Pius XI personally admitted Professor Vito Volterra, a famous Italian Jewish mathematician expelled from his position by the regime, into the Pontifical Academy of Science.


title: Clerical fascism

text: Despite Mussolini's close alliance with Hitler's Germany, Italy did not fully adopt Nazism's genocidal ideology towards the Jews. The Nazis were frustrated by the Italian authorities' refusal to co-operate in the round-ups of Jews, and no Jews were deported prior to the formation of the Italian Social Republic following the Armistice of Cassibile. In the Italian-occupied Independent State of Croatia, German envoy Siegfried Kasche advised Berlin that Italian forces had "apparently been influenced" by Vatican opposition to German anti-Semitism. As anti-Axis feeling grew in Italy, the use of Vatican Radio to broadcast papal disapproval of race murder and anti-Semitism angered the Nazis. When Mussolini was overthrown in July 1943, the Germans moved to occupy Italy and commenced a round-up of Jews.


title: Clerical fascism

text: Around 4% of Resistance forces were formally Catholic organisations, but Catholics dominated other "independent groups" such as the "Fiamme Verdi" and "Osoppo" partisans, and there were also Catholic militants in the Garibaldi Brigades, such as Benigno Zaccagnini, who later served as a prominent Christian Democrat politician. In Northern Italy, tensions between Catholics and communists in the movement led Catholics to form the "Fiamme Verdi" as a separate brigade of Christian Democrats. After the war, the ideological divisions between former partisans re-emerged, becoming a hallmark of post-war Italian politics.


title: Clerical fascism

text: The National Union in Portugal led by Prime Ministers António de Oliveira Salazar and Marcelo Caetano is not considered Fascist by historians such as Stanley G. Payne, Thomas Gerard Gallagher, Juan José Linz, António Costa Pinto, Roger Griffin, Robert Paxton and Howard J. Wiarda, though it is considered Fascist by historians such as Manuel de Lucena, Jorge Pais de Sousa, Manuel Loff, and Hermínio Martins. One of Salazar's actions was to ban the National Syndicalists/Fascists. Salazar distanced himself from fascism and Nazism, which he criticized as a "pagan Caesarism" that recognised neither legal nor moral limits.


title: Clerical fascism

text: Likewise, the Fatherland Front in Austria led by Austrian Catholic Chancellors Engelbert Dollfuss and Kurt Schuschnigg is often not regarded as a fully fascist party. It has been called semi-Fascist and even imitation Fascist. Dollfuss was murdered by the Nazis, shot in his office by the SS and left to bleed to death. His regime did initially receive support from Fascist Italy, which formed the Stresa Front with the United Kingdom and France.


title: Clerical fascism

text: Nonetheless, scholars who accept the use of the term "clerical fascism" debate which of the listed examples should be dubbed "clerical fascist", with the Ustaše being the most widely included. In the examples cited above, the degree of official Catholic support and clerical influence over lawmaking and government varies. Moreover, several authors reject the concept of a "clerical fascist régime", arguing that an entire fascist régime does not become "clerical" if elements of the clergy support it, while others are not prepared to use the term "clerical fascism" outside the context of what they call the "fascist epoch", between the ends of the two world wars (1918–1945).


title: Clerical fascism

text: Some scholars consider certain contemporary movements to be forms of clerical fascism, such as Christian Identity and Christian Reconstructionism in the United States; "the most virulent form" of Islamic fundamentalism, Islamism; and militant Hindu nationalism in India.


title: Clerical fascism

text: The political theorist Roger Griffin warns against the "hyperinflation of clerical fascism". According to Griffin, the use of the term "clerical fascism" should be limited to "the peculiar forms of politics that arise when religious clerics and professional theologians are drawn either into collusion with the "secular" ideology of fascism (an occurrence particularly common in interwar Europe); or, more rarely, manage to mix a theologically illicit cocktail of deeply held religious beliefs with a fascist commitment to saving the nation or race from decadence or collapse". Griffin adds that "clerical fascism" "should never be used to characterize a political movement or a regime in its entirety, since it can at most be a faction within fascism", while he defines fascism as "a revolutionary, secular variant of ultranationalism bent on the total rebirth of society through human agency".


title: Clerical fascism

text: In the case of the Slovak State, some scholars have rejected the use of the term clerical fascism as a label for the regime and they have particularly rejected its use as a label for Jozef Tiso.


title: Darmok

text: "Darmok" is the 102nd episode of the American science fiction television series "", the second episode of the .


title: Darmok

text: Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship "Enterprise-D". In this episode, the crew of the "Enterprise" is unable to establish meaningful communication with the crew of an alien vessel, which is resolved by the struggle of the ships' captains to defend each other from a vicious beast. It is often cited as one of the best episodes of both "The Next Generation" series and the entire family of "Star Trek" television series.


title: Darmok

text: The alien species introduced in this episode is noted for speaking in allegories, such as "Temba, his arms wide", which are indecipherable to the universal translator normally used in the television series to allow communication across different languages. Captain Picard is abducted by these aliens and marooned with one of them on the surface of a planet, and must try to communicate.


title: Darmok

text: The "Enterprise" makes contact with a Tamarian ship in orbit around the planet El-Adrel. The Tamarians had been previously contacted by the Federation, but could not be understood — although the universal translator can translate their words, they communicate by using brief allusions to their history and mythology to convey thoughts and intentions. Likewise, the Tamarians cannot understand Captain Picard's straightforward use of language.


title: Darmok

text: The Tamarian captain, Dathon, has himself and Picard transported to the planet's surface. The Tamarians then cast a scattering field that blocks further transporter use. Dathon utters the phrase "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" and tosses Picard a dagger. The next morning, Dathon comes running and Picard realizes there is a hostile predator in the area. Picard begins to understand the Tamarians' jargon when he recognizes one allegory as a tactic to fight the beast. The two attempt to battle the beast together, but the "Enterprise"s unsuccessful attempt to beam up Picard prevents him from participating at a crucial moment. Dathon is severely wounded.


title: Darmok

text: On the "Enterprise", First Officer Riker and the crew struggle to understand the aliens' language. They make several efforts to rescue the Captain, all foiled by the Tamarians. While tending to Dathon's wounds, Picard slowly deduces that Darmok and Jalad were warriors who met on the island of Tanagra and were forced to unite against a dangerous beast there, becoming friends in the process. Dathon tried to recreate this event with Picard, hoping to forge a friendship through shared adversity. Picard recounts for Dathon the "Epic of Gilgamesh", a story that parallels the allegory of Darmok and Jalad. Dathon seems to understand the story but succumbs to his injuries.


title: Darmok

text: The "Enterprise" fires on the Tamarian ship, disabling the scattering field, and beams up Picard. A battle begins, but just when mutual destruction seems certain, Picard enters the bridge and uses his newfound knowledge to communicate with the Tamarians. The Tamarians joyously perceive that Picard's eyes have been opened. Picard offers them Dathon's diary and dagger after telling them of their captain's sacrifice. The Tamarians tell him to keep the dagger in remembrance of Dathon, and record the incident as "Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel" — a new phrase in their language.


title: Darmok

text: Picard later reads the Homeric Hymns, explaining to Riker that studying their own mythology may help them relate to the Tamarians. He mourns that Dathon sacrificed himself in the hope of communication, and wonders if he would have done the same.


title: Darmok

text: This episode had the longest gestation period of any episode of "TNG" during Michael Piller's tenure, taking around two years to make it to the screen. Rick Berman hated the premise, but Piller thought it was interesting and was determined to make it work. Piller gave it to writer Joe Menosky, who completed the script and focused the story on the idea of two leaders attempting to communicate, as well as using the "Epic of Gilgamesh" as a plot device.


title: Darmok

text: Primary filming for "Darmok" occurred July 18−26, 1991, on Paramount Stages 8, 9, and 16, as well as on location at Bronson Canyon. An additional day was August 8 for the blue screen unit to film the creature scenes with stuntman Rex Pierson on Paramount Stage 9. Second unit for this episode filmed on August 26 on Paramount Stages 9 and 16. When production for the following episode, "", returned to location at Bronson Canyon on August 5, another sequence was filmed for "Darmok" involving Pierson and photo doubles Ron Large and Lanier Edwards. Photo double Dana Vitatoe filmed additional second unit shots on August 28 on Paramount Stage 9.


title: Darmok

text: The episode features Paul Winfield as Dathon, who previously played Captain Terrell in "", and Ashley Judd in her debut acting performance. The call sheet dated on July 18 featured an "uncast actress" in the role of Lt. Larson; in the final episode, this role became Robin Lefler, who was played by Judd. She later reprised this character in "".


title: Darmok

text: The Tamarian language and its societal implications, as portrayed in the episode, have received considerable attention, both from fans of the series and also in mainstream media.


title: Darmok

text: The episode describes the language as being built upon metaphors and allegories, in which Tamarians cite incidents from their cultural history, to communicate the emotions they feel, their perceptions of situations, and their wishes and opinions about actions. For example, the Tamarian captain Dathon uses the expression "Temba, his arms wide", to indicate his intent to give an item to Picard, and his motive of generosity and friendly helpfulness, by referencing an event in Tamarian history involving a Tamarian, Temba. Similarly, the expressions "Darmok on the ocean, Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra, Darmok and Jalad on the ocean", convey a sense of two opposing persons, who arrive separately at an isolated place and, forced to cooperate when faced with a fierce beast, leave together as friends. The expression conveys his intentions and purpose in requiring his crew to transport Picard and himself to the planet (where there is also a dangerous creature), and isolate them there together. At the end of the episode, his diary is read by his crew, and a new piece of language emerges: "Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel".


title: Darmok

text: In examining this structure as a language basis, Ian Bogost wrote in "The Atlantic" that the language had been criticized as unsuited to technical dialog of an advanced space-faring race ("hand me the ¾" socket wrench"), or as metaphor or imagery. In his analysis, "something much stranger" is depicted, since the language as depicted is described as "imagery", "metaphor", or "symbolic", and it seems to prevent any distinction between an object (or event) and its figurative representation (see also use-mention distinction).


title: Darmok

text: Bogost suggests allegory as a better term, because in allegory, events are "replaced" by others instead of just referring to other events. Noting that 20th century philosopher Walter Benjamin criticized this use of allegory as flawed and harmful (it replaces real concerns by a fetishized kind of mythology), he then commented that the answer to these points was to be found elsewhere. In Bogost's view, the Tamarian language portrayed is neither imagery nor allegory, although it can take these roles. Its deeper structure is an abstraction, a form of logic. There is no need to ask explicitly for a socket wrench, because the reference suggests what should be done, as well as how those involved should organize and execute the tasks involved. He suggests that the better term to describe this language is that it instantiates strategy and logic, and all concerned can then perceive how to follow it with a shared understanding. He comments that in this sense, the term "Sim City" would represent and evoke an entire process and strategy for creating the simulations within that game, and that:


title: Darmok

text: The Tamarians' language has been compared to the modern use of Internet memes and image macros. The paper "Darmok and Jalad on the Internet" by Kristina Šekrst builds upon the idea and compares the Tamarian language to Lakoff's and Mark Johnson's theory of metaphors from "Metaphors We Live By" and "Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things".


title: Darmok

text: The book "Hailing frequencies open: Communication in Star Trek: The Next Generation" by Thomas D. Parham, III says that in "Darmok", the episode focused on epistemology by using interpersonal interactions. They found that several other episodes in the series used interpersonal interactions to explore concepts.


title: Darmok

text: Tamarian language was compared to the difficulty of communicating with a 19-year-old patient with autism disorder by Elizabeth Kim et al.


title: Darmok

text: A machine-learning translation by Peter Jansen was employed for English-to-Tamarian translation, assembling a Tamarian-English dictionary of utterances from the original episode and several follow-on novels.


title: Darmok

text: Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave it a grade "A", and although he finds the core concept improbable he says "the episode is carried by terrific performances, particularly Stewart and Winfield". In his 2012 rewatch, Keith DeCandido of Tor.com rated the episode 9 out of 10.


title: Darmok

text: The 1999 book "The Music of Star Trek" describes composer Jay Chattaway's score as offering "memorable dramatic support" to "Darmok" and other episodes he had worked on.


title: Darmok

text: "Darmok" is generally regarded one of the greatest episodes of "Star Trek", as well as one of Patrick Stewart's most iconic performances as Captain Picard. In 2016, "The Washington Post" ranked "Darmok" the second best episode of all "Star Trek" television. Io9 ranked it as the fifth best episode of all "Star Trek" in 2011 and again in 2014. In 2016, "Empire magazine" ranked it 6th of all "Star Trek" episodes. In 2016, Vox list this as one of the top 25 essential episodes of all "Star Trek". In 2019, "The Hollywood Reporter" listed "Darmok" among the twenty-five best episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation".


title: Darmok

text: In 2013, "The Guardian" recommended this episode as one of six "examples of a smarter version of "Star Trek"", out of all the episodes of the franchise up to that time. They remarked it was a "beautifully executed episode".


title: Darmok

text: In 2014, "Ars Technica" triggered an online controversy when one staff member said it was a "bad episode"; in the ensuing discussion they noted that overall it is considered not just a good episode, but a great one.


title: Darmok

text: In 2016, IGN ranked "Darmok" the 19th best episode of all "Star Trek" series. They call this one of "Picard's finest hours" as he tries to communicate with an alien that despite understanding the words (see universal translator), does not understand the meaning. They are stranded together on an alien planet while threatened, and Picard eventually figures out they are speaking in metaphors. A communication breakthrough comes when he relates their situation to the alien's description "Darmok and Jalad – at Tanagra."


title: Darmok

text: In 2016, "Radio Times" ranked the interaction between Picard and Dathon in "Star Trek", as the 20th best moment in all "Star Trek".


title: Darmok

text: In 2017, Screen Rant ranked "Darmok" as the 3rd most optimistic and hopeful episode of all "Star Trek" episodes up to that time. They also ranked the Tamarians, the alien species featured in this episode, as the 5th most bizarre aliens of "Star Trek". They remark that Starfleet has difficulty in communicating with them due to a failure of their technology, the universal translator.


title: Darmok

text: In 2017, "Den of Geek" ranked this episode as one of the top 25 "must watch" episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation". They also listed it as one of the top ten ground-breaking episodes of this series. They note how Picard must overcome the failure of the universal translator technology to communicate with an alien culture. They note how these aliens communicate using stories.


title: Darmok

text: In 2018, "Entertainment Weekly" ranked "Darmok" as one of the top ten moments of Picard. In 2018, "Popular Mechanics" highlighted "Darmok" as one of the 12 best Picard episodes, and as recommended viewing for audiences to prepare for a new television series based on that character, "".


title: Darmok

text: In 2020, Screen Rant ranked "Darmok" the third best episode of the series, noting its unique but great take on contact between alien cultures as Picard must contend with failure of "Star Trek"s universal translator technology. They point out the episode features a "harrowing" confrontation, that features some tense situations as they struggle to communicate.


title: Darmok

text: In 2020, "The Digital Fix" said this was the seventh best episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation".


title: Darmok

text: A character introduced in this episode, Robin Lefler (played by Ashley Judd), was ranked as the 71st most important character of Starfleet within the "Star Trek" science fiction universe. "TV Guide" listed Judd's acting role as Ensign Robin Lefler as one of 28 surprising guest acting roles on "Star Trek", noting that she appears in this episode "Darmok" and also in "". The future romance between Robin and Wesley's character is also noted.


title: Darmok

text: In 2021, Robert Vaux writing for CBR, said that Paul Winfield was a "terrific" co-star for Stewart, and highlighted this episode among a trio of season five episodes (along with "The Perfect Mate" and "") that he really shined in.


title: Darmok

text: The episode was later released in the United States on November 5, 2002, as part of the season five DVD box set. The first Blu-ray release was in the United States on November 18, 2013, followed by the United Kingdom the next day, November 19, 2013.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The Imperial Diet (; ) was the deliberative body of the Holy Roman Empire. It was not a legislative body in the contemporary sense; its members envisioned it more like a central forum where it was more important to negotiate than to decide.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: Its members were the Imperial Estates, divided into three colleges. The diet as a permanent, regularized institution evolved from the "Hoftage" (court assemblies) of the Middle Ages. From 1663 until the end of the empire in 1806, it was in permanent session at Regensburg.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: All Imperial Estates enjoyed immediacy and, therefore, they had no authority above them besides the Holy Roman Emperor himself. While all the estates were entitled to a seat and vote, only the higher temporal and spiritual princes of the College of Princes enjoyed an individual vote ("Virilstimme"), while lesser estates such as imperial counts and imperial abbots, were merely entitled to a collective vote ("Kuriatstimme") within their particular bench ("Curia"), as did the free imperial cities belonging to the College of Towns.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The right to vote rested essentially on a territorial entitlement, with the result that when a given prince acquired new territories through inheritance or otherwise, he also acquired their voting rights in the diet. In general, members did not attend the permanent diet at Regensburg, but sent representatives instead. The late imperial diet was in effect a permanent meeting of ambassadors between the estates.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The precise role and function of the Imperial Diet changed over the centuries, as did the Empire itself, in that the estates and separate territories gained more and more control of their own affairs at the expense of imperial power. Initially, there was neither a fixed time nor location for the Diet. It started as a convention of the dukes of the old Germanic tribes that formed the Frankish kingdom when important decisions had to be made, and was probably based on the old Germanic law whereby each leader relied on the support of his leading men.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: For example, already under Emperor Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars, the Diet, according to the Royal Frankish Annals, met at Paderborn in 777 and officially determined laws concerning the subdued Saxons and other tribes. In 803, the Frankish emperor issued the final version of the Lex Saxonum.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: At the Diet of 919 in Fritzlar the dukes elected the first King of the Germans, who was a Saxon, Henry the Fowler, thus overcoming the longstanding rivalry between Franks and Saxons and laying the foundation for the German realm. After the conquest of Italy, the 1158 Diet of Roncaglia finalized four laws that would significantly alter the (never formally written) constitution of the Empire, marking the beginning of the steady decline of the central power in favour of the local dukes. The Golden Bull of 1356 cemented the concept of "territorial rule" ("Landesherrschaft"), the largely independent rule of the dukes over their respective territories, and also limited the number of electors to seven. The Pope, contrary to modern myth, was never involved in the electoral process but only in the process of ratification and coronation of whomever the Prince-Electors chose.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: Until the late 15th century the Diet was not actually formalized as an institution. Instead, the dukes and other princes would irregularly convene at the court of the Emperor. These assemblies were usually referred to as "Hoftage" (from German "Hof" "court"). Only beginning in 1489 was the Diet called the "Reichstag", and it was formally divided into several "collegia" ("colleges").


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: Initially, the two colleges were that of the prince-electors and that of the other dukes and princes. Later, the imperial cities, that is, cities that had Imperial immediacy and were oligarchic republics independent of a local ruler that were subject only to the Emperor himself, managed to be accepted as a third party.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: Several attempts to reform the Empire and end its slow disintegration, notably starting with the Diet of 1495, did not have much effect. In contrast, this process was only hastened with the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, which formally bound the Emperor to accept all decisions made by the Diet, in effect depriving him of his few remaining powers. From then to its end in 1806, the Empire was not much more than a collection of largely independent states.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: Probably the most famous Diets were those held in Worms in 1495, where the Imperial Reform was enacted, and 1521, where Martin Luther was banned (see Edict of Worms), the Diets of Speyer 1526 and 1529 (see Protestation at Speyer), and several in Nuremberg (Diet of Nuremberg). Only with the introduction of the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg in 1663 did the Diet permanently convene in a fixed location.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The Imperial Diet of Constance opened on 27 April 1507; it recognized the unity of the Holy Roman Empire and founded the Imperial Chamber, the empire’s supreme court.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The Electoral College ("Kurfürstenrat"), led by the Prince-Archbishop of Mainz in his capacity as Archchancellor of Germany. The seven Prince-electors were designated by the Golden Bull of 1356:


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The number increased to eight, when in 1623 the Duke of Bavaria took over the electoral dignity of the Count Palatine, who himself received a separate vote in the electoral college according to the 1648 Peace of Westphalia ("Causa Palatina"), including the high office of an Archtreasurer. In 1692 the Elector of Hanover (formally Brunswick-Lüneburg) became the ninth Prince-elector as Archbannerbearer during the Nine Years' War.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: In the War of the Bavarian Succession, the electoral dignities of the Palatinate and Bavaria were merged, approved by the 1779 Treaty of Teschen. The German Mediatisation of 1803 entailed the dissolution of the Cologne and Trier Prince-archbishoprics, the Prince-Archbishop of Mainz and German Archchancellor received—as compensation for his lost territory occupied by Revolutionary France—the newly established Principality of Regensburg. In turn, four secular princes were elevated to prince-electors:


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: These changes however had little effect, as with the abdication of Francis II as Holy Roman Emperor the Empire was dissolved only three years later.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The college of Imperial Princes ("Reichsfürstenrat" or "Fürstenbank") incorporated the Imperial Counts as well as immediate lords, Prince-Bishops and Imperial abbots. Strong in members, though often discordant, the second college tried to preserve its interests against the dominance of the Prince-electors.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The House of Princes was again subdivided into an ecclesiastical and a secular bench. Remarkably, the ecclesiastical bench was headed by the—secular—Archduke of Austria and the Burgundian duke of the Habsburg Netherlands (held by Habsburg Spain from 1556). As the Austrian House of Habsburg had failed to assume the leadership of the secular bench, they received the guidance over the ecclesiastical princes instead. The first ecclesiastical prince was the Archbishop of Salzburg as "Primas Germaniae"; the Prince-Archbishop of Besançon, though officially a member until the 1678 Treaty of Nijmegen, did not attend the Diet's meetings.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The ecclesiastical bench also comprised the Grand Master and "Deutschmeister" of the Teutonic Knights, as well as the Grand Prior of the Monastic State of the Knights Hospitaller at Heitersheim. The Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck remained an ecclesiastical member even after it had turned Protestant, ruled by diocesan administrators from the House of Holstein-Gottorp from 1586. The Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück, according to the 1648 Peace of Westphalia was under alternating rule of a Catholic bishop and a Lutheran bishop from the House of Hanover.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: Each member of the Princes' College held either a single vote ("Virilstimme") or a collective vote ("Kuriatstimme"). Due to the Princes, their single vote from 1582 strictly depended on their immediate fiefs; this principle led to an accumulation of votes, when one ruler held several territories in personal union. Counts and Lords only were entitled to collective votes, they therefore formed separate colleges like the Wetterau Association of Imperial Counts and mergers within the Swabian, the Franconian and the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circles. Likewise, on the ecclesiastical bench, the Imperial abbots joined a Swabian or Rhenish college.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: In the German Mediatisation of 1803, numerous ecclesiastical territories were annexed by secular estates. A reform of the Princes' college was however not carried out until the Empire's dissolution in 1806.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The college of Imperial Cities ("Reichsstädtekollegium") evolved from 1489 onwards, it contributed greatly to the development of the Imperial Diets as a political institution. Nevertheless, the collective vote of the cities initially was of inferior importance until a 1582 Recess of the Augsburg Diet. The college was led by the city council of the actual venue; with the implementation of the Perpetual Diet in 1663, the chair passed to Regensburg.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The Imperial cities also divided into a Swabian and Rhenish bench. The Swabian cities were led by Nuremberg, Augsburg and Regensburg, the Rhenish cities by Cologne, Aachen and Frankfurt.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: For a complete list of members of the Imperial Diet from 1792, near the end of the Empire, see List of Reichstag participants (1792).


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: After the Peace of Westphalia, religious matters could no longer be decided by a majority vote of the colleges. Instead, the Reichstag would separate into Catholic and Protestant bodies, which would discuss the matter separately and then negotiate an agreement with each other, a procedure called the "itio in partes". The Catholic body, or "corpus catholicorum", was headed by the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz.


title: Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)

text: The Protestant body, or "corpus evangelicorum", was headed by the Elector of Saxony. At meetings of the Protestant body, Saxony would introduce each topic of discussion, after which Brandenburg-Prussia and Hanover would speak, followed by the remaining states in order of size. When all the states had spoken, Saxony would weigh the votes and announce a consensus.