This book is the result of a research project funded by the German Research
Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), which
also supported its publication. We wish to express our gratitude towards
the DFG for this assistance. Further, we wish to thank the student
assistants subsequently active in the project: Maria Busse, Carolin
Damm, Katja Frey, Ulrike Pollin, Luise Sch?ne, Michael Sellner, Eric
Urzowski. Special thanks go to Katrin Rentzsch who contributed to
Part D. IV. and considerably supported the proofreading and, of course,
to Susanne Prater (secretary) who was in charge of the final editorial
work.