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Washington D.C. - 3.Version - Referat
Contents
1. History and General data
2. The White House
3. The Capitol
4. Sightseeing
5. Conclusion
6. Sources
1. History and General data
Up to the foundation of Washington D.C. United States didn´t have a capital.They wanted to select an existing town as their capital but they didn´t find the right one, that would have been to their satisfaction. Therefore they decided to design the first capital of US according to the requirements. They appointed the french architect M. Pierre L´Enfant to design the new federal town as capital.They determinated the location for it in Virginia on the east side of the river Pontimac near the atlantic coast. The town should be built for 800 000 habitants – that was a quarter of all habitants of US at that time. The town was built as federal capital. Later at foundation´s day the federal capital got the name Washington in memorial of the first US president George Washington. The D. means district and C. for Columbia that remembers to the spanish seafarer Christoph Columbus who discovered America in the year 1492.
General data:
Coordinates: 38° 54 ′ N, 77° 2 ′ W
Establishment: 16. July 1790
State: United States
Federal district: District of Columbia
Inhabitant: 589.436
Surface: 177 km ²
Height: 7 m
Mayor: Vincent C. Gray
Now Washington has more than half a million habitants. Greater Washington District Colombia has more than 8 millions habitants. The buildings White House and Capitol are the most famous and important objects of intrres but also well known and important are many universities e.g. the famous, first class Washington University and the famous first class Howard University and many others. In Washington are large museums and great libraries as well as The National Galerie of Arts and The Space Museum. Washington has three airports.
2. The White House
The location for the White House was determined by George Washington and Pierre L `Enfant. The architect was James Hoban his design was inspired by the Irish House of Parliament the “Leinster House”. The foundation-stone was set on 13 October 1792. John Adam was the first president who worked and lived there. During the war of independence 1814 the white house was burned down by the British troops. 1819 it was rebuilt in classicistic style. In the White House the oval office is located. But the White House is not only the office of the president. He also lives there together with his family. It has 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 412 doors, 147 windows, 8 stairways, 3 elevators, a Swimmingpool, a tennis court, a cinema hall as well as a skittle-alley furnished under President Richard Nixon. Barack Obamas added a basketball field for him self and his team.
~ Bild vom Weißen Haus
3. The Capitol
In 1793 to 1823 the Capitol was built as House of Parliament. The representatives that were elected by all american people are voting in the parliament together with the elected representatives of every federal state of US e.g. California Michigan Texas and so on. Always two members of the senate of every state of US were elected to become a member of the american parliament. These two groups are the lawmakers of US. Within the capitol you will find also very important documents refering the history, the rights and politics. These documents are stored in the building capitol also. The Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Indipendance and others. Every year tree to five million visitors are coming to see the capitol with its important and valuable exhibitions.
~Bild vom Capitol~
4. Sightseeing
Washington D.C. is the capital of US we are going around now to see some famous buildings. At first we are going to see the White House - it is the office of the american president. Now Mr. Obama is the president of the US. The White House is also his home where he lives together with his family. Near by White House we see the Capitol - this very important Congress building. This is the american house of parliament. There are much more famous buildings in Washington.
At first we will go to see Washington Monument with it´s a high obelisk of 168m. It is dedicated to the anterior american president George Washington.
~Bild vom Washington Monument~
Now we look at Lincoln Memorial it is a classic building like a greek temple with a statue of president Abraham Lincoln inside the temple.
~Bild vom Lincoln Memorial~
You will get some time now for a short visit of the nice city of Washington. You will find it very interesting too. You´ll also like it for a short shopping trip. Another famous and very interesting building is situated outside the city of Washington, in Arlington. It´s the Pentagon.
The Pentagon is a building like the figure pentagon, that means a building with 5 sides - each of 300m - it has 5 angles , like the shape of a pentagon. You can go aroud. It`s the office of the ministry of defence.
5. Conclusion
As subject of my presentation I choose Washington D.C. because I am very interested in United States – their way of life – their laws – their space resurch and astronautics. It´s a very large country with very much possibilities to live. It has a large variaty of landscapes as the Great Canon – the Yellowstone Parc – Florida, California. The large lakes - The atlantic- and the Pacific Ocean. The large rivers – as the Old Man River – Missisippi, Missuri. The big City New York. Especially I like very much Washington D.C. – the capital of this fascinating country. The second point of my choice is: I would like to improve my English knowledge for better understanding and speaking.
6. Sources
http://www.visit-usa.at/washington.htm#
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.
http://vector-images.com
Brockhaus in 15 Bänden
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