It is always interesting and exciting to learn more about outstanding pioneering and entrepreneurial efforts. An incredible success story began in Vladivostok, with the rise of the German trading house Kunst & Albers, which supplied South Siberia supplied with goods from all over the world. The first German department store ever, it was located at the end of the world and there it still stands. The building housed not only all sales departments, the accounting, banking and shipping departments and the shipment of goods, upstairs was even room for living quarters for employees. When the masonry structure of the present-day State Department Store, GUM, replaced the old wooden building in 1885, it immediately became a Vladivostok landmark. Today it remains one of the finest examples of the city’s commercial architecture. Known officially as the Kunst and Albers Trading House in the past, it was one of the oldest masonry multi-story buildings in the region. Having met in China, the two German entrepreneurs Gustav Kunst and Gustav Albers decided to go to Vladivostok and establish a trading house together (1864). Supported by the Deutscher Bank and different companies in Germany, Great Britain, and Japan, the Kunst and Albers Trading House soon grew into the largest trading house in Eastern Siberia with 16 affiliates in Russia, five in Manchuria, and one in Japan. Living in Hamburg, Kunst, who served as the head of the company, supplied mostly German commodities. The enormously beneficial impact of the trading house on commerce and everyday life in the region is impossible to exaggerate. read more…
Tallinn
Tallinn was appointed in November 2007 together with the Finnish City of Turku to one of the European Capital’s of Culture 2011. With the motto “Tales from the sea” numerous cultural events and festivals will be held in 2011, including the “Tallinn Maritime Days”, which will bring the city closer to the sea again. About a dozen architectural installations will be built in the city. Since independence, improving air and sea transport links with Western Europe and Estonia’s accession to the European Union have made Tallinn easily accessible to tourists. Estonia has made rapid economic progress since independence and this is reflected in local prices. Although not extortionate, neither are prices as cheap as in other former Eastern Bloc countries. The main attractions are in the two old towns (Lower Town and Toompea – UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites since 1997) which are both easily explored on foot. Eastern districts around Pirita and Kadriorg are also worth visiting and the Estonian Open Air Museum (Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum) in Rocca al Mare, west of the city, preserves aspects of Estonian rural culture and architecture. read more…
Each year, the year has come again. One has just completed the plans and preparations for the coming year, but then there are the plans which you can’t squeeze into business plans, budgets or profit expectations. Before Christmas I saw a documentary on television about the Appalachian Trail in America and there was the plan again, “Just get out and find time for yourself for a few months.”. Well, between “seek for your inner self” and “find your inner self” there lie about six months of hiking thru the wilderness, but it seems to be at least in some aspects the most sustainable form of self therapy. Of course, the long-planned motorcycle trip from Norway to Sicily or from the Canadian border to Key West wouldn’t be a bad ways to make some personal spiritual experiences as well, but both ways are perhaps still too close to daily life. read more…
Lyon is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region. With 480,000 inhabitants Lyon is the third biggest city after Paris and Marseille. Economically, Lyon is a major centre for banking and the chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries. The city contains a significant software industry with a particular focus on video games, and has focussed in recent years on a growing local start-up sector. The city hosts the international headquarters of Interpol, Euronews and International Agency for Research on Cancer. read more…
Over the past decade, Malmö has undergone a most dramatic post-industrial transformation. This cosmopolitan city has “reclaimed” the seafront, where entire new city districts full of interesting modern architecture and bustling street life have been constructed. Of course, another radical change has been the mighty Öresund Bridge, opened in 2000, which connects Malmö with Denmark’s capital Copenhagen, just twenty minutes away. The region now forms a single metropolitan area; one of the most expansive, exciting and energetic in Northern Europe. read more…
Vaduz, with the Princely Residence, the Government and Parliament, is the capital of Liechtenstein. In the town center, known as the “Städtle”, there are museums, street cafés and many attractive shops. Vaduz is particularly well known as an international financial center, especially since CDs are making the round, which are pretty interesting for some finance ministers from other countries. Tourist holds Vaduz and Liechtenstein ready are interesting tourist places, especially for families and so called silent tourism. Vaduz is architecturally interesting, but it offers no great surprises especially because of the size of the town. It’s nevertheless worse a journy or two. read more…
Whilst the Luxembourg fortress was a true textbook example of European military architecture, it has changed hands many times over its existence. Italian, Spanish, Belgian, French, Austrian, Dutch and Prussian engineers have been involved in progressively extending the fortifications of this stronghold. Traces of their work remain, and what traces! Since 1994, the fortifications and the old city have been classed as a UNESCO world heritage site. read more…
Energy performance certificates not only provide citizens with accurate information on their homes’ energy savings, but they also have a clear impact on homes value, showing a green premium of 2.8% in the Dutch housing market, according to the latest research commissioned by RICS. read more…
Embedded between nearby Alpine peaks and the hilly terrain of the Jura, the French-speaking city of Geneva lies in the bay where the Rhone leaves Lake Geneva. With its humanitarian tradition and cosmopolitan flair, the European seat of the UNO and headquarters of the Red Cross is known as the “capital of peace”. read more…
Energy performance certificates not only provide citizens with accurate information on their homes’ energy savings, but they also have a clear impact on homes value, showing a green premium of 2.8% in the Dutch housing market, according to the latest research commissioned by RICS. read more…
