There seem to be lots of Geckos on the Web, probably for quite different reasons (you can find out mine below). Even here at GeoCities there are more than a dozen people using some kind of "gecko" in their name - that's why I'm only #2.
In the beginning, the Universe was created. Some 15 billion years later, on a cool December evening, 1966, I was born in Erlangen, a city in northern Bavaria, Germany. Erlangen is generally a nice place to live in ... a bit too quiet and comfortable, perhaps. You will rarely find it in the news, as even catastrophes tend to avoid it. At least in Germany four things are commonly associated with Erlangen:
Its University. The Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), was founded in 1743 and hosts more than 20.000 students today, i.e. about one-fifth of the inhabitants of Erlangen are students. The FAU of Erlangen is famous for its medical departments and for some well-known scientists that worked there, among them Georg Simon Ohm (U = R*I, you remember?).
The Siemens company. After world war II, Siemens moved important parts of its company from Berlin to Erlangen. Today about 25.000 people work for Siemens in Erlangen, so you might well say without Siemens and the FAU Erlangen would be - virtually nothing.
Bicycles. Erlangen has advanced the use of bicycles for more than 20 years now and bikes are as typical for Erlangen as they are for Amsterdam, for example. There is rarely another town in Germany that is similarly suited for bikes.
The song Wissenswertes über Erlangen (something like "Facts to know about Erlangen"). A long time back, early in the 80's, I think, some obscure German band never to be heard of again wrote a song called Wissenswertes über Erlangen. It was absolute nonsense, that had nothing whatsoever to do with Erlangen! Yet, you keep meeting people that say: "Oh, Erlangen! There was that song, wasn't it? Went like ... ". Let's be silent about it.
Of course, Erlangen is also known because of its "Bergkirchweih". Some special pages around the corner deal with that fine fair in detail (also available in German, by the way).
An aerial view of Erlangen. In the center you can see the Castle with its park.
I lived and prospered and tried to grow up in Erlangen for about 20 years, until it came to leaving school. Despite of Erlangen's major university, I could not find there what I had in mind: Geoecology (kind of Environmental Sciences, dealing with ecosystems and man's interference with them). So I moved to Bayreuth, some 80 km to the northwest, a city mainly known for its "Festspielhaus", where operas of only one composer a performed (each year in July and August), Richard Wagner.
The University of Bayreuth is quite new, founded only some 20 years ago, and can best be described in one word: cute. Nevertheless, I had a fine time there. The students of Geoecology, by the way, call themselves "Geckos", just because its sounds similar, but much better than "Geoökologen". And that's my only association with geckos - never had one of own, and I don't know of any former life when a was one myself. I hope that's not too disappointing for you gecko-fans out there.
After getting my Master of Science, I went to Karlsruhe to work at the Fridericiana Technical University, at the Institute for Hydromechanics. Karlsruhe is even more a nice place than Erlangen, as it is a major city that offers a wide range of possibilities in the fields of culture, sports, sciences and tourism. Yet it is still small enough to feel comfortable.
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At the moment I'm (still) working hard on my doctoral thesis. I'm (still) not married and have no children.
To be extended ...
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