Taiwan – Tourist's Map Card

David sent me this card which was issued by the National Youth Commission, with the aim of promoting tourism in Taiwan amongst the youth of the world. The map card of Taiwan highlights the important tourist centers in Taiwan.

Finland – The Swan

Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six to seven species of swan in the genus Cygnus; in addition there is another species known as the Coscoroba Swan, although this species is no longer considered related to the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, though 'divorce' does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight.

In the Finnish epic Kalevala, a swan lives in the Tuoni river located in Tuonela, the underworld realm of the dead. According to the story, whoever killed a swan would perish as well. Jean Sibelius composed the Lemminkäinen Suite based on Kalevala, with the second piece entitled Swan of Tuonela (Tuonelan joutsen). Today, five flying swans are the symbol of the Nordic Countries and the whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) is the national bird of Finland.

And everyone knows of Swan Lake a very famous ballet and its music is easily recognizable. This lovely card was sent to me by Ella.

Germany – SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse

There is no doubt that the Kaiser realised what great national symbols large ships would be for his empire. He returned to Germany with the intention of building German liners to show the world the capability of the German Empire. And what would be a better way to do this, than to capture the famous Blue Riband into German hands? But it would take them some years to do so.
In Germany, there were two major transatlantic shipping companies: The Hamburg-Amerika Line and the Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd). Neither of these lines had up until now shown any interest in operating large liners. But the steadily growing immigration traffic and the wishes of the Kaiser soon changed their minds.
Norddeutscher Lloyd was the company that took the first step. The Kaiser wanted Germany's ships to be the greatest ever, and he wanted German shipbuilders to build them. Norddeutscher Lloyd therefore approached the Vulcan Shipyards at Stettin. With them they placed the order for what would become the very first German superliner.
On May 4^th 1897, the new ship was ready for its launch. The Kaiser himself was present, and the ship was named Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse after his grandfather. The new ship would set a new style for ocean liners. She was the largest and longest liner afloat. She would have been the biggest ever had it not been for the Great Eastern of 1860. The most striking feature of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was her four funnels, the first ship ever to sport such a quartet that for the next decade would be the symbol of size and safety. To give her record-breaking speed, the ship was fitted with reciprocating engines capable of developing some 31,000 horsepower.
But the thing that was really ground-breaking was the fashion of her interior design. For the first time in history, one single designer was responsible for the decorating of an entire ship. On the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, as well as on her three subsequent sisters, the designer's name was Johannes Poppe. His style of interiors was of a new kind, and it would be reflected in many German liners to come. Favouring baroque revival, Poppe created an atmosphere that had no match in decoration. Public rooms were given high ceilings and rich ornate carvings. His taste for grandiosity seemed to know no limits, and it was almost as if he had tried to gild the whole ship. Nevertheless, the travelling public enjoyed the new Kaiser, and she quickly became a very popular ship.
As with the Kaiser's ideal Teutonic, the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse had been built with a possible war in mind. Should it ever be necessary, the ship could be fitted with guns to serve as an auxiliary cruiser.

France – Paddle Steamer SS Cobra

Cobra was built for G & J Burns daylight Royal Mail service from Gourock to Belfast. She was not found acceptable by Burns and was sold back to Fairfields, who renamed her St Tudno and registered in the name of their managing director Richard Barnwell. She was run for excursion work in North Wales, in competition with the ships of The Liverpool & North Wales Steamship Co Ltd. Evidently she was not profitable in this guise for she was sold again, in the same year, for use between Hamburg and Heligoland, where she regained her original name. She was comandeered by the French after the Great War and was sold to German breakers in 1922. In this splendid picture, she is shown in service at Nice, towards the end of her career. As can be seen, Cobra was a good looking steamer with a full length promenade deck and elegant lines. The picture below shows a lively scene of her whilst in service for the Hamburg-America line in 1909. Thank you Maria for this nice old ship card.

France – Brittany Coast Lighthouse

Maria sent me this card with the picture of the lighthouse on the Brittany Coast in France.

Finland - Ju 88

The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early operational roles, but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war. Affectionately known as "The Maid of all Work" (a feminine version of "jack of all trades"), the Ju 88 proved to be suited to almost any role. Like a number of other Luftwaffe bombers, it was used successfully as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, heavy fighter, and even as a flying bomb during the closing stages of conflict.

Despite its protracted development, the aircraft became one of the Luftwaffe's most important assets. The assembly line ran constantly from 1936 to 1945, and more than 16,000 Ju 88s were built in dozens of variants, more than any other twin-engine German aircraft of the period. Throughout the production, the basic structure of the aircraft remained unchanged, proof of the outstanding quality of the original design.

The picture is of a model of a Junkers Ju-88 A-4 (JK-254) that crashed during a bombing mission on 1st of July 1944 in Lake Pyhaselka in Rauvanlanti Liperi. Parts of this Bomber were found in 2008. The engine is on display at the Central Finland Aviation Museum. Merja sent me this card.

Åland – Volunteer Fire Brigade

The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland. The islands collectively constitute the smallest region of Finland, with only 0.49% of its land area, and 0.50% of its population. Because of the autonomous status of the Åland Islands, the powers exercised at the provincial level by representatives of the central state administration in the rest of Finland are largely exercised by the Government of Åland in Åland.
The Volunteer Fire Brigade of Mariehamn (Åland) was founded in 1887. The province has 20 fire brigades, which comprise about 300 active firemen, 120 women and 150 juniors. These fire brigades possess 50 fire trucks, 40 pumps and about 20 km hose-pipes. This postcard celebrates the 100^th Anniversary of this organisation, which was on 27.4.1987.