Friday, August 29, 2014

Germany: Festung Dresden

Yesterday arrived the five cards I sent to myself from my trip to Dresden. 

One of the cards shows the Festung Dresden under the Brühl's Terrace. The Festung Dresden was built from 1546 onwards and made Dresden once one of the most fortified towns of Europe. In one of the casemates Johann Friedrich Böttger discovered the way to produce porcelain.


Stamp:
Dresden (from set of two) (issued 03-04-2014)


Germany: Bundeswehr Military History Museum

Yesterday arrived the five cards I sent to myself from my trip to Dresden. 

One of the cards shows the Bundeswehr Military History Museum. The Bundeswehr Military History Museum shows over 10000 exhibits from the history of wars and is thus one of the three main history museums of Germany. In 2011 the renovation was finished and now the old building has a deconstructivist wedge designed by Daniel Libeskind. The card shows a model of the Gorch Fock and the exhibition "Animals and the Military".


Stamp:
Centenary of World War I (issued 07-08-2014)


I also got an ad-card about the current temporary exhibition "14-Menschen-Krieg". The exhibition illustrates different fates of people "joining" the war in different ways (soldiers and persons like mothers staying at home). For the exhibition they even built an old German trench from Alsace to understand the feelings of the soldiers during the trench warfare. The card shows gas protection clothes for people and horses. Although the Hague Conventions of 1907 prohibited the use of toxic gas the German Empire used it for the first time in 1915. Because of the naval blockade of the Triple Entente the German Empire used the Haber process to produce ammonia. During the war the Triple Entente and the Central Powers used more and more powerful toxic weapons.


In the museum shop I also bought some others World War I related cards.
One of them shows Emperor Wilhelm II with his family. Wilhelm II dismissed Otto von Bismarck in 1890 and leaded the German Empire in the isolation. During the World War I his generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff dictated the policy as he was an ineffective war leader. After the lost war and his abdication he went to exile in the Netherlands where he died in 1941.


Two other cards show German and British air planes used during the World War I. The first city attacked from the air was Liege attacked by an airship. At the beginning of the war air planes were used for air recce but later they were also used for air attacks and dropping of propaganda material.


Another card shows the British propaganda poster "The kitchen is the key to Victory-eat less bread" by an unknown artist. The poster was used to call on the housewives to rationalise bread because of the bad supply situation. This way the housewife at the home front can help the soldiers.


The last card shows the propaganda poster "Join the Air Service and serve in France-Do it now" by J. Paul Verrees. The poster is with the romantic depiction of the air traffic one of the most beautiful American posters of World War I and mobilised a great mass of volunteers.


Germany: Brühl's Terrace

Yesterday arrived the five cards I sent to myself from my trip to Dresden. 

One of the cards shows the Brühl's Terrace. The Brühl's Terrace is around 500m long and is sometimes nicknamed "The Balcony of Europe". The card shows also the Academy of Fine Arts, the Hausmannsturm and the Dresden Cathedral.


With matching stamp:
Dresden (from set of two) (issued 03-04-2014)


Germany: Semperoper

Yesterday arrived the five cards I sent to myself from my trip to Dresden. 

One of the cards shows the Semperoper. The Semperoper is the opera house of the Saxon State Opera and the concert hall of the Saxon State Orchestra. It was first built by Gottfried Semper between 1838 and 1841 and was twice destroyed in 1869 and in 1945 but was twice rebuilt. Mayor works of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss were premiered in the Semperoper. 


With matching stamp:
Dresden (from set of two) (issued 03-04-2014)


Germany: Old Masters Picture Gallery in Dresden

Yesterday arrived the five cards I sent to myself from my trip to Dresden. 

One of the cards shows the paintings Sistine Madonna by Raphael and The Chocolate Girl by Jean-Étienne Liotard. Both paintings are shown in the Old Masters Picture Gallery in the Semper Gallery of the Zwinger. The Old Masters Picture Gallery shows around 750 paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries.


Stamp:
Dresden (from set of two) (issued 03-04-2014)


Thursday, August 28, 2014

Taiwan: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

On 23rd August arrived four postcards: one from Taiwan, one from Germany, one from China and one from Thailand.

The card from Taiwan shows a little boy holding the Taiwanese flag in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei. The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall was built between 1976 and 1980 in remembrance of the former president of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek. 


Stamps:
Children at Play (three from set of five) (issued 02-04-2014)


Thank You very much Amy!

Thailand: Grand Palace in Bangkok

On 23rd August arrived four postcards: one from Thailand, one Taiwan, one from Germany and one from China.

The card from Thailand shows the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The Grand Palace was the official residence of the Kings of Thailand from the 18th century until the death of King Ananda Mahidol in 1946. 


Stamps:
Flowers (whole set) (issued 15-11-1999)
60th Royal Wedding Anniversary (from set of two) (issued 28-04-2010)



Thank You very much Ta!

China: Camel Hill in Guangxi

On 23rd August arrived four postcards: one from China, one from Thailand, one from Taiwan and one from Germany.

The card from China shows the Camel Hill in Guilin in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is since 1958 one of five Chinese autonomous regions. The capital of Guangxi is Nanning. 


Stamps:
Weiqi (from set of two) (issued 30-04-1993)
International Horticultural Exposition 2014 Qingdao (whole set) (issued 25-04-2014)
Year of the Snake (issued 05-01-2013)
with a pictorial postmark


Thank You very much Mo!

Germany: Hanover

On 23rd August arrived four postcards: one from Germany, one from China, one from Thailand and one from Taiwan.

The card from Germany was sent by my mum when she recently visited our state capital Hanover. Hanover is the largest city of Lower Saxony and thirteenth largest city of Germany. The card shows among others the Herrenhausen Gardens, the New Town Hall, the Nanas by Niki de Saint Phalle and the Lower Saxony State Museum.


Stamp:
Glücksburg Castle (from set of two) (issued 02-01-2013)


France: Nancy

On 22nd August arrived three postcards: one from France and two from Germany.

The card from France shows the Place Stanislas in Nancy in Lorraine. Nancy was the residence of Stanislas Leszczynski, a king without a kingdom. Nancy is the first example of a capital enhancing not only the prestige of the sovereign but being also functional for the public. Since 1983 are the Place Stanislas, the Place de la Carrière and the Place d'Alliance in Nancy an UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Stamps:
label
General Mobilisation (issued 04-08-2014)
On 2nd August France mobilised its troops and entered the war on 3rd August alongside Russia (Triple Entente). The German Empire wanted to captured France according to the Schlieffen Plan through Belgium and Luxembourg. The Western Front was located in France. The Triple Entente won the war and France got back Alsace-Lorraine from the German Empire.


Thank You very much Phan!

Germany: Berlin from above

On 22nd August arrived three postcards: two from Germany and one from France. 

One of the cards from Germany shows Berlin from above. Some famous buildings on the are the Reichstag, the Bundeskanzleramt, the Museum Island and the Fernsehturm Berlin.
I bought this card when I recently visited Berlin.


Stamp:
Football World Champion Germany (issued 17-07-2014)
with a special postmark also celebrating Germany as Football World Champion


Germany: Flag of Berlin

On 22nd August arrived three postcards: two from Germany and one from France. 

One of the cards from Germany shows the flag of Berlin. The flag of Berlin has three stripes of red-white-red and an emblem of a bear. It is used since 1911.
I bought this card when I recently visited Berlin.


Stamp:
Dream Eater-Slumberland (from set of three) (issued 07-08-2014)
with First Day Special Postmark


China: Paper-cut

On 21st August arrived a postcard from China.

The card shows the paper-cut "The Horse Plays". The traditional Chinese Paper-cut is since 2009 an Intangible Heritage of the UNESCO.


Stamps:
Peach Flower (from set of twelve) (issued 16-03-2013)
Greetings stamps


Thank You very much "Polly Yu"!

cover from New Zealand

On 21st August arrived a cover from New Zealand.

Stamps:
The Hobbit-Thorin (from set of six) (issued 01-11-2013)
1914 For King and Empire (from set of ten) (issued 29-07-2014)
Lord Kitchener was the embodiment of the Empire in New Zealand in the years leading to World War I. In 1915 he recommended the retreat of the New Zealandian troops from Gallipoli. In 1916 he died on the HMS Hampshire.
Prince Caspian (from set of four) (issued 07-05-2008)
The stamp shows High King Peter.


In the cover were two FDCs from New Zealand.

Thank You very much Sharon!

Indonesia: Postcrossing Meet-up in Jakarta

On 20th August arrived a postcard from Indonesia.

The card is the official card for the Postcrossing Meet-up in Jakarta on 8th March 2014.


Stamps:
Year of the Dragon (whole set) (issued 15-01-2012)


Thank You very much Tiara!

Germany: King Ludwig II

On 16th August arrived the 14 cards I sent to myself when I recently visited Bavaria.

One of the cards shows a painting by Ferdinand von Piloty showing King Ludwig II. King Ludwig II was born in 1845 in the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich. He spent his childhood in Hohenschwangau Castle. After the death of his father he became King of Bavaria in 1864. He built the three palaces Linderhof, Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee and the King's House on Schachen. He was also a big supporter and patron of Richard Wagner and helped him to build his Festspielhaus in Bayreuth. In 1870 he offered William I the imperial crown with the Kaiserbrief. In 1886 he was placed under disability. Short after his incapacitation he died in an uncleared context in the Lake Starnberg.


Stamp:
Glücksburg Castle (from set of two) (issued 02-01-2013)

Germany: Herrenchiemsee Castle

On 16th August arrived the 14 cards I sent to myself when I recently visited Bavaria.

One of the cards shows the Herrenchiemsee Castle on Herreninsel in the Chiemsee. The Herrenchiemsee Castle is the largest of Ludwig II's three palaces and was built between 1878 and 1886. It should be a copy of the Palace of Versailles but when Ludwig II died the palace was not finished. 50 of the 70 rooms are not finished. For the castle 5kg gold foil was used (1g is enough for 1m²!). The interior can be visited. The castle also houses an exhibition on bats, an exhibition on modern art and the King Ludwig II Museum. 
The card shows the front of the castle with the water garden, the Hall of Mirrors and the staircase.


Stamp:
Glücksburg Castle (from set of two) (issued 02-01-2013)


I also bought another card showing the workroom of King Ludwig II with four interesting clocks (in all rooms is at least one clock as Ludwig II collected them).


On Herreninsel you can also visit the Herrenchiemsee Abbey with an exhibition The history of the Federal Republic of Germany and an exhibition on art in the Chiemsee region specialised on Julius Exter.

Germany: Linderhof Palace

On 16th August arrived the 14 cards I sent to myself when I recently visited Bavaria.

One of the cards shows the Linderhof Palace. The Linderhof Palace is the smallest of the three palaces of King Ludwig II and was built between 1874 and 1879.


Stamp:
Glücksburg Castle (from set of two) (issued 02-01-2013)


Germany: Throne Hall of Neuschwanstein Castle

On 16th August arrived the 14 cards I sent to myself when I recently visited Bavaria.

One of the cards shows the Throne Hall of Neuschwanstein Castle.


Stamp:
Glücksburg Castle (from set of two) (issued 02-01-2013)


Germany: Neuschwanstein Castle

On 16th August arrived the 14 cards I sent to myself when I recently visited Bavaria.

One of the cards shows again Neuschwanstein Castle. In the background you can see the Hohenschwangau Castle, the Alpsee and the Alps.


Stamp:
Glücksburg Castle (from set of two) (issued 02-01-2013)


Germany: Hohenschwangau Castle

On 16th August arrived the 14 cards I sent to myself when I recently visited Bavaria.

One of the cards shows the Hohenschwangau Castle near Füssen. The Hohenschwangau Castle was built from 1833 onwards by King Maximilian II of Bavaria. It was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It lies opposite of Neuschwanstein Castle.


Stamp:
Glücksburg Castle (from set of two) (issued 02-01-2013)


Germany: Nymphenburg Palace

On 16th August arrived the 14 cards I sent to myself when I recently visited Bavaria.

One of the cards shows the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich. The Nymphenburg Palace was used by the House of Wittelsbach as main summer residence. It was built between 1664 and 1675. King Ludwig II was born in the Nymphenburg Palace in 1845 and in 1863 he had his only meeting with Otto von Bismarck there.


Stamp:
Glücksburg Castle (from set of two) (issued 02-01-2013)