Town In Germany Research Articles

The fractal dimension of some railway networks

We determine the fractal dimension D of four different railway networks. We found for Paris, Moscow and the Rhine towns in Germany, D between 1.7 and 1.8 but for the network connecting Paris to the suburbs, D is equal to 1.5. We discuss some implications of these results.

Munich, Public Opinion, and Popular Front

During the crisis of September I938 the Daily Sketch commented, 'For people of spirit there should be some satisfaction in the thought that present international events are not only of great import now, but will figure prominently in future history books.' The Daily Sketch's crystal ball served it well. The moves which led to the cession of the Sudetenland have been told and re-told by countless historians. The word 'Munich' no longer merely denotes a town in Germany; it has become a term symbolic of the failure of British foreign policy in the I930s. There were few, however, who did not share in the popular enthusiasm which the news of the conclusion of the agreement aroused at the time. The Times editorial for i October commented, 'No conqueror returning from victory on the battlefield has come home adorned with nobler laurels than Mr Chamberlain from Munich yesterday.' The Archbishop of Canterbury called for a national day of thanksgiving in British churches. Throughout the land a grateful people gathered in their places of worship on the Sunday following Munich. In a BBC broadcast on the evening of 2 October Cosmo Gordon Lang told of 'an old farmer in my own diocese who, pointing upwards to the wide heavens above Romney Marsh, said quietly, There's a God up there.' Divine sanction, however, did not prevent the free play of economic forces. Chamberlain dolls and sugar umbrellas were offered for sale. No evidence remains as to how well they sold; probably the dolls took their place beside mementos of Brighton Pier, the umbrellas suffering a less lasting fate. Contemporary rumour told of Cabinet Ministers who wished to hold a General Election to capitalise upon the nation's gratitude to Chamberlain.

Music in Germany

It can fairly be said that cultural life in Germany, especially where music is concerned, has recovered out of all proportion to material conditions prevailing in the ravaged country. How is it possible, one might ask, for two opera houses to be playing several times a week to packed houses, in the ruins of Berlin? It is interesting to find that the general apathy which is apparent to a greater or lesser degree among the population of all the large towns of Germany has neither prevented the performance of music nor detracted from its enjoyment by the music-loving public.

Research in Germany

THE issue of Die Naturwissenschaften for May 26 is devoted to the work of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesell-schaft zur Forderung der Wissenschaften and extends to more than eighty pages. The year ending March 1933 has been a difficult one for the society, and the hope is expressed that the Government will in the future be able to afford it more financial support. Its membership is now 786, a fall of more than 40 on the year. Its headquarters —Harnack House —provides accommodation for the meetings of more than thirty societies in addition to those of its own sections, daily meals for 160 scientific workers, and has put up for short stays 230 visitors during the year.Evening lectures, by distinguished members of the staff, have been given both at headquarters and in other towns of Germany as in previous years. In addition to outline reports of the work of each Institute, lists of papers published by the staffs are given, and both show how much the society is doing by scientific research to increase the welfare of Germany and to maintain its position amongst those bent on “improving natural knowledge”.