detail from: KRK Art dizajn

MY WORLD

SIMO JELACA, Ph.D.

DUSSELDORF - F.R. GERMANY

Dusseldorf is the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany, with close to one million inhabitants. With the surroundings, which gravitate towards Dusseldorf, it has about 2.5 million inhabitants, it is a very strong industrial center, a financial and commercial center, with a developed railway junction and an important inland port. The industrial branches are steel processing, machine industry, chemical industry, textile industry and glass industry. Telecommunications, banking, consulting and advertising were developed. The city of Dusseldorf has the highest income in Europe. The city of Dusseldorf is a city of world business.

About 15% of Dusseldorf's population are foreign nationals, and about 10% of the entire population have a university education. There are over 300,000 cars in the city, which create huge traffic jams during weekdays.

August 14th, 1288. is the date when the village on the river Diesel received the status of the city of Dusseldorf. Dusseldorf was damaged in the Second World War, but was completely rebuilt in the post-war period. Today, Dusseldorf is an elegant city with many parks, a dozen museums and a hundred galleries, theaters and a university. Dusseldorf has a famous art gallery from 1777, restored in 1829. Dusseldorf is today a city of fashion, with elegant streets with many boutiques, a city of culture. Every July, the "Fair on the Rhine" is held in Düsseldorf, which lasts for a week and is visited by about four million visitors. Also in November, a "Carnival" is held, with colorful costumes of the participants.

On August 16, 1961, the author arrived in Dusseldorf, for his internship in the Rheinmill, just three days after the "Berlin Wall '' came up, which caused the Germans to be terribly upset, and which was the reason that his internship was unsuccessful. .

VALENCIA - SPAIN

Valencia is the third largest city in Spain, with over 800,000 inhabitants.

It is the capital of the province of the same name, Valencia. It is located on the Turia River, right next to the Mediterranean and has a typical Mediterranean climate, where summer temperatures can reach as high as 42°S. Valencia represents the fertile garden of Spain, and it is an important economic and industrial center, with a developed industry of metals, textiles, chemicals, automobiles, furniture, ceramic tiles, toys and others. It is also an important center for shipbuilding. It has a university, founded in 1501. The town is very picturesque, it has the famous cathedral of La Seo, whose home is covered with blue ceramic tiles. In the old part of the city, the streets are narrow, and in the new part, the avenues are wide and lined with trees. The new, modern part of the city was built according to the projects of Santiago Colatravo and Felix Candel, and represents one of the most modern cities in the world, where art, culture and sports facilities are mainly located. Very popular sports have also been developed in Valencia: golf, swimming, cycling, tennis, football and others.

Valencia is an important economic center of Spain, as well as a tourist mecca, which is visited by about four million tourists from all over the world every year. The golden era of Valencia began in the 15th century. And the traffic in Valencia is good, both in the city and internationally. Valencia has an international airport, which serves many visitors well. Valencia is world famous for its festival, which is held every March, and which is also attended by many visitors. The city has a gallery of fine art and science, as well as several museums, but certainly in recent decades the most popular is the art and science center, housed in modern buildings, which fascinate all visitors.

The author stayed in Valencia in July 1979, on which occasion he was a guest of Buhler Brothers Ltd. Uzwil, Switzerland, visiting a corn processing mill. On that occasion, he noticed a detail, which he proposed to the Buhler experts as an innovation, which they accepted and gave him written recognition for. On his way back from Valencia, he stopped in Madrid, but only on his way to Brussels.

BRUSSELS - BELGIUM

Brussels is the capital of Belgium, and since the Second World War, the main political center of Europe. Brussels has about 1.2 million inhabitants, and Belgium about 11.5 million. The headquarters of the institutions of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are located in Brussels. Brussels hosts about 40,000 officials of the European Union, 40,000 employees of the NATO pact, and about 300 permanent representatives of foreign institutions (embassies and the like), as guests. As many as 47% of Brussels residents are not Belgian citizens.

The city of Brussels was founded and has its history since the 13th century. Brussels is one of the largest centers of chocolate trade, of excellent quality. And Brussels International Airport is one of the big sellers of chocolate. In addition to chocolate, it is known for its quality beer, and there is information that there are around 800 types of beer in Brussels. Brussels is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and at the same time one of the world's most valued UNESCO heritage centers.

The Royals Saint-Hubert Gallery has been operating as a sales center for art values since 1847. Karl Marx, Alexander Dumas, Victor Hugo and other famous people found refuge and lived in Brussels for a while. Audrey Hepburn, actress and fashion icon, was born in Brussels. The famous attraction of Brussels is the "Manneken Pis' ', which is only 61 cm high and is located in front of the City Hall from the 15th century. The "Palace of Justice ''building, the largest court building in the world, with 26,000 m², is very impressive. It is under the protection of UNESCO, as a world heritage monument. The world's largest agricultural and food fair is held in Brussels. Until recently, Brussels was considered the safest city in the world. The Royal Palace in Brussels is built in the neoclassical style and is longer than Buckingham Palace in London.

The author stayed in Brussels as a guest of Buhler Brothers Ltd, Uzwill, Switzerland, during which he visited Bühler's mill, and in the evening he attended the celebration of the thousandth anniversary of Belgium, which was attended by the family of King Baudouin.

STOCKHOLM - SWEDEN

Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, with about 850,000 inhabitants, out of 10 million in Sweden, is built on 14 islands, interconnected by 57 bridges. Stockholm is often said to be the "World's Smallest Big City" among the "World's Biggest Small Cities". It is a beautiful city, with exceptional architecture, with many very beautiful parks and bays. Stockholm is said by many to be the "Venice of the North". And it is not known for sure if there is more water in the city or if the city is more in the water. Thanks to the absence of heavy industry from the city, Stockholm is considered the cleanest city in the world. The life of 85% of Stockholm's population is related to service activities.

The city of Stockholm has 70 museums, and the oldest building in Stockholm is the Riddarholmen church, built in 1270. The Globe Arena building is the largest of its kind in the world. Stockholm's underground railway is the world's largest gallery of paintings, sculptures and mosaics. Stockholm has two buildings, as world heritage, protected by UNESCO: Palace Drottningholm and Woodland Cemetery. Stockholm is the political, cultural and economic center of Sweden. 55% of the population lives in Sweden's cities, and 15% of Sweden's residents were not born in Sweden. Sweden's biggest cities, besides Stockholm, are: Gothenburg (540,000 inhabitants) and Malmö (300,000). More famous university cities are Uppsala and Lund. The official language in Sweden is Swedish, and the national minority languages are; Finnish, Serbian, Arabic, Spanish and German.

Sweden is a parliamentary democracy with a multi-party system, left and right oriented. The head of state is King Carl Gustaf XVI, since 1973. The king has no political power, but represents the country and performs ceremonial duties. Sweden is a member of the European Union, but has its own currency, the Swedish krona. Several religions are represented in Sweden: Catholic, Orthodox, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. Culture is developed to perfection in Sweden. Swedes are very inventive, hardworking and friendly people. They have the highest standard of living in the world and live the longest. Nobel Prizes have been awarded in Sweden since 1901.

A very world-famous company in Sweden is IKEA, founded in 1943. The first ice hotel was built in Sweden. Popular sports in Sweden are: hockey, football, handball, golf, gymnastics, tennis, athletics, skiing and cross country. The Swedish group ABA is very famous. The traditional dish of the Swedes is meatballs with lingonberry berry dressing. In Stockholm during the second half of June, darkness is barely noticeable, due to the midnight position of the sun and the aurora borealis. Sweden produces enough energy for its own needs, half of which comes from renewable sources.

The author visited Stockholm on his way back from an official trip to Finland, at the beginning of September 1980, immediately after the assassination of Swedish President Ulme Palma. The city of Stockholm mesmerized me with its beauty, and at the same time I was very surprised by the hairstyles of the young men on the streets, which seemed terrible to m

UZWIL - SWITZERLAND

Uzwil is an industrial town in the Canton of St. Galena, Switzerland, which is the headquarters of Buhler Brothers Ltd, without competition the world's best company for the production of devices for the milling industry.

Switzerland is located between Lake Geneva and Lake Constance, between France, Italy, Austria and Germany, with a total area of 41,285 km² and about 7.3 million inhabitants. Switzerland has had a long historical neutrality, since 1499. There are 26 cantons and each operates independently as a separate state, with its own assembly and judiciary,

but they are very small. The Swiss have four official languages: French, German, Italian and Romansh.

In Geneva are the headquarters of many world organizations: the European Headquarters of the United Nations; World Health Organization (WHO); Human Rights Commission; World Economic Forum (WEF); International Organization for Standardization (ISO); World Wide Web Library (WWW) and many more. Despite this, Switzerland is not officially a member of the United Nations. She joined only in 2002. Switzerland has the highest employment in 36 OECD countries, they have the highest income and the Swiss live the longest, after the Japanese. Switzerland has the lowest crime rate in the world. 23% of foreigners live in Switzerland.

Switzerland does not have a president, it is ruled by a seven-member council, which rotates once a year, in the position of president. The major cities of Switzerland are: Zurich (342,000 inhabitants); Geneva (184,000); Basel (165,000); Bern (122,000); Lausanne (117,000); St. Gallen (72,000). The main administrative city is Bern. Zurich, Geneva and Lausanne have exceptional museums and galleries. Zurich is a world crossroads and a city of world business. It was declared the best city to live in in 2010 and 2012. In Switzerland, every house officially has a war shelter. The Sonnenberg tunnel simultaneously serves as an atomic shelter for 20,000 people. They have 5000 km of railways and they mostly travel by train. Swiss law provides for the demolition of all bridges, railways and roads in the event of an attack. They have about 300 facilities ready to be destroyed at any moment.

The Swiss are the best producers of watches, chocolate and cheese. The most famous companies are Rolex and Swatch, for watches, and Nestle and Lindt for chocolate. There are as many as 18 chocolate factories, which produce 172,000 tons of chocolate per year, and the Swiss consume an average of 11.3 kg of chocolate. Nestle itself imports 10% of the world's coffee and cocoa production. Switzerland has the most banks, one bank for every 1400 inhabitants, more banks than dentists' offices. Switzerland also has the most doctors (23,000), one doctor per 654 urban residents and one per 1,000 rural residents. In Switzerland, the cultivation and use of marijuana is allowed, but its sale is prohibited. About 600,000 Swiss people use marijuana.

During the years 1850 to 1914, about 400,000 inhabitants emigrated from Switzerland, who formed their own colonies in the United States of America. Swiss Jean-Henri Dunant, founder of the Red Cross, was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in 1901. In Bern, Albert Einstein first used the formula E=m x c² in his Theory of Relativity. His wife, our compatriot, Mileva Marić, is certainly equally deserving of that theory. Charlie Chaplin lived in Switzerland for the last 25 years, where he died and was buried.

Switzerland is a leading country in tourism. It has about 1,500 lakes, and its mountain landscapes are phenomenally beautiful and equipped for many winter sports. Swiss villages, mountains, lakes and glaciers are the true jewels of this country. The highest peak in Switzerland is Dufour (4,633 m). Next is the Matterhorn (4,478 m), a true Alpine icon. The Great Aletsch Glacier is under the protection of UNESCO as a world heritage. Interlaken, between lakes Tnun and Brienz, is the most popular summer resort. Lucerne is a tourist destination, on the lake, and under the mountains, with wonderful parks and fountains. Music festivals are held there. Lake Geneva, the largest European lake, on the French-Swiss border, is one of the most popular destinations for many tourists. Opera and theater are popular in the City of Geneva. And St. Moritz is the most beautiful mountain destination, and at the same time the oldest resort, since 1864. Lake Lugano and Ticino, on the Swiss-Italian border, has a Mediterranean climate, where figs and pomegranates bloom while the mountain peaks are still covered in snow. The Indian film company Bollywood shoots almost 800 films in Switzerland every year. In Switzerland, the Dalai Lama owns a vineyard of only three vines, on an area of 1.67 m². The Olympic Games were held twice in Switzerland (1928 and 1948). In addition to winter sports, tennis is very popular in Switzerland.

At the end of April and beginning of May 1980, the author was a guest of the Swiss company Buhler Brothers Ltd in Uzwil, as part of the 240 t/24 h corn mill project, with Svetozar Prekogačić, with whom they searched for Mileva Marić's grave and spent May Day at Lake Geneva. Later, he visited Switzerland several times and stayed in Zurich each time.

FINLAND – THE LAND OF THE AURORA LIGHTS

Finland is a country of numerous lakes, clean forests, midnight sun and aurora borealis. A country with a size of 338,440 km², where 5.5 million inhabitants live, a hardworking people, who welcomes all well-wishers of the world. Finland has 187,888 lakes over 500 m² in size and 179,584 islands. It gained its independence on December 6, 1917. Until then, it was under Sweden for 600 years and Russia for 108 years. The capital is Helsinki, with 1.4 million inhabitants, proud of the quality of life in their country. They have a high level of education and a health care system that covers all their citizens, the costs of which are borne by the national insurance system.

According to the UNICEF indicators, they especially have a high level of academic education in mathematics and scientific disciplines. By religion, the majority of Finns are Lutheran (73.8%), with only about 1.1% Orthodox. They are mostly employed in service departments (65%), and only about 31% in production. The Finnish language Soumi does not belong to the group of Indo-European languages, together with Estonian and Hungarian. Finland is the least corrupt country and the safest country to visit and live. The fines for traffic violations are specific to the country, which are charged depending on the personal income of the perpetrators. There are no public telephones in Finland anymore, everyone has their own mobile (cellular) phone, and the Finnish company Nokia is the world's largest phone manufacturer. Finns are the biggest consumers of coffee (12 kg per person, per year). Finns are famous for their saunas, they have about 2.2 million of them. After leaving the sauna, they bathe in ice water. They are also known for their sporting achievements, so far they have won 302 Olympic medals at the summer games, of which 101 are gold and about 150 medals at the winter games.

Finland is a republic of parliamentary democracy, with 200 members of parliament, who are elected for four-year terms. The head of state is the President, who is elected for 6 years, maximum twice. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, and of the European Union since 1995. In economic terms, it belongs to the very top of the world's developed countries. The industrial ones are more developed: metal, shipbuilding, paper industry, electronics, energy, textile and grain alcohol industry. In the domain of the production of grain alcohol, of the best quality in the world, are the scientific and research company Alco, with production facilities Rajamaki and Koskenkorwa and the factory for the production of process equipment Rosenlew.

Finland is a country of highly developed tourism, which is visited by nearly 3 million tourists from all over the world every year. They are especially impressed by the Finnish lakes and mountain houses in the north, where everyone is welcome, only on the condition that they leave everything behind as full as they found it. In winter, cross country and alpine skiing are very attractive. Finland is the land of the midnight sun. During the months of June and July the sun never sets, and in winter it never rises. Many ski centers are located north above the Arctic Circle, where the most beautiful Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights are in Rovaniemi. Many tourists enjoy sledding with reindeer. Winters in Finland are quite cold, the lowest recorded temperature is -40.7°S, while summers are hot, even up to over 30°S. Sunsets in Finland are unforgettable, along the sea coast where the waves disperse into millions of droplets, through which light rays refract in the form of rainbow colors. That ambience remains in lifelong unforgettable memories.

The author officially stayed in Finland from 1980 to 1982 four times, collaborating in the grain alcohol project, during which he worked in Helsinki and Pori, with visits to the companies: Alco, Rajamaki and Koskenkorwa. He proudly points out that Finnish experts recognized him for the savings in the project, which brought savings of 6 million Finnish marks (1 million US $) to his company in Vrbas.

CLEVELAND - OHIO, USA

Cleveland (Cleveland) is a city with about 500,000 to 600,000 inhabitants, in the wider composition of the city of 2.9 million, located on the south-eastern shore of Lake Erie. The city covers an area of 3,613 km². The ethnic composition of the population is 49% white, 47% black and 3% other. By origin, 21.7% are of Spanish origin, 12.5% are Irish, 9.1% English, 7.1% Italian, 6.1% Polish, 1.6% Yugoslav, etc. About 60 languages are spoken in Cleveland. Over 40% of the population are Catholics. Cleveland is an industrial city, with over 95 companies. Among the more significant ones are Ford Motor Company, Ibec Anderson and LTV Steel Company.

Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, is mentioned among the more famous historical figures of the city of Cleveland. Basketball is popular in Cleveland today.

The city of Cleveland itself does not have many landmarks of world importance, but it has a beautiful environment, beautiful parks, Botanical Gardens, Museums of art and history. Great Lakes Science Center and West Side Market are interesting in Cleveland. In the immediate vicinity is the Cuyahoga Valley, suitable for recreation. The Ohio River flows through the city, and there are beautiful waterfalls in the area, as well as a park where giraffes, zebras and rhinos roam freely. In the immediate vicinity is Amish Country, where farmers live a simple life and produce healthy food. Lake Erie is known as a lake without waves, with very beautiful sunsets.

The author stayed in Cleveland twice, the first time in 1981, when he led a group of businessmen from Serbia, and the second time in 1982, when he led experts from Svetozarevo. Both times they visited the company Ibec Anderson, which produced good extruders for the food industry.

It wii be continued

SHARE THIS PAGE ON: