Naantali

Thank you Pia for this lovely card giving a few views of Naantali which is a city in south-western Finland, known as one of the most important tourist centres of the country. The municipality has a population of 18,858 (31 January 2012), and is located in the region of Finland Proper, 14 kilometres west of Turku. The town encompasses a land area of 311.50 square kilometres. Most of this area is located on the islands, but the majority of the population lives on the mainland. In fact, most of the island is beautiful forest and farmland, while the mainland consists chiefly of residential areas.

One of the oldest towns in Finland, Naantali was founded around the mediaeval Brigittine convent Vallis gratiae, the church of which still dominates its skyline. The charter was signed by King Christopher of Sweden, the then ruler of Finland, in 1443. The convent got trading rights and other privileges, and the town around it began to grow. It also became an important destination for pilgrimage.

Statsraad Lehmkuhl

This pretty vessel is The Statsraad Lehmkuhl is a three-masted barque rigged sail-training vessel owned and operated by the Statsraad Lehmkuhl Foundation. It is based in Bergen, Norway and contracted out for various purposes, including serving as a school ship for the Royal Norwegian Navy (using RNoN's prefix "KNM", English: "HNoMS").
She was built in 1914 as a school training ship for the German merchant marine under the name Grossherzog Friedrich August. After the First World War the ship was taken as a prize by the United Kingdom, and in 1921 the ship was bought by former cabinet minister Kristoffer Lehmkuhl (hence the name, which means "Cabinet Minister Lehmkuhl"). With the exception of the Second World War, when she was captured by German troops and called Westwärts, the ship has belonged to Bergens Skoleskib until it was donated to the Foundation in 1978. In 2000, it was chartered by the German Navy while their Gorch Fock was overhauled. This card was sent to me by Merja.

Ship in a Bottle

Well, what is a ship in a bottle, or SIB as it is refered to these days. An SIB has always intrigued people through the ages. So, lets go a little deeper into this.

Unfortunately nothing is known about the first maker of a ship in a bottle. The oldest ship in a bottle (SIB), as far as we know, was made in 1784 in Italy by Gioni Biondo and this SIB was donated by' Captain Kruger of Lubeck to the 'Museum fiir Kunst und Kulturgeschichte der Hansestadt Lubeck' in Germany. It is said that this SIB is a so-called ship-owner's model, which was made by a professional model builder. The SIB is numbered 7357 in the museum list. It is probably a Turkish or a Portuguese three-masted warship. It is put in an egg­-shaped bottle, which is placed upside down over a wooden stand.

There are several ways to put a ship inside a bottle. The simplest way is to rig the masts of the ship and raise it up when the ship is inside the bottle. Masts, spars, and sails are built separately and then attached to the hull of the ship with strings and hinges so the masts can lie flat against the deck. The ship is then placed inside the bottle and the masts are pulled up using the strings attached to the masts. The hull of the ship must still be able to fit through the opening. Bottles with minor distortions and soft tints are often chosen to hide the small details of the ship such as hinges on the masts.
Alternatively, with specialized long-handled tools, it is possible to build the ship inside the bottle. This interesting card was sent to me by Marian.

Sochi

Further to my post on 13th July 2012, here is another card from Sochi sent to me by Sveta. A little information about this Russian city can be got from the post mentioned by me.

Kołobrzeg, Poland

Kołobrzeg is a city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland with some 50,000 inhabitants (as of 2000). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section divided by the Oder and Vistula Rivers). It has been the capital of Kołobrzeg County in West Pomeranian Voivodship since 1999, and previously was in Koszalin Voivodship (1950–1998).
During the Early Middle Ages, Slavic Pomeranians founded a settlement at the site of modern Budzistowo. Thietmar of Merseburg first mentioned the site as Salsa Cholbergiensis. Around the year 1000, when the area was under Polish rule, the stronghold became seat of the Diocese of Kołobrzeg. During High Middle Ages, the town was expanded with additional settlement was founded a few kilometers north of the stronghold in the course of the Ostsiedlung and chartered with Lübeck law. The city later joined the Hanseatic League. Within the Duchy of Pomerania, Kolberg was the urban center of the secular reign of the Cammin bishops and their residence throughout the High and Late Middle Ages. When Kolberg was part of Brandenburgian Pomerania during the Early Modern Age, it withstood Polish and Napoleon's troops in the Siege of Kolberg. From 1815, it was part of the Prussian province of Pomerania. During the 19th century a Polish community started to organize itself. As the Nazis took power in Germany, Poles and Jews were discriminated, determined to be subhuman and eventually subjected to genocide. In 1945 Polish and Soviet troops seized the town and it was subsequently attached to Poland, while the remaining German population, which had not fled the advancing Red Army was expelled. The town, devastated in the preceding Battle of Kolberg, was rebuilt but lost its status as the regional center to the nearby Koszalin. This lovely card was sent to me by Krystyna.

HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81)

Hr.Ms. Karel Doorman (R81) was a Colossus-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy of the Netherlands. Formerly the British ship HMS Venerable, she was sold to the Netherlands in 1948 as a light attack carrier. In 1960, she was involved in the decolonisation conflict in Western New Guinea with Indonesia. In the mid 60's the role was changed to anti-submarine warfare carrier and only ASW aircraft and helicopters were carried. An engine room fire took her out of service in 1968. She was sold to Argentina in 1969 and renamed ARA Veinticinco de Mayo. Zwollywood from Zwolle sent me this card.
The people of Zwolle are nicknamed Bluefingers. During the middle Ages the cities of Zwolle and nearby Kampen made life as difficult as possible for each other. The inhabitants of the latter city were named Kampen Sturgeons. The nickname Bluefinger was given to the Zwolle people because they supposedly committed perjury against the Duke of Gelre.
Some time later, another explanation was given. When Zwolle offered its glockenspiel from the Grote Kerk (St Michael’s Church) for sale, Kampen agreed to buy it and arrived with a wagon full of pennies. The citizens of Zwolle had to count a huge amount of copper coins and so earned their blue fingers. In 2007 the name Bluefinger surfaced across the Atlantic, as the title of a CD by Black Francis, a former member of the American band The Pixies. The source of inspiration for this CD is the late well-known musician and painter Herman Brood, who was born and lived in Zwolle.

The Gateway to Finland

This card was sponsored by the Finland State Railways. And, was first published in 1930. It was sent to me by Koo.