Ansgar

Saint Ansgar (8 September 801 – 3 February 865), also known as Anskar or Saint Anschar, was a Germanic Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. The see of Hamburg was designated a mission to bring Christianity to Northern Europe, and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North".

Life

Ansgar was the son of a noble Frankish family, born near Amiens. After his mother's early death, Ansgar was brought up in Corbie Abbey, and was educated at the Benedectine monastery in Picardy,. According to the Vita Ansgarii ("Life of Ansgar"), when the little boy learned in a vision that his mother was in the company of Saint Mary, his careless attitude toward spiritual matters changed to seriousness ("Life of Ansgar", 1). His pupil, successor, and eventual biographer Rimbert considered the visions of which this was the first to be the main motivation of the saint's life.

Verbotene Liebe

Verbotene Liebe (pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈboːtənə ˈliːbə], lit. "Forbidden Love") is a German television soap opera created by Reg Watson for Das Erste. The show is set primarily in the German city of Düsseldorf although, at times, the city of Cologne and the Spanish island of Majorca have figured prominently in the show's story lines. First broadcast on 2 January 1995,Verbotene Liebe was originally broadcast in 24-minute episodes, five times a week. It expanded to 45-minute episodes on 21 June 2011 and trimmed back to 40-minute episodes on 23 January 2012 to accommodate an adjusted time-slot. In 2006, Pay-TV network Passion began broadcasting episodes of the show from the beginning.

Verbotene Liebe was initially based on original story and character outlines from the Australian soap opera Sons and Daughters, before evolving into a show of its own as the series progressed. The show originally focused on two core families: the wealthy Anstetten family and the middle-class Brandner family. More specifically, it dealt with the story of Jan Brandner and Julia von Anstetten, two strangers whose fascination for each other leads them to fall in love, neither of them cognizant of the fact that they are twins separated by their parents. It is this story of forbidden love that gave the series its title. As cast members left the show, many characters were written out of the storyline, and new ones were added. Sometimes this included whole families. Writers attempted to phase out the dwindling Brandner family by introducing a new middle-class family, the Prozeskis, as foils for the wealthy Anstettens, but the Brandners proved to be too popular with fans, and the Prozeskis left as quickly as they came. Currently, much of the drama centers around the Wolf family and the aristocratic Lahnstein family.

Ansgar von Lahnstein

Ansgar Eduard Johannes von Lahnstein is a fictional character of the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love). The character is portrayed by actor Wolfram Grandezka, who premiered in the role on 22 January 2004.

In 2012, Grandezka won the German Soap Award for "Best Actor" for his role as Ansgar.

Creation

Characterization

Over the years, the role is identified as a classical macho-type character. He's known as a charismatic bad boy, who enjoys power, women and cigars. The character of Ansgar is shown as a ruthless businessman and is sometimes even compared to J.R. Ewing. Ansgar believes it's his birthright to inherit the estate of the Lahnstein family, and he'll go to as many links as possible to get his rightful place.

Ansgar's more softened side is shown when he becomes a father for the very first time. He cares deeply for his children and sees himself as a protector of their legacy. Ansgar also sees the needs of his children before his own.

In his love life, Ansgar is portrayed as someone who can fall in love deeply even trying to change his shady ways for the woman he loves. He eventually would put his power-hungry-self though. If Ansgar feels betrayed by someone he loves, he seeks for revenge no matter what. His arrogance and ruthlessness cost him many friendships and romantic relationships.

Greatest hits album

A greatest hits album, sometimes called a "best of" album or a catalog album, is a compilation of songs by a particular artist or band. Most often the track list contains previously released recordings with a high degree of notability. However, to increase the appeal, especially to people who already own the original release, it is common to include remixes and/or alternate takes of popular songs; even new material (previously unreleased). At times a greatest hits compilation is the original release for songs that have themselves been released as a single and charted successfully.

Notable compilations

Madonna's The Immaculate Collection is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a solo artist; all of the songs on it are presented in different versions than the original hit versions. The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is the best selling greatest hits compilation by a group and also one of the ten best selling albums in history. Greatest hits albums are typically produced after an artist has had enough successful songs to fill out an album release. Some artists, such as Mariah Carey, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Kenny Rogers, Aerosmith, Kiss, U2, Dolly Parton, Journey, Los Tigres del Norte, Queen, Kylie Minogue and Billy Joel, have released multiple greatest hits albums through their long careers. Some greatest hits albums are released only at the end of the artist or group's career. For example, My Chemical Romance released a greatest hits album after they disbanded. Other artists, like Eminem have released hits albums in the center of their success. He released Curtain Call: The Hits in 2005 and then Shady XV as a compilation album in 2014.

Lydia

Lydia (Assyrian: Luddu; Greek: Λυδία, Turkish: Lidya) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provinces of Uşak, Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian.

At its greatest extent, the Kingdom of Lydia covered all of western Anatolia. Lydia (known as Sparda by the Achaemenids) was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, with Sardis as its capital. Tabalus, appointed by Cyrus the Great, was the first satrap (governor). (See: Lydia (satrapy).)

Lydia was later the name of a Roman province. Coins are said to have been invented in Lydia around the 7th century BC.

Defining Lydia

The endonym Śfard (the name the Lydians called themselves) survives in bilingual and trilingual stone-carved notices of the Achaemenid Empire: the satrapy of Sparda (Old Persian), Aramaic Saparda, Babylonian Sapardu, Elamitic Išbarda, Hebrew סְפָרַד. These in the Greek tradition are associated with Sardis, the capital city of King Gyges, constructed during the 7th century BC.