Geography - from Germany to Guyana

I have more cards Germany than from any other country except possibly France, but the French cards have mainly been purchased while the German cards have been exchanged via Postcrossing. Above you can see just a few beautiful German castles.

Below, at the other end of the scale, are cards from countries where I have less than a handful: Gambia, Ghana and Guyana. In fact the map of Guyana is the only one I have from that country and also the only one resulting from an exchange.

Christmas markets

I am particularly fond of collecting market postcards and this season I have been lucky enough to receive several of German Christmas markets.

The one above is a gorgeous maxi-card showing the Dresden market known as the Striezelmarkt.  The name derives from "Stollen", a traditional German fruit bread, but the Dresden version is richer and contains more fruit than the other recipes.

The Nuremberg market is called Christkindlesmarkt, and is held in front of the Frauenkiche.  Every year, a young girl (strangely) acts as the Christ Child, and makes an opening speech from the church balcony.

Cologne, too has a Christmas market, in fact it has five of them! I think I would suffer from overload with all that going on.

Christmas and the markets are well and truly over, of course, but some postal delay meant that I'm still finding cards arriving.

Robins

Robins are among my favourite birds, the European robin, that is.  I have not met an American robin even though I believe a few have made it to these shores when migrating.

The robins found in Britain are not very afraid of humans and can easily be tamed to take food from your hand.  They are less tame on mainland Europe where they were once hunted, but even there they will turn up to check for unexpected delicacies while you are gardening.

These cards are from France, Germany, Russia and the Netherlands.

You & Me Tea

A welcoming cup of tea when I reached home, sent from Germany.  The label on the teabag says "You & Me Tea".

Milk and one sugar for me please!

Dürkopp Diana

In 1860 Nicholas Dürkopp, with Carl Schmidt, started a factory for the production of sewing machines.  In 1876, Carl Schmidt was handsomely recompensed and "allowed leave".  After that time, the factory started to produce bicycles and became very successful. Cycles under the Dürkopp name continued to be sold until 2006 though manufactured by Biria AG.

Nowadays, Dürkopp Adler AG, manufactures industrial sewing machines, so in a way you could say the company has come full circle.  It is still in Bielefeld, Germany.

This card is a reproduction of advertising published between 1900 and 1914 and was sent to me from Germany.

U is for Ulm

Ulm, in the south of Germany, was once a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire but much of its historic centre was destroyed during World War II.  Some of the buildings, but by no means all, have been restored.

The postcard shows the modern library with the backdrop of the Butcher's Tower (Metzgerturm) and the Danube beyond.  The tower leans by over 3 degrees.  Legend has it that it was caused by overweight butchers cowering in a corner when the angry mayor came to punish them for selling low quality meat.

N is for Nürnberg or Nuremberg

It's hard to write anything about Nuremberg without starting on a lengthy essay, if not a dissertation. I'll be brief.

It's a beautiful and very old city, towards the south east of Germany, dating back to 1050, or even earlier.  That is, at least, the date of the first documented mention of the city.  It was considered for a time to be the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire, partly because of the general assemblies and courts held in the castle which you can see on the horizon in the picture.

The postcard shows signs of damage from the post office sorting machines.  This type of damage leads a lot of people to collect only unused postcards but for myself, I prefer them to show signs of their travels, within reason of course. I also like to have the postmark on the back, for dating purposes if nothing else.

Ready for Spring

The weather is finally getting warmer and people are tending their gardens.  I no longer have a garden, so I tend my pots on my balcony.  I have to recycle and reuse my pots because space is limited.  I noticed today one lonely miniature daffodil emerging where I was expecting mint to grow. It must have been incomplete recycling.

The postcard was sent to me very recently from Germany.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.  Just click on the button to visit her and join in.

Neuschwanstein Castle - winter

Neuschwantstein Castle must be one of the most unmistakeable and most photographed castles in the world. they must do a roaring trade in postcards because it doesn't look like anyone could take a casual snapshot very easily.  The airways around it must be buzzing with helicopters.

Although the castle is of course in Germany, the card came from Russia and was published in Russia.  I like this dramatic winter view.  Six years ago (so long!!) I posted another card showing it with autumn colours on the trees.

Art Nouveau

Two beautiful examples of the style of art known in English as Art Nouveau which flourished between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.  It is known by different names in different languages: Jugendstil in Germany for instance.  Curiously in France it was given the name Modern Style.

The top card is one of Alfons Mucha's famous posters while the lower one is a perfume label from Russia.  Both were sent from Germany.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Madonna and Child

Although this card from the Netherlands did have art stamps on it, I had to go to France to find the first Madonna and Child stamp.

It commemorates the 500 years since Rafael painted it in 1512/13. The original hangs in the museum in Dresden.

The Royal Mail quite frequently uses art on stamps, particularly around Christmas time.  I have a set of PHQ (postal headquarters) stamp cards from 1991 which are taken from a 14th century manuscript kept in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

These are just two of the set.  I love the colour and form, but if you look closely at the faces, they do look a little odd though possibly more "real". I prefer them to some more recent versions.

As I said, the original postcard did have art stamps on it too, commemorating Rembrandt
:

And another by Vermeer, that almost everyone will recognise thanks to the recent film, Girl with a Pearl Earring.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Travel

I rather like this collage of travel/mail related items.  It's a Zazzle card and I know quite a number of people prefer shop bought cards, but frankly, I've had far more flimsy and less attractive shop bought cards.  This one was sent from Germany.

Robin redbreast

I haven't yet had any Christmas postcards sent to me this year but here is the next best thing, a robin, one of the popular symbols of Christmas.

It was sent from Germany so now I can add Rotkelchen to my list of international robins-in-translation.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog, The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

The couple on the bench

Carl Spitzweg: Das Paar auf dem Bank (um1860) The Couple on the Bench

This picture reminds me of the Mazda light advertisement, And in Life's Evening Time, though in fact it's really quite different. Nevertheless it shows us a contented (presumably) and not-so-young couple taking a break on their stroll through the woods.

Carl Spitzweg was a German artist of the 19th century, often making his pictures a humourous look at life. Another well known work of his is The Bookworm.

A post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted by Beth Niquette on her blog, The Best Hearts are Crunchy. Click on the button to visit and join in.

Crete, doors and windows

Doors and windows are a popular collecting theme as far as postcards are concerned, and here we have a little of both.

Someone in Germany went on holiday to Greece and visited Crete, the largest of the Greek islands. She brought the card home and sent it to me just last week: a pleasant reminder of summer holidays and warm weather.

Sylt, in Germany

Sylt is an island off the coast of Germany in the North Sea.  Historically it was part of the Jutland peninsula which is mainly Denmark.  It is another of those places that has changed nationality a number of times.  There is a unique language, Söl'ring, spoken on the island and it's even taught in primary schools.  It is a North Frisian dialect with a strong Danish influence and with elements of Dutch and, curiously, English.

Deutscher Bundestag

The German Parliament or Deutscher Bundestag has been in Berlin since 1999.  This card, slightly the worse for wear, showing part of the building intrigued me because it looks so modern.  When I found some other images of the Reichstag it looked very traditional but apparently it was almost completely gutted when being reconstructed for the opening of the Bundestag.  I can't imagine the Palace of Westminster looking modern anywhere.

I find myself wanting to go to visit Berlin and to see the Reichstag with its amazing glass dome, but I've never visited Westminster so maybe I should do that first.

A letter carrier from Germany

I've just recently received this card which shows a German charity stamp from 1989.  A charity stamp is a postage stamp which is sold above the normal rate, with the extra funds going to charity.  In this case the normal rate was 60 with a surcharge of 30, and the funds went towards the  Federal Association of voluntary welfare in Germany.

The card itself is an illustration of a letter carrier from the 1500s.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog, The Best Hearts are Crunchy. Click on the button to join in.
 

Children

From 1972, a PHQ stamp card showing a policeman talking to children.  It looks dated now, partly because of the art work I think, but also because policemen haven't worn that style of uniform since 1994.  Although they do still wear the helmet, they almost always wear a stab proof vest over a shirt.  A sign of the times.

A stamp card issued for the Millenium celebrations.  It illustrates children playing in a green open space.  A number of these open spaces were created as Millenium Greens.

Some stamps from other countries:

Russian Post issued a series of stamps showing contemporary art.  This one was issued in 2013 and shows the picture "Girl and City" by Anatoly Lubavin which was completed in 2005.

From Germany, part of a series of special children's stamps called "Für uns Kinder" published each year since 1993.  This one was issued in 2010.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Schloss Augustusburg

Schloss Augustusburg, "Crown of the Ore Mountains", is built on the peak of a long extinct volcano in Saxony, Germany.  It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site at Brühl along with the Castle of Falkenlust.  Between them, they are early examples of royal residences of the 18th century.

It overlooks the river Zschopau on which there are 7 other castles within about 130 km (about 80 miles). The Ore Mountains (Das Erzgebirge) are a mountain range that for centuries marked the border between Saxony and Bohemia and now between Germany and the Czech Republic.