Erika

Erika may refer to

See also

Erika (moth)

Erika is a genus of moths in the family Lymantriidae.

References

Erika (song)

"Erika" (or "Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein" ("On the Heath a Little Flower Blooms") is a marching song of the German military. The song was composed by Herms Niel in the 1930s, and it soon came into usage by the Wehrmacht, especially the Heer and, to a lesser extent, the Kriegsmarine. The theme of the song is based on "Erika" being both a common German female first name and the name of the heath plant Erica. In itself, the song has no military themes, beyond the fact that the narrator (evidently a soldier, though this is not explicitly stated) is away from his beloved and recalls her when seeing the plant which has the same name.

Origins

The lyrics and melody of the song were written by Herms Niel, a German composer of marches. The exact year of the song's origin is not known; often the date is given as "about 1930," a date that, however, has not been substantiated. The song was originally published in 1938 by the publishing firm Louis Oertel in Großburgwedel. It was a great success even before the start of World War II. Niel, who joined the NSDAP in early May 1933 and became a leading Kapellmeister at the Reichsarbeitdienst, created numerous marches that largely served the National Socialist propaganda campaigns. In particular the Reichspropagandaminister Joseph Goebbels, noticed early that down-to-earth, simple songs were a useful propaganda tool.

MV Erika

Erika was the name of a tanker built in 1975 and last chartered by Total-Fina-Elf. It sank off the coast of France in 1999, causing a major environmental disaster.

Background

Erika was one of eight sister ships built in Japan. Despite having 10% less steel than many other tankers of similar size, Erika was very popular amongst shipping companies because of its relative inexpensiveness.

Sinking

On December 8, 1999, she sailed out of Dunkerque, bound for Livorno and with a heavy cargo of around 31,000 tons of fuel oil.

As she entered the Bay of Biscay, the Erika ran into a heavy storm. On December 12, 1999, she broke in two and sank, releasing thousands of tons of oil into the sea, killing marine life and polluting shores around Brittany, France.

According to the official inquiry by the Dunkerque Tribunal, the Principal Shareholder of Tevere Shipping is Giuseppe Savarese, owner of the Erika since 1996. Savarese lives in London and was personally responsible for finance, administration, legal, commercial, hull and machinery insurance and P&I insurance matters.

List of Friends characters

This is a list of notable characters in the sitcom Friends, which aired for ten seasons, on NBC, from 1994 to 2004. It featured six main cast members: Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) and Monica Geller (Courteney Cox). Many notable celebrities guest starred on the series throughout its ten-year run.

Ensemble cast

The main cast members were familiar to television viewers before their roles on Friends, but were not considered to be stars. Series creator David Crane wanted all six characters to be equally prominent, and the series was lauded as being "the first true 'ensemble' show". The cast members made efforts to keep the ensemble format and not allow one member to dominate; they entered themselves in the same acting categories for awards, opted for collective instead of individual salary negotiations, and asked to appear together on magazine cover photos in the first season. The cast members became best friends off screen, and one guest star, Tom Selleck, reported sometimes feeling left out. The cast remained good friends after the series' run, notably Cox and Aniston, with Aniston being godmother to Cox and David Arquette's daughter, Coco. In the official farewell commemorative book Friends 'Til the End, each separately acknowledged in his/her interview that the cast had become his/her family.

Erika (given name)

The given name Erika, or Erica, is a feminine form of Eric, deriving from the Old Norse name Eiríkr (or Eríkr in Eastern Scandinavia due to monophthongization). The first element, ei- is derived either from the older Proto-NorseZ*aina(z) meaning "one" or "some", or from Proto-Norse *aiwa(z) meaning "fair" or "tradition". The second element -ríkr derives either from *rík(a)z meaning "ruler" or "prince" (cf. Gothic reiks), or from an even older Proto-Germanic *ríkiaz which meant "powerful" and "rich". The name is thus usually taken to mean something along the lines of "one ruler", "autocrat", "eternal ruler" or "ever powerful".

It is a common name in many Western societies. It is also a popular given name in Japan. Erica is also the name of a genus of approximately 860 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, commonly known as "heaths" or "heathers" in English.

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