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.

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3566 - Bakhmach, Chernihiv, Ukraine

Bakhmach is locarted in northern Ukraine. I'm taking this next paragraph straight out of Wikipedia: During the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 26, 2022, at least 65 units of Russian military equipment moved through Bakhmach, with about a hundred more on the outskirts. Local residents tried to stop the convoy on their own by blocking tank tracks with makeshift objects and convincing Russian soldiers not to move towards Kyiv . One man attempted to climb onto a tank and block the road with his body (he was not hurt). However, the military equipment continued to move, and Russian forces fired several shots into the air. Слава Україні!

3564 - Kassel, Hesse, Germany

A wonderful message on this card that translates to to those wh o can wait, everything comes with time.

2352 - Cologne (Köln), North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Cologne is home to the twelve Romanesque churches. All are Catholic churches and all are found in Altstadt (old town). All were severely damaged during the 262 Allied air raids on Cologne. All twelves have been restored. St. Andreas was consecrated in 974. The crypt of the church as a sarcophagus that dates back to the third century and it holds the remains of St. Albertus Magnus, who died in 1280. St. Apostein was consecrated in the 800s. St. Cecilia was built in the 800s and it the current home of the Schnutgen Museum for Medieval Art. It still holds Catholic Mass on rare occasions. St. Georg's was built near the end of 1000s. It was extensively restored after the Second World War. St. Gerion's was established in 612. St. Kunibert was consecrated in 1247. Cunibert, the 9th Bishop of Cologne, is buried here. St. Maria im Kapital was built between 1040-1065. It was also heavily damaged during the war and restoration was finally completed in 1984. St. Maria Lyskirchem is the ...

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