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.

Italy – Trevi Fountain

The Fontana di Trevi or Trevi Fountain is the most famous and arguably the most beautiful fountain in all of Rome. This impressive monument dominates the small Trevi square located in the Quirinale district. The Trevi fountain is at the ending part of the Aqua Virgo, an aqueduct constructed in 19 BC. It brings water all the way from the Salone Springs (approx 20km from Rome) and supplies the fountains in the historic center of Rome with water. In 1732, Pope Clement XII commissioned Nicola Salvi to create a large fountain at the Trevi Square. A previous undertaking to build the fountain after a design by Bernini was halted a century earlier after the death of Pope Urban VIII. The restive sea horse which is the masterpiece on this design. Construction of the monumental baroque fountain was finally completed in 1762. The Fountain. The central figure of the fountain, in front of a large niche, is Neptune, god of the sea. He is riding a chariot in the shape of a shell, pulled by two sea horses. Each sea horse is guided by a Triton. One of the horses is calm and obedient, the other one restive. They symbolize the fluctuating moods of the sea. On the left hand side of Neptune is a statue representing Abundance. The crowded square on the right represents Salubrity. Above the sculptures are bas-reliefs, one of them shows Agrippa, the general who built the aqueduct that carries water to the fountain.
And who can forget the song made immortal by Frank Sinatra, "Three coins in the Fountain, which one will the Fountain Bless ......................" Thank you Maria for this lovely card.

Netherlands – Terschelling Lighthouse

Terschelling is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. Waddenislanders are known for their resourcefulness in using anything and everything that washes ashore. With few trees to use for timber, most of the farms and barns are built with masts recovered from shipwrecks. The islands are surrounded by shipwrecks, and even today many containers wash ashore that are blown off the decks of cargo ships in the North Sea. The main source of income on Terschelling is tourism. There is some agriculture, but a large part of the island has become a nature reserve.

The Dutch Wadden (or Frisian) islands are very popular as a holiday resort for over a century already, for the Dutch as well as for the people living in the neighboring countries. Of the five (inhabited) Wadden islands Terschelling is the second largest, after Texel. Why particularly this island is so popular with the tourists is because, Terschelling is endowed with the longest beach of all Wadden islands. On the north side of the island not less than 30 kilometers of splendid white sandy beach, in some places over one kilometer wide, are waiting to welcome the tourists. And on the south side there's the Wadden Sea, one of the most important nature reserves of northwest Europe. As a result of the island's elongated shape there's no place on Terschelling further from the sea than half an hour's walk. Terschelling has a favorable climate compared with the rest of the Netherlands. Its winters are milder and its summers cooler. Throughout the year it has twice as many hours of sunshine as the mainland, and significantly less rain. The island is an paradise for lovers of nature and peace. Yet there is also enough diversion and fun on Terschelling to make it a popular vacation place for young people. People interested in arts and cultural activities will have a great time at the yearly unique Oerol festival, about which more later on.

This card was sent to me by Anke, for whom Tershelling means a lot. She met her husband here, and they finally married in this very lighthouse. Very romantic indeed. Thank you Anke for this lovely card.