Franconia and the River Main

This card was sent to me by Dieter during his cycling trip along the River Main (shown on the card). The area is popularly refered to as Franconia (Franken), which is a region for quality wine in Germany situated in the north west of Bavaria in the district of Franconia, and is the only wine region in the federal state of Bavaria. In 2008, vines were grown on 6,063 hectares (14,980 acres) of land in the region.

The greatest part of the wine region is situated in the county of Lower Franconia around its capital Würzburg along the Main River. There are a few areas in Middle Franconia mainly in the Steigerwald and a very small part in the area of Upper Franconia around Bamberg. The bends of Main have been used to define the region's three districts, two of which take their names from their respective geometric shape.

Norman Percevel Rockwell

The painting on this card sent to me by Mamiko from Japan was by Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978), who was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine for more than four decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter, Saying Grace (1951), The Problem We All Live With, and the Four Freedoms series. He is also noted for his work for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), producing covers for their publication Boys' Life, calendars, and other illustrations.

For "vivid and affectionate portraits of our country," Rockwell received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America's highest civilian honour, in 1977.

Rockwell died November 8, 1978, of emphysema at age 84 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. First Lady Rosalynn Carter attended his funeral.

The Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument

The Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a 284 ft 6 in (86.72 m)-tall neoclassical monument located on Monument Circle in the center of Indianapolis. It was designed by German architect Bruno Schmitz and completed in 1901.

The Monument was erected to honor Hoosiers who were veterans of the American Revolution, territorial conflicts that partially led up to the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the US Civil War, and the Spanish American War. In addition to its external commemorative statuary and fountains (made primarily of oolitic limestone and bronze), the basement of the monument contains the Colonel Eli Lilly Civil War Museum, a museum of Indiana history during the American Civil War.

At the top of the Monument is an observation deck that can be reached by stairs at no cost or by elevator for a $2.00 charge (elevator brings you to the level just under the observation deck, with 30 additional steps). The staircase contains 331 steps, 330 of which are numbered. In 1902 the cost to build this Monument was (US) $598,318. It has been estimated that building a similar structure today would cost over $500,000,000.

It is about 21 feet (6.4 m) shorter than the 305-foot (93 m) tall Statue of The approaches to the Monument are guarded by bronze statues of four wartime leaders: George Rogers Clark, military conqueror of the Old Northwest; William Henry Harrison, first governor of the Indiana Territory and general during the War of 1812 (and, later, 9th President of the United States); James Whitcomb, governor of Indiana during the Mexican-American War; and Oliver Morton, governor during the Civil War.

The Circle is surrounded by retail shops, including the South Bend Chocolate Factory; studios for several local radio stations; the Hilbert Circle Theatre, home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra; financial institutions; the Columbia Club, one of the oldest social clubs of Indiana; Christ Church Cathedral, a historic Episcopal church; and the IPL corporate headquarters. The Circle is the standard symbol of the city of Indianapolis, and the flag of Indianapolis is an iconic representation of Monument Circle and the two streets (Meridian and Market) that feed in and out of it.

Every Christmas season the Monument is decorated as an enormous Christmas tree. This city tradition is known as the Circle of Lights and has been done annually since 1962. The tree lighting ceremony is held the day after Thanksgiving. 

Thank you Dear Krissy for this wonderful card.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist of the Baroque period. He enriched many established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Mass in B minor, the The Well-Tempered Clavier, hiscantatas, chorales, partitas, Passions, and organ works. His music is revered for its intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty.

Bach was born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach, into a very musical family; his father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was the director of the town musicians, and all of his uncles were professional musicians. His father taught him to play violin and harpsichord, and his brother, Johann Christoph Bach, taught him the clavichord and exposed him to much contemporary music. Bach also went to St Michael's School in Lüneburg because of his singing skills. After graduating, he held several musical posts across Germany: he served as Kapellmeister (director of music) to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, Cantor of Thomasschule in Leipzig, and Royal Court Composer to August III. Bach's health and vision declined in 1749, and he died on 28 July 1750. Modern historians believe that his death was caused by a combination of stroke and pneumonia.

Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected throughout Europe during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the main composers of the Baroque period, and as one of the greatest composers of all time.

Thank you Maria for this card.

Oravivuori triangulation tower - 19th century research station

Sari sent me this maxicard which shows one of the many survey triangulation towers. 

In Korpilahti, at the top of Oravivuori, lies Oravivuori triangulation tower, one of Finland's six points in the Struve chain. This is a triangulation chain extending from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean that was used in the 19th century to establish the shape of the earth. On this spot a triangulation tower has been erected to commemorate the importance of the Oravivuori (or Puolakka) measuring station to the mapping of Finland.

The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820 km, which yielded the first accurate measurement of a meridian.

The chain was established and used by the German-born Russian scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve in the years 1816 to 1855 to establish the exact size and shape of the earth. At that time, the chain passed merely through two countries: Union of Sweden-Norway and the Russian Empire. The Arc's first point is located in Tartu Observatory, where Struve conducted much of his research.

In 2005, the chain was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a memorable ensemble of the chain made up of 34 commemorative plaques or built obelisks out of the original 265 main station points which are marked by drilled holes in rock, iron crosses, cairns, others.

Measurement of the triangulation chain comprises 258 main triangles and 265 geodetic vertices. The northernmost point is located near Hammerfest in Norway and the southernmost point near the Black Sea in Ukraine. This inscription is located in ten countries, the most of any UNESCO World Heritage.

Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961.

Gagarin became an international celebrity, and was awarded many medals and titles, including Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation's highest honour. Vostok 1 marked his only spaceflight, but he served as backup crew to the Soyuz 1 mission (which ended in a fatal crash). Gagarin later became deputy training director of the Cosmonaut Training Centre outside Moscow, which was later named after him. Gagarin died in 1968 when the MiG-15 training jet he was piloting crashed.

Julia sent me this nice card.

St. Mary's Church in Krakow

Kraków is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life and is one of Poland's most important economic hubs. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1569; the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1596; Free City of Kraków from 1815 to 1846; the Grand Duchy of Cracow from 1846 to 1918; and Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1999. It is now the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second most important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was already being reported as a busy trading centre of Slavonic Europe in 965. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918 and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and artistic centre. The city has a population of approximately 760,000 whereas about 8 million people live within a 100 km radius of its main square.

The different aspects of the monument shown on this card are those of the Church of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven (also known as St. Mary's Church), it is a Brick Gothic church re-built in the 14th century (originally built in the early 13th century), adjacent to the Main Market Square in Kraków, Poland. Standing 80 m (262 ft) tall, it is particularly famous for its wooden altarpiece carved by Veit Stoss.

On every hour, a trumpet signal—called the Hejnał mariacki—is played from the top of the taller of St. Mary's two towers. The plaintive tune breaks off in mid-stream, to commemorate the famous 13th century trumpeter, who was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm before the Mongol attack on the city. The noon-time hejnał is heard across Poland and abroad broadcast live by the Polish national Radio 1 Station.

St. Mary's Basilica also served as an architectural model for many of the churches that were built by the Polish diaspora abroad, particularly those like St. Michael's and St. John Cantius in Chicago, designed in the so-called Polish Cathedral style.

The church is familiar to many English-speaking readers from the 1929 book The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly.

Thank you Kasia for a very nice card.