2496 - Weesp, North Holland, Netherlands

Weesp is a city of almost 20 000 people within the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. In fact, on 24 March 2022, Weesp will merge with Amsterdam.

Weesp's most famous product is Van Houten Chocolate. Coenraad Johannes van Houten (1801-1887) was a Dutch chemist and chocolate maker. He treated cocoa mass with alkaline salts to remove the bitter taste and make cocoa solids more water-soluble. This is known as Dutch Process Chocolate. van Housten's father, Casparus, opened the chocolate factory in Amsterdam in 1815. The mill was powered by labourers. The factory was a boon for Weesp as the population of the town doubled in the second half of the 18th century.

The Van Houten Company was sold in 1962 to W.R. Grace and Company and in 1971 the factories is Weesp closed. Since 2002, the Van
Houten company is owned by Barry Callebaut, a Swiss chocolate manufacturer.

There is an urban legend that says the Van Houten company paid a condemned man to shout their slogan, "Drink Van Houten's Cocoa!" before being hanged.

The card is a picture of Vincent van Gogh's "Das Gelbe Haus" (the Yellow House). It was painted in 1888 and the house was located in Place Lamartine, Arles, France. Van Gogh rented four rooms here in 1888. Paul Gauguin also lived here for nine weeks with van Gogh. The building was severely damaged in a bombing raid by the Allies on 25 June 1944, and had to be demolished.

3227 - Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Mölln is a small city of about 20 000 located in northern Germany. The Elbe-Lübeck Canal flows through the town, and there are eight small lakes that surround the city. It was founded in the 12th century and was a part of the Old Salt Route. Salt that was produced in the salt mines of Lower-Saxony was shipped to the Baltic Sea. Till Eulenspiegel, a legendary trickster known for exposing vices and provoking thought, is said to have lived in Mölln the last year of his life. He apparently died of the plague in 1350, but his existence has never been proven. Mölln has several monuments dedicated to him.

3322 - Hamburg, Germany

Happy birthday to me! What a lovely handmade card from the sender. Beautiful penmanship. Am Rothenbaum is the site of the main court of the German Open Tennis Championships. The International German Open has been played at the Rothernbaum since 1892, making it Germany's longest running tennis tournament. The current stadium was built in 1999 and can hold 13 200 people.

3232 - Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States of America

The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal North Pierhead Light was built in 1882. There were nine keepers of the light until 1897. It was redesigned in 1903 and is 12 meters high. The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal was started in 1872 and wasn't opened for large-scale watercraft until 1890. The canal is 2.1 kilometers long that goes from Sturgeon Bay in Lake Michigan to Green Bay. There are no locks on this canal. The canal was sold to the United States government in 1893 and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains the canal.

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