2501 - Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Leverkusen is a city of 163 000. Leverkusen is made up of the following former villages: Wiesdorf, Opladen, Schlebusch, Manfort, Bürrig, Hitdorf, Quettingen, Lützenkirchen, Steinbüchel, Rheindorf and Bergisch-Neukirchen. Ozan, the sender, is from Opladen which joined Leverkusen in 1975.

Ozan's card is from the island of Frauenchiemsee. It is the largest of three islands in Chiemsee. Frauenchiemsee is 15.5 hectares and is car free. There is a convent of Benedictine nuns, along with 300 permanent residents.

The monastery was founded in 782 by Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria. The first abbess was Blessed Irmengard in 850 and was dedicated to the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. King Ludwig I of Bavaria rebuilt the monastery for the Benedictine nuns and allowed them to receive new candidates on the condition the nuns created their livelihood by opening schools. As such a grammar school, called Irmengard Gymnasium, existed on the site until 1995. The current monastery was declared an abbey again in 1901.

The monastery (2016) has 21 sisters and the abbess is Johanna Mayer.

Tourism is a big part of Frauenchiemsee today. The monastery produces a liquor spirit which is sold to tourists. The island is accessible by ship year round.

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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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