USA: 1982 World's Fair

Last Saturday I got a postcard from the USA.

It is an old postcard about the 1982 World's Fair. The 1982 World's Fair was held in Knoxville in Tennessee between May and October of that year. It is recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions as specialised exposition with energy as its theme and was visited by more the 11million people. Participating countries included Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the USA and West Germany. Also the European Economic Community made its first Expo appearance in Knoxville. The symbol of the exposition and now of Knoxville in general is the Sunsphere (shown on the left side of this card), which in a Simpsons episode of 1996 was prominently destroyed by Nelson. 

The card was sent with three older stamps. The most interesting of these is the one on the left, one of four stamps issued by the USA for the 1982 World's Fair (issued 29-04-1982). This one highlights Solar Energy. The other three stamps in the set are about Synthetic Fuels, the Breeder Reactor and Fossil Fuels. The stamp in the middle is from a series about Americana and shows an Iron "Beety" Lamp from the Plymouth Colony (issued 11-09-1979) with the words "America's Light sustained by Love of Liberty". The complete Americana series issued between 1975 and 1981 consisted of twenty stamps issued in sheets, twelve issued in coils and one produced especially for a booklet. The series celebrated basic American concepts that have animated the country's entire history. Furthermore this stamp is from the last of five thematic blocks in the series called America's Light. This block also includes the famous CIA Invert. The last stamp is about the Bering Land Bridge (issued 12-10-1991).

Thank You very much Eric!

Germany: Electoral Hunting Lodge at Linn Castle

Last Friday I got two postcards from Germany.

One of them shows the Electoral Hunting Lodge at Linn Castle. The Electoral Hunting Lodge was built in the style of the Baroque in the 18th century for Clemens August of Bavaria, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne who also built the Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces in Brühl. Since 1930 it is used as museum. It shows today historic bourgeois rooms of the 18th and 19th century and mechanical musical instruments. Together with Linn Castle and the Archaeological Museum in Krefeld it forms a museum complex. 

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

Thank You very much Marcel!

Germany: German Textile Museum in Krefeld

Last Friday I got two postcards from Germany.

One of them shows a pillow plate from the collection of the German Textile Museum in Krefeld. Krefeld was once a centre of the silk industry in Germany and is thus also known as "Silk and Velvet City". Many of the textile companies had collections of textiles as illustrative material for the education of their employees, which were pooled at the end of the 19th century. From these beginnings the collection evolved into the German Textile Museum during the last century, which has now one of the most important collections of historic textiles in the World with pieces from all parts of the World ranging from the Antiquity until today. As many of the pieces can only be shown for the short time, the museum's exhibition is changed three or four times a year.

Two German flower definitives were used as postage: a Winter Aconite (issued 08-06-2017) and a Zinnia (issued 02-04-2020).

Thank You very much Marcel!

Austria: Freistadt

Last Thursday I got two postcards: one from Austria and one from Germany.

The card from Austria shows various views of Freistadt. Freistadt is a small town in the Austrian State of Upper Austria and the administrative centre of the District Freistadt. It is known for having one of the last intact city walls in Austria. 

Located at crossroads of a valuable salt and iron trade route, a court was created in the town in 1220. As no exact documents of the town's foundation exist, this year is usually regarded as its foundation year and to celebrate this year's 800th anniversary a special stamp was issued on 23rd May 2020. This stamp with its special postmark was used on this card. The definitive showing a herbarized lady's slipper (issued 15-01-2008) was used as well.

Thank You very much Anita!

Germany: Linn Castle

Last Thursday I got two postcards: one from Germany and one from Austria.

The card from Germany shows Linn Castle. Linn Castle is a castle in Krefeld and dates back to the 12th century, but was enlarged, destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries. Today it is home to a museum. 

One of my favourite stamps of 2019 was used on this card. It is from a set of two marking the beginning of the new stamp series called Heroes of the Childhood (issued 05-12-2019) and shows Heidi. Interestingly I have not received this stamp on many cards. With this one I now have it on five cards, of which I had sent two to myself. Keeping in mind that after the increase in postage last July there are still not so many postcard value stamps to choose from, that is quite strange. A reason might be that this stamp is only available as gummed stamp and thus maybe not available in many post offices.

Thank You very much Marcel!

cover from Italy

Last Thursday I got not only two postcards but also a cover from Italy.

The cover from Italy travelled for quite a long time. It was sent in Rimini in the middle of February and just arrived here in late May after 3.5 months. The left stamp is a definitive about Italian Mail (from set of three) (issued 01-07-2010) and the right one is from a set of three about Italian musicians (issued 02-10-2019). This one shows Giorgio Gaber. Cancelled were the stamps with a special postmark about Valentine's Day.

Thank You very much William!

cover from Austria

Last Wednesday I got a cover from Austria.

Used for postage were four stamps including once again the lovely definitive showing a herbarized lady's slipper (issued 15-01-2008) and a souvenir sheet about Historic Mail Vehicles (issued 27-08-2015). The most interesting of these four for me however is the last one. It is from a series about Austrian wine regions and shows the Pagans' Gate at Carnuntum together with a Roman helmet (issued 05-09-2015). Carnuntum, a huge archaeological site and crossroads of trade routes in the Roman Empire, got the European Heritage Label in 2013.

Inside were three Austrian postcards.

The first card shows the Beethoven House in Baden bei Wien. In Baden bei Wien, a famous spa town in the Austrian State of Lower Austria, Ludwig van Beethoven spent his summer for 15 years. Between 1821 and 1823 he lived in this house at Rathausgasse 10, which is now known as Beethoven House and where he composed big parts of his 9th Symphony. Today it houses a museum.

EDIT: As one of The Great Spa Towns of Europe is Baden bei Wien since July 2021 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Also the second card deals with Ludwig van Beethoven and shows some places in Baden, Bonn and Vienna connected to his life. It is especially nice to get a card like that in Beethoven's jubilee year.

The last card shows the Narrenturm in Vienna. Constructed in 1784 next to the site of the old Vienna General Hospital, the Narrenturm is continental Europa's oldest building for the accommodation of psychiatric patients. Since 1971 it is home to the Federal Pathologic-Anatomical Museum Vienna.

Thank You very much Anita!

cover from the USA with many cards inside

Last Tuesday I got two covers including one from the USA.

Used for postage were two complete stamp sets about the T-Rex (issued 29-08-2019) and Flowers from the Garden (issued 16-08-2017), of which the latter were unfortunately partly covered by a label.

Inside were many wonderful postcards from Mexico and the USA.

The first card from Mexico shows a Mariachi singer. Mariachi is a genre of Regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century and that is internationally for sure the most famous genre of Mexican music. Since 2011 is Mariachi an Intangible Heritage of the UNESCO. The most special part of this card is the backside. A wonderful stamp of the Día de Muertos (issued 31-10-2017) was used on it, which was cancelled with a special postmark about the Postcrossing Meet-up in Mexico City earlier this year. Although I always try to be up to date with the Postcrossing postmarks (I make a list of them on the Postcrossing Forum), I have never seen this one before.

The second Mexican card shows a map of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro was an historic trade route active from 1598 to 1882 connecting Mexico City and San Juan Pueblo, which is now in the USA. Its main purpose was the transport of silver and mercury, but it also created social, cultural and religious links between Spanish and Amerindian cultures. Since 2010 is the Mexican part of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Also this card got the Postcrossing postmark on the backside. As stamp was used a definitive about handicrafts issued in 2018.

Crossing the border with the USA the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro becomes a National Historic Trail. The Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico is along this trail. A Peccary from this wildlife refuge is shown on the first US card, which on the backside got a stamp with a lynx (issued 01-06-2012) and some cancels from places along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.

The Taos Pueblo in New Mexico is shown on the next three cards. On the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1992, it is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-speaking Native American tribe of Puebloan people and is considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the USA. On the backside the first card got yet another Postcrossing postmark. This one is about a US meet-up from 2018. The stamp used is quite old and shows the journalist Joel Chandler Harris (issued 09-12-1948).

Next up is a set of six detachable postcards about the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. The Chaco Culture National Historical Park is home to a concentration of pueblos considered to be one of the most important pre-Columbian cultural and historical areas in the USA. It is since 1987 on the UNESCO World Heritage List. All six cards have backside three cancels from the park.

The Death Valley National Park is probably one of the most famous national parks in the USA. Famous for being one of the hottest places in the World, this card also shows other parts of the park. It is interesting to learn that the second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, Badwater Basin, is located in this park, which is actually also the largest national park in the contiguous USA. Also it was designated as a dark sky park in 2013. On the backside of the card is a postmark from the park.

The Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico is famous for its show cave, Carlsbad Cavern. Established as national park in 1930, it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.

After so much history and nature, there was also a card of buzzing New York City with the Brooklyn Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge in the cover.

Last but definitely not least, the cover also included three postcards about Roadrunners. I mainly know this bird from its fight with Wile E. Coyote in the Looney Tunes cartoons, so it is nice to learn some things about the actual bird. For example that it kills prey by holding the victim in its bill and slamming it repeatedly against the ground or that it drinks no water. Also it is the State Bird of New Mexico and is known as Clown of the Desert. The first of these cards again has on the backside the US Postcrossing postmark from 2018. The stamp is again very old and this time shows Edgar Allan Poe (issued 07-10-1949).

Thank You very much Sam-Quito!

cover from Brunei

Last Tuesday I got two covers including one from Brunei.

The stamp that was used on this cover is from a set of three about butterflies and was issued on 14th April 2014. Actually it is quite interesting that this cover made it through the postal system to me, as the German Post still lists a suspension for sending mail to Brunei. However mail from Brunei to Germany seems to work just fine. I wonder why the same way can not be used to send mail the other way round.

Inside was a mint souvenir sheet from the USA and a block of four of Brunei's ASEAN stamp of last year (issued 08-08-2019).

Thank You very much Beb!

Poland: Old View of Kraków

Last Monday I got a postcard from Poland.

It shows an old view of Kraków with the Wawel Hill and the Vistula River. It is a nice reminder of my trip there last year and it is interesting to see how it changed. This view is from 1896.

Even more important than the card is the nice stamp. It is Poland's EUROPA stamp for this year (issued 29-04-2020) and deals with the Vistula River as old postal route. I really like the little illustrations of some of the most important Polish cities like Kraków, Warsaw and Gdansk. To reach the current postage for a card to Germany a second stamp was added. This one shows a sunflower (issued 26-06-2015).

Thank You very much Wojtek!

Germany: Baron Munchhausen

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

The card from Germany shows Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Münchhausen, the World famous Baron of the Lies. As I already said, recently a stamp about his 300th birthday was issued by the German Post on 7th May 2020. As I unfortunately was not able to get a matching card, I printed this one myself. If you want to know more about the Baron head over to my history blog, I just published a post about him there.

I sent this card to myself with the matching stamp and a special postmark from Bodenwerder. It was quite a back and forth with this postmark. When it was announced at first, it was said that the actual event was cancelled, but that the postmark will be available from the postmarking centre. Two weeks later it was completely cancelled, just to be changed a bit and finally to be used even during a small event.

USA: Minnesota

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

The card from the USA shows a map of Minnesota. The last time I got a card from Minnesota I already wrote that it is a centre of Scandinavian American and German American culture and that its capital is Saint Paul, while the largest city is Minneapolis. On this card now you can see that these two cities are not so far away from each other. Very interesting is also the city name New Ulm. In recent days Minneapolis is often in the news and I am sure you know why, especially as that is the first theme in two months that actually rivals Covid-19 in importance. 

Used for postage were three nice and not so common stamps. I especially like the left stamp and although it was just issued last year, I can not remember to have seen it before. It celebrates the Bicentenary of Alabama Statehood (issued 23-02-2019). The stamp in the middle is from a set of ten about Wild Orchids issued on 21st February 2020. This one shows a Greater Purple Fringed Bog Orchid. Interestingly the photographer of these stamps, Jim Fowler from South Carolina, is actually a stamp collector. The stamp on the right finally shows Pears (issued 23-03-2017).

Thank You very much Tristan!