United Kingdom: Thiepval Memorial in France

Last Thursday I got three postcards from the United Kingdom.

One of them is a stamp card of 2016's World War I Centenary issue. It shows the Thiepval Memorial in France. The Thiepval Memorial is a British World War I Memorial to the killed soldiers of the Battles of the Somme, which have no known grave. It was unveiled in 1932. 

The Battle of the Somme was fought from the 1st July until the 18th November 1916 between the German Empire and the Triple Entente countries France and the United Kingdom. The battle started with a large-scale offensive of the Triple Entente and ended without an achievement. It was the fiercest battle of the World War I.

With a related stamp:
Queen's Head
World War I Centenary (from set of six) (issued 21-06-2016)
The stamp shows Giles Revell's artwork Battlefield Poppy.
with a special World War I postmark

Thank You very much Kwanjira!

United Kingdom: Travoys Arriving with Wounded at a Dressing-Station at Smol

Last Thursday I got three postcards from the United Kingdom.

One of them is a stamp card of 2016's World War I Centenary issue. It shows the painting Travoys Arriving with Wounded at a Dressing-Station at Smol by Stanley Spencer. The painting was commissioned by the British War Memorials Committee in 1918 and Spencer deals in the painting with his own experiences of September 1916, when he was in attendance of a battle on the Macedonian Front. It is today shown in the Imperial War Museum.

With a related stamp:
Queen's Head
World War I Centenary (from set of six) (issued 21-06-2016)
Not much is known about the life of Lottie Meade, but for sure it can be said that she worked in a munitions works during World War I and that she died of TNT poisoning.
During the war millions of women entered Britain’s workforce, while many others left work such as textile manufacturing and domestic service in favour of higher-paying war work.
with a special World War I postmark

Thank You very much Kwanjira!

Germany: Berlin from Papersisters

Last Wednesday I got two postcards: one from Germany and one from the USA.

The card from Germany is Papersisters' German Landmark postcard of Berlin. After World War II the city of Berlin was divided between France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the USA. The eastern part became the capital of East Germany, while the western part formed an exclave of West Germany. After the German Reunification both parts were united and now form one of the States of the Federal Republic of Germany. The state is completely surrounded by Brandenburg. 

Among others the card shows the Victory Column, an Advertising Column, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag Building, the Berlin Wall and the Bust of Nefertiti.

With great matching stamps:
Brandenburg Gate (issued 27-12-2007)
The stamp commemorates the 275th birthday of Carl Gotthard Langhans, the architect of the Brandenburg Gate. 
Knut (issued 10-04-2008)
Heinrich Zille (issued 02-01-2008)
Heinrich Zille (1858-1929) was a German illustrator, who is known for his depictions of the common people of Berlin.
Topography of Terror (issued 02-01-2017)
with First Day Special Postmark

USA: NASA

Last Wednesday I got two postcards: one from the USA and one from Germany.

The card from the USA honours some of the greatest successes of the NASA. The NASA is an agency responsible for the civilian space program and the aerospace research. It was founded in 1958.

Stamps:
Penguins (issued 01-06-2015)
Year of the Rooster (issued 05-01-2017)
Year of the Dragon (issued 23-01-2012)

Thank You very much Mary!

cover from France

Last Wednesday I got not only two postcards but also a cover from France.

Stamps:

Marc Chagall (whole set) (issued 13-01-2017)

with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much William!

China: Chengjiang Biota Museum and Fossil Site

On Tuesday I got four postcards: one from China, two from Germany and one from Belarus.

The card from China shows the Chengjiang Biota Museum and fossils from the Chengjiang Fossil Site. The Chengjiang Fossil Site is one of the earliest records of a complex marine ecosystem and presents the most complete record of an early Cambrian marine community. In 1984 the Chengjiang Biota Museum was founded to exhibit the fossils from the site. Since 2012 is the Chengjiang Fossil Site on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Stamps:
110th birthday of Deng Xiaoping (from set of four) (issued 22-08-2014)
10 years of Macao's Return to China (from set of three) (issued 20-12-2009)

Thank You very much Danise!

Belarus: Postcrossing

On Tuesday I got four postcards: one from Belarus, one from China and two from Germany.

The card from Belarus is a Postcrossing Maxicard with the new Belarusian Postcrossing stamp, which was issued on 3rd January 2017. 

Belarus is one of the most active countries in Postcrossing. It has the eighth highest number of members and the sixth highest amount of sent postcards. The new stamp is already the second issue about the project. The first one was issued in early 2014.

The card was sent from the Postcrossing Meet-up in Minsk.

Thank You very much Maria!

Germany: New Variable Value Stamps

On Tuesday I got four postcards: two from Germany, one from Belarus and one from China.

The two postcards from Germany were sent by myself to record the change of the designs of the German Variable Value stamps.

France: Military Cemetery of Étaples-sur-Mer

On Monday I got three postcards: one from France, one from Japan and one from Finland.

The card from France shows the Military Cemetery in Étaples-sur-Mer. Étaples-sur-Mer is a commune in northern France. Due to its railway connections it was of strategic importance during World War I. It became the principal transit camp for the British Expeditionary Force in France and also housed sixteen hospitals. In 1917 it was the site of various mutinies by British Empire soldiers and in May 1918 it was bombed from the air. For the difficulties of the war it was awarded the Croix de guerre in 1920.

The Étaples Military Cemetery is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in France and was inaugurated in 1922 by King George V. It is the last resting place of nearly 11000 casualties of World War I. 

Update: As one of the Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front) in Belgium and France this site is since 2023 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Stamp:
Marianne 0,10€
Office National des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre (issued 10-11-2016)

Thank You very much William!

Finland: Kvarken Archipelago

On Monday I got three postcards: one from Finland, one from France and one from Japan.

The card from Finland shows the Kvarken Archipelago. The Kvarken Archipelago is a group of around 5600 islands in Gulf of Bothnia. It is continuously rising from the sea and lifts at rates that are among the highest in the World. Since 2000 is the Kvarken Archipelago together with the High Coast in Sweden on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

With a nice stamp:
Archipelago (from set of three) (issued 24-01-2008)
Friends Together (from set of six) (issued 19-01-2015)
with a special postmark from Helsinki

Thank You very much Shaun!

Japan: Pom Poko

On Monday I got three postcards: one from Japan, one from Finland and one from France.

The card from Japan shows a scene from Pom Poko. Pom Poko is an animated movie produced by Studio Ghibli. It tells the story of a group of tanuki fighting against the destruction of their habitat by the humans. It was released in 1994.

Stamps:
Japanese Dishes (from set of two) (issued 01-11-2016)
Autumn Greetings (from set of ten) (issued 03-10-2016)

Thank You very much Naoko!

Brazil: Manaus

On Saturday I got a postcard from Brazil.

It shows Manaus. Manaus is the capital city of the Brazilian State of Amazonas and the biggest city in the Amazon rainforest. At the end of the 19th century it was the best developed city in Brazil and the richest city in South America, as it was the only exporter of rubber. Back then it was known as Paris of the Tropics. Today it is the main access point for visiting the fauna and flora of the Brazilian Amazon. 

The Amazon Theatre (left picture) was built between 1884 and 1896 in the Renaissance style with materials imported from Europe and became a symbol of the rubber boom. Together with the Peace Theatre in Belém it seeks for the inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

With a great stamp:
Christmas (from set of two) (issued 04-10-2016)
The stamp was printed with foil.

Thank You very much Silvia!

India: Qutb Complex in Delhi

On Thursday I got three postcards: one from India, one from the UK and one from Spain.

The card from India shows the Qutb Complex in Delhi. The Qutb Complex is an array of monuments and buildings started in the 12th century. The most famous monument in the complex is the Qutb Minar (3), the tallest brick minaret in the World. The Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque (1) is the oldest mosque in northern India and the Alai Darwaza (4) is a masterpiece of Indo-Muslim art. The Qutb Minar and the other monuments in the complex are since 1993 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

With a nice stamp:
Tadoba-Andhari National Park (from set of two) (issued 29-07-2016)

Thank You very much Vinay!

Spain: Archaeology Museum of Barcelona

On Thursday I got three postcards: one from Spain, one from India and one from the UK.

The card from Spain shows a Roman mosaic from the collection of the Archaeology Museum of Barcelona. The Archaeology Museum of Barcelona was founded in 1932. It is housed in the Palace of Graphic Arts, one of the pavilions built for the 1929 World’s Fair, and offers visitors a journey to the origins of Catalonia. Since 1990 it is administered as branch of the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia.

With a great stamp:
Dinosaurs (from set of four) (issued 30-06-2016)
The stamp was printed using 3D offset.

Thank You very much Marina!

United Kingdom: Port of Liverpool Building

On Thursday I got three postcards: one from the UK, one from Spain and one from India.

The card from the UK shows the Port of Liverpool Building. Liverpool is a city in North West England. In the course of the Industrial Revolution it became one of the World’s major trading centres and its port played an important role in the growth of the British Empire. It was also directly involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1912 it was the port of registry of the Titanic and later it was the home of the Beatles. The Maritime Mercantile City of Liverpool is since 2004 on the UNESCO World Heritage List and currently it is one of just two European sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger. In 2008 was Liverpool the European Capital of Culture.

Stamps:
Queen's Head

Thank You very much Rachel!