My postcard and stamp week: March 2024

Monday, March 25, 2024

5th October 2022: Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan

The Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art is an art museum in Fukushima City. It opened in 1984.

A very nice stamp about the 50th anniversary of the Normalisation of Diplomatic Relations between China and Japan was used here. It is from a set of two.

Thank You very much Keiko!

5th October 2022: Tours, France

Tours is a big city and the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. It was founded by Emperor Augustus and became one of the most important cities of the Frankish Empire during the times of the Merovingians and Carolingians. Saint Martin and Gregory of Tours were born in the town, but is probably best known for the Battle of Tours of 732. Although the battle was most likely not the big Christian victory against the Umayyad invasion it was often described as, the victory of the Frankish and Aquitanien forces led by Charles Martel laid the groundwork for the rise to power of the Carolingian dynasty. As part of the Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes is the historic part of Tours since 2000 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Thank You very much William!

5th October 2022: Aachen, Germany

Aachen is a big city in the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia located on the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. The city was once the centre of the Empire of Charlemagne. The Aachen Cathedral (top picture) was began at that time and became one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1978. The Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum (lower left corner) is an art museum founded in 1883.

Thank You very much Marcel!

5th October 2022: Crüwell House in Bielefeld, Germany

The Crüwell House is a late-Gothic bourgeois house in Bielefeld. It dates back to the 16th century.

Thank You very much Marcel!

5th October 2022: Cover from Spain

Thank You very much William!

4th October 2022: Moomin FDC from Finland

1st October 2022: Vienna U-Bahn, Austria

The Vienna U-Bahn was opened in 1978. It is the backbone of what the International Association of Public Transport deemed one of the best-performing public transport systems worldwide in 2009. This card brings back some fond memories of my trip to Vienna in 2014.

The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, founded in 1872, is an education and research centre for renewable resources in Vienna.

Thank You very much Anita!

30th September 2022: National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, Japan

The National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo was opened in 1871 and offers a wide variety of natural history exhibitions and interactive scientific experiences with a focus on pre-Meiji science. It is one of the most visited museums in Japan and among the most visited museums in the World.

The stamp is from a set of ten celebrating the 150th anniversary of Railways in Japan. It shows Japan's first train imported from the United Kingdom in 1872.

Thank You very much Keiko!

27th September 2022: Alessandria, Italy

Alessandria is a city in Piedmont and a major railway hub.

Thank You very much William!

27th September 2022: Aosta Valley, Italy

Thank You very much William!

27th September 2022: Boulogne-sur-Mer, France

Thank You very much William!

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

26th September 2022: Postcrossing FDC from Luxembourg

22nd September 2022: Smurfs, Germany

Smurfs are small, blue, human-like creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. They were created by Peyo in 1958 and first appeared in the Belgian comic Johan and Peewit published in the Spirou magazine. Already in 1959 the first independent Smurf story was published. Until today more than 100 Smurf characters were created, which appeared in the 31 Smurf comics, video games, movies and TV series. Mainly due to the TV series from the 1980s, which was still shown here in Germany in the early 2000s, Smurfs were among the biggest heroes of my childhood. Together with Pumuckl they chosen for the 2022issue in the German stamp series Heroes of the Childhood. I bought some matching cards online and got two of them cancelled with the matching stamp and special postmark. The rest I kept blank.

22nd September 2022: First Images from the James Webb Telescope, USA

The James Webb Space Telescope is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. Its high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope. This enables investigations across many fields of astronomy and cosmology, such as observation of the first stars and the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets. It was launched on 25 December 2021 on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana and arrived at its destination in January 2022. The telescope's first image was released to the public on 11 July 2022. NASA led Webb's design and development and partnered with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The telescope is named after James E. Webb, who was the administrator of NASA from 1961 to 1968 during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.

A wonderful matching stamp with special postmark was used on the card. Truely a treasure in every collection.

Thank You very much Jessica!

22nd September 2022: Lego, Austria

Lego is a Danish construction toy production company based in Billund. It manufactures toys consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The company was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen and the name is derived from the Danish phrase leg godt, meaning "play well". In the first half of 2015, The LEGO Group became the World's largest toy company by revenue, although nowadays a big part of the sales are done by adult fans of the brand instead of children.

For the company's 90th anniversary this wonderful stamp was issued in Austria showing a Lego model of the ferris wheel in Vienna.

Thank You very much Anita!

22nd September 2022: Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle was built from 1869 onwards at the behest of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. He wanted to build it as homage to Richard Wagner but Wagner never entered the castle. Ludwig II paid for the castle out of his personal fortune and through extensive borrowing, but he died before the finishing. Actually Ludwig II never wanted that visitors enter the castle but only six weeks after his death the first people visited it. Now more than 1300000 people visit the castle every year. The castle was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle.

22nd September 2022: Cover from Germany

22nd September 2022: Hildesheim Cathedral Museum, Germany

The Hildesheim Cathedral Museum is the treasury and diocesan museum of the Diocese of Hildesheim. It shows artifacts from thousand years of church and art history. After five years of renovation the museum was reopened in April 2015. I visited the museum once again to see a special exhibition about pieces from the collection with an Islamic past.