Postcrossing Stamps from Guernsey

On 15th June I got my stamp order from Guernsey.

I think you can probably guess which stamps I had ordered from Guernsey in June, the Postcrossing stamps of course! The three stamps (issued 10-06-2021) show three local animals sending mail. As little easter egg the mail is actually addressed to the administrators of Postcrossing. I especially like the crab, which was also used on the sujet of the First Day Cover.

This time I decided to buy the mint stamps as well, as I had shortly before reorganized my stamp albums and created an extra section for Postcrossing stamps. As I had not bought the older Postcrossing stamps earlier in mint condition, I bought them this time. In comparision it is interesting to see that not only the size of the stamp sets and thus the prize increased from issue to issue but also the size of the actual stamps.

Usually I do not get them for my collection, but as I was born in the Year of the Ox, I decided to buy Guernsey's Chinese New Year stamps (issued 26-01-2021) as well. 

For sure I also ordered the stamped and postmarked postcards, but there was a mistake and I got the maxicards instead. The confusion was soon resolved and already on 21st June I got the postcards I had ordered. 

Austria: Fishermen's Church in Rust

On 14th June I got three postcards from Austria.

One of them shows the Fishermen's Church in Rust. Rust is a town on the western shore of Lake Neusiedl and the Fishermen's Church is the building with the highest historic value in the town's old city. This fortified church dates back to the 12th century. Nowadays it is however not used as church anymore, but as venue for exhibitions and events. As part of the Fertö/Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape is the church since 2001 on the UNESCO World Heritage List. 

Both postmark and stamp (issued 04-06-2021) also show the Fishermen's Church, but from a different point of view.

Thank You very much Anita!

Austria: Schönbrunn Palace

On 14th June I got three postcards from Austria.

One of them shows Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. The Schönbrunn Palace was originally built between 1638 and 1643, but from 1743 onwards it was enlarged and rebuilt at the behest of Maria Theresa. Until the First World War it was the residence of the Austrian Emperor. Since 1996 are the Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In June 1961 John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev ate dinner at the palace during their Vienna Summit. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of this summit a special postmark was created that was used on this card.

Thank You very much Anita!

Austria: Gloggnitz Castle

On 14th June I got three postcards from Austria.

One of them shows the Gloggnitz Castle in Lower Austria. Although this building is now known as Schloss or castle is was actually a Benedictine monastery. Parts of it date back to the 11th century. 

The main stamp (issued 05-06-2021) used here is from the Austrian series about wine regions, the Thermenregion in Lower Austria in particular. Two definitives were used to reach the correct postage and all three stamps were cancelled with the First Day Special Postmark of the wine stamp.

Thank You very much Anita!

cover from France

On 14th June I got not only three postcards but also a cover from France.

The stunning souvenir sheet about the Death Bicentenary of Napoleon Bonaparte (issued 17-04-2021) was used on the cover. This is definitely one of my favourite stamp issues of the year! You really need to see it in real life. 

In the cover were two First Day Covers of this year's EUROPA stamps from France and the French Post in Andorra. The French one (issued 21-05-2021) got my vote in the annual EUROPA Stamp Competition, as I really like that the stamps shows multiple endangered species and not just one. The stamp from Andorra (issued 14-05-2021) however is also very cute. 

The cover also included this envelope that had been used to send the two covers above to the postmarking centre in Boulazac. The stamps used here are about the Bel cheese factory (issued 19-04-2021) and the Little Prince (issued 12-04-2021).

Thank You very much William!

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.