Monaco: Multiview

This is the 500th post on my blog! Thank You all of you for sending me all this nice postcards and covers with so many nice stamps!

Today I got seven postcards: my first three cards from Monaco, two from Italy and two from the Vatican.

Monaco is a principality and city state on the Côte d’Azur bordered by France. Monaco is the second smallest country of the World. The head of state of Monaco is Prince Albert II. His woman, Charlene, is pregnant.

One of the cards shows the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, the Monte Carlo Casino, the Prince's Palace of Monaco, the Oceanographic Museum and two different aerial views.

With nice stamps:
50th anniversary of the Princess Grace of Monaco Foundation (issued 14-03-2014)
The mission of the Princess Grace of Monaco Foundation is to help hospitalised children and their families.
Marsupilami (issued 01-04-2014)
The Marsupilami was first a character from the famous “Spirou and Fantasio” series and later got its own comic strips series. The Marsupilami is very strong and has a long and useful tail.
with a special postmark

Thank You very much William!

Vatican: Saint Peter's Square

Today I got seven postcards: two from the Vatican, my first three cards from Monaco and two from Italy.

One of the cards from the Vatican shows the Saint Peter's Square, Pope Benedict XVI and Michelangelo's Pietà.

Stamps:
EUROPA (whole set) (issued 20-05-2014)

Thank You very much William!

Vatican: Aerial View

Today I got seven postcards: two from the Vatican, my first three cards from Monaco and two from Italy.

One of the cards from the Vatican shows the Vatican from above.

With nice stamps:
Canonisation of Pope John Paul II (issued 21-03-2014)
It is a joint issue with Poland.
The civic name of Pope John Paul II is Karol Józef Wojtyła. He was born in Wadowice, Poland, on 18th May 1920. He became the pope on the 16th October 1978 after Pope John Paul I died. He was the first Slavic pope. He died on 2nd April 2005 and his follower became Benedict XVI. He was canonised in 2014. 
50th death anniversary of Pope John XXIII (issued 12-06-2013)
The civic name of Pope John XXIII is Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli. He was born in Sotto il Monte, Italy, on 25th November 1881. He became the pope on the 28th October 1958 after Pope Pius XII died. In 1962 he opened the Second Vatican Council. He died on 3rd June 1963 and his follower became Paul VI. He was canonised in 2014.

Thank You very much William!

Italy: Rialto Bridge in Venice

Today I got seven postcards: two from Italy, two from the Vatican and my first three cards from Monaco.

One of the cards from Italy shows the Rialto Bridge in Venice. Venice is a city in North East Italy and is located on 118 small islands. Until 1797 was Venice the capital of the Republic of Venice. Since 1987 is Venice with its Lagoon an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Stamp:
400 birthday of Martino Martini (issued 08-03-2014)
Martino Martini was an Italian Jesuit missionary, cartographer and historian, mainly working on ancient Imperial China.

Thank You very much William!

Italy: Saint Peter's Basilica

Today I got seven postcards: two from Italy, two from the Vatican and my first three cards from Monaco.

One of the cards from Italy shows the Saint Peter's Basilica. The Saint Peter's Basilica is 211m long, 186m wide, 132m high and in the basilica there is enough space for 600,000 people. In 1506 Pope Julius II charged Donato Bramante with the construction of a new basilica on the place were Constantin built an old basilica on the grave of Saint Peter. Until the finishing 120 years passed and during this time many different popes brought forward their own ideas and so the best builders of Italy were involved to build the basilica.

With a matching stamp:
150th death anniversary of Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (issued 23-11-2013)
Giuseppe Gioachino Belli was an Italian poet famous for his sonnets in the Roman dialect. In his last years he worked as censor for the pope.

Thank You very much William!

France: 14-18. Le Front, l'Arrière, la Mémoire

Today I got not only seven postcards but also two covers: one from France and one from Japan. 

Stamp:

personalised stamp

Inside were three postcards of the exhibition "14-18. Le Front, l'Arrière, la Mémoire" in the department Ille-et-Villaine in Bretagne.
During the World War I every fourth Breton going to war fell. That were 10 percent of the total population of the Bretagne. Generally "only" every eighth French fell. There were two main reasons for the high percentage. The first is that the Bretons fought forwardmost and second was that the Bretons mainly spoke Breton and thus the French thought that they were spies and killed them. 
The first card shows French hats and helmet used during World War I.
The Adrian helmet (upper row right) was the first standard helmet of the French Army. It was issued in 1915 as head wounds became a frequent cause of battlefield casualties in the trenches. Until 1917 7500 of them were produced every day.

The second card shows a voucher for having served in the army.

The last card shows bullet casings from the trench war.

Thank You very much Dominique!

Japan: Kyushu Line of the Shinkansen

Today I got not only seven postcards but also two covers: one from Japan and one from France.

Stamps:

50th anniversary of the Shinkansen (two from set of ten) (issued 01-10-2014)

with First Day Special Postmark

Inside was a postcard showing a Shinkansen. The Shinkansen is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan and opened in 1964. It has a maximum speed of 320 km/h. The train on the card is part of the Kyushu Line.

Thank You very much Keiko!

Germany: Hamburg Rathaus

Today I got two postcards from Germany.

One of them shows Hamburg Rathaus with the St. Michael's Church in the background. The Hamburg Rathaus houses the First Mayor of Hamburg, Hamburg's parliament and senate. It was built between 1886 and 1897 in the style of the Historicism.

The card was sent from the Hamburg Meet-up.
Stamp:
100 years of the Monument to the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig (issued 10-10-2013)
The Monument to the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig is the biggest monument in Germany. It is 91m high and has a weight of 300000t. It was built between 1900 and 1912 and was opened in 1913 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Nations.

Thank You very much Frauke!

Germany: Bielefeld

Today I got two postcards from Germany.

One of them is a multiview from Bielefeld. Bielefeld is the eighteenth largest city of Germany and celebrates this year its 800th jubilee.

Stamp:
Marguerite (issued 07-04-2005)

Thank You very much Jens!

Germany: WWI cards from the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum

On Sunday I went again to the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum. This time I visited an exhibition about the relations between humans and apes.

In the shop I bought some new World War I postcards.

One of the cards shows German soldiers with signs with the texts "You should not kill" and "We do not want War".

Another card shows revolutionary labourers and soldiers in Braunschweig during the German Revolution of 1918.

The last card shows a package of Marsch-Marsch. Marsch-Marsch was used by soldiers to prevent sweaty feet.

The other cards I bought I will use later to get special postmarks.

France: Battle of the Somme

Today I got four postcards: three from France and one from Japan. 

One of the cards from France shows the Front during the Battle of the Somme and memorials in some affected communes.

The Battle of the Somme was fought from the 1st July until the 18th November 1916 between the German Empire and the Triple Entente countries France and the United Kingdom. The battle started with a large-scale offensive of the Triple Entente and ended without an achievement. It was the fiercest battle of the World War I.

Update: As part of the Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front) in Belgium and France some of the sites shown here are since 2023 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Stamp:
Centenary of the First Battle of the Marne (from set of two) (issued 15-09-2014)
The stamp shows three horsemen and an air plane.

Thank You very much Axel!

France: Musée de la Grande Guerre du Pays de Meaux

Today I got four postcards: three from France and one from Japan. 

One of the cards from France shows the Musée de la Grande Guerre du Pays de Meaux and the US-American monument La liberté éplorée in Meaux near the battleground of the First Battle of the Marne. The Musée de la Grande Guerre du Pays de Meaux is a museum about World War I and houses 20000 exhibits and 30000 documents from the collection of Jean-François Copé. It opened in 2011.

Stamp:
Centenary of the First Battle of the Marne (from set of two) (issued 15-09-2014)
The First Battle of the Marne was fought from the 5th until the 12th September between the German Empire and the Triple Entente countries France and the United Kingdom. The battle stopped the German advance and wrecked the Schlieffen Plan as the German Empire was not able anymore to capture France as easy as they thought. It is a a turning point of the World War I. The Triple Entente bought time and was able to get a back-up for the Western Front from the French and British colonies. The stamp shows a Renault Taxi de la Marne. They were used to bring soldiers to the front.

Thank You very much Axel!

France: Canadian National Vimy Memorial

Today I got four postcards: three from France and one from Japan. 

One of the cards from France shows the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a memorial site in France dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the World War I. It was unveiled in 1936. It is located at the battleground of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the name of the field force of Canada created for service in Europe during World War I. It fought in several combat formations at the Western Front in France and Flanders. It was active from 1914 to 1920 and had over 600000 members. It was known as the most effective Allied military formation on the Western Front.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought in 1917 between the German Empire and the British Empire and is a part of the Battle of Arras. It was the first battle in which the four divisions of Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together. It ended with a victory of the British Empire. 

Update: As one of the Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front) in Belgium and France this site is since 2023 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Stamp:
General Mobilisation (issued 04-08-2014)

Thank You very much Axel!

Japan: Ukiyo-e

Today I got four postcards: one from Japan and three from France.

The card from Japan shows a traditional Ukiyo-e image by Yoshu Chikanobu. Ukiyo-e is a genre of woodblock prints and paintings having flourished in Japan from the 17th through 19th centuries. Ukiyo-e means "pictures of the floating World".

With a nice matching stamp:
Ukiyo-e (from set of ten) (issued 01-08-2014)
The stamp shows an image by Kitagawa Utamaro.

Thank You very much Keiko!

August Macke's death anniversary cover

Today I got not only four postcards but also a cover from Germany.

Stamps:

August Macke (issued 01-09-2014)

Centenary of World War I (issued 07-08-2014)

with a special postmark about the 100th anniversary of August Macke's death

August Macke was born in 1887 in Meschede and was one of the most important German painters of the Expressionism. He was also a member of Der Blaue Reiter. When the World War I started August Macke volunteered and was conscripted on 8th August 1914. On 26th September he was killed at the Western Front. He is buried at the war cemetery in Souain. 

I sent this cover to myself to get the special postmark.