Germany: Mönchengladbach

Last Tuesday I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows various views of Mönchengladbach. Mönchengladbach is a city in the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1921 Mönchengladbach became a big city and in 1975 it was merged together with Rheydt, another big city. Mönchengladbach is the only city in Germany with two main railway stations, one in Rheydt and one in Mönchengladbach. The card shows two museums, the Museum Abteiberg (lower left corner) and the Carnival Museum (upper right corner). The Carnival Museum was opened in 1977 and houses many mementos of the local carnival tradition. It was originally only housed in the old arsenal, which is said to be the slenderest house in Mönchengladbach, but in 2002 it expanded to the adjacent house as well.

Stamps:
Cuckooflower (issued 18-12-2018)
Emoji (issued 04-04-2019)

Thank You very much Marcel!

cover from Germany

Last Monday I got a cover from Germany.

With a nice stamp:

Underground Stations - Marienplatz in Munich (issued 02-04-2020)

with First Day Special Postmark

Some New Stamps in My Collection

These days incoming mail becomes really scarce and I am happy if there is at least one card a week. The reason however is not only the virus, but also because I did not do many swaps in the last weeks. To compensate this a bit I recently bought some stamps in the online stamp shop Postbeeld. This was already my third order there and once again I was very contented. Even in this difficult times my order arrived very quickly. Here I will just show a small selection. Go to my stamp blog to see all of them. 

This order now brought to my collection one of my favourite stamp sets ever in mint condition, the wonderful Simpsons stamps from the USA (issued 07-05-2009). When I began collecting stamps, I was already looking for them for my collection. Bart and Lisa I got years ago on a postcard, but the other three I was still missing. 

If you want to know more about these stamps you should check out the YouTube Channel Exploring Stamps (S2E7). I am actually following this channel since I first saw the video about the Simpsons.

I am still looking for Homer, Maggie and Marge used on a postcard. Can anybody help me?

After I already added the Hobbit stamps from New Zealand to my collection earlier this year, I now also have the three sets about the Lord of the Rings, which were issued between 2001 and 2003. Below you can see just two of the stamps with Galadriel and Gandalf. The rest of them you can see on my blog about Childhood Heroes on Stamps.

In fact many of them stamps I bought show childhood heroes. Just a few more of them you can see here.

But I did not only buy stamps about childhood heroes. I also bought some I want to show on my history blog later on.

Japan: Sendai

Yesterday I got two postcards: one from Japan and one from Germany.

The card from Japan shows Sendai in spring. Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region.

Stamp:
14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (from set of six) (issued 07-04-2020)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Keiko!

Germany: Easter

Yesterday I got two postcards: one from Germany and one from Japan.

The card from Germany is an Easter card, which I recently found while cleaning and now used to document this special Easter.

Stamp:
Cornflower (issued 01-07-2019)
with a special postmark from Ostereistedt

Germany: Schloss Wickrath

Last Monday I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows Schloss Wickrath. Schloss Wickrath is a palace in the Wickrath district of Mönchengladbach and was built between 1746 and 1772. Originally it consisted of a main palace and an outer ward, but the main palace was demolished in 1859 and was later replaced by a palatial residence for the stud master. It is today known for its equestrian tradition and its park, which was refurbished for the state horticultural show in 2002.

With a nice stamp:
Childhood Heroes (from set of two) (issued 05-12-2019)

Thank You very much Marcel!

Germany: Verden Cathedral

Last Wednesday I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows the Verden Cathedral. The Verden Cathedral was built between the 11th and 15th century as cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Verden. After the Reformation it became the seat of a Lutheran prince-bishop, which existed until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

Stamp:
Optical Illusions (from set of two) (issued 10-10-2019)

Thank You very much Marcel!

Germany: Uelzen Station

On 24th March I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows Uelzen Station in the German State of Lower Saxony. Uelzen Station was built in the 19th century at the railway line between Berlin and Wilhelmshaven and after damages during World War II a new concept for the train station was created in the 1990s. As official project for the EXPO 2000 in Hanover it was redesigned by Friedensreich Hundertwasser with a focus to change the station to be environmentally and culturally oriented. Today it is classed by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 railway station and has become the most popular tourist attraction in Uelzen. 

Stamp:
Optical Illusions (from set of two) (issued 10-10-2019)

Thank You very much Marcel!

Japan: Horikiri Pass

On 20th March I got two postcards: one from Japan and one from Austria.

The card from Japan shows the Horikiri Pass. The Horikiri Pass is a tourist destination in the Miyazaki Prefecture. It offers a wonderful view of the Pacific Ocean.

With a nice stamp:
Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays (from set of two) (issued 16-03-2020)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Keiko!

Austria: Double Bass

On 20th March I got two postcards: one from Austria and one from Japan.

The card from Austria shows a Double Bass. The Double Bass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra. It is a standard member of the orchestra's string section as well as the concert band.

With matching stamps:
Music Land Austria - Double Bass (issued 18-03-2020)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Anita!

Austria: Star Wars Identities

On 19th March I got a postcard from Austria.

It is about Star Wars Identities. Star Wars Identities is an exhibition that serves as an interactive experience mainly exploring the characters of Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker, which also explores the factors that shape an individual such as genetics and familial and social influences with the Star Wars universe as background. The exhibition also shows original props used for filming, models for special effects, costumes worn by the actors, original concept art and production notes. It was first shown in Montreal in 2012 and since then was shown in different cities around the World including Paris, Cologne, London, Utrecht, Brussels, Sydney and Tokyo. In Vienna it was shown between December 2015 and April 2016.

Stamp:
Opportunity by Brigitte Kowanz (issued 17-03-2020)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Anita!

Germany: Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt

On 17th March I got four postcards: three from Germany and one from the USA.

One of the cards from Germany shows the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt. The Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1981 and opened to the public in 1991. It houses more than 4500 artworks ranging from the 1960s to the present day and giving an overview of the German and international art of this period. Between 1992 and 2002 the museum rearranged its exhibition every six months. This new exhibition model called the Change of Scene helped the new museum to gain international renown.

The card was signed during the Postcrossing Breakfast Club Meet-up in Frankfurt, one of the last meet-ups to take place in Germany before the measures against the coronavirus were adopted.
With a nice stamp:
Felix Nussbaum (issued 04-11-2004)
Phlox (issued 13-04-2017)

Thank You very much Martin!

Germany: Stamps of Bavaria

On 17th March I got four postcards: three from Germany and one from the USA.

One of the cards from Germany deals with the change of designs of Bavarian stamps. Although Bavaria became a part of the German Empire in 1871, it still had the right to issue its own stamps. Other special rights of Bavaria within the German Empire include its own railway, military and embassies. These rights expired just in 1919 after the German Revolution and due to a treaty on the 1st April 1920 the Bavarian postal system became part of the Germany-wide postal system against a compensation, which however was never paid but used for reparations.

I bought this card in my home town.

Stamp:
Cornflower (issued 01-07-2019)
with a special postmark about the centenary of Bavaria's last stamp issue

As the card above is quite small and as I feared that it might thus be lost or damaged during its journey, I also got the postmark on a cover.

Germany: Krtek

On 17th March I got four postcards: three from Germany and one from the USA.

One of the cards from Germany shows Krtek. Krtek is a Czechoslovakian children's TV character created by Zdeněk Miler and first shown in 1957. At the beginning Krtek was able to speak, but then his creator decided that everybody should understand him, so now he just make some sounds. Since 2002 there are no new episodes.

I bought this card in my home town.

Stamp:
Cornflower (issued 01-07-2019)
with a special postmark showing a Mole, Germany's Animal of the Year

USA: New York City

On 17th March I got four postcards: one from the USA and three from Germany.

The card from the USA shows New York City. New York City is a city on the East Coast of the USA in the State of New York. It is the largest city of the USA, an important financial centre, a global city and the seat of many international concerns and organisations such as the United Nations. Furthermore it is a centre of art, commerce, creativity, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability, fashion, media, research, politics, sports, technology and tourism and has been described as Capital of the World or as The City that Never Sleeps. In recent days however the city has been petrified by the coronavirus and large event are cancelled or postponed. It is currently the worst-affected part of the USA, which itself has the most confirmed active cases in the World and ranks third in the number of total deaths from the virus.

Stamps:
Year of the Pig (issued 17-01-2019)
Year of the Rat (issued 11-01-2020)
The stamp was printed with gold foil.
with First Day Special Postmark
label

Thank You very much Yue!

Taiwan: Giant Panda at Taipei Zoo

On 13th March I got a postcard from Taiwan.

It shows a Giant Panda at the Taipei Zoo. The Taipei Zoo was opened in 1914 and is today one of the largest zoos in Asia and the most famous in Taiwan. In 2008 two Giant Pandas arrived in Taipei from China. They are called Tuan Tuan (male) and Yuan Yuan (female). They were first offered in 2005, when they were rejected. Their cub Yuan Zai was born in 2013 and is the first Panda cub born on Taiwan.

Stamps:
World Baseball Softball Confederation Championships (from set of four) (issued 01-11-2019)
Year of the Rat (from set of two) (issued 03-12-2019)

Thank You very much Vicky!