Germany: Archaeological Park of Xanten

On Wednesday I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows the Harbor Temple in the Archaeological Park of Xanten. As Colonia Ulpia Traiana Xanten was one of the most important Roman cities in Germany and also the third largest Roman city north of the Alps. It was given the rights of a colonia in 110 by the Roman emperor Trajan and existed roughly until 275, but earlier it was already the site of the castrum Vetera, which was destroyed during the Revolt of the Batavi in 70. By the 19th century not much of the Roman city was left. Mainly in the 1950s and 1960s the city was excavated and reconstructed in parts. In 1977 the Archaeological Park was opened, extended since then it is now one of the largest archaeological open-air museums in the World. Even today excavations are carried out and during the summer there is the chance for university students to follow archaeologists at work. Reconstructed buildings today include city walls, a mansio, an amphitheatre, temples and parts of an aqueduct. Also a museum is located in the park. 

EDIT: As part of the Lower German Limes is Xanten since July 2021 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

One of the two stamps showing a panorama of Bonn (issued 02-01-2020), the former capital of West Germany, was used on this card.

Thank You very much Marcel!

Germany: Schulze-Delitzsch-House

On Tuesday I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows the Schulze-Delitzsch-House in Delitzsch. Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch, born in Delitzsch in 1808, was a German politician and economist. He was responsible for the organizing of the World's first credit unions and was also co-founder of the German Progress Party. In this house in Delitzsch, which back then belonged to a master shoemaker, he initiated in 1849 the foundation of the first cooperative in Germany. As such it is an important historic site, but it is not very well known and it was just after the German Reunification that the house was saved from its ruinous condition. Since then it houses the German Cooperative Museum. In 2016 the museum had a share in the successful inscription of the Idea and practice of organizing shared interests in cooperatives on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of the UNESCO.

One of the two stamps showing a panorama of Bonn (issued 02-01-2020), the former capital of West Germany, was used on this card.

Thank You very much Marcel!

Norway: New Munch Museum

On Tuesday I got my stamp order from Norway which also included a maxicard about the New Munch Museum in Oslo. 

Edvard Munch is probably the most famous Norwegian artist of all times. When he died in 1944, he left everything he owned in terms of paintings, sketches, photographs and sculptures to Oslo Municipality. Already in 1963, for Munch's 100th birthday, a museum was opened with this donation and other artworks, but back in 2008 a decision was reached to build a new museum for the collection, as the old museum was insufficient to display and maintain the collection. The new museum with 13 floors on Oslo's waterfront was designed by Juan Herreros and will open in fall 2020. It was created to reach a broader audience and to experience Edvard Munch's life and art in a completely new way. To commemorate the new museum the Norwegian Post issued a stamp (issued 12-06-2020), which was used on this maxicard. I really like the design of the stamp with the new building in the front and a painting by Munch in the background. The special postmark shows the museum from a different perspective and shown on the card is Munch's painting Train Smoke from 1900. This is just one of the 28000 works of Edvard Munch, which are part of the museum's collection. The most famous for sure is The Scream, of which two of four versions are housed in the Munch Museum. 

Germany: Kiel Canal

This year the Kiel Canal turns 125 years old and some philatelic celebrations took place. In total four special postmarks from cities along the canal were available, which I all got for my collection. One card and two covers with the first two postmarks arrived last Thursday, two covers with the other two covers arrived on Tuesday.

Luckily I was able to get a single postcard showing cruise ships in the canal. The Kiel Canal, or Nord-Ostsee-Kanal in German, is a 98km-long canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It was finished in 1895 and links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of 460km is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula. This not only saves time but also avoids storm-prone seas and having to pass through the Sound or Belts. The canal took over 9000 workers eight years to build and on 20 June 1895 the canal was officially opened by Kaiser Wilhelm II as Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal, named after his grandfather Kaiser Wilhelm I. After World War I the Treaty of Versailles required the canal to be open to vessels of commerce and of war of any nation at peace with Germany, while leaving it under German administration. The Nazis later repudiated its international status in 1936, but after World War II the canal was reopened to all traffic and in 1948 its current name was adopted. Today it is one of the busiest artificial waterways in the World. 

On this card I used the special postmark from Rendsburg.

As I only had one card, I also got all four postmarks on normal covers. There are three postmarks about the actual anniversary from Rendsburg, Brunsbüttel and Kiel and a fourth postmark about the 125th anniversary of the Lighthouse Kiel-Holtenau located at the canal. Just like on the card I also used definitives on the covers.

The German Post also celebrated with a special prepaid postcard (issued 04-06-2020). I bought that one cancelled on the first day at my local post office.

Germany: SiegfriedMuseum in Xanten

On Saturday I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows the SiegfriedMuseum in Xanten. According to the legend of the Nibelungs, the mythical Siegfried was born in the city. Although this tradition was abused by the Nazis, the city now also uses it for its city marketing. In 2010 a museum about the legend of the Nibelungs and its reception was opened. Originally called Nibelungen[h]ort, it is now the SiegfriedMuseum. Unfortunately I was not able to find any information why it was renamed or when.

One of the two stamps showing a panorama of Bonn (issued 02-01-2020), the former capital of West Germany, was used on this card.

Thank You very much Marcel!

Germany: Leonardo's World in Hanover

On Friday I got a postcard from Germany.

It is the seventh card I bought during my recent trip to the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover. Before the museums were closed due to Covid-19, I was really looking forward to the trip to this museum, as a new special exhibition would have been opened in late March. While the museum published teasers of the exhibition online during the closure, it was just opened in early May. At first face masks had to be worn, but luckily they changed it to a suggestion before my visit on Whit Sunday. While face masks should always be worn when you are not able to keep enough distance, it is actually nice that you can take them off when you are alone in a room (which happens quite often in most museums, but which would not be allowed when the face masks are obligatory). The new exhibition is called Leonardo's World and deals with the life of Leonardo da Vinci. However no actual paintings, drawings or other "real" exhibits were shown in this exhibition, but only videos. In parts this was very nice and after a nearly three-month hiatus I was especially happy to visit a museum again, but otherwise I think I would have been a bit disappointed. Available in the museum shop were some generic postcards of Leonardo's paintings, so I decided to take this one of the Vitruvian Man. 

I used this card to get a special postmark about International Museum Day, which this year was more or less completely digital, as during the preparations it was not clear whether the museums would be allowed to reopen before that date. Here in the region the museums however were allowed to open and mostly offered some small events or at least free entry.

Germany: Dortmund U-Tower

Last Thursday I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows the Dortmund U-Tower. The Dortmund U-Tower was built between 1926 and 1927 by the Union Brewery for the fermentation and storage of their products. It was Dortmund's first high-rise building and survived the demolition of the brewery and all its surrounding buildings due to having landmark status. In the framework of RUHR.2010 – European Capital of Culture it has been reopened as a center for the arts and creativity. Among other facilities it houses the Museum Ostwall, a museum of modern and contemporary art.

A Winter Aconite (issued 08-06-2017) and a Zinnia (issued 02-04-2020) were used as postage.

Thank You very much Marcel!

Finland: The Memoirs of Moominpappa

Last Tuesday I got a postcard from Finland.

It shows the cover image of The Memoirs of Moominpappa by Tove Jansson. Originally published as The Exploits of Moominpappa in 1950 and then considerably revised in 1968 under the title Moominpappa's Memoirs, this is the fourth book in the Moomin series. Although I have never read any Moomin book, I like these little characters since I joined Postcrossing and I am always happy to get cards about them. 

Like I have already wrote here a few times, I recently sorted through all my stamps with childhood heroes and put them together in a new blog. At the end I also had a missing list of Moomin stamps: of the 45 Finnish Moomin stamps issued between 2007 and 2020 I had 31. Number 32 was used on this card. It is one of the six stamps issued on 9th May 2007 and shows Moominpappa. If you happen to have any Moomin stamps not shown here please post a comment. Maybe we can swap! An additional stamp was used on this card. It is from a set of six called Arktika and was issued on 9th May 2017.

Thank You very much Marita!

My Trip to Hamburg

In the week after Pentecost I actually planned a city trip within Germany, but due to Covid-19 I cancelled all plans weeks ago. As however some restrictions were relaxed in early May, I still spent a day in Hamburg. There I visited two museums.

The first one was the Hamburg Archaeological Museum. The Hamburg Archaeological Museum is Hamburg's state museum for archaeology and the city museum for the Harburg borough. Along these lines also the permanent exhibition is divided between two exhibition spaces located close to each other. It is home to one of the largest archaeological collections in Northern Germany, but as the exhibition about the city's history is currently under construction, both exhibition spaces can be easily visited within an hour. Nonetheless the museum is quite interesting. Only postcards about the Archaeological Exhibition Building were available and unfortunately none about the Main Building, which currently only shows special exhibitions and which will later be home to the city's history exhibition. 

At the museum I was also able to buy two older (2005) postcards showing even older (circa 1900) views of Harburg. Until 1937 Harburg belonged to the Prussian Province of Hanover, where it served as the capital of the Harburg district. Following the Greater Hamburg Act passed by the government of Nazi Germany Harburg was incorporated into Hamburg, however still served as capital of the Prussian district until 1944. The Town Hall of Harburg, shown on the first card, was built when Harburg was still an independent city. Built between 1889 and 1892 in the Renaissance Revival style, the photo on the card was taken shortly after in 1895. During World War II it was badly damaged, but was already rebuilt until 1951, however the tower on the top is now missing. Today it is home to the diet of the Harburg borough.

What else does an independent city need? For sure a train station. Last year I began a new collection of German postcards about the biggest and most important train stations in our country, which are luckily bound together by the Deutsche Bahn in the first and second of seven railway station categories. Collecting these will be very hard, as train stations are not so common here to be shown on postcards and I already know of some stations which are definitely not shown on cards. So getting a new one is quite a surprise. The Hamburg-Harburg Station is a train station in category 2 and was originally opened in 1897 as main station of Harburg. Today it is one of four operational main-line railway stations in Hamburg. Unfortunately this card is not ideal. I actually like that it is an historic view, but I would rather prefer an outside view over an inside view, but for the moment it will do. It shows the first-class waiting room around 1900.

The second museum I visited was the Museum am Rothenbaum, one of the largest museums of ethnology in Europa. Its full name is Museum am Rothenbaum - Cultures and Arts of the World, which leads to the German abbreviation MARKK. Known as Museum of Ethnology until 2018, it was renamed, as the old name evoked negative associations and emotions in a cosmopolitan and multicultural society (the original German name Museum für Völkerkunde sounds even harsher than the English translation). Together with the renaming the museum also underwent a content-related reorientation. This for example includes a constructive dealing with a restitution of objects to their original countries and societies.

I really liked this museum. Beside the walkable Maori house Rauru (the fourth object card shows a wooden panel from the house showing Maui), I especially enjoyed the special exhibition about Korea called Calm in Acceleration. It was created in cooperation with the National Folk Museum of Korea in Seoul and combines historic artifacts from Hamburg with modern exhibits from Seoul to paint an image of the modern Korean sense of life and its historic roots. Unfortunately no cards printed for the exhibition were available, but I got five cards showing Korean artifacts of the MARKK which were shown in the exhibition.

Netherlands: Dutch Icons

Last Friday I got a postcard from the Netherlands.

It shows many of the things the Netherlands are famous for: cows, a windmill, Delftware with houses along the Canals of Amsterdam, klompen, stroopwafels and Gouda cheese. Most striking omissions for sure are bikes and tulips.

A matching stamp with Amsterdam houses was used. It is from a set of five international value stamps about Dutch Icons and was issued on 3rd January 2014. One day earlier already a set of ten national value stamps on the same theme were issued, which used the same designs but with different colours.

Thank You very much Marcel!

Germany: Oberhausen Castle

Last Wednesday I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows Oberhausen Castle. Although dating back to the 12th/13th century, the modern appearance of Oberhausen Castle is just from the early 19th century. Interestingly the castle is not named after the city of Oberhausen, but the castle gave its name to a train station which gave its name to the newly founded city in the late 19th century. After damages in World War II it was rebuilt in the 1950s and now houses the Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen, an art museum. 

A Winter Aconite (issued 08-06-2017) and a Zinnia (issued 02-04-2020) were used as postage and got cancelled in a strange way. The cancellation says "nachträglich entwertet" (cancelled afterwards). Most likely the card got not cancelled by the sorting machine and instead of a pen cancel I got this one. Such a pity that it is so blurred, as I have never seen something like that before.

Thank You very much Marcel!

Vietnam: Vladimir Lenin

Two weeks ago on Tuesday I got a postcard from Vietnam.

It is a maxicard about Vladimir Lenin. Vladimir Lenin, the famous Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist, was born on 22nd April 1870 and thus this year his 150th birthday is celebrated. At this moment Vietnam is still the only country to have issued a stamp about this jubilee (issued 22-04-2020), which was used on this maxicard. Russia actually also planned one for April, but it was postponed to next week. Not sure how many other countries will issue Lenin stamps this year. 

Beside the Lenin stamp again two other stamps were used on this card. The left one is from a set of four about Silk Paintings (issued 01-04-2019) and the one on the right shows another famous Communist politician, Hi Chi Minh (issued 16-05-2020). It commemorates his 130th birthday and the 50th anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi.

Thank You very much Phan!

My Trip to the Lower Saxony State Museum

When Covid-19 began to impact the life here in Germany, I started to write down some of the events in a little booklet. One of the first things I noted was the closing of some museums I wanted to visit. On 6th May they were finally allowed to reopen again (most however just opened a few days later) and on Whitsunday (31st May) I made my first museum visit after a nearly three-month hiatus. The museum I visited was the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover, where I also bought some cards for my collection. Interestingly this is one of these museums which usually has different cards during every new visit. The most interesting cards are the first two. They show exhibits that were shown last year in the big state exhibition "Saxones". Shown first in Hanover and later in Braunschweig, I visited the exhibition at both venues, but when I visited I was not able to get any good postcards. In Braunschweig I only got a card showing a thematic brooch and only later on I also got a card printed for the exhibition. So now I am especially happy to get two thematic cards from Hanover as well. How great it would have actually been to get them after I visited the exhibition and not just one year later! Four other cards I bought show two more archaeological findings and two paintings. A seventh card I bought I sent to myself to get a special postmark, but I am still waiting for it to come back and when it is back I will write a bit more about this museum visit.