The Town of Cello in Germany

Wiebke from Germany sent me this card which shows different views of the town Celle where she lives. Now, for those of you who have visited Hanover may have visited Celle too, for it isn't too far from there. 

Cello is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the River Aller, a tributary of the Weser and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lüneburg Heath, has a castle (Schloss Celle) built in the renaissance and baroque style and a picturesque old town centre (the Altstadt) with over 400 timber-framed houses, making Celle one of the most remarkable members of the German Timber-Frame Road. From 1378 to 1705, Celle was the official residence of the Lüneburg branch of the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg (House of Welf) who had been banished from their original ducal seat by its townsfolk.

Thank you Wiebke.

Hamburg

This nice card sent to me by Marivi shows Hamburg Harbour, with the  "Sea Cloud II" on the Elbe. One can also see the St. Pauli and Michaelis Churches.

Kiel - The Bicycle City

This card with a photo of a bike was sent to me by Alexandra from Kiel, which is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 240,832 (June 2014).

Alexandra tells me that Kiel is a bicycle city. That's one great way of keeping fit. I loved cycling too, but that was many many years ago. I wonder if I would be able to balance on a cycle now!

A little bit about Kiel. Kiel has also been one of the traditional homes of the German Navy's Baltic fleet, and continues to be a major high-tech shipbuilding centre. Located in Kiel is the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR) at the University of Kiel. Kiel is an important sea transport hub, thanks to its location on the Kiel Fjord (Kieler Förde) and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, Kiel Canal (Nord-Ostsee-Kanal). A number of passenger ferries to Sweden, Norway, Russia, and other countries operate from here. Moreover, today Kiel harbour is an important port of call for cruise ships touring the Baltic Sea.

In 2005 Kiel's GDP per capita was €35,618, which is well above Germany's national average, and 159% of the European Union's average.

Within Germany and parts of Europe, the city is known for its leading handball team, THW Kiel. The city is home to the University of Kiel (established in 1665).

The name of the city is most likely derived from the wedge form of its bay (Keil in German).

Frankfurt on the Main

Ellen sent me this card with a view of Frankfurt on the Main. Frankfurt is the most important trade and economic center in Germany. 

This view is over the Main.

Winter in Germany

Roland sent me this card showng a typical winter's scene in Germany.

Stormy Sea by Gustave Courbet

This card with a painting (oil on canvas) of a Stormy Sea by Gustave Courbet was sent to me by Andrea from Germany.

Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realist movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the Romanticism of the previous generation of visual artists. His independence set an example that was important to later artists, such as the Impressionists and the Cubists. Courbet occupies an important place in 19th-century French painting as an innovator and as an artist willing to make bold social statements through his work.

Courbet's paintings of the late 1840s and early 1850s brought him his first recognition. They challenged convention by depicting unidealized peasants and workers, often on a grand scale traditionally reserved for paintings of religious or historical subjects. Courbet's subsequent paintings were mostly of a less overtly political character: landscapes, seascapes, hunting scenes, nudes and still lifes. He was imprisoned for six months in 1871 for his involvement with the Paris Commune, and lived in exile in Switzerland from 1873 until his death.

I am fifty years old and I have always lived in freedom; let me end my life free; when I am dead let this be said of me: 'He belonged to no school, to no church, to no institution, to no academy, least of all to any régime except the régime of liberty.' 

Bremerhaven

My friend Hans from Bremerhaven in Germany sent me this card.

Bremerhaven, literally "Bremen's harbour", is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham. Though a relatively new city, it has a long history as a trade port and today is one of the most important German ports, playing a crucial role in Germany's trade.

Besigheim in Swabia

My friend from this wonderful part of Germany, Besigheim in Swabia which is not only a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany, but an area over-flowing in wine. Mmmm. The card depicts Hirch, a restaurant cum hotel in Besigheim.

Swabia was one of the ten Imperial Circles of the Holy Roman Empire from 1500 to the dissolution of the Empire in 1806. Besigheim is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated 13 km north of Ludwigsburg at the confluence of the Neckar and Enz rivers. The town has many old buildings and a town hall that dates back to 1459. There are two medieval towers, gothic church, cobblestone market place and other historical objects of interest.

Besigheim was founded in the 12th century as a well- defended walled city. The first mention of the city in official documentation was in 1153 in a decree by King Friedrich I. In 1693 the fortifications were all but destroyed by French troops, and by 1750 were little more than rubble.

Besigheim is the twin town of Newton Abbot, Devon in the UK.

Hamburg, Germany

This lovely card showing various sites of Hamburg was sent to me by Josefine living in Darmstadt.

Hamburg (Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg), is the second largest city in Germany and the eighth largest city in the European Union. It is also the thirteenth largest German state. Its population is over 1.8 million people, and the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighbouring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 5 million inhabitants.

The port of Hamburg, on the river Elbe, is the second largest port in Europe (after the Port of Rotterdam) and tenth largest worldwide.

The official name reflects its history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, a city-state, and one of the 16 states of Germany. Before the 1871 Unification of Germany, it was a fully sovereign state. Prior to the constitutional changes in 1919, the stringent civic republic was ruled by a class of hereditary grand burghers or Hanseaten.

Hamburg is a major transport hub and is one of the most affluent cities in Europe. It has become a media and industrial centre, with plants and facilities belonging to Airbus, Blohm + Voss and Aurubis. The radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk and publishers such as Gruner + Jahr and Spiegel-Verlag are pillars of the important media industry in Hamburg. Hamburg has been an important financial centre for centuries, and is the seat of the world's second oldest bank, Berenberg Bank. There are more than 120,000 enterprises.

The city is a notable tourist destination for both domestic and overseas visitors; it ranked 17th in the world for livability in 2012.

Transmission of Electrical Energy

The main event of the International Electrotechnical Exhibition in Frankfurt (May 16 to September 19, 1891) was the suggestion made by Oskar von Miller regarding transmission of electrical energy with three-phase alternating current (phase current) from Lauffen  Neckar to Frankfurt.

The picture on this maxi card shows the turbine and the transformer house of the Main station at Lauffen.

Thank you Maria.

150th Birth Anniversary of Paul Wallot

Paul Wallot (26 June 1841 Oppenheim am Rhein - 10 August 1912 Bad Schwalbach) was a German architect of Huguenot descent, best known for designing the Reichstag building in Berlin, erected between 1884 and 1894. He also built the adjacent Palace of the President of the Reichstag, finished in 1904, and the former Saxon Ständehaus state diet building of 1906 at Brühl's Terrace in Dresden.

This stamp on the maxicard and the card itself were issued on 4^th June, 1991 being the 150^th Birth Anniversary of Paul Wallot the famous architect of Germany.

Thank you Merja.

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN?

AND WHO DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN? 

Now, where is Hamelin you may very well ask. Is it just a fairy tale town or is it a real place?

Hamelin is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of 58,696 (as at 2006). Hamelin is also the gateway to the surrounding Weserbergland mountains, which are popular with hikers and bikers.

The town is famous for the folk tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, a medieval story that tells of a tragedy that befell the town in the thirteenth century. The version written by the Brothers Grimm made it popular throughout the world; it is also the subject of well-known poems by Goethe and Robert Browning. Although Hamelin has a fine medieval old town with some remarkable buildings, the main attraction is the tale of the Pied Piper. In the summer every Sunday, the tale is performed by actors in the town centre.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin (the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great number of children from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in multicolored clothing, leading the children away from the town never to return. In the 16th century the story was expanded into a full narrative, in which the piper is a rat-catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his magic pipe. When the citizenry refuses to pay for this service, he retaliates by turning his power that he put in his instrument on their children, leading them away as he had the rats. This version of the story spread as folk lore. This version has also appeared in the writings of, amongst others, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the Brothers Grimm and Robert Browning.

The story may reflect a historical event in which Hamelin lost its children. Theories have been proposed suggesting that the Pied Piper is a symbol of the children's death by plague or catastrophe. Other theories liken him to figures like Nicholas of Cologne, who is said to have lured away a great number of children on a disastrous Children's Crusade. The current theory, generally accepted by scholars and historians, ties the departure of Hamelin's children to the Ostsiedlung, in which a number of Germans left their homes to colonize Eastern Europe.

Thank you Claudia for this lovely card. The story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin has enthralled children around the world for ever and ever!

Datteln

Datteln is a town in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on a crossroads of four canals (Datteln-Hamm Canal, Wesel-Datteln Canal, Dortmund-Ems Canal and Rhein-Herne Canal), which makes it the biggest canal junction in the World, approx. 10 km north-east of Recklinghausen and 20 km north-west of Dortmund.

Katja Seizinger, former alpine skier and triple Olympic gold medallist, was born in Datteln.

These two cards were sent to me by Frank and Uwe respectively.

Fehmarn – Germany's sunshine isle.

Silvia sent me this card featuring  Fehmarn – Germany's sunshine isle in the Baltic Sea.

With 2,200 hours of sun every year, endless stretches of natural beaches along 78 kilometres of coastline, picturesque freshwater lakes and rugged cliffs, Fehmarn is an idyllic holiday destination. Fehmarn might have been created especially for holidaymakers in search of a relaxing, healthy break. The Baltic Sea island, covering some 185 square kilometres, has a mild yet bracing climate and is one of the sunniest places in Germany. The FehMare pool complex, located on the island's south beach promenade, is a popular attraction with a large range of wellness and recreation facilities including seawater pools, relaxation pools and a variety of saunas.

Jena

Jena was founded quite late, compared to its near neighbour villages, in the early 2nd millennium. Part of the State of Thuringia from its foundation in 1920 on, it was incorporated into the German Democratic Republic in 1949 and its district of Gera in 1952. Since 1990, the city of Jena has been a part of the Free State of Thuringia which is itself part of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Jena has one of the biggest universities in Germany and its ratio of students to the total of inhabitants may belong to the greatest in Germany, as there are 20,000 students at the university which was founded in 1558 and named after Friedrich Schiller in 1934. Additionally, there are some 4,500 students at the university of applied sciences (Fachhochschule), making one out of four citizens of Jena a student.

Goethe and Schiller, probably the two greatest German writers, lived in Jena as well as for example the biologist Ernst Haeckel, the physicists Ernst Abbe and Erwin Schrödinger and the philosopher Karl Marx.

During most of the 20th century, Jena has been a world centre of optical industry around companies like CarlZeiss, Schott and Jenoptik (since 1990). As one of only few medium cities in Germany, it has some high-rise buildings in city centre, like Jen Tower. Those have their origin also in the former Carl Zeiss factory. Between 1790 and 1850, Jena was a focal point of German Vormärz as well as of studental liberal and unification movement and German Romanticism. Notable persons of this period in Jena are Friedrich Schiller, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Novalis and August Wilhelm Schlegel.

Jena lies in a hilly landscape in the east of Thuringia, within the wide valley of the Saale river.

The towers of Forstturm, Bismarcturm and Fuchsturm are shown on this card sent to me by Insa.

Speicherstadt in Hamburg

This nice card sent to me by Eike shows The Speicherstadt (city of warehouses, meaning warehouse district) in Hamburg, Germany which is the largest timber-pile founded warehouse district in the world. It is located in the port of Hamburg—within the Hafen City quarter—and was built from 1883 to 1927.

The district was built as a free zone to transfer goods without paying customs. As of 2009 the district and the surrounding area is under redevelopment. The Speicherstadt is located in the port of Hamburg and 1.5 km (0.93 mi) long and pervaded by loading canals. TheSpeicherstadt is a tourist attraction in Hamburg. There are several museums like the Deutsches Zollmuseum (German Customs Museum),Miniatur Wunderland (a model railway), the Hamburg Dungeon, and the Afghan Museum.

The buildings are also used as warehouses. As of 2005, the companies in the Speicherstadt handled one-third of the world's carpet production, and other goods as cocoa, coffee, tea, spices, maritime equipment, and electronic goods.

Ulm on the River Danube

Tanja sent me this card of Ulm which is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 (2006), forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850 (first written mention in 22 July 854), is rich in history and traditions as a former Free Imperial City (German: freie Reichsstadt). Today, it is an economic centre due to its varied industries, and it is the seat of a university (University of Ulm, founded in 1967). Internationally, Ulm is primarily known for having the church with the tallest steeple in the world (161.53 m or 529.95 feet), the Gothic minster and as the birthplace of Albert Einstein.

Ulm has Ulm Minster a Lutheran church and former Roman Catholic church located in Ulm, Germany. Although sometimes referred to as Ulm Cathedral because of its great size, the church is not a cathedral as it has never been the seat of a bishop.

Ulm Minster, like Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom), was begun in the Gothic era and not completed until the late 19th century. It is the tallest church in the world, and the 4th tallest structure built before the 20th century, with a steeple measuring 161.5 metres (530 ft) and containing 768 steps. From the top level at 143 m (469 ft) there is a panoramic view of Ulm in Baden-Württemberg and Neu-Ulm in Bavaria and, in clear weather, a vista of the Alps from Säntis to the Zugspitze. The final stairwell to the top (known as the third Gallery) is a tall, spiraling staircase that has barely enough room for one person.

The International Building Exhibition Berlin

The International Building Exhibition Berlin (IBA Berlin) was an urban renewal project in Berlin, Germany. Initiated in 1979, it was completed in 1987, matching the 750th anniversary of the founding of Berlin. The IBA followed two distinct strategies: "careful urban renewal" and "critical reconstruction."

In 1979 Josef Paul Kleihues was appointed director of the IBA. He organised the exhibition along two distinct themes:IBA Alt aimed to explore methods of "careful urban renewal" and IBA Neu for experimenting "critical reconstruction." He invited many international architects including Peter Eisenman, Vittorio Gregotti, Herman Hertzberger, Hans Hollein, Arata Isozaki, Rob Krier, Aldo Rossi and James Stirling. Consequently the IBA was called by Time magazine "the most ambitious showcase of world architecture in this generation".

Thank you Merja for this interesting maxicard issued in Berlin in 1987.         

Kitzingen on the River Main

Kitzingen is a town in the German state of Bavaria, capital of the district Kitzingen. It is part of the Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County is the largest wine producer in Bavaria. It is said to be Franconia's wine trade centre.

According to legend, Kitzingen was founded when the Countess of Schwanberg lost her jeweled scarf while standing on the ramparts of her castle. The castle was located high above the fertile section of the Main River Valley where Kitzingen now lies. The Countess promised to build a cloister on the spot where the scarf was found. When it was found by a shepherd named Kitz, she kept her word and built a cloister which she called Kitzingen. That Benedictine cloister, founded in the 8th century on the site of the present town of Kitzingen, defended the ford across the Main River.

The city's main landmark is the Leaning Tower, built during the 13th century. It is distinctive for its crooked roof. According to town legend, the tower was being built during a drought, and workers used wine instead of water to make the mortar causing the top of the tower to lean. Today the tower holds a carnival museum.

A local legend is that the golden ball atop the crooked tower contains the heart of Vlad Dracula of Romania. If you follow the path of the crooked tower, the golden ball leans directly toward a grave in the Kitzingen Old Cemetery located across the street from the tower that is called the Grave of Dracula. Another local U.S. army legend is the upside down crosses that make up the small windows on the tower, appear right side up when light casts towards the grave yard to ward off vampires. The crosses alternate such that every other one is upside down. Some, however, believe that the grave that is called "Dracula's Grave" is not actually where Vlad Dracula is buried, but rather a heavily decorated grave of a very rich family that resided in Kitzingen.

Thank you Annette for this nice card.

Greetings from Munster

Christine sends her season’s greetings from Münster, which is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of theWestphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland. Münster was the location of the Anabaptist rebellion during theProtestant Reformation and the site of the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia ending the Thirty Years' War in 1648. Today it is known as the bicycle capital of Germany.

Münster gained the status of a Großstadt (major city) with more than 100,000 inhabitants in 1915. Currently there are around 270,000 people living in the city, with about 48,500 students, only some of whom are recorded in the official population statistics as having their primary residence in Münster.