title: Curtain (novel)

text: Christie wrote the novel in the early 1940s, during World War II. Partly fearing for her own survival, and wanting to have a fitting end to Poirot's series of novels, Christie had the novel locked away in a bank vault for over thirty years. The final Poirot novel that Christie wrote, "Elephants Can Remember", was published in 1972, followed by Christie's last novel, "Postern of Fate". Christie authorised "Curtain"s removal from the vault and subsequent publication. It was the last of her books to be published during her lifetime.


title: Curtain (novel)

text: Due to its early date of composition, "Curtain" makes no mention of Poirot's later cases, in novels published after World War II. Details are only very occasionally anachronistic (such as the mentions of hanging, which had been abolished in Great Britain in 1965). Christie could not know how long she would live nor how popular Poirot would remain. See Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple for further discussion of her views of Poirot. The fifth paragraph in "Curtain" ("Wounded in the war that for me would always be the war—the war that was wiped out now by a second and more desperate war" says Hastings) marks the passing of time for Hastings, and the long friendship of the two men, as well as making a link to the first Poirot novel.


title: Curtain (novel)

text: Though publication was in 1975, and the novel was written over 30 years earlier, the exact time period of the story is unknown, beyond it being summertime. The age of Hastings' daughter puts the story after the Second World War, as does the complete absence of wartime conditions and restrictions (e.g., no mention of rationing or bombing in London), but nothing sets a specific post-war year. The bit of arithmetic to show the story is set post-war starts from the marriage of Arthur Hastings and Dulcie (Cinderella) Duveen at the end of "The Murder on the Links" (published in 1923), and some years needed for the births of their four children, of whom Judith, age 21, appears to be the youngest. The story was not rewritten to add more specific markers of the years post Second World War, such as car models, clothing styles, or world events. The story clearly ends Poirot's career, as he dies in the novel, using his death for a resolution he had never before considered for a murderer: to become one himself. Poirot's death was announced in "The New York Times", a rare honour for a fictional character.


title: Curtain (novel)

text: The novel was adapted in 2013 starring David Suchet as Poirot. It was the final episode of the final series of "Agatha Christie's Poirot", and the first of the final series to be filmed. Hugh Fraser again returned to the role of Hastings, following a ten-year absence; stars such as Alice Orr-Ewing (Judith Hastings), Helen Baxendale (Elizabeth Cole), Anne Reid (Daisy Luttrell), Matthew McNulty (Major Allerton), Shaun Dingwall (Dr Franklin), Aidan McArdle (Stephen Norton) and Philip Glenister (Sir William Boyd-Carrington) were among the other cast. The programme was aired in Britain on 13 November 2013, and later on Acorn TV on 25 August 2014. The adaptation mentions only the Litchfield, Sharples, and Etherington murders. Margaret Litchfield is hanged during the opening credits, whereas in the novel she dies in an asylum. The killer is not labelled 'X' as in the novel, the purpose of the label being achieved in other ways. Otherwise, the adaptation remains extremely faithful to the novel. With the exception of "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", set in the First World War, the rest of the ITV Poirot series are set in the 1930s, regardless of when the novels were written, or the contemporary features in each of the novels; this last story sets the year as 1949.


title: Curtain (novel)

text: On 19 December 2013, Barnaby Walter of "The Edge" listed the adaptation and Poirot's death scene at number 2 on the list of the Best TV Drama Moments of 2013. In 2015, "Curtain" was nominated for Outstanding Television Movie for its 67th Emmy Awards, but eventually lost to "Bessie".


title: Curtain (novel)

text: In the US the novel was serialised in "Ladies Home Journal" in two abridged instalments from July (Volume XCII, Number 7) to August 1975 (Volume XCII, Number 8) with an illustration by Mark English.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: The Day the Clown Cried is an unfinished and unreleased 1972 Swedish-French drama film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It is based on an original screenplay by Joan O'Brien and Charles Denton, from a story idea by O'Brien, with additional material from Lewis. The film was met with controversy regarding its premise and content, which features a circus clown who is imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Lewis repeatedly insisted that "The Day the Clown Cried" would never be released, but later donated an incomplete copy of the film to the Library of Congress in 2015 under the stipulation that it was not to be screened before June 2024. According to Lewis's son, there is no complete negative of the film, and outstanding copyright issues have prevented its release.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Helmut Doork is a washed-up German circus clown during the beginning of World War II and the Holocaust. Although he was once a famous performer who toured North America and Europe with the Ringling Brothers, Doork is now past his prime and receives little respect. After Doork causes an accident during a show, the head clown convinces the circus owner to demote Doork. Upon returning home, Doork confides his problems to his wife Ada, and she encourages him to stand up for himself. After going back to the circus, Helmut overhears the circus owner agreeing to fire him after the head clown issues an ultimatum. A distraught Helmut is arrested later by the Gestapo and the Schutzstaffel for ranting about Germany and drunkenly mocking Adolf Hitler in a bar. Following an interrogation at the Gestapo headquarters, he is imprisoned in a Nazi camp for political prisoners. For the next three to four years, he remains there while hoping for a trial and a chance to plead his case.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: He tries to maintain his status among the other inmates by bragging about what a famous performer he once was. His only friend in prison is a good-hearted German named Johann Keltner, whose reason for being interned is never fully revealed but is implied to be his outspoken opposition to the Nazis. The camp receives a large group of Jewish prisoners, including several children. The other prisoners goad Doork into performing for them, but he does not realize that he actually is not very good. The other prisoners beat him up and leave him in the courtyard to sulk about his predicament. He sees a group of Jewish children laughing at him from the other side of the camp, where the Jewish prisoners are being kept away from everyone else. Delighted to be appreciated again, Helmut performs for them and gains an audience for a while, until the new prison commandant orders that he stop.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Helmut learns that fraternizing with Jewish prisoners is strictly forbidden. Unable to leave the children in a state of unhappiness, he continues to perform for them. The SS guards break up one of his performances; they knock him unconscious and warn the children away from the barbed-wire fence. Horrified, Keltner fights off one of the guards, but he is quickly cornered and beaten to death. Doork is placed in solitary confinement. Seeing a use for him, the commandant assigns him to help load Jewish children on trains leading out of the internment camp, with the promise his case will be reviewed. By a twist of fate, he ends up accidentally accompanying the children on a boxcar train to Auschwitz, and he is eventually used, in Pied Piper fashion, to help lead the Jewish children to their deaths in the gas chamber.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Knowing the fear the children will feel, he begs to be allowed to spend the last few moments with them. Leading them to the "showers", he becomes increasingly dependent on a miracle, but there is none. He is so filled with remorse that he remains with them, taking a young girl's hand and walks with them into the chamber.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: In 1971, while performing at the Olympia Theatre, Lewis met with producer Nat Wachsberger, who offered him the chance to star in and direct the film with complete financial backing from his production company and Europa Studios. Before he had been given the offer, several stars such as Bobby Darin, Milton Berle, and Dick Van Dyke were also approached, but declined. Lewis was initially reluctant to take the role, especially after reading the script, stating in his autobiography "Jerry Lewis in Person", "The thought of playing Helmut still scared the hell out of me". In addition, he felt that he was wrong for the part, due to the strong subject matter. He asked Wachsberger:


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: After re-reading Joan O'Brien and Charles Denton's first draft, Lewis felt that he would be doing something worthwhile in portraying the horrors of the Holocaust. He signed on to the project, but, in order to make it, he first had to arrange to perform at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for a month, in order to fulfill the terms of his contract with the hotel. In February 1972, he toured the remains of Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps and shot some exterior views of buildings in Paris for the film, all the while reworking the script. He lost thirty-five pounds in six weeks by eating nothing but grapefruit.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Principal photography began in Sweden during April 1972, but the shoot was beset by numerous problems. Film equipment was either lost or delivered late, and the necessary money was nowhere in sight. Lewis was repeatedly assured that money was forthcoming by Wachsberger, who did not appear at all on set.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Wachsberger not only ran out of money before completing the film, but his option to produce the film expired before filming began. He had paid O'Brien the initial $5,000 fee, but failed to send her the additional $50,000 due her prior to production. Lewis eventually ended up paying production costs with $2,000,000 of his own money to finish shooting the film, but the parties involved in its production were never able to come to terms that would allow the film to be released. O'Brien was shown a rough cut of the film in an attempt to acquire the necessary rights to release the film, but after viewing the product decided that it was not fit for release and, therefore, did not enter into an agreement with the producers or Lewis for the unauthorized, derivative work. After shooting wrapped, Lewis announced to the press that Wachsberger had failed to make good on his financial obligations or even commit to producing. Wachsberger retaliated by threatening to file a lawsuit of breach of contract and stated that he had enough to finish and release the film without Lewis. Wanting to ensure the film would not be lost, Lewis took a rough cut of the film, while the studio retained the entire film negative. On February 23, 1973, Lewis appeared as guest on "The Dick Cavett Show", where he stated that the film would complete editing in six to seven weeks, that it had been invited to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and that it would be released in America after that. The film was never officially released and remains un-releasable due to the failure to secure the underlying rights from O'Brien.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: The film became a source of legend almost immediately after its production. In May 1992, an article in "Spy" magazine quoted comedian and actor Harry Shearer, who saw a rough cut of the film in 1979:


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Shearer, who did not know Lewis during the latter's lifetime, gave his opinion why Lewis would make the film: he believed "the Academy can't ignore this". When asked to sum up the experience of the film overall, he responded by saying that the closest he could come was like "if you flew down to Tijuana and suddenly saw a painting on black velvet of Auschwitz. You'd just think 'My God, wait a minute!' It's not funny, and it's not good, and somebody's trying too hard in the wrong direction to convey this strongly-held feeling."


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: The article quoted Joan O'Brien as saying the rough cut she saw was a "disaster". It also says she and the original script's co-author, Charles Denton, will never allow the film to be released, in part due to changes in the script made by Lewis that made the clown more sympathetic and Emmett Kelly-like. In the original script, the protagonist was an arrogant, self-centered clown named Karl Schmidt, who was "a real bastard", according to O'Brien. Her script reportedly had him trying to use his wife, who knew the ringmaster, to get him a better gig, and he apparently informed on nearly everyone he knew after being interrogated for mocking Hitler. She stated that the original draft was about the redemption of a selfish man, but that Lewis practically changed the entire story into a Chaplinesque dark comedy "à la" "The Great Dictator".


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Had producer Wachsberger retained rights to the material, Lewis would have had the option to adapt the screenplay, reshaping the protagonist. Without the rights, he was forced to seek author approval.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: From 1949 to 1972, Lewis was known primarily for slapstick and sight gag comedy. Although he stated the film was a drama, there was a perception he would make irreverent humor from serious and horrific events. This production, ten years before his dramatic role in "The King of Comedy", caused some to believe he was unsuited to the role. However, that did not prevent filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard from saying in an interview with Dick Cavett, "it is a great idea", "a beautiful idea", and that Lewis "should be supported" in his efforts.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: In the June 2001 "Spin" article "Always Leave 'Em Laughing", author Bowman Hastie writes of "Life Is Beautiful" and "Jakob the Liar", similar themed Holocaust films released twenty-plus years after Lewis' "The Day the Clown Cried", "All three movies shamelessly use the Holocaust — and the impending death of children — as a vehicle for the star's most base, maudlin ideas about his own beneficent selflessness and humanity. But only Lewis has been vilified for it."


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: In the same article, comedian Janeane Garofalo provided a hint to another issue that has dogged Lewis's production: ridicule. An often polarizing figure, Lewis had detractors. Garofalo said, "Lewis's public criticism of younger comics ... only fuels "Clown" obsessives." Public readings of the script at comedy venues, halted by a cease and desist order (not by Lewis), provided opportunities to mock, as well as four decades of jokes and relentless interrogation of Lewis, shaped a perverse perception of the film.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: In 2006, writer and editor Lawrence Levi wrote of his interview with Michael Barclay, who in 1991 was planning a new production of "Clown", "The "Clown" screenplay was brilliant ... most of what has been written about the film is incorrect or unfair; he was particularly incensed by the comments of Harry Shearer (quoted in "Spy" 1992)."


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: On July 18, 2012, French director Xavier Giannoli stated on the France Inter film show "Pendant les travaux, le cinéma reste ouvert" that he had managed to track down a 75-minute copy of the film and that he had shown it to a number of people, among whom was noted French film critic Jean-Michel Frodon. In 2013, Frodon published a text dedicated to the film titled "Jerry Made his Day" in the anthology "The Last Laugh. Strange Humors of Cinema" edited by Murray Pomerance. The French version of the same text, titled "Le Jour de Jerry, et la nuit", was later published in the film journal "Trafic".


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: In 2017, shortly after Lewis's death, Bruce Handy's article in "Vanity Fair", "The French Critic Who Saw Jerry Lewis's Infamous Holocaust Movie and Loved It", brought to light a previously unpublished interview with Jean-Michel Frodon. The French critic claimed to have seen a copy of the film in 2004 or 2005 at the invitation of director Xavier Giannoli who owned a bootleg copy. Frodon did not know how Giannoli obtained his copy, and Giannoli declined Handy's request for comment. Frodon reported that while the copy he watched was obviously a rough preliminary edit, it generally followed the published script and did not seem to be missing any major story elements. His experience viewing the film is as follows,


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Frodon further denies there is any sentimentality in the film, calling it "very meaningful" and stating Lewis is "not indulging himself, he is self-caricaturing. He is playing a very unsympathetic character. He's selfish and totally stupid. ... The film finds what I consider a cinematic answer to some real, serious issues, using a kind of stylized setting, both in the costumes and the sets. It's not pretending to be realistic. Instead, it has a very obvious fairy-tale feeling—not fairy tale, but tale. ... There are details like in the Grimm Brothers." and "For me, one of the many elements that draw such negative reaction to the film in the U.S. is that this performance is very far from what is expected from him." It was one of the earliest mainstream films to deal with the Holocaust and to directly depict the Nazi concentration camps.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Due to the film's mystery and mythology, Lewis faced decades of questions by reporters. Lewis offered the opinion that it was all bad, an artistic failure because "I lost the magic". Quoted in "Entertainment Weekly": "You will never see it. No one will ever see it, because I am embarrassed at the poor work." In 2001, an 'inquisitive heckler' mentioned the film to Lewis during one of Lewis's motivational speeches, indicating that the man had heard the film might be eventually released. Lewis replied to this comment with "None of your goddamn business!" The same year, Lewis responded to a reporter's faxed request for information about the movie by calling and telling him: "As far as discussing [the movie], forget it! If you want to see any of it, forget it!" On January 12, 2013, Lewis appeared at a Cinefamily Q&A event at the Los Angeles Silent Movie Theatre. He was asked by actor Bill Allen, "Are we ever gonna get to see "The Day the Clown Cried"?" Lewis replied in the negative, and explained the reason the movie would never be released was because "in terms of that film I was embarrassed. I was ashamed of the work, and I was grateful that I had the power to contain it all, and never let anyone see it. It was bad, bad, bad." He then jokingly added, "But I'll tell you how it ends." At Cannes while promoting "Max Rose", Lewis was asked about "The Day the Clown Cried" and said, "It was bad work. You'll never see it and neither will anyone else."


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: In October 2012, Australian-based film production company Traces Films recorded one of the most candid and emotional interviews with Jerry Lewis about "The Day the Clown Cried". He states in his own words his motivation for taking on the project and his feelings during filmmaking. Shearer's conjectures aside, Lewis states his motivation for the project as such,


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: He further went on to say regarding the emotional toll and difficulty of the subject matter, "I had a talk with myself in the mirror and I said 'Understand one day you'll feel great and the next day you'll want to throw up because reading it disgusts you but playing it is a double disgust'." He said to "The New York Times", "There's something about the risk, the courage that it takes to face the risk. ... I'm not going to get greatness unless I have to go at it with fear and uncertainty."


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: In a 2013 interview with Lewis, Chris Nashawaty of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote, 'When asked about all the speculation surrounding the film, he (Lewis) said, "I think it's like bad advertising.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Still, Lewis seemed to relish being the keeper of one of Hollywood's biggest mysteries. "The more I hear about it, the more I enjoy it."


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: According to Richard Brody of "The New Yorker", the film's grim portrayal of the holocaust "was, at the very least, unusual and original".


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: In the 2016 documentary "The Last Laugh", which explored the limits of humor regarding the Holocaust, comedian David Cross reflected Lewis was "too ahead of his time. If he had waited 25 years, then he'd be bounding over those seats grabbing his Oscar". Similarly Amy Wallace in "GQ Magazine" wrote: "He was mercilessly criticized for attempting to mix comedy with the ultimate tragedy. However, in 1999, when Roberto Benigni's "Life Is Beautiful" won three Oscars for a similar story line, many noted that Lewis had tried it first."


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: After Lewis's death in August 2017, Richard Brody of "The New Yorker" wrote, "I don't know whether the film is as bad as Lewis himself has said that it is. The point is that, in the early 1970s, when the very term "the Holocaust" was hardly known and when the extermination of six million Jews by Nazi Germany was a little-discussed phenomenon, at a time before Claude Lanzmann made "Shoah", Lewis took it on. He may have been naïve to do so with a twist of comedy, he may have been naïve to do so with such uncompromisingly direct and untroubled cinematic representation—but he also went where other directors didn't dare to go, taking on the horrific core of modern history and confronting its horrors. What childhood can there be with such knowledge, and what comedy? The moral complicity, the self-scourging accusation of the role of the clown in amusing children en route to their destruction, is itself as furious a challenge to himself, and to the entertainment of the time, as any by the most severe critic of media."


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Lewis was at the forefront of what became a Hollywood genre, films exploring the events and personal experiences of the Holocaust. He was doing so at a time of virtually no Holocaust scholarship in academia, minimal recognition of the loss of European Yiddish culture, with limited public documentation, and only the initial stirrings of survivor testimonies.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: On April 9, 2012, Flemish public service broadcaster VRT re-released—on its cultural website Cobra.be—a film piece its predecessor BRT had aired 40 years earlier to the day on the film show "Première-Magazine". It includes behind-the-scenes footage shot in a Paris circus and some takes with sound from the film. On February 3, 2016, German public TV ARD aired a 2-hour documentary called "Der Clown". German film maker Eric Friedler shows interviews, a 31-minute version of original footage and re-staged scenes from the original scripts with some Swedish actors who participated in Lewis's movie. Finally, the film shows the first full interview with Lewis about his work after 43 years. The documentary was later put on DVD and shown theatrically at the Deutsches Filminstitute. In June 2016, a 31-minute version from "Der Clown" was uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo by editor Kay Brown, and dubbed into German with English subtitles, marking the first time a version of "The Day the Clown Cried" was made available to the general public. It has since been removed.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Fans and critics alike hope for the film's eventual release. The Jerry Lewis official museum website (archived) states: "The film has been tied up in litigation ever since, and all of the parties involved have never been able to reach an agreeable settlement. Jerry hopes to someday complete the film, which remains to this day a significant expression of cinematic art, suspended in the abyss of international litigation".


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: In June 2018, at a public auction of items from the Lewis estate, were an original annotated script, polaroids of exteriors, and an original costume.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: In a January 2019 interview with World Over, Lewis's son Chris stated there is no complete negative of the film and that outstanding copyright issues prevented a release.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Jim Wright revealed to the press his plan to produce a new version of "The Day the Clown Cried", and he mentioned he had Richard Burton in mind for the title role. Despite major buzz about the project, nothing concrete came out of the planning stages. By 1991, producer Michael Barclay announced that he and Tex Rudloff (apparently with the help of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff) were preparing a joint production of "Clown" with the Russian film studio Lenfilm. Robin Williams had allegedly been offered the leading role and given a copy of the script. Jeremy Kagan, who made "The Chosen" (1981), reportedly was slated to direct the film, but once again the idea was dropped before it was officially greenlit. In 1994, William Hurt was considered to play the role, but nothing came to fruition.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: Discussion of the film in the mainstream press was rekindled in the late 1990s due to the release of two films with similar themes, "Life Is Beautiful" (1997) and the remake of "Jakob the Liar" (1999). The latter starred Robin Williams, whose name had previously been attached to the planned remake. The film "Adam Resurrected" (2009), adapted from Yoram Kaniuk's novel of the same name published in 1968, has also drawn comparisons.


title: The Day the Clown Cried

text: On August 5, 2015, the "Los Angeles Times" reported that Lewis had donated a copy of the film to the Library of Congress, under the stipulation that it not be screened before June 2024. The Library of Congress intends to eventually screen it at their Audio Visual Conservation campus in Culpeper, Virginia. Rob Stone, curator of the Library of Congress, has stated that they will not be able to loan the film to other theaters or museums without permission from Lewis' estate. Stone has also stated that they do not have any intent to release the film in any form of home media. In a December 2018 article for "The New York Times", Stone stated the LOC does not have a complete print of the film.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: Viburnum opulus, the guelder-rose or guelder rose () is a species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae (formerly Caprifoliaceae) native to Europe, northern Africa and central Asia.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: "Viburnum opulus" is a deciduous shrub growing to tall. The leaves are opposite, three-lobed, long and broad, with a rounded base and coarsely serrated margins; they are superficially similar to the leaves of some maples, most easily distinguished by their somewhat wrinkled surface with impressed leaf venation. The leaf buds are green, with valvate bud scales.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: The hermaphrodite flowers are white, produced in corymbs in diameter at the top of the stems; each corymb comprises a ring of outer sterile flowers 1.5–2 cm in diameter with conspicuous petals, surrounding a center of small (5 mm), fertile flowers; the flowers are produced in early summer, and pollinated by insects. The fruit is a globose bright red drupe 7–10 mm diameter, containing a single seed. The seeds are dispersed by birds.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: The common name 'guelder rose' relates to the Dutch province of Gelderland, where a popular cultivar, the snowball tree, supposedly originated. Other common names include water elder, cramp bark, snowball tree, common snowball, and European cranberrybush, though this plant is not closely related to the cranberry. Some botanists also include the North American species "Viburnum trilobum" as "V. opulus" var. "americanum" Ait., or as "V. opulus" subsp. "trilobum" (Marshall) Clausen.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: "Viburnum opulus" is a member of the "Viburnum" genus which contains 160 to 170 species. It is classified in the subsection Opulus, which usually contains 5 species. Phylogenetic analyses suggest the following relationship between those species:


title: Viburnum opulus

text: "Viburnum opulus" is grown as an ornamental plant for its flowers and berries, growing best on moist, moderately alkaline soils, though tolerating most soil types well. Several cultivars have been selected, including 'Roseum', in which all the flowers are only of the larger sterile type, with globular flower heads.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: The shrub is also cultivated as a component of hedgerows, cover plantings, and as part of other naturalistic plantings in its native regions.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: The cultivars 'Notcutt’s Variety', 'Roseum' and the yellow-fruited 'Xanthocarpum' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: The fruit is edible in small quantities, with a very acidic taste; it can be used to make jelly. It is however mildly toxic, and may cause vomiting or diarrhea if eaten in large amounts.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: The term 'cramp bark' is related to the bark's ability to reduce smooth muscle tightness. Relieving this type of muscle tightness is most often associated with relieving menstrual (period) cramps. However, the bark can also be used during pregnancy for cramps or pain and general muscle cramping.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: Mentions of the viburnum can be found throughout Ukrainian folklore such as songs, decorative art, Ukrainian embroidery, and poetry. Its symbolic roots can be traced to the Slavic paganism of millennia ago. According to a legend, "kalyna" was associated with the birth of the Universe, the so-called "Fire Trinity": the Sun, the Moon, and the Star. Its berries symbolize one's home and native land, blood, and family roots. Kalyna is often depicted on Ukrainian embroidery: ritual cloths and shirts. In Slavic paganism kalyna also represents the beauty of a young lady, which rhymes well in the Ukrainian language: "ka-ly-na – div-chy-na." The song "Chervona Kalyna" was the anthem of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army; along with these national liberating movements in 20th century guelder rose was established as a symbol of riflemen honor, and state independence.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: "Viburnum opulus" ("kalina") is also one of the national symbols of Russia. In Russia the Viburnum fruit is called "kalina" ("калина)" and is considered a national symbol. "Kalina" derived in Russian language from "kalit"' or "raskalyat'," which means "to make red-hot". The red fiery color of the berries represents beauty in Russian culture and together with sweet raspberries it symbolises the passionate love of a beautiful maiden, since berries were always an erotic symbol in Russia. The bitter side of the red fruit also symbolizes love separation in Russian folk culture. The name of the Russian song "Kalinka" is a diminutive of "Kalina." "Viburnum opulus" is also an important symbol of the Russian national ornamental wood painting handicraft style called Khokhloma.


title: Viburnum opulus

text: In Romanian, which has been influenced by East Slavic culture, "Viburnum opulus" is called "călin". Călin is also used as both a given name and a surname.


title: MetLife Building

text: The MetLife Building (also 200 Park Avenue and formerly the Pan Am Building) is a skyscraper at Park Avenue and 45th Street, north of Grand Central Terminal, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed in the International style by Richard Roth, Walter Gropius, and Pietro Belluschi and completed in 1962, the MetLife Building is tall with 59 stories. It was advertised as the world's largest commercial office space by square footage at its opening, with of usable office space. , the MetLife Building remains one of the 100 tallest buildings in the United States.


title: MetLife Building

text: The MetLife Building contains an elongated octagonal massing with the longer axis perpendicular to Park Avenue. The building sits atop two levels of railroad tracks leading into Grand Central Terminal. The facade is one of the first precast concrete exterior walls in a building in New York City. In the lobby is a pedestrian passage to Grand Central's Main Concourse, a lobby with artwork, and a parking garage at the building's base. The roof also contained a heliport that briefly operated during the 1960s and 1970s. The MetLife Building's design has been widely criticized since it was proposed, largely due to its location next to Grand Central Terminal.


title: MetLife Building

text: Proposals for a skyscraper to replace Grand Central Terminal were announced in 1954 to raise money for the New York Central Railroad and New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, the financially struggling railroads that operated the terminal. Subsequently, plans were announced for what later became the MetLife Building, to be built behind the terminal rather than in place of it. Work on the project, initially known as Grand Central City, started in 1959 and the building was formally opened on March 7, 1963. At its opening, the building was named for Pan American World Airways, for which it served as headquarters. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) bought the Pan Am Building in 1981 and used it as their headquarters before selling the building in 2005. The MetLife Building has been renovated several times in its history, including in the mid-1980s, early 2000s, and late 2010s.


title: MetLife Building

text: The MetLife Building is at 200 Park Avenue, between the two roadways of the Park Avenue Viaduct to the west and east, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building faces the Helmsley Building across 45th Street to the north and Grand Central Terminal to the south. Other nearby buildings include the Yale Club of New York City clubhouse to the west, across Vanderbilt Avenue; The Roosevelt Hotel to the northwest, across Vanderbilt Avenue and 45th Street; 450 Lexington Avenue to the east; and the Graybar Building to the southwest. The building is assigned its own ZIP Code, 10166; it was one of 41 buildings in Manhattan that had their own ZIP Codes .


title: MetLife Building

text: In 1871, the New York Central Railroad built the Grand Central Depot, a ground-level depot at the intersection of Park Avenue and 42nd Street; it was succeeded in 1900 by Grand Central Station, also at ground level. The completion of Grand Central Terminal in 1913 resulted in the rapid development of the areas around Grand Central, which became known as Terminal City. The Grand Central Terminal complex included a six-story building for baggage handling just north of the main station building, on what is now the site of the MetLife Building. The baggage handling building was converted to an office building late in its history. The surrounding stretch of Park Avenue was developed with International Style skyscrapers during the 1950s and 1960s.


title: MetLife Building

text: Designed in the International style by Richard Roth, Walter Gropius, and Pietro Belluschi, the MetLife Building was developed by Erwin S. Wolfson and completed in 1963 as the Pan Am Building. It is tall with 59 stories, containing both commercial and office space. , the MetLife Building is the 35th-tallest building in New York City and 79th-tallest in the United States.


title: MetLife Building

text: The Diesel Construction Company was the general contractor for the building; at the time of construction, Wolfson had owned that company. Numerous other engineers and contractors were involved in the building's construction, including Hideo Sasaki as site planning consultant and landscape architect; Jaros, Baum & Bolles as MEP engineers; and James Ruderman as structural engineer. From the beginning, the building was intended for large firms, with in office floor area. In total, it has of gross floor area, according to The Skyscraper Center.


title: MetLife Building

text: As designed, the massing consists of a base and an octagonal tower. Contemporary sources describe the base as measuring nine stories tall, atop which rises 50 tower stories. However, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat gives a conflicting measurement of 10 base stories and 49 tower stories. Outside the building, both on the sidewalks and above the roof of the base, were planted areas.


title: MetLife Building

text: The tower stories' floor plates are designed in an elongated octagonal lozenge, with the longer axis running parallel to 45th Street. The north and south facades are divided into three broad segments, while the west and east facades are one segment each. The building's form may have been influenced by the 1961 Zoning Resolution, a major change to New York City zoning code that was proposed just before construction started. The massing is similar to Le Corbusier's unbuilt tower in Algiers, proposed between 1938 and 1942, as well as the nearly contemporary Pirelli Tower in Milan. The architects intended for the octagonal shape and exterior curtain wall to reduce the building's perceived sense of scale.


title: MetLife Building

text: The façade of the first two stories and mezzanines is clad with granite, aluminum, marble, and stainless steel with glass windows. On Depew Place, an alley running below the eastern leg of the Park Avenue Viaduct, fifteen loading docks were constructed for trucks to conduct deliveries and loading. On the Vanderbilt Avenue side, a marquee was installed over the entrance in the 1980s. The third through seventh stories are exclusively sheathed in granite, with window inserts. The eighth and ninth floors, which are slightly set back, are clad in aluminum.


title: MetLife Building

text: The 10th through 59th stories of the MetLife Building contain one of the first precast concrete exterior walls in a building in New York City. The building includes about nine thousand light-tan precast concrete Mo-Sai panels, each of which surrounds a window measuring wide by high. The panels themselves measure wide by high and weigh . Each panel is coated with a quartz aggregate to give texture to the façade. Vertical concrete mullions project about from the facade, separating the panels on every story. Flat concrete spandrels separate the windows between stories. Though Walter Gropius had considered a precast concrete facade to be more solid than a glass curtain wall, this only made the building appear bulker. Furthermore, the appearance of concrete degraded over time; this effect could be seen in structures such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum but was more pronounced on 200 Park Avenue's façade. During the building's construction, the manufacturer of the Mo-Sai panels declared bankruptcy, forcing Diesel Construction to buy out that company to prevent delays in construction.


title: MetLife Building

text: The façade is recessed at the 21st and 46th stories, where there is mechanical space. These recesses create the impression of deep shadows. Both mechanical stories are surrounded by a colonnade of columns, which are spaced apart on centers. The precast concrete curtain wall is recessed behind the columns.


title: MetLife Building

text: 200 Park Avenue originally bore "Pan Am" displays on its north and south facades and globe logos on the east and west facades. This was swapped with neon "MetLife" displays to the north and south in 1992. These displays were changed again in 2017, being replaced with LED letters to conserve energy. The Pan Am Building was the last tall tower erected in New York City before laws were enacted preventing corporate logos and names on the tops of buildings. Modern New York City building code prohibits logos from being more than above the curb or occupying over on a blockfront. The sign replacements had been permitted because the city government considered the new signs to be an "uninterrupted continuation of a use" that was allowed before the zoning laws were changed.


title: MetLife Building

text: 200 Park Avenue was built atop two levels of railroad tracks underground, which feed directly into Grand Central Terminal. The substructure of the building uses foundational columns that extend into the track levels, descending some below street level into the underlying bedrock. The substructure includes more than 300 columns, each across and clad with of concrete. Ninety-nine columns were built specifically for the Pan Am Building; these columns were installed within several inches of existing steel members such as third rails, but had to be isolated from the other steel. The new columns weighed between . Approximately two hundred existing columns, which supported the former baggage building on the site, were reinforced. The work involved abridging the tops of many existing columns and installing horizontal beams weighing up to . A "triple decker sandwich" made of lead, asbestos, and sheet steel was installed under each level of tracks to provide insulation.


title: MetLife Building

text: The superstructure was constructed similarly to bridge spans. To fabricate the floor slabs, builders used a process called composite action, in which concrete was bonded with structural steel panels to create a stronger structure. Steel panels were fabricated, rather than concrete floors, because steel panels were lighter and could be constructed regardless of unfavorable weather. Over of steel panels are used in the floor plates, each of which contains wire and cable ducts. A standard floor slab could handle loads of . The building's steel frame weighs over in total. The roof of the building contains NOAA Weather Radio Station KWO35, a National Weather Service radio station.


title: MetLife Building

text: The initial plans for the Pan Am Building were altered in March 1961 to provide for a helipad on the east side of the roof. The helipad garnered controversy immediately after it was announced, and opponents of the plan cited noise and safety concerns. The heliport's opening required approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the city government, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Lawyers for the building's owners applied for permission to operate the heliport in August 1963, and the New York City Planning Commission confirmed in early 1964 that the owners had sought a permit for the heliport. The New York City Board of Estimate gave final approval to the heliport in January 1965, and test flights began that March, amid continued opposition to the heliport.


title: MetLife Building

text: Helicopter service started on December 22, 1965. The service was operated by New York Airways, which flew Vertol 107 helicopters from the rooftop helipad to Pan Am's terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). There was a ticket office for the heliport at the base of the building. Passengers would check in at the ticket office, then take an express elevator to the 57th floor, an escalator to the heliport lounge, then another elevator to the roof. The flight to JFK lasted an average of six minutes and twenty seconds. The New York City government renewed the heliport's operating license in 1966, despite continued opposition to the heliport. For a short period starting in March 1967, the company also offered service to Teterboro Airport. All helicopter service stopped on February 18, 1968, because of insufficient ridership, as well as disagreements over funding.


title: MetLife Building

text: Though discussions to restart helicopter service were held in 1969, approval was not given until early 1977. Service to JFK resumed that February using Sikorsky S-61s. On May 16, 1977, about one minute after an S-61L landed and its 20 passengers disembarked, the right front landing gear collapsed, causing the aircraft to topple onto its side with the rotors still turning. One of the blades detached, killing four men who were waiting to board and a fifth person at ground level; two other people were seriously injured. Helicopter service was suspended that day and never resumed. The already-controversial building received further negative attention as a result of the incident, and both New York Airways and Pan Am suffered financially in subsequent years. During its short periods of operation, the heliport was largely perceived as a nuisance and danger, but its presence was also seen as satisfying what David W. Dunlap described as "the consummate technological fantasy of airborne travel through skyscraping pinnacles".


title: MetLife Building

text: A central telephone office was installed on the 20th and 21st stories, serving 30,000 telephones within the building. The system, costing $11 million, was the first of its kind in an office building in the United States. The central office, operated by New York Telephone, eliminated the need for tenants to have individual telephone offices and equipment rooms. To avoid interfering with the subterranean railroad tracks, the telephone conduits were routed through the roof of the railroad tunnel. On the two floors where the telephone office was installed, the floor slabs were strengthened to handle loads of , and floor heights were increased to provide clearance of at least .


title: MetLife Building

text: A refrigeration plant, described at the time of construction as the world's largest such plant, was installed on the roof with three steam-powered units each weighing . The plant was placed on the roof because the building has no usable basement, as all the subterranean space is part of Grand Central Terminal. The plant could melt up to of ice each day and could use 200,000 pounds of steam every hour. Large fan rooms were placed on the mechanical stories at the 21st and 46th floors, dispersing air to the other floors, and two individual air supply systems were placed on each story. The ventilation systems could deliver every minute. The pipes and ducts had to serve all the building's floors, with an electrical system and water pressure system capable of serving all the building's stories. At ground level was a room where wastepaper could be "baled" on-site to make easier to dispose of paper.


title: MetLife Building

text: Westinghouse Electric Corporation also manufactured 65 elevators and 21 escalators for 200 Park Avenue, which at the time of construction was the largest-ever order for elevators. One bank of six elevators was able to travel , the fastest elevators in the world at the time of their installation. Five elevators were reserved for freight. The elevators rise from the second-story lobby because the elevator pits could not descend below the first story due to the presence of the tracks. The upper stories were served by 59 elevators. According to the Skyscraper Center, , the building has 85 elevators.


title: MetLife Building

text: The MetLife Building's base contains a lobby across its lowest two stories. At ground level is a pedestrian passageway, enabling traffic flow between the Helmsley Building's pedestrian arcades and Grand Central Terminal. The 45th Street entrance to the passageway is set back from the sidewalk. A entrance arcade is placed on Vanderbilt Avenue, with the doorways set about back from the sidewalk there. The building's main office lobby is placed at the second story, at the level of the viaduct. The lobby was also designed with plantings and a enclosed plaza. The lobby contains 18 escalators in total. Four escalators lead to the Main Concourse at the southern end of the passageway, while fourteen more lead from the passageway to the office lobby.


title: MetLife Building

text: Gropius was responsible for the original design of the lobby, which was largely austere. The building's original anchor tenant, Pan Am, had a ticket office under a niche off the main lobby, measuring long and high, with circular counters and a wall with a relief map of the world. It was the world's largest airline ticket office at the time of its opening, covering .


title: MetLife Building

text: During a 1980s renovation by Warren Platner, some of retail space were constructed in the lobby. Also installed was a staircase at the center of the lobby on 45th Street, which consisted of alternating travertine and gray-granite risers. The staircase ranged from wide at the ground floor to at an intermediate landing, where it split into two flights and reached a width of at the mezzanine. There were four triangular planters at the bottom of the staircase, which complemented an orange carpet with flower motifs at the mezzanine. The lobby also contained unusual semicircular discs that were either mounted atop poles or suspended from the ceiling. In addition, a security desk was added and the storefronts were expanded.


title: MetLife Building

text: In an early-2000s renovation by Kohn Pedersen Fox, the lobby received tile and black travertine floors, the storefronts were moved to the side, and the central staircase was removed. The storefronts were removed in the late 2010s and the lobby was re-clad in light-colored travertine. The renovated lobby has an oak-floored reception lounge overlooking the entrance.


title: MetLife Building

text: The Pan Am Building's lobby was planned with several works of art, which comprised most of the original lobby's decoration. One such artwork is "Flight," a triple-story wire sculpture by Richard Lippold. The sculpture contains a sphere, representing the earth; a seven-pointed star, representing the seven continents and seas; and gold wires representing aircraft flight patterns. It measures wide, and deep. The composer John Cage, a friend of Lippold's, had initially proposed a musical program to complement "Flight", consisting of ten loudspeakers, which would have played works by Muzak whenever people walked in and out of the lobby. Lippold canceled the idea and management instead agreed to play classical music in the lobby.


title: MetLife Building

text: At the Pan Am Building's opening, the entrance from the Main Concourse was topped by "Manhattan", a mosaic mural of red, white, and black panels by Josef Albers. That work was removed in a 2001 renovation, though Albers had left exact specifications for reproducing the work, and a replica was installed in 2019.


title: MetLife Building

text: Suspended over the 45th Street entrance was a mural by György Kepes, consisting of two aluminum screens with concentric squares. Kepes's mural measured wide and was placed on the balcony; it was removed in the 1980s. At Vanderbilt Avenue, Robert Berks sculpted a bronze bust depicting the building's developer, Erwin S. Wolfson.


title: MetLife Building

text: The MetLife Building was designed with a six-level parking garage with room for 400 cars. The garage contains entrances and exits from both roadways of the Park Avenue Viaduct. According to owner Tishman Speyer, , the building's garage contains 248 spots across four levels.


title: MetLife Building

text: A variety of commercial and office spaces were included in the Pan Am Building when it opened. Pan Am, the airline for which the building was originally named, contained a ticketing office at 45th Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, similar in design to Eero Saarinen's TWA Flight Center at JFK Airport. Office stories in the octagonal slab typically have between of usable space, with elevators and stairs at the center, as well as uneven column spacing. This arrangement allows a large amount of window-office space for tenants, as each story contains of outer perimeter walls. Different companies with full-floor leases designed their spaces in various manners. Some tenants placed private offices along the perimeter, with important executive offices at the far corners of the story. Other tenants placed open spaces at the west and east ends of the floor or in the center.


title: MetLife Building

text: The Sky Club, a private luncheon club, had been on the 56th floor of the Pan Am Building. For several years the Sky Club had contained a private restaurant. Aircraft pioneer Juan Trippe, founder of Pan Am, was a member of this club. Trippe had commissioned a mural of clipper ships for the walls of the Sky Club; it was sent to Tucker's Point resort in Bermuda after the club shuttered. On the 57th and 58th stories was the Copter Club, which was used by passengers of the short-lived helicopter service.


title: MetLife Building

text: By the 1950s, passenger volumes at Grand Central Terminal had declined dramatically from the early 20th century, and there were proposals to demolish and replace the station. The New York Central Railroad was losing money, partially on paying taxes on the building's air rights. New York Central wanted to sell the property or its air rights to allow the construction of a skyscraper above or on the terminal's site. At the same time, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad retained a partial interest in the terminal's operation.


title: MetLife Building

text: Initially, New York Central's chairman Robert R. Young had been negotiating with developer Erwin S. Wolfson and their mutual friends Herbert and Stuart Scheftel to determine how the Grand Central site could be redeveloped. After these discussions broke down, two competing plans for the replacement of Grand Central Terminal were proposed in 1954. One design, by I. M. Pei, was suggested by Young along with developer William Zeckendorf. The proposal called for an 80-story, tower that would have succeeded the Empire State Building as the world's tallest building. The other, by Fellheimer & Wagner, was put forth by New Haven's chairman Patrick B. McGinnis along with Wolfson. The plan envisioned a 55-story building, the largest office building in the world with . Both proposals were poorly received, with 235 architects cosigning a letter imploring Young and McGinnis to reject the plans. Neither plan was ultimately ever carried out.


title: MetLife Building

text: Though the New Haven and New York Central continued to struggle financially, both railroads agreed to work with Wolfson, the New Haven's developer. In February 1955, Wolfson, the Scheftels, and Alfred G. Burger proposed a 65-story tower called Grand Central City, which would replace a six-story baggage structure north of the terminal. Richard Roth of Emery Roth and Sons, who created the design, had agreed to participate only if the office building would not result in the passenger concourse's demolition. The plans were widely circulated in the "New York Herald Tribune", "The New York Times", and "The Wall Street Journal". The proposal garnered significant opposition after architect Giorgio Cavaglieri expressed concerns about the effects of the proposed building on traffic congestion in the area.


title: MetLife Building

text: Roth and Wolfson's plan was effectively forgotten in March 1955 when Zeckendorf was named the partner for any new development in the vicinity of Grand Central. Zeckendorf and Pei modified the blueprints for their 80-story tower but never publicly announced the revised plans. Unpublished drawings indicate that Pei's second design was supposed to be a hyperboloid-shaped tower. For various reasons, the hyperboloid tower never progressed past the planning stage. The building had faced extensive criticism from both professionals and the general public; the railroads faced significant financial shortfalls; and the economy as a whole had started to decline, leaving Zeckendorf unable to finance the project. Meanwhile, traffic around Grand Central Terminal worsened in the late 1950s.


title: MetLife Building

text: In January 1958, representatives of an unnamed large company, who were unaware of Grand Central City's cancellation, notified Stuart Scheftel that they were interested in leasing space in the new building. Upon learning of the news, Young placed Scheftel in contact with his real estate agent. Although Young died by suicide shortly afterward, the remaining partners continued working on the project. A revised version of Roth's plan was announced in May 1958. The plan called for a 50-story aluminum and glass tower parallel to Park Avenue, with of floor area; three theaters with a total capacity of 5,000; an open-air restaurant on the seventh floor; and a 2,000-spot parking garage. The New York Central and New Haven railroads were guaranteed at least $1 million a year from the agreement. Despite the presence of tracks under the building site, Wolfson said a survey of the site had "no insurmountable problems". James Ruderman, the building's structural engineer, had drawn up preliminary plans for a steel framework spanning the tracks. Wolfson hired James D. Landauer Associates Inc. to handle leasing at the proposed building, negotiating directly with tenants' brokers.


title: MetLife Building

text: Wolfson found Roth's revised plan to be unsatisfactorily modest for such a prominent site. He said in the "New York Herald Tribune" that he wanted to "avoid adding just another massive shape to an already developed midtown business community". In July 1958, architects Walter Gropius and Pietro Belluschi were announced as co-designers for Grand Central City. Wolfson expressed his hope that Gropius and Belluschi, both prominent architects in the Modern style, would be able to help devise an "esthetic and functional design". Initially, Gropius and Belluschi were to serve a relatively minor advisory role. A week after being hired, Gropius suggested that the slab be oriented east–west, with a large plaza or courtyard in front of the tower, similar to the design of Lever House. Gropius also recommended that the building include a textured facade, rather than the metal-and-glass curtain walls commonly used by the Roth firm in its previous buildings. Gropius modified the plans in mid-1958; the facade would use simulated stone, the large plaza was dropped from the plans, and the tower was moved northward to 45th Street. That October, Wolfson traveled to Europe to study buildings and gain inspiration for the building's design.


title: MetLife Building

text: Gropius and the Roth firm continued to modify their design through early 1959. The revised final plans were announced in February 1959. While Wolfson had promised a "modest" redesign, the new plans were a radical change from Roth's 1958 plan, calling for a 55-story octagonal tower parallel to 45th Street, with of space. The Roth firm said the octagonal massing could absorb "different planes of light as on a diamond", while Gropius said the new alignment was easier for air conditioning. The octagonal building was smaller than the original plans, but Gropius's team reasoned that a edifice would have been too large to rent out. The Roth firm expressed its concerns over the east–west orientation of the tower, since it would raise the cost of the superstructure by 50 percent compared to a slab oriented north–south. A model of the redesigned tower was exhibited publicly in November 1959.


title: MetLife Building

text: Five leases for a collective in Grand Central City were announced immediately after the final design was announced in February 1959. A contract for of structural steel was awarded to U.S. Steel's American Bridge division that May; at the time, the contract was reportedly the most expensive ever awarded for an office building. Ruderman finalized his plans for the framework in September 1959. The next month British firm City Centre Properties invested $25 million and took a half interest in Grand Central City's development, covering part of the project's $100 million cost. It was the first British–American joint venture for a real estate development in the United States. Gordon I. Kyle, an appraiser who had calculated the valuations of more than two-thirds of Manhattan's skyscrapers, concluded that the building would be worth twice as much as the Empire State Building. Wolfson and City Centre paid Kyle $50,000, which at the time was the highest single appraiser's fee ever recorded.


title: MetLife Building

text: The New York Central Railroad granted an 80-year lease for the air rights above the building, in exchange for a portion of the building's gross revenue. This agreement added about $6 million to the construction cost. Final plans were filed with the New York City Department of Buildings on November 24, 1959. Construction on the structure officially started two days afterward on November 26, and Cushman & Wakefield were named as leasing agents for Grand Central City the following month. This was followed by contracts for the building's soundproofing and elevators in February 1960. James Ruderman had devised engineering plans for five other structures above the Park Avenue railroad tracks. As the Grand Central City site was impossible to excavate, the substructure had to be erected while the baggage building served as a staging area. Furthermore, as some materials would have to be delivered by railroad, material deliveries would be coordinated closely to avoid delays on the commuter rail lines entering Grand Central.


title: MetLife Building

text: Construction of the substructure commenced in May 1960, during which the architects finalized plans for the entrances, lobbies, and facade lighting. Gropius was involved in all aspects of the building's design, from traffic flow to minor architectural details, which sometimes led to conflicts with the project's other architects and engineers. For example, he wanted the lobby's bronze details to contain a matte finish, and he requested that the elevator penthouse be no higher than above the roof so that it did not "look silly". Work on the tower itself was held up by a steel strike that lasted through much of 1960; the baggage handling building was ultimately demolished starting that June. Foundations for the building were sunk in August 1960.


title: MetLife Building

text: Pan Am founder Juan Trippe signed a 25-year, $115.5 million lease for across 15 floors, plus a new main ticket office at 45th Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, in September 1960. In an indication of the widespread interest surrounding this lease, the mayor and the governor of New York both congratulated Grand Central City's builders after the lease was signed. Following this, Pan Am hired Ivan Chermayeff to design the building's signage. Grand Central City officially became known as the Pan Am Building in December 1960, after its major lessee. Signs bearing the company's name or logo were placed atop the four major facades. Originally, Trippe had wanted signs with the name "Pan Am" on all eight facades, but this was scaled down after Gropius objected that the large number of signs would decrease "the dignity of the building". The Pan Am Building's developers secured a $70 million mortgage loan and a $65 million construction loan during January 1961. At the time, the building was more than half rented.


title: MetLife Building

text: The Pan Am Building's construction was complicated by the fact that it involved over 200 engineers and 7,500 workers from 75 separate trades. Three derricks were installed to erect the steel for the tower, while four derricks were used for the base. Five to seven steel columns were installed every day during two shifts, with materials deliveries taking place mostly at night. The Pan Am Building's structural steel topped out during May 1962. The facade cladding was installed in two ways. The facade of the base was bolted into place, down to the individual spandrels and mullions. The Mo-Sai panels for the tower were installed via an interior hoist. Wolfson, though recovering from surgery during mid-1962, continued to observe the building's progress using a helicopter. When Wolfson died that June, James D. Landauer was selected to oversee the building's completion. The lobby, the last part of the Pan Am Building to be completed, was built with cheap materials such as restroom tiles because the builders had run out of money toward the project's completion.


title: MetLife Building

text: The as-yet-incomplete Pan Am Building was formally opened on March 7, 1963, with a ceremony attended by British and American officials, and tenants started moving into the structure the following month. The building had secured tenants for 91 percent of its office space upon opening, in large part to its central location. Within three months, the Pan Am Building was 92 percent rented and 70 percent occupied; by the first anniversary of its opening, the building was 97 percent leased with 241 tenants. This contrasted greatly with the smaller Empire State Building, which was only 25 percent rented when it opened and did not reach full occupancy for more than a decade afterward. At the time of its completion, the Pan Am Building was the largest commercial office development in the world by square footage, being surpassed nearly a decade later by 55 Water Street and the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. In the 15 years prior to the Pan Am Building's opening, 147 office buildings had been completed in Manhattan, totaling of office space.


title: MetLife Building

text: Initially, the airline only had a 10 percent ownership stake in its namesake building. Besides Pan Am, other early tenants included the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Alcoa, the Hammermill Paper Company, National Steel Corporation, Kodak, "Reader's Digest" magazine, Mitsui, Chrysler, and the British Iron & Steel Corporation. The shops at the Pan Am Building's base were opened in August 1963. The tenant selection process was rigorous, as Cushman and Wakefield examining the services and goods sold by potential tenants: for example, the firm's vice president got haircuts from each of the six applicants for the lobby barbershop. Furthermore, average rents in the Pan Am Building were about , slightly higher than the average of in other Midtown Manhattan buildings.


title: MetLife Building

text: Although the Pan Am Building's completion averted the terminal's imminent destruction, New York Central had experienced further decline, merging with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 to form the Penn Central Railroad. That year, Pan Am bought a 45 percent stake in the building from the estate of Jack Cotton, formerly chairman and co-owner of City Centre Properties. After Penn Central went bankrupt in 1970, it sought to sell its properties, including the land below the Pan Am Building. Among the building's tenants during this time was the United Brands Company (now Chiquita Brands International), whose CEO, Eli M. Black, jumped from the 44th story to his death on February 3, 1975.


title: MetLife Building

text: Pan Am was considering moving its headquarters from the building by 1978. That year, the airline bought the remaining 45 percent stake in the building from Wolfson, obtaining full ownership of the property. A Pan Am subsidiary, Grand Central Building Inc., acquired the underlying land for about $25 million the following year as part of a legal settlement with Penn Central. The airline sustained large financial losses during the early 1980s recession, leading it to announce in February 1980 that it was considering selling the building. About half the leases were scheduled to expire in three or four years. Many lessees were exempt from paying the building's operating costs, which made the Pan Am Building only marginally profitable for the airline. Amid high fuel costs and a lack of income from airfare, Pan Am decided in April 1980 that it would definitely sell the building.


title: MetLife Building

text: When the Pan Am Building officially went on the market in May 1980, "Business Week" magazine predicted that it might be sold for as much as $200 million. The sale was so complex that Landauer Associates published a 65-page brochure just to describe the terms of the sale. Nine bidders submitted offers, five of whom were selected for further consideration: the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife), the Equitable Life Assurance Society; Donald Trump; Paul Milstein; and Olympia and York. In July 1980, Pan Am sold the building to MetLife for $400 million. At the time, it was the highest-priced sale of an office building in Manhattan. This was attributed not only to a rezoning of the surrounding area, allowing developers to erect higher buildings there, but also a strong office market. The sale price amounted to , more than any other office building in Manhattan. MetLife did not plan to move any offices to the building, and Pan Am planned to keep its headquarters there. As a condition of the sale, the building would retain Pan Am's name until the airline ceased to be the building's anchor tenant.


title: MetLife Building

text: The sale was finalized in 1981 when Pan Am transferred stock in the building to MetLife, a move that let the airline avoid paying most of the estate transfer tax. Pan Am normally would have paid a $4 million tax, but it ultimately paid only $125. Cross & Brown assumed the responsibility of leasing the building's space. At the time, leases for much of the interior space were set to expire all at once during the early 1980s. Starting in 1984, MetLife renovated about half of the space as the original tenants' leases expanded. The deteriorating lobby, used by 100,000 pedestrians a day, was extensively reconfigured by Warren Platner. In addition, some mechanical systems were upgraded to comply with building codes, and retail spaces were added. Asbestos fireproofing on the office stories was removed in advance of an anti-asbestos regulation passed by the city government in 1985. The lobby renovation had been completed by 1987 at a cost of $15 million.


title: MetLife Building

text: By 1991, Pan Am's presence had dwindled to four floors. MetLife preferred to refer to the building as 200 Park Avenue, its address. At the time, the Pan Am Building was 95 percent occupied, and the public variously referred to the building by the names of its large tenants, such as Mitsui, Dreyfus, and Rogers & Wells. Pan Am moved its headquarters to Miami that year and closed down shortly afterward. In September 1992, MetLife announced that it would remove Pan Am signage from 200 Park Avenue and add letters bearing its own name. According to a MetLife spokesperson, the sign change was taking place because the airline had become defunct. The signs were changed in January 1993. Though 200 Park Avenue subsequently became known as the MetLife Building, its namesake was then headquartered in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower. As a result, the Park Avenue structure was known specifically as the "MetLife Building 200 Park Avenue".


title: MetLife Building

text: Further renovations to 200 Park Avenue's exterior and lobby were undertaken during 2001 and 2002. Low-pressure compressed air was used to clean the facade, while Kohn Pedersen Fox renovated the lobby. In 2005, MetLife moved its board room from the Metropolitan Life Tower to 200 Park Avenue. The same year, the company considered selling 200 Park Avenue to pay for its acquisition of Travelers Life & Annuity. Ultimately, MetLife sold the building that April for $1.72 billion, to a joint venture of Tishman Speyer Properties, the New York City Employees' Retirement System, and the New York City Teachers' Retirement System. At the time, the sale was the largest ever transaction involving an office building. The company still retained a boardroom and corporate suite at 200 Park Avenue.


title: MetLife Building

text: MetLife announced in 2015 that it was consolidating its operations at 200 Park Avenue, with of space in the building. At the time, the media reported that Donald Bren, the billionaire owner of the real estate firm Irvine Company, held a 97.3 percent ownership stake in the building. While Tishman Speyer remained the managing partner of the property, the company's stake in the MetLife Building had been reduced to less than 3 percent. Plans to renovate the lobby were devised in 2016. The next year, the neon light sources for the signs atop the building were swapped with LED light sources to conserve energy. A renovation of 200 Park Avenue's lobby started in late 2018. The work was to simplify the lobby's layout by removing storefronts and restoring direct connections to some of Grand Central's platforms. In mid-2022, Tishman Speyer announced that it had leased space in 200 Park Avenue's lobby to three eateries, which would open in late 2022 and early 2023.


title: MetLife Building

text: When the octagonal design for 200 Park Avenue was first announced in 1959, it was controversial. Architectural historian Sibyl Moholy-Nagy wrote in "Progressive Architecture" magazine that the original tower plans "provided human scale and architectural personality", which were "lost" in the revision. Walter McQuade, writing for "The Nation", found even the drawings for the building to be dissatisfying. Grand Central City was lambasted internationally by Italian critic Gillo Dorfles and Romanian architect Martin Pinchis. Architect Victor Gruen questioned the parking garage's necessity given the site's proximity to a major railroad terminal, while "Progressive Architecture" editor Thomas H. Creighton suggested the space would be better left as an open plaza. Critics also expressed concerns that the building would burden existing transit infrastructure. The plan also had its defenders, such as Natalie Parry, who wrote in rebuttal to Moholy-Nagy that the plans preserved Grand Central's "star-studded" Main Concourse, "together with the precious air space above it". Historian Paul Zucker defended the building's urbanism, and urban planner Charles Abrams and "Architectural Record" editor Emerson Goble also defended the plan as an addition to the cityscape.


title: MetLife Building

text: Upon its completion, the Pan Am Building received largely negative feedback, in large part because of its central location. Most critics deprecated the building's bulk, which was exacerbated by the design of the facade and its horizontal alignment. Gropius said the 1916 Zoning Resolution justified the building's large size, telling television presenter Dave Garroway that "every citizen has the right to use the law as far as he can"; this only prompted further negative reviews. James T. Burns Jr. wrote in "Progressive Architecture" that the placement of the base, tower, parking garage, and Grand Central Terminal were "occasionally inexcusably jarring" and considered the lobby to be a continuation of the exterior's "monolithism". Ada Louise Huxtable called the building "a colossal collection of minimums", with the lobby artwork being a "face-saving gimmick". Many observers viewed the monolithic design as obstructing vistas down Park Avenue. Art historian Vincent Scully, speaking in 1961, expressed his belief that the Pan Am Building was a "fatal blow" to Park Avenue's continuity, while Claes Oldenburg mocked the building's positioning on Park Avenue with his 1965 artwork "Proposed Colossal Monument for Park Avenue, NYC: Good Humor Bar." The building's own engineers had not expected any praise for the building, which had been developed solely for the purpose of making money.


title: MetLife Building

text: Goble, a close friend of Gropius and Belluschi, defended the building in a 1960 "New York Times" article in which he praised the pedestrian passageways in and around the building. Goble was one of the few people speaking in favor of the Pan Am Building in its early years, and he wrote another article praising the building in 1962. Gropius himself wrote a speech in which he praised the building but provided few specific details. This speech was published in the June 1960 version of "Architectural Record" with no modifications. Gropius had asked Paul Zucker of the New School to write an article that responded to criticism of the building on "an objective and professional level", although there is no evidence that Zucker ended up writing such an article.


title: MetLife Building

text: The Pan Am Building was also highly criticized after its 1980s lobby renovation. Carter Wiseman compared the new decorations as being gaudy in a similar manner to performer Liberace, except that "even Liberace would have blushed at the vulgarity". Paul Goldberger of "The New York Times" said that even though the previous design was "stark and unwelcoming", the new decorations created "a space that is so forced in its joy, so false and so disingenuous, that they make one yearn for some good old-fashioned coldness". In 1987, "New York" magazine conducted a poll of "more than 100 prominent New Yorkers", asking which buildings they preferred to see demolished, and the Pan Am Building ranked at the top of that list. Architect Robert A. M. Stern said in 1988 that the building, a "wrong-headed dream badly realized", warranted preservation from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, although he rhetorically suggested tearing down the building when the Pan Am sign was replaced several years later.


title: MetLife Building

text: By the beginning of the 21st century, some onetime critics expressed ambivalence toward the building's presence, while preservationists advocated the protection of mid-20th century buildings such as the MetLife Building. "ArchDaily" magazine described it in 2016 as "commendable for its robust form and excellent public spaces, as well as its excellent integration into the elevated arterial roads around it". Furthermore, the building's reputation and presence made it the setting of several films or TV shows during its history.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The Romanian Land Forces was founded on . It participated in World War I, together with the Imperial Russian Army in actions against the Central Powers and, despite initial setbacks, won the decisive battles of Mărăști and Mărășești. During most of World War II (until August 23, 1944) Romanian forces supported the Axis powers, fighting against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. From August 1944 until the end of the war, Romania fought against Germany under the control of the Soviet Union. When the communists seized power after the Second World War, the army underwent reorganisation and sovietization.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: Following the Romanian Revolution of 1989, due to shortage of funds, many units were disbanded and much equipment was phased out. Likewise, Romanian military capability declined because of a lack of fuel as well as training. However, since the late 1990s, a number of positive changes have come about and the level of combat readiness has been growing steadily; since 1996, the military budget has grown more than four times, rising from 636 million dollars to 2.8 billion dollars in 2007. Conscription has been abolished and professionalisation has been completed.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The first attempt to create an independent Romanian army was made by Gheorghe Magheru during the 1848 Wallachian Revolution, and it was based at Râureni (now part of Râmnicu Vâlcea). However, Magheru ordered his troops to disband when the Ottoman forces swept into Bucharest to stop the revolution.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The current Romanian Land Forces were formed in 1859, immediately after the unification of Wallachia with Moldavia, and were commanded by Alexandru Ioan Cuza, "Domnitor" of Romania until his abdication in 1866. In 1877, at the request of Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovich of Russia the Romanian army fused with the Russian forces, and led by King Carol I, fought in what was to become the Romanian War of Independence. They participated in the Siege of Plevna and several other battles. The Romanians won the war, but suffered about 27,000 casualties. Until World War I, the Romanian army did not face any other serious actions.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The Romanian Army entered the Second Balkan War against Bulgaria, allowing Romania to annex Southern Dobruja (also known as the Cadrilater). Although some 330,000 troops were mobilised, the Romanians met little resistance in Bulgaria and as such this is not considered a major conflict in Romanian history. This was due to historical claims on land and the area no longer belongs to Romania. During the Second Balkan War, the Romanian Army suffered a cholera outbreak that provoked 1,600 deaths.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: On July 6, 1916, the Kingdom of Romania declared war on the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, following the initial success of the Brusilov Offensive (a major Russian offensive against the armies of the Central Powers on the Eastern Front). The Romanian armies entered Transylvania (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), together with Russian forces. However, German forces under the command of General Erich von Falkenhayn stalled the attack in November 1916, and drove back the Romanian forces. At the same time, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman forces invaded southern Romania, forcing the country into a two-front war. The Central Powers drove deep into Romania and conquered the southern part of the country (Wallachia, including Bucharest) by the end of 1916. The Romanian forces, led by Marshal Constantin Prezan, retreated into the north-east part of Romania (Moldavia). In the summer of 1917 however, Prezan, aided by Ion Antonescu, successfully defended the remaining unoccupied territories against German and Austro-Hungarian forces led by Field Marshal August von Mackensen. General Alexandru Averescu led the Second Army in victory at the Battle of Mărăști (July 22 to August 1, 1917), while Major Generals Constantin Cristescu and Eremia Grigorescu led the First Army in victory at the Battle of Mărășești (August 6 to September 8, 1917).


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: As a result of the Russian Revolution, Romania was left isolated and unable to continue the war, and was forced to sign the Treaty of Bucharest with the Central Powers. Later on, in 1919, Germany agreed, in the Treaty of Versailles Article 259, to renounce all the benefits provided to it by the Treaty of Bucharest in 1918. After the successful offensive on the Thessaloniki front, which put Bulgaria out of the war, Romania re-entered the war on November 10, 1918, a day before its end in the West.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: After World War I, in December 1918, the Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia proclaimed a union with the Kingdom of Romania. Later on, in April 1919, the newly established Hungarian Soviet Republic vowed to retake occupied territories by force, and Hungarian troops attacked Romanian formations in Transylvania. Under the command of generals Gheorghe Mărdărescu and Traian Moșoiu, the Romanian Army defeated the Hungarians and occupied Budapest in August 1919.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: In June 1940 the Soviet Union occupied Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. After General (later Marshal) Ion Antonescu took power in September 1940, Fascist Romania signed the Tripartite Pact with the Axis Powers and subsequently took part in Operation Barbarossa in 1941. An expeditionary force invaded the Soviet Union in Bessarabia and southern Ukraine, alongside the Wehrmacht. The expeditionary force, 'Army Group Antonescu,' was composed on 22 June 1941 of the 3rd Army, the 4th Army, the 2nd Army Corps, and the 11th Infantry Division. The 3rd Army comprised the 4th Army Corps (6th and 7th Infantry Divisions), the Cavalry Corps, the Mountain Corps, two separate artillery battalions, a TA unit, and the Air Force's 3rd Army Cooperation Command. The 4th Army consisted of the 3rd Army Corps, the 5th Army Corps, the 11th Army Corps (two fortress brigades), and the 4th Army Cooperation Command. The army group-level 2nd Army Corps, under Major General Nicolae Macici, controlled the 9th and 10th Infantry Divisions and the 7th Cavalry Brigade. Additionally the 1st Armoured Division was formed for service on the Eastern Front. The Army Group's first offensive, in conjunction with the Eleventh Army, Operation München, enabled Romania to retake the territory immediately east of the Dnister, former part of Moldavia. The Romanian armies saw their first major battles at Odessa and Sevastopol, and in 1942 advanced with other Axis forces deeper into Soviet territory during operation Case Blue. In early November, Romanian mountain troops under the command of Brigadier General Ioan Dumitrache took Nalchik, the farthest point of Axis advance into the Caucasus.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The worst defeat for the Romanian expeditionary force on the Eastern Front occurred at Stalingrad, where, during the Soviet counter-offensive of November 1942, the thinly spread forces of the Third Army (under the command of General Petre Dumitrescu, deployed north of Stalingrad) and of the Fourth Army (under the command of Lieutenant General Constantin Constantinescu-Claps, deployed south of Stalingrad) were attacked by vastly superior Soviet forces and suffered combined losses of some 158,000 personnel.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: During April–May 1944 the Romanian forces led by General Mihai Racovițǎ, together with elements of the German Eighth Army were responsible for defending Northern Romania during the Soviet First Jassy-Kishinev Offensive, and took part in the Battles of Târgu Frumos. In late August 1944, the Red Army entered eastern Romania.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: On August 23, 1944, a coup led by King Michael I of Romania deposed Marshal Antonescu and set up a pro-Soviet government. It has been estimated that the royal coup shortened the war by six months. Romania soon declared war on Nazi Germany and its allies, and the First Army (under the command of General Macici and later Vasile Atanasiu) and the Fourth Army (under the command of Lieutenant General Gheorghe Avramescu and later Nicolae Dăscălescu) were pressed into action. After expelling the last of the Wehrmacht and Hungarian Army units from Romania at the battles of Turda and Carei, the Romanian armies took part in the Siege of Budapest and the Prague Offensive of May 1945.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The Soviet occupation of Romania led to a complete reorganisation of the Romanian Land Forces under the supervision of the Red Army. At the onset, pro-German elements were purged from the Romanian armed forces. In 1944–45, two divisions were formed out of Romanian volunteers—ex-prisoners of war, trained and indoctrinated in the Soviet Union during the war, but also of many Communist activists. One was the Tudor Vladimirescu First Volunteer Division, under the command of Colonel Nicolae Cambrea, and the other the Horea, Cloșca și Crișan Division, under the command of General Mihail Lascăr (who later served as Minister of Defence from 1946 to 1947). These two units formed the nucleus of the new Romanian Land Forces under Soviet control. The postwar reorganization of the Land Forces included cavalry, but the arm disappeared from the force with the disbandment in November 1954 of the 59th Cavalry Division at Oradea.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: After the Romanian Communist Party seized political power, the sovietization of the army commenced, under the supervision of the new Minister of Defence, Emil Bodnăraș. Thirty per cent of the officers and noncommissioned officers (mostly experienced soldiers, and a potential source of opposition) were purged from the military. This involved copying the Soviet model of military and political organisation, and changing the military doctrine of combat and defence, also in the context of Romania's integration in the strategic system of the Soviets, at the beginning of the Cold War.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: In the early 1950s the RLF reached a level of 12 rifle, one mechanised, and one tank division. Between 1960 and 1964 the rifle and mechanised divisions were converted to mechanized (motorized rifle) divisions, and reductions in strength began; force size dropped to six mechanized divisions and one armored division by 1968. From 1970 to 1976, two more motor rifle divisions and one armored division were formed, and the eight motor rifle and two armored division figure remained that way for the rest of the Cold War. In case of war, at least four other motorized infantry divisions and one tank division could have been formed.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: From 1947 to 1960 the country seems to have been divided into three major military regions: Cluj, Bacău, and Bucharest in the west, east, and south, respectively. In wartime the land forces in each military region would become an army corps with their headquarters in Cluj-Napoca, Iași, and Bucharest. Armies seem to have succeeded military regions in 1960, and three armies seem to have become four in 1980. What is known is that on 01.07.1947 Fourth Army became 3rd Military Region, based in Cluj. The 3rd Military Region became the 3rd Army on 30 April 1960, and the 4th Army on 5 April 1980.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: During the 1980s, the land forces numbered 140,000 personnel, of whom two thirds were conscripts. In 1989 the land forces were organized in four armies: the First Army at Bucharest, the Second Army at Buzău, the Third Army at Craiova, and the Fourth Army at Cluj-Napoca. The land forces consisted of eight mechanised (infantry) divisions (1st, Bucharest, 2nd, Craiova, 9th, Constanța, 10th, Iași, 11th, Oradea, 18th, Timișoara, 67th, Brăila and 81st, Dej) two armored divisions (the 57th Tank Division at Bucharest and the 6th Tank Division at Târgu Mureș), one armored brigade, four mountain (infantry) brigades, and four parachute infantry regiments. According to the 165-year 'History of Modern Romanian Artillery,' in 1989 each of the four armies were organized into a headquarters and reporting formations under them, which were organized as follows:


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The mechanized divisions were organized along the Soviet model with a division HQ, three mechanized infantry regiments, one tank regiment, combat and service support units, and a full complement of 10,700 infantry soldiers, having 130 main battle tanks, 216 wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs), 30 wheeled armoured reconnaissance vehicles, 18 light SPGs SU-76, 54 towed 120mm. M-38/-43 (or Md.1982 120mm. Romanian made) mortars, 36 towed 122 mm howitzer M1938 (M-30) and 12 truck-mounted (Romanian production) 122mm. multiple rocket launchers APR-40 (which will become later, after an extensive modernization, the LAROM MRL system). Compared to similar Soviet, Hungarian, or Bulgarian divisions, the Romanian ones were more poorly equipped, both in terms of number and quality of heavy weapons. The armored divisions were composed of 3 tank regiments and one mechanized infantry regiment plus support units. The artillery, antitank, and air defence regiments of divisions provided specialised fire support that enabled motorised rifle and tank regiments to maneuver. Each of the four Army Commands comprised an antiaircraft artillery brigade and an air defense missile artillery regiment (Surface-to-Air). Three of the four air defense missile regiments were equipped with 2K12 Kub systems, and the fourth regiment with 9K33 Osa SAMs In the late 1980s the artillery regiments of mechanized and tank divisions were organized into a regimental HQ, two artillery battalions and one multiple rocket launcher battalion.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: In terms of their combat equipment, the RLF operated a total of 2,825 tanks: 1,059 outdated (soviet WW-2 type) T-34-85 tanks, 785 Soviet and Czechoslovak T-55/-55A/-55AM tanks, 415 Romanian built TR-77-580, 535 Romanian built TR-85-800, and 31 Soviet T-72 "Ural-1" tanks. The 9th and the 11th Mechanized Divisions operated Romanian built TR-77-580 tanks, the 2nd Mechanized Division and the 57th Tank Division operated Romanian built TR-85-800 tanks, the 10th and 81st Mechanized Divisions and the 6th Tank Division operated soviet and Czechoslovak built T-55/-55A/-55AM tanks, while the remaining three mechanized divisions (1st, 18th and 67th) were equipped with mixed equipment, including a number of outdated soviet T-34-85 tanks, within their mechanized regiments. The 1st Mechanized Tudor Vladimirescu Division apparently operated four types of tanks, from the modern Soviet T-72 "Ural-1", to a number of Romanian TR-77-580 and Soviet T-55A tanks, and to the outdated T-34-85 tanks.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The predominantly defensive structure of the Romanian Land Forces was also highlighted by the five anti-tank (missile-artillery) regiments (each with 36 Romanian made 100 mm anti-tank gun M1977 and 12 ATGM launcher vehicle based on BRDM-2 4x4 scout armoured car a.k.a. 9P133 "Malyutka" (with 9M14 Malyutka anti-tank guided missiles) and 9P148 "Konkurs" (with 9M113 Konkurs anti-tank guided missiles), placed especially in the areas most exposed to a possible armored attack, and subordinated to the four army commands. Besides these, there were also nine anti-tank artillery battalions, mostly subordinated to the mechanized divisions, some equipped with Romanian made 100 mm anti-tank gun M1977, but the majority with older Soviet production 85 mm antitank gun D-48.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: Surface-to-surface missile battalions were divided into four batteries, each equipped with one missile launcher. The RLF operated 32 9K52 Luna-M short-range artillery rocket systems and 18 R-17 Elbrus tactical ballistic missile systems. Each mechanized division had a "Luna-M" missile battalion, while two of the four army commands had also an "Elbrus" missile brigade. Proven to be fairly inaccurate in combat, "Luna-M" (a.k.a. FROG-7) and "Elbrus" (a.k.a. SCUD-B) missiles would be rather less effective weapons carrying conventional high-explosive warheads. Tipped with nuclear or chemical warheads, however, they could be devastating. According to one former Romanian official writing in 1988, Romania produced chemical agents that could be delivered by battlefield missiles. The vânători de munte specialised troops, reactivated in 1961, were formed up into an independent branch of the RLF with 4 separate mountain brigades in 1989. The vânători de munte were seen as the best-trained forces of the Army in the communist Romania. Each brigade had a mechanized company equipped with MLVM APCs and a mountain artillery battalion of 76mm. mountain guns Md.1982 (similar to Yugoslav 76 mm mountain gun M48), but most of the equipment was for a motorized light infantry unit.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: During the early 1990s, some major units were disbanded and much equipment was phased out or scrapped due to a severe shortage of funds. The whole land forces structure was reorganized from armies into territorial corps, and from regiments into battalions. In the mid-1990s, the situation of the land forces was critical: the military budget was one third that of 1989 (636 million dollars), 50% of the equipment was older than 30 years, and 60% of the armoured vehicles and 85% of the missile units were non-operational. Due to lack of fuel and training, the level of combat readiness and military capability was extremely low (only about 30% of the entire land forces were operational). However, after 1996 the government took serious action; the military budget was increased greatly, and modernisation of equipment commenced. Officially, the program to modernize and restructure the armed forces began on 11 April 2000.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: In 2005, the army comprised eight combat, four combat support, and two logistic brigades, while ten combat, five combat support and two logistic brigades were further mobilised in case of crisis. Many of these units have been reorganized as part of the "2007 Force Plan".


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: Currently, about 75,000 military personnel and 15,000 civilians comprise the armed forces, for a total of 90,000 men and women. Out of the 75,000 military personnel, about 43,000 are in the Land Forces.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The Romanian Land Forces are undergoing a three-stage modernisation. In 2007, the first short-term stage was completed (reorganisation of the command structure and implementation of the voluntary military service). 2015 marked the end of the second stage (operational integration in both NATO and the European Union). 2025 is the set date for when the long-term stage is to be completed (full technical integration in NATO and the EU). The stages aim at modernising the structure of the armed forces, reducing the number of personnel, as well as acquiring newer and improved technology that is compatible with NATO standards.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: Romania abolished compulsory military service on October 23, 2006. This came about due to a 2003 constitutional amendment which allowed the parliament to make military service optional. The Parliament of Romania voted to abolish conscription in October 2005, with the vote formalising one of many military modernisation and reform programmes that Romania agreed to when it joined NATO in March 2004.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: In peacetime, the supreme commander of the Land Forces is the Minister of Defence, while in wartime, the president assumes the role of supreme commander. The main combat formations of Romania are the 2nd Infantry Division "Getica", and the 4th Infantry Division "Gemina". Until 2015, the Romanian Land Forces fielded a third division, namely the 1st Division "Dacia". Before June 2008, the 1st and 4th divisions were known as the 1st Territorial Army Corps and the 4th Territorial Army Corps, and in turn they used to be known as the "1st Army" and "4th Army" prior to 2000. However, due to their personnel having been reduced considerably in order to reach compatibility with NATO standards, they were renamed and reorganized as divisions. In 2010, the Joint HQ command was renamed as the 2nd Infantry Division "Getica" and received units from the 1st and 4th Infantry divisions.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The Romanian Land Forces have completely overhauled their equipment in the past few years, replacing them with more modern equipment.


title: Romanian Land Forces

text: The TR-85M1 "Bizon" main battle tank and the MLI-84M "Jder" infantry fighting vehicle are the most modern, domestically produced equipment of the Romanian Land Forces. Also, 43 ex-German Flakpanzer Gepard anti-aircraft systems were commissioned in late 2004.