See Also: Otto IV(encyclopedia)
Otto(medicine)
Otto(dictionary)
Dix, Otto(encyclopedia)
Otto I(encyclopedia)
Otto III(encyclopedia)
Sprengel, Otto(medicine)
Voges, Otto(medicine)
Warburg, Otto(medicine)
Werner, Otto(medicine)

Cape Town (sh) and Otto I (sh)


Cape Town (sh)




Afrikaans Kaapstad

City (pop., 1996 est., metro. area: 2,415,408), legislative capital, South Africa.

Located on Table Bay, it was formerly the capital of Cape Province. Long the country's major seaport, it was surpassed in the 1980s by Durban. The first settlement at Table Bay, it was founded by the Dutch navigator Jan van Riebeeck for the Dutch East India Co., and it soon served as a stopover for ships plying the Europe-to-India route. It was under Dutch rule intermittently until it was taken by the British in 1806. Today it is a commercial and cultural centre. See also Pretoria; Bloemfontein.


Otto I (sh)




known as Otto the Great

born Nov. 23, 912
died May 7, 973, Memleben, Thuringia

Duke of Saxony (936-61), German king (936-73), and emperor (962-73).

He extended the frontiers of the German kingdom, winning territory from the Slavs in the east, forcing the Bohemians to pay tribute (950), and gaining influence in Denmark and Burgundy. In 951 Otto became king of the Lombards and married the queen of Italy. He quelled a rebellion by his son in 955 and defeated the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld. Crowned emperor by Pope John XII in 962, he deposed John in 963 and replaced him with Leo VIII. He returned to Italy (966-72) to subdue Rome, and he betrothed his son, Otto II, to a Byzantine princess (972). He also extended his authority over the church and promoted missionary activity in lands he had conquered. By his death, Otto had created the most powerful state in western Europe and laid the foundation for the later Holy Roman Empire.