14th March 2023: State Museum of Archaeology in Chemnitz, Germany

The State Museum of Archaeology in Chemnitz is a museum about archaeology and cultural history. It was opened in 2014 in the former Schocken Department Store, a milestone in modern architecture.

Thank You very much Silvia!

20th December 2022: Christmas Cards from Germany

Herrnhut, Germany

Herrnhut is a town in Saxony known for the community of the Moravian Church established by Count Nicolas Ludwig von Zinzendorf in 1722. As one of the Moravian Church Settlements Herrnhut currently seeks for the inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. A decision is expected at the end of the month.

EDIT: The Moravian Church Settlements were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2024.

The German Postcrossing stamp (issued 06-10-2022) was used on the card. 

Thank You very much Marcel!

Germany: Zwinger in Dresden

On 4th April I got three postcards: one from Germany and two from Spain.

The card from Germany shows various views of the Zwinger in Dresden. The Zwinger was built between 1709 and 1728 by Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann at the behest of Augustus the Strong. It is one of the most important buildings in the Baroque style and one of the best-known sights of Dresden. Today it houses various museums. 

The card was cancelled with the Covid-19 postmark from the mail sorting centre 04 in Dresden. By now those postmarks are in use for over two years.

Thank You very much Marcel!

My Trip to Halle an der Saale

Nearly three months without posts is really too much, but other things prevented me from writing here or actually from doing most things mail-related. As I was already behind with uploading mail, when I last posted, I now have a rather big pile of cards and covers to slowly show you in the coming weeks.

Although it now feels like an eternity away, not even four months ago, on 12th June, I was in Halle an der Saale, the largest city in the German State of Saxony-Anhalt. These are the cards I bought during that short day trip.

The start of day and my main reason for visiting Halle was the Halle State Museum of Prehistory, one of the largest archaeological museums in Germany. It was founded in 1819 and moved to its current location in 1918. Home to more than 15million items, its collection includes such highlights as the Hornhausen Rider Stele, but the true star of the museum is the Nebra Sky Disc, the oldest known astronomic depiction of the sky in human history and part of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Until January 2022 it is still possible to see the original disc in a big special exhibition, but also the permanent exhibitions are worth the visit.

After some hours of archaeology I went to the Moritzburg, but there I only bought some cards in the shop and did not visit the museum itself. The medieval Moritzburg is home to one of the most important museums of modern and contemporary art and general applied art in Germany. It shows for example works by Lyonel Feininger and Gustav Klimt. 

Instead of modern art I preferred to visit the Handel Haus. This is the house where Georg Friederich Händel was born in 1685. It houses a museum about Händel and Halle's musical history and is also home to a large collection of musical instruments.

Like usual during such a trip I also bought some cards of sights I have not seen at all. These two cards show the Hallors and Saline Museum and the Stadtgottesacker, a cemetery.

More interesting however are these two cards I bought at the Halle State Museum of Prehistory about the Goseck Circle. The Goseck Circle is a Neolithic structure that was discovered in 1991 and which is thematised in the museum's special exhibition.

For reason I could see the museum also sold this card of the Baroque Hundisburg Palace.

I definitely enjoyed my day in Halle, but my travel companions on the other hand had no interest in giving the city a chance and immediately drove to Leipzig after they dropped me in front of the museum. To prove that they really left the city they bought me these five cards of Leipzig's Saint Thomas Church.

Germany: Semperoper

On 14th April I got three postcards: one from Germany, one from Japan and one from Austria.

The card from Germany shows two views of Dresden, a panorama above and the Semperoper below. The Semperoper is an opera house originally built by Gottfried Semper in 1841, although I was rebuilt twice later on. Major works by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss premiered there. 

The card was sent from the new philatelic shop in Dresden, where the new pictorial postmark shows the Semperoper. 

Thank You very much Amelie!

Germany: Dresden-Neustadt Station

On 13th March I got three postcards: two from Germany and one from France.

One of the cards from Germany shows Dresden-Neustadt Station. Dresden-Neustadt Station is the second largest railway station in Dresden and is also a stop for long-distance traffic. It was built in 1901 in the monumental style that was typical of the time, underlining its importance as a stop for long-distance services.

Like the last card from Dresden I also bought this card online and later sent it to me sothat I do not have to keep it unwritten. The stamp I used here is from a set of two about Subway Stations (issued 01-03-2021) and shows a subway station in Hamburg. Unfortunately also this stamp got the Matrixcode. 

Germany: Ufa-Kristallpalast

On 20th February I got three postcards: one from Germany, one from Belarus and one from Estonia.

The card from Germany shows the Ufa-Kristallpalast in Dresden. The Ufa-Kristallpalast is a cinema opened in 1998. It was designed by the architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au and is one of the most famous examples of Deconstructivist architecture in Germany.

I bought this card on the Internet and instead of keeping it unwritten, I sent it to myself using the new Matrixcode stamp (issued 04-02-2021) and its First Day Special Postmark. 

Germany: Synagogues in Dresden and Essen

On 18th February I got four postcards from Germany.

One of them shows the New Synagogue in Dresden. The New Synagogue in Dresden was built between 1998 and 2001 on the location of the former Semper Synagogue, which was destroyed in 1938. It was the first newly built synagogue in East Germany. Due to construction defects the building is leaking.

This year we celebrate 1700 years of Jewish Life in Germany. This related stamp was issued on 4th February. While the stamp itself is rather plain, I really like this postmark highlighting great Jewish contributions to German culture. 

The card above I had ordered on the Internet for the stamp, but I was also able to swap for a second card of a synagogue. That one returned on the same day and shows the Old Synagogue in Essen. The Old Synagogue of Essen was built between 1911 and 1913. It is one of the largest, best preserved and architecturally most impressive testimonies to Jewish culture in pre-war Germany. Today it is used as cultural meeting place and museum.

I used the same stamp on the card and got it cancelled with the second official First Day Special Postmark. 

Thank You very much Marcel for helping me with the second card!