Greece: Corfu

Today I got two postcards: one from Greece and one from Germany.

The card from Greece shows Corfu. Corfu is the second largest Ionian island and the seventh largest island of Greece. During World War I was Corfu the seat of the Serbian exile government after Serbia was occupied by Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian and German troops. In 1917 the Corfu Declaration was signed, which enabled the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The Old Town of Corfu is since 2007 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Stamp:
Cycling (from set of four) (issued 12-06-2014)

Thank You very much Elena!

Germany: Remscheid

Today I got two postcards: one from Germany and one from Greece.

The card from Germany shows various views of Remscheid. Remscheid is a big city and North Rhine-Westphalia's smallest independent city. 

Stamp:
Dresden (from set of two) (issued 03-04-2014)

Thank You very much Julia!

Greece: Acropolis of Athens

Today I got two postcards from Greece.

One of them shows the Acropolis of Athens. Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. The Acropolis was built by the Athenian statesman Pericles and is one of the greatest architectural and artistic complexes of the Greek Antiquity. Since 1987 is the Acropolis of Athens on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Stamp:
Cycling (from set of four) (issued 12-06-2014)

Thank You very much Elena!

Greece: Olympia

Today I got two postcards from Greece.

One of them shows the inflaming of the Olympic Flame in Olympia. In the 10th century B.C. became Olympia a centre for the worship of Zeus and from 776 B.C. the Ancient Olympic Games were held every four years in Olympia. Since 1989 is the Archaeological Site of Olympia on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Stamp:
Cycling (from set of four) (issued 12-06-2014)

Thank You very much Elena!

Germany: German Historical Museum in Berlin

On Friday I was in Berlin for a one-day trip. There I visited two nice museums.

The second museum was the German Historical Museum. The German Historical Museum is one of Germany's largest history museums and shows Germany's history in images and artefacts. The permanent exhibition is divided into two parts. The first part is located in the first floor of the historical Zeughaus and shows exhibits about the interval from the Middle Ages to the end of World War I. 

In this museum is also a very well structured museum shop with a great collection of postcards. There I bought, appropriate to the first part of the exhibition, a postcard of Frederick the Great.

The second part of the permanent exhibition is located in the ground floor of the Zeughaus and shows images and artefacts of the time from the Weimar Republic to the departure of the Allies in 1994. For this part I bought a postcard of an old photo taken on 17th June 1953 in the former East Germany.

I also visited the special exhibition about the Red Army Faction located in another building.

Germany: Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin

On Friday I was in Berlin for a one-day trip. There I visited two nice museums.

The first museum was the Museum für Naturkunde. The Museum für Naturkunde opened in 1810 and is Germany's largest natural history museum. 

The collection is very interesting, especially the dinosaurs, but the museum shop disappointed me very much. I hoped so much to get postcards of the dinosaurs and of the famous Archaeopteryx, but they had only cards of stuffed animals and of insect models. At the end I bought three cards of a hippo family seen from three different angles, one of an old rhinoceros specimen, two modern bird specimens and a housefly model.

In the shop they had at least three different postcard designs of polar bear Knut, but I only bought one.

At the moment the museum shows a special exhibition about Giant Pandas. It was very interesting to read something about the life of the Giant Panda in the wild and in zoos and about Berlin's Giant Pandas. As a special eye catcher they had the prepared specimens of Berlin's Giant Pandas and a very old Giant Panda skin.
According to my opinion the postcards they offered for the special exhibition were even more horrible than the cards for the normal exhibition. They had two cards showing ink drawings of bamboo and one very obscene Giant Panda card.

Hong Kong: Solar Eclipse

Today I got three postcards: one from Hong Kong, one from Germany and one from the USA.

The card from Hong Kong shows the various stages of the Solar Eclipse on 21st May 2012. This Solar Eclipse was annular and had various Asian big cities in its main zone of visibility. It was one of the most watched solar eclipses ever.

With a nice matching stamp:
Astronomical Phenomena (two from set of six) (issued 17-03-2015)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Joe!

USA: Giant Panda at the San Francisco Zoo

This is the 800th 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 three postcards: one from the USA, one from Hong Kong and one from Germany.

The card from the USA shows a Giant Panda from the San Francisco Zoo. The San Francisco Zoo housed Giant Pandas from 1984 to 1985. There were two Giant Pandas in San Francisco called Ying Xin and Yun Yun.

It is an official card: US-3275845

Stamps:
Sealed with Love (issued 30-01-2013)
Jimi Hendrix (issued 13-03-2014)
Celebrity Chefs (from set of five) (issued 26-09-2014)

Thank You very much Susan!

Germany: Schwarzenberg Castle

Today I got three postcards: one from Germany, one from the USA and one from Hong Kong.

The card from Germany shows the Schwarzenberg Castle. The Schwarzenburg Castle was first mentioned in 1212 and between 1555 and 1558 it was converted into a hunting lodge. The administration of the tin and iron mining in the Western Ore Mountains was once housed in the Schwarzenberg Castle. It seeks as part of the Mining Cultural Landscape Ore Mountains for the inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

I got this card a few weeks ago in a cover.

EDIT:
The Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region is one of the new UNESCO World Heritage Sites of 2019, but the castle is not part of the site.

Stamp:
Lily of the Valley (issued 06-05-2010)
with a special postmark showing also the Schwarzenberg Castle

Thank You very much Kathleen for sending me the card in an envelope!

Japan: Tanabata Festival in Sendai

Today I got not only three postcards but also a cover from Japan.

Stamps:

Beetle (issued 28-11-1997)

Saitama (whole set) (issued 01-05-2000)

Inside was a written and stamped postcard.
It shows the Tanabata Festival in Sendai. Sendai is the capital of the Miyagi prefecture and the largest city of Tohoku. The Tanabata Festival is held every year from 6th to 8th August.

With a nice stamp:
UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai (issued 13-03-2015)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Keiko!

Japan: Zenko-ji Temple

Today I got five postcards: one from Japan, three from Germany and one from Malaysia.

The card from Japan shows the Zenko-ji Temple in the Nagano prefecture. The Zenko-ji Temple was built in 670 and in 1897 the Nagano City was built around the temple. Once many other temples in Japan copied the style of the Zenko-ji Temple. In the 16th was the temple a venue of the conflict between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. In 1998 marked the temple bells the opening of the Winter Olympics in Nagano.

With a nice stamp:
Cucumber (from set of ten) (issued 04-06-2014)
with a special postmark

Thank You very much Keiko!

Malaysia: Kuala Terengganu

Today I got five postcards: one from Malaysia, one from Japan and three from Germany.

The card from Malaysia shows a man delivering fish to a market in Kuala Terengganu. Kuala Terengganu is the administrative and royal capital of the Malaysian state of Terengganu.

With a nice stamp:
World Youth Stamp Exhibition 2014 (from set of ten) (issued 01-12-2014)

Thank You very much David!

Germany: Schwerin Palace

Today I got five postcards: three from Germany, one from Malaysia and one from Japan.

One of the cards from Germany shows the Schwerin Palace in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's capital Schwerin. The Schwerin Palace in its present appearance was built between 1845 and 1857 in the style of the romantic Historicism. Its construction was a cooperation of the famous architects Gottfried Semper, Friedrich August Stüler, Georg Adolf Demmler and Ernst Friedrich Zwirner. Once it was the home of the grand dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and now it houses the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It seeks for the inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

EDIT: The Schwerin Residence Ensemble was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2024.

Stamp:
Glücksburg Castle (from set of two) (issued 02-01-2013)

Thank You very much Mirko!

Germany: Hamburg with Summer Olympics 2024 postmark

Today I got five postcards: three from Germany, one from Malaysia and one from Japan.

One of the cards from Germany shows various sights of Hamburg. At the moment Hamburg bids for the Summer Olympics 2024. Just recently the German Olympic Sports Confederation decided to support Hamburg's bid instead of Berlin's. Other bidders are Boston and Rome. The International Olympic Committee will make a decision in 2017.

I had this card for a few years and now I used it to get a special postmark.

Stamp:
Uli Stein-winning mouse (from set of three) (issued 08-05-2014)
with a special postmark about Hamburg's bid for the Summer Olympics 2024

Germany: Berlin

Today I got five postcards: three from Germany, one from Malaysia and one from Japan.

One of the cards from Germany shows a map and various sights of Berlin.

I bought this card when I visited Berlin last year.

Stamp:
Condolence (issued 05-12-2013)
with a special postmark about the death of Richard von Weizsäcker, a former President of Germany

Germany: Heppenheim

Yesterday I got two postcards from Germany.

One of them shows the marketplace of Heppenheim. Heppenheim is a city in a German state of Hesse and is known for its well-preserved historic district.

The card was sent from the Postcrossing Meet-up in Heppenheim.
Stamp:
Centenary of the Schachtschleuse Minden (issued 02-10-2014)

Thank You very much Svea!

Germany: German Hop Museum

Yesterday I got two postcards from Germany.

One of them shows the German Hop Museum in Wolnzach within the Hallertau area, the World's largest continuous hop-planting area. The German Hop Museum opened in 2005 and shows exhibits about the hop cultivation from the 16th to the 19th century.

Stamp:
Baby Animals (from set of two) (issued 02-01-2015)

Thank You very much Marcel!

Japan: Zuiryuji temple

On Monday I got two postcards: one from Japan and one from Singapore.

The card from Japan shows the Zuiryuji temple in the Toyama prefecture. The Zuiryuji temple was built to remember Maeda Toshinaga and was finished in 1663. It is a National Treasure of Japan.

With nice stamp:
Animation Heroes No.20-Doraemon (from set of ten) (issued 04-06-2013)
with nice matching special postmark

Thank You very much Keiko!

Singapore: National Day Parade

On Monday I got two postcards: one from Singapore and one from Japan.

The card from Singapore shows the National Day Parade 2014. The National Day Parade is a national ceremony held on 9th August. The first National Day Parade was held in 1966.

Stamps:
Festivals (from set of eight) (issued 17-10-2012)
Folktales (from set of eight) (issued 03-10-2014)
with the third of twelve slogan postmarks celebrating Singapore's 50th anniversary of independence

Thank You very much Candice!

Germany: Naturmuseum Senckenberg

On 20th March I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows the Propalaeotherium from the Naturmuseum Senckenberg in Frankfurt am Main. The Propalaeotherium was an early genus of equid living in Europe and Asia in the Middle Eocene. The one from the Naturmuseum Senckenberg was discovered at the Messel Pit. The Naturmuseum Senckenberg is one of Germany's largest natural history museums. It is known for its large dinosaur collection.

With a nice related stamp:
150 years of the discovery of the Archaeopteryx (issued 11-08-2011)

Thank You very much Svea!

Japan: Seison-Kaku Pavilion

On 18th March I got two postcards: one from Japan and one from France.

The card from Japan shows the Seison-Kaku Pavilion in the Ishikawa prefecture. The Seison-Kaku Pavilion was built in 1863 by Maeda Nariyasu for his mother. Maeda Nariyasu was the 13th daimyo of the Kaga Clan. The Seison-Kaku pavilion is one of the few buildings in Japan showing possessions of a daimyo family in their original surroundings. 

Stamp:
50th anniversary of the Shinkansen (from set of ten) (issued 01-10-2014)
with a special Shinkansen postmark

Thank You very much Keiko!