Town Hall Square in Tallinn

Raekoja plats (Town Hall Square) is a town square beside Tallinn Town Hall in the center of the Tallinn Old Town in Tallinn, Estonia. It is a venue for numerous small festivals or concerts like Tallinn Old Town Days, and several bars and restaurants are located in the near vicinity. The square also hosts a market regularly, with many stalls selling traditional Estonian items and souvenirs.

There has been a town hall in Tallinn since at least 1322 and a town square next to it ever since then. The hall was rebuilt from 1402 to 1404 into its current form, and a Christmas tree display has been held in the square since 1441, making the Tallinn Christmas tree display over 570 years old.

The Tallinn Town Hall is a building in the Tallinn Old Town, Estonia, next to the Town Hall Square. It is the oldest town hall in the whole of the Baltic region and Scandinavia. The building is located in the south side of the ancient market square and is 36.8 metres long. The west wall is 14.5 metres in length, and the east is 15.2 meters. It is a two-storey building with a spacious basement. The wind vane “Old Thomas” on the top of the Town Hall's tower, that has been there since 1530, has become one of the symbols of Tallinn. The height of the tower is 64 metres.

  

Thank you Ella for this nice card. I am sure you had a lovely break there.

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!

Greetings from Prague zoo

Greetings from Prague zoo

In this zoo enclosure one can take a peek into the life of a gorilla family, whose members are among Prague Zoo’s best-known personalities. They include Richard, a brawny silverback male; Bikira, a gentle female who, in 2012, was voted the number-one celebrity of Czech zoos; and baby gorillas, whose games have the power to put a smile on everyone’s face, it seems.

The gorillas share the pavilion with smaller tamarin monkeys and armadillos.

Thank you Irena from Prague for this lovely card.

The Moomin's

Thank you Dear Ella for this lovely card with the famous Moomin family by Tove Jansson. A lot has been mentioned already about the Moomin's on this blog.

Praha or Prague

Mirek sent me this pretty card of Praha or Prague which is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million. The city has a temperate oceanic climate with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural and economic centre of Europe and particularly central Europe during its 1,100 year existence. For centuries, during the Gothic and Renaissance eras, Prague was the permanent seat of two Holy Roman Emperors and thus was also the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Later it was an important city in the Habsburg Monarchy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and after World War I became the capital of Czechoslovakia. The city played major roles in the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, and in 20th-century history, during both World Wars and the post-war Communist era. Prague is home to a number of famous cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of twentieth century Europe. 

Main attractions include the following: Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, the Jewish Quarter, the Lennon Wall, and Petřín hill. Since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Prague boasts more than ten major museums, along with countless theatres, galleries, cinemas, and other historical exhibits. Also, Prague is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including the famous Charles University. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city receives more than 4.1 million international visitors annually, as of 2009. Prague is classified as a global city. 

A modern public transportation system connects the city. Prague is also accessible by road, train, and air. The card shows two very famous views of this great City. The historic centre of Prague (Hradčany with Prague Castle, the Lesser Quarter, Old Town including the Charles Bridge and Josefov, New Town and Vyšehrad) occupies an area of 866 ha and has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1992. 

Shown on the card are a few famous sites in Prague, of which one is The famous Charles Bridge across the Vltava River in Prague. This 'solid-land' connection made Prague important as a trade route between east and west Europe. The bridge was originally called theStone Bridge or the Prague Bridge but has been the "Charles Bridge" since 1870. King Charles IV's favourite architect and builder Peter Parler, originally built the present-day bridge. The initial idea was to build a functional construction for jousting tournaments, and for many years the only decoration on the bridge was a simple crucifix, but later the desire of the Catholics for ornamentation resulted in 30 statues being built (1600 to 1800 AD).

Greater Poland Uprising of 1918–1919, or Wielkopolska Uprising

The Greater Poland Uprising of 1918–1919, or Wielkopolska Uprising of 1918–1919 or Posnanian War was a military insurrection of Poles in the Greater Poland region (also called by the Germans the Grand Duchy of Poznań or Provinz Posen region) against Germany. The uprising had a significant effect on the Treaty of Versailles, which granted a reconstituted Poland the area won by the Polish insurgents plus some additional territory, at the cost of German territory, all of which had previously been Polish territory, before the three Partitions of Poland carried out (between 1787 and 1795) by the three powerful, neighbouring Empires of Austria, Prussia and Russia.

The card depicts the Meeting convened by the Council Zobnierzy and Robotnikorz at the city council hall in Poznan on Monday 11 November1918, in which the then Mayor Ernst Wilmsa gave the call for the uprising.

Thank you Weronika.

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.