Casper Holstein

Casper Holstein (December 7, 1876 – April 5, 1944) was a prominent New York mobster involved in the Harlem "numbers rackets" during the Harlem Renaissance. He, along with his occasional rival Stephanie St. Clair, was responsible for bringing back illegal gambling to the neighborhood after an eight-year absence following the conviction of Peter H. Matthews in 1915. Holstein became known as the "Bolito King".

Early life

Born of mixed African and Danish descent in St. Croix, Danish West Indies, Casper Holstein moved to New York City with his mother in 1894. His father was a landed person of color who was in turn the son of a Danish officer in the Danish West Indies Colonial militia. Attending high school in Brooklyn, he enlisted in the United States Navy following his graduation. During World War I, he was able to revisit his birthplace while stationed in what had become the United States Virgin Islands. After the war, Holstein worked as janitor and doorman in Manhattan eventually becoming a messenger, and then head messenger, for a commodities brokerage on Wall Street.

Holstein

Holstein (German pronunciation: [ˈhɔlʃtaɪn]) (Northern Low Saxon: Holsteen, Danish: Holsten, Latin and historical English: Holsatia) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany.

Holstein once existed as the County of Holstein (German: Grafschaft Holstein; 811–1474), the later Duchy of Holstein (German: Herzogtum Holstein; 1474–1866), and was the northernmost territory of the Holy Roman Empire. The history of Holstein is closely intertwined with the history of the Danish Duchy of Schleswig (Danish: Slesvig). The capital of Holstein is Kiel.

Holstein's name comes from the Holcetae, a Saxon tribe mentioned by Adam of Bremen as living on the north bank of the Elbe, to the west of Hamburg. The name means "dwellers in the wood" (Northern Low Saxon: Hol(t)saten; German: Holzsassen).

History

Origins

After the Migration Period of the Early Middle Ages, Holstein was a borderland between Nordalbingia (part of Old Saxony) at the coast of North Sea, the land of the Slavic Wagrians belonging to the Obotrites at the coast of the Baltic Sea and the land of the Danes in Jutland.

Pregolsky Microdistrict

Coordinates: 54°41′36″N 20°23′42″E / 54.69333°N 20.39500°E / 54.69333; 20.39500

Pregolsky (Russian: Прегольский) is a residential area within Tsentralny City District of Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia.

Prior to World War II, it was known by its German language name Holstein (archaic Hollstein) as first a suburban estate and then a quarter of Königsberg, Germany, located west of the city center.

History

Located 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) from medieval Königsberg on the northern shore of the Pregel near where the river flowed into the Vistula Lagoon, the Old Prussian village of Kasewalx was first documented in 1405. Other early names included Kasewolx, Kasewalk, and Kesewalk. The name was of Old Prussian origin and referred to a brook or stream.

In 1508, ten farmers lived in the village, then known as Kasebalk and Kasebalg. Johann Schimmelpfennig (1604-1669), a Königsberg Councillor and vice-mayor of Kneiphof, possessed the village and surrounding region in 1650. His widow later sold the land to Elector Frederick III. East of the village was the inn Langerfeldkrug.

Holstein Friesian cattle

Holstein Friesians (often shortened as Friesians in Europe, and Holsteins in North America) are a breed of cattle originating from the two northern provinces of North Holland and Friesland, and what is now Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. They are known as the world's highest-production dairy animals.

The Dutch and German breeders bred and oversaw the development of the breed with the goal of obtaining animals that could best use grass, the area's most abundant resource. Over the centuries, the result was a high-producing, black-and-white dairy cow.

With the growth of the New World markets began to develop for milk in North America and South America, and dairy breeders turned to the Netherlands for their livestock. After about 8,800 Friesians (black pied Germans) had been imported, disease problems in Europe led to the cessation of exports to markets abroad.

In Europe, the breed is used for milk in the north, and meat in the south. Since 1945, European national development has led to cattle breeding and dairy products becoming increasingly regionalized. More than 80% of dairy production is north of a line joining Bordeaux and Venice, which also has more than 60% of the total cattle. This change led to the need for specialized animals for dairy (and beef) production. Until this time, milk and beef had been produced from dual-purpose animals. The breeds, national derivatives of the Dutch Friesian, had become very different animals from those developed by breeders in the United States, who used Holsteins only for dairy production.