A depressing look, but stunning card of a painting by Vasily Perov, "Apprentice Workmen Carrying Water" 1866. The title is misleading because it is obvious the "workmen" are children. In the card, the writer says Perov shows the "unenviable fare of children in the XIXth century. Children performed overwhelming work." Vasily Perov (1834-1882) was a key figure in the Russian Realist movement and one of the founding members of Peredvizhniki. The Peredvizhniki were a group of Russian realist artists who formed an artists' cooperative in protest of academic restrictions. Perov studies at the Alexander Stupin art school and the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture.  He won a state-sponsored trip in 1862 and travelled to western Europe, spending time in Germany and France, specifically Paris. He created many paintings of European street life.  In 1871 he was awarded a professorship at the Moscow School of Arts, Sculpture, and Architecture. I

This tourist card from Cologne shows the Hohenzollern Bridge. It was originally built between 1907 and 1911 and was named after the House of Hohenzollern, the rulers of Prussia and the German Emperors. It was a very important bridge during World War II and the allies tried to severely damage it on several occasions. As the Allied troops approached Cologne in March of 1945, Germany military engineers blew up the bridge on 6 March 1945. Allied troops were just beginning their assault on Cologne at the time.  After German's surrender in May, the bridge was make operational on a makeshift basis and reconstruction began almost immediately. By May 1948, pedestrians could use the bridge again. It was finally reconstructed by 1959. In the 1980s, the bridge was converted to a rail, bicycle, and pedestrian bridge. Today the bridge has 1200 train pass daily over it. Love padlocks became a thing at the bridge in 2008, where couples lock a padlock on the rails of the bridge. It is estimated the

Nagoya Castle was built in 1612 during the Edo Period in Japan. It was the main castle in the middle of one of the most important castle towns in Japan. It linked two of the important Edo Five Routes - five centrally administered routes that connected to Edo with the outer provinces during the Edo Period. In 1945 the castle was destroyed during the bombing of Nagoya near the end of World War II. Reconstruction and repair of the castle has been ongoing since 1957. 

Since this card has a bicycle theme, let's look at cycling in Cologne. According to the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club - a registered cycling association and club for cyclists in Germany - rated Cologne 36th out of 39 German cities (200 000+ people) for cyclists. The traffic layout in Cologne is not bicycle friendly.  However, there are 682 cycle routes in Cologne to explore and are fairly flat to slightly uphill. There is a group trying to make Cologne more bike friendly for commuters. 

Kursk was first built as a fortress city, west of the Kur River. It was first mentioned in 1032 and gained city status in 1779.  Between 1360 - 1508 it was a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After that it joined Russia and became Russia's southern border. During the Second World War, Kursk was occupied by Germany from 1941-43. After losing the city in 1943, the German's attempted to retake Kursk via Operation Citadel. During the operation, the world's largest tank battles took place during the Battle of Prokhorovka, about 90 km from Kursk. The 5th Guards Tank Army of the Soviet Red Army attacked the II SS-Panzer Corps of the German Waffen-SS. The Germans lost 842 men, along with 80 tanks and 19 aircraft, while the Soviet's lost 5500 men, along with 400 tanks, and 14 fighter aircraft. Even though the Soviets had significant loses, the Germans cancelled Operation Citadel even though Hitler's advisors wanted to continue the battle. Hitler instead re-deployed his f

Bern is the de facto capital city of Switzerland: the Swiss call it their "federal city." There are about 144 000 people in Bern founded in the 12th century.  SC Bern, founded in 1931, plays in the National League in Switzerland. It is the top tier of professional hockey in Switzerland. It plays in PostFinance Arena, one of the largest hockey arenas in Europe with just over 17 000 seats. SC Bern averages about 16 000 per game.  SC Bern has won the National League Championship 16 times, the most recent one in 2019. The roster as of March 2020 included two Canadians - Andrew Ebbett and Christian Thomas.  Ebbett, from Vernon, British Columbia, has extensive National Hockey League and American Hockey League experience. His NHL totals include 224 games with 26 goals and 45 assists. He played with Anaheim, Chicago, Minnesota, Phoenix, Vancouver, and Pittsburgh. He also won a bronze medal playing for Canada at the Pyeongchang, South Korea Olympics in 2018. He played five season wit

Tamworth is a market town in Staffordshire of 77 000 people. It has ancient roots and was the centre of royal power for the Kingdom of Mercia in the 700 and 800s.  The sender of the card is a cyclist and sent me a reproduction of the cover of the first issue of Cycling Weekly Magazine, produced 24 January 1891. This magazine is still published weekly in Britain with printed and digital editions. British club cyclists refer to it as "The Comic."

The writer of the card is Sicilian, but lives in Verona, which is in the northern part of Italy. The card is from the sender's home town of Siracusa (Syracuse).  Like most places in Italy, Syracuse has ancient beginnings. It was settled by Corinthian Greeks in the 8th century BCE. Over the centuries the city has been sacked for foreign forces, destroyed by natural disaster,  besieged by foreign and domestic forces, and has changed hands many times.  Today, Syracuse has about 125 000 residents and a variety of historical sites. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  ASD Siracusa is Syracuse's football teams and plays in the Eccellenza, the fifth-level of Italian football. There are 464 teams in 28 divisions divided geographically over all 20 regions of Italy. Division winners are promoted to Serie D, the top level of non-professional football in Italy and is comprised of 172 in nine divisions. 

Ahlen is a city of 53 000. Ahlen was first mentioned in 850. Ahlen means "eels" in Germany and there isn't any evidence as to why Ahlen got its name, nor how the town's coat of arms - an eel with a crown and feathers - was created. 

Binz is the largest seaside resort on the German island of  Rügen. It is also situated near Nationalpark Jasmund (Jasmund National Park).  Nationalpark Jasmund is a nature reserve on the Jasmund Peninsula. It is famous for containing the largest chalk cliffs in Germany, known as  Königsstuhl (King's Chair). Behind the cliffs are beech tree forests.  The park is the smallest national park in Germany at 30 square kilometres and founded by government of East Germany in 1990, just prior to Germany reunification.  In 2011, the beech forest was added to the UNCESCO World Heritage Site as an extension of the Primeval Beech Forest of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany. 

Maya sends a nice card from a painter I had never heard of before - Boris Grigoriev  Бори́с Дми́триевич Григо́рьев (1886-1939). Not only was he known for his painting, but he was also a graphic artist and an author. The postcard features his painting "Female Portrait (Darling)," 1917. Grigoriev studied art at the Stroganov Art School and at the Imperial Academy of Arts. He became a member of the Union of Impressionists in 1909. He was interested in the Russian countryside, the peasants that worked the land, and village life. From 1916-1918 he created a series of paintings and graphic works called "Russia" which depicted the poverty and strength of rural Russia.  In 1919 he travelled and lived abroad in Finland, Germany, France, the United States, and Central and South America. There isn't any information about it, but I wonder if Grigoriev got out because of the Russian Civil War. While living in Paris, Gregoriev was strongly influenced by    Paul Cézanne. Grigo

Jolanda tried to get me a bowls card but was mixed up with lane bowling. I always appreciate the effort! Her card is a meet up card in Utrecht from March 2020.  Zuidland is a town of about 5200 people. It is part of the municipality of Nissewaard. It first became a part of Bernisse in 1980 and later joined Nissewaard when Bernisse and Spijkenisse merged with it in 2015. I think municipalities are similar to counties in Canada and in the United States.   

I received a great card from Stanislav in Moscow. It is a photo of Yasnaya Polyana, the former home of Leo Tolstoy, and houses the Tolstoy museum today.  It is located about 200 km from Moscow. Leo Tolstoy was born at Yasnaya Polyana in 1828. He is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. His best two novels are War and Peace  and Anna Karenina . He has also written countless plays and philosophical essays. Tolstoy was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906, and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902, and 1909 - none of which he won. In 1870 he experienced a spiritual awakening and became a Christian anarchist and pacifist. His ideas about non violent resistance, expressed in The Kingdom of God is Within You.  This book had profound effects on both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.  Tolstoy died in Astapova.

Vilseck is a town of 6400 people on the Vils River. It is an old town first settled in 925 with the construction of a castle. In 1937,  Südlager (German Army Base) was built here as part of the  Grafenwöhr  Training Area. The base was capitulated to the United States Army in 1945. The US base is called Rose Barracks. The current units are based at Rose Barracks: 2nd Cavalry Regiment Bavaria Medical Activity 72nd Med Det VS A Co, 39th Finance 2nd ASOS Elements of the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command 514th Military Police Augmentation Platoon. Of course this remained a permanent US military installation due to its proximity to the West German/East German border during the Cold War and is a part of American commitment to NATO.

I love reproductions of retro advertising. This one is for Chilton's Motor Age Magazine. On the cover is a story about the 1956 Lincoln. Chilton is a publishing company famous for its trade magazines and automotive owners manuals. I remember buying a Chilton book for my 1983 Plymouth Reliant back in college. 

Anne sends a nice tourist postcard from Amsterdam. However, Anne is from Assen, the capital city of the province of Drenthe. Assen has almost 68 000 people, which makes it slightly larger than Medicine Hat.  Assen is home to a motorsport race track TT Circuit Assen. The track was built in 1955 and was 7.705 kilometres in length. The new track is 4.555 kilometres with a mix of super fast flat-out and slow corners.  The track can be adjusted for the different events: Grand Prix Circuit - 4.555 km Motorcycle Circuit - 4.542 km TT Circuit Assen hosts the World Championships Motorcycle Racing since 1949. The Superbike World Championships. And the Dutch TT (Tourist Trophy) since 1949.  The seating area has a capacity for 110 000 spectators. 

Ikast is a town of just under 16 000 people found in the middle of Jutland. It wasn't much more than a few buildings until in the mid-eighteenth century when industrialization began. It became a main town for textiles. A railway line in the 1850s also led to an increase in the population. The town began to grow around the railway station. 

Kassel is a city of 201 000 people. It was first mentioned in 913. It was a fortification at a bridge crossing the Fulda River.  The Brothers Grimm - Jacob and Wilhelm - spent  time in Kassel. First in 1796 to attend the Friedrichgymnasium in Kassel. It was a school that promoted a humanist education and focused on music and foreign languages, especially Latin and Greek. Both brothers graduated at the head of their classes - Jacob in 1803; Wilhelm in 1804.  Jacob began work as the librarian in Kassel in 1808 with Wilhelm joining him soon after. It is here they began to collect folk tales and published them. They soon moved on to other positions, including as parliamentarians in the National Assembly at Mainz.  Wilhelm died of an infection in Berlin in 1859, while Jacob passed on in 1863. 

Alphen aan den Rijn (Alphen upon Rhine) is a city of just over 110 000 people on the banks of the Oude Rijn (Old Rhine). The area around Alphen aan den Rijn has had people here since Roman times. The area formed the north border of the Roman Empire. Germanic raids ended Roman rule in 240.  Alphen aan den Rijn was created in 1918 with the amalgamation of the smaller municipalities of Alphen, Aarlanderveen, and Oudshoorn. In 1964, Zwammerdam was added, and in 2014, Boskoop and Rijnwoude were amalgamated in Alphen aan den Rijn.  The city centre is undergoing an urban renewal with many buildings from the 1950s being demolished for new buildings with modern architecture. New public squares, the construction of performing arts areas, and the creation of pedestrian streets are all making the city centre more user friendly. 

This is a photo of the Uostadvaris Lighthouse ( Uostadvario švyturys) found on the coast of Lithuania. It's found on the southern side of the Atmata River, on the coast of the Curonian Spit. It was built in 1876 and deactivated in 1986.  It is 12 meters high and the tower is octagonal made of red brick. Nemunas Delta Regional Park is the curator of the lighthouse today. 

Dresden was severely damaged and almost destroyed by American and British bombing raids in 1945. Dresden was a major communications hub and manufacturing centre with 127 factories and major workshops. The German military designated it asa  defensive strongpoint, in order to slow down the Soviet Red Army. The bombing of Dresden remains controversial part of Allied history. Between February 13-15, 773 Royal Air Force Lancasters dropped 1181 tons of incendiary bombs and almost 1500 tons of high explosive bombs. They targeted rail yards at the centre of the city. The high explosive bombs damaged buildings and exposed their wooden skeletons. The incendiary bombs ignited the wood. The Nazi's reported 200 000 dead. German historians in 2010 estimated the dead to be between 18 000 to 25 000.  One man, a major Nazi museum director and art dealer, used the bombings to cover up and hide a large collection of artwork that had been stolen by the Nazis. It was estimated to be worth over a billio

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) is considered Finland's greatest composter and his music is often credited with helping Finland develop a national identity during its struggle for independence from Russia.  The core of his work consists of seven symphonies which are regularly performed and recorded in Finland and many other countries. After producing his seventh symphony, Sibelius stopped producing major works. Finns call this period of time "silence of   Järvenpää ." He was honoured by being featured on the 100 mark note until 2002, when the Euro was adopted. December 8 is Sibelius' birthday and is known in Finland as "Day of Finnish Music."

I love receiving sports themed cards and this one is a great one. Clare tries to explain cricket to me on the back of her card and did a fairly good job.  Colchester is home to the Essex County Cricket Club, one of 18 first-class county clubs within the British cricket structure (England & Wales). The club was founded in 1876 and play at the County Ground in Chelmsford. In the First-Class league, Essex has won the championship eight times, the last being in 2019. They have also won the Division Two three times the last being in 2021.  Colchester is on the site of the first major Roman city in Roman Britain. It claims itself to be Britain's oldest recorded town. It was known as Camulodunum. It was a military garrison during Roman times and is the current home to the 16th Air Assault Brigade.  Colchester is located on the banks of the River Colne. It has an estimated population of almost 140 000. 

Bishop's Waltham is a town of just over 6700 people found in Hampshire in the south of England. It dates back to 5th and 6th century as an Anglo-Saxon settlement. The Danes burned the village to the ground in 1001, but by 1086 it was listed in the Domesday Book with a population of 600.  Triumph Cycle Company was started in 1886 by Siegfried Bettmann, a recent immigrant from Germany. Triumph began manufacturing its own bicycles for sale in 1894. In 1902, it produced its first motorcycle, and in 1905 introduced the first all-British motorcycle. In the 1920s the company began producing automobiles. The company was destroyed by German bombing raids during World War II. Today Raleigh owns Triumph and still produces bicycles. 

I love these reproduction of travel cards. This one is a reproduction created by the Great Western Railway for Cornwall. The Canadian Pacific Rail in also known for creating these great cards about stops on their lines.  Emma is from Bournemouth, a coastal town on the south coast of England, of about 184 000 people. Its a fairly new town, in British terms, as it was founded in 1810 by Lewis Tregonwell. He originally marketed the new town as a health resort. It quickly grew when it was featured in an 1841 book called The Spas of England , and then the railway arrived in 1870.  AFC Bournemouth plays in the Championship (the football association's second highest level of football in England). The Cherries, as they are known as, played in the Premier League between 2015-2020. They were relegated back the Championship in 2020 despite defeating Everton 3-1, but needed help from some other teams to remain in the Premiership; help they didn't get. 

Another World Postcard Day card from Russia. This one is from Elena is Novy Urengoy  Но́вый Уренго́й. It is a new city founded in 1975 after the discovery of the Urengoy gas field, one of the largest in the Soviet Union. It was granted town status in 1980. Today there are almost 105 000 people living there.  I would have guessed the city would have a KHL hockey team. Instead the big sport in town is volleyball. Fakel Novy Urengoy is a professional volleyball team playing in the Super League since 2004. The closest they have come to the Super League championship was two third place finishes in 2009 and 2019. However, they have won the CEV Challenge Cup twice - 2007 and 2017. The CEV Challenge Cup is an annual European third-tier level competition for men's volleyball.  Zenit Kazan are the Super League powerhouses with 10 championships since 2008-09 (plus two runner ups). Belogorie Belgorod is close behind with 8 championships since 1996-97 (and six runner ups)

Tomoko sends a beautiful card. It is not a World Postcard Day card (officially) but she sends Postcard Day greetings and has special stickers on the back.  Osaka  大阪市  is the third largest city in Japan with 2.8 million people and is a part of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, the second largest in Japan, with almost 20 million people.  There are four professional sports teams in Osaka, two are baseball teams and two are football teams.  The Orix Buffaloes and the Hanshin Tigers both play in the Nippon Professional Baseball (BPB), or  Puro Yakyū   プロ野球, which simply means professional baseball.  The Buffaloes, who were founded in 1936, have won the Japan Series four times: 1975, 1976, 1977, 1996. The Tigers, who also date back to 1936,  have one it once in 1985.  Gamba Osaka and Cerezo Osaka both play in the J League (Japan Professional Football League), or  日本プロサッカーリーグ ,  Nihon Puro Sakkā Rīgu , which literally translates to Japan Pro Soccer League. Gamba won the J League in 2007 and

Miranda is a writer and just released her first book entitled WonderLand . It is an Alice in Wonderland retelling. It looks to be book 1 of a series. The summary goes like this: Kaleb "Rabbit" White hates everything about his life, especially his job at Red Queen Inc. He had plans to quit until a company experiment went wrong, killing an entire room full of people....except for one: Alice. It's been four years since Alice survived the virus responsible for her mother's death. She's managing to keep the side effects of WonderLand under control and is doing her best to put the trauma of her past behind her. Then, she receives a notecard with one word on it: "Run." Alice needs answers. Kaleb wants to protect her. Trapped inside Red Queen Inc, they must work together to find a way out. But first Alice needs to find the cure.  Miranda's card is colour wood engraving of "The Bodleian Library, Oxford," but the artist is unknown. The Bodleian Libr

Otalampi is a village of about 1000 next to a lake called Otalampi. The Otalampi-talo was completed in 2008 and houses a comprehensive school (elementary-high school), a kindergarten, and a maternity clinic. Imagine if schools in Canada have a maternity clinic attached to it. There would be competition between public and separate school boards to use their maternity clinic and doctors. 

Daria's card is another World Postcard Day with a graphic on it that looks like Japanese anime. She says the graphic is based on a Russian folk tale entitled Kolobok.  It is a story that tells the story of a round bread that runs away from home to travel the world. However, the bread is outwitted by a fox and eaten. 

Layla from Taipei sent me a care with words of advice on the front. On the back she has written a message in Mandarin. A friend of mine translated the message on the back and it said, "There is no need to find the meaning of life, because it is waiting to be defined by you."

A beautiful meet-up card from Chengdu on 21 September 2021. All the participants used an ink stamp to sign their names. They are all beautiful.  Chengdu  成都市  is the largest city in Sichuan Province at almost 21 million people. It is considered a Beta + City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. That means it is considered to be a city that links moderate economic regions to the world economy. North American cities that are considered Beta + include Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Washington, DC, and Vancouver.  The economy of Chengdu is diverse and the Sichuan Airport is one of the 30 busiest in the world. It is also considered one of the most liveable cities in China. The Western Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army is stationed here. UNESCO recognized Chengdu as a "City of Gastronomy."Giant pandas are native to the area and the city is home to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.  Chengdu is one of the world's top 40 by s

Nittenau is a small town of just over 9000 in the German state of Bavaria. Sonja and her husband have two children. The photo on the card is lovely but there isn't anything on the card to say where it is, and Sonja did write what it was but it is difficult to read. It looks like a scene from the Rocky Mountains!

S anta María de Regla de León Cathedral  is a  Catholic  church in  León. It was dedication to the Virgin Mary. It has about 1800 square metres of stained glass windows, most dating back to between the 13th and 15th centuries. It also houses a large collection of sacred art - about 1500 pieces. There are two spires that are 30 metres tall.  The Main Chapel houses an altarpiece by  Nicolás Francés, a 15th century Spanish painter and miniaturist. There is also a silver urn containing the relic of San Froilán, the town's patron saint.

Atlanta has had two National Hockey League hockey teams in the history of the city.  The first team, the Atlanta Flames, were founded to begin play in 1972 along with the New York Islanders. The Flames actually made the playoffs in six of their eight seasons, but failed to advance beyond the first round, winning a total of two playoff games. Unfortunately the team only averaged 10 000 fans per game. The owner looked to sell the team. Calgary was the frontrunner in the rumoured new locations, but Dallas and Houston were also mentioned. An ownership group from Calgary agreed to buy the team for $16 million. The Calgary Flames played their first season in Calgary in the 1980-81 season. That year the Flames won their first two playoff rounds, before losing in the semi-finals to the Minnesota North Stars. The second team, the Atlanta Thrashers, joined the league for the 1999-2000 season. The Thrashers won the 2006-07 Southeast Division Championship but were swept by the New York Rangers in

Nice card from Saint Petersburg of Saint Isaac's Cathedral. St. Isaac's was named after Saint Isaac of Dalmatia. He is the patron saint of Peter the Great, who was born on St. Isaac's feast day.  Saint Isaac's is the fourth church built on this site. It was ordered by Tsar Alexander I to replace an earlier structure. It took 40 years to complete (1818-1858).  In 1931 the Soviets turned Saint Isaac's into the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism. During the Second World War the dome was painted grey so as to stand out less against German aircraft.  After the Soviets fell, the museum was removed and regular worship services resumed, but only on the left side of the chapel. In 2017, the governor of Saint Petersburg announced that the chapel would be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church.

A great card from Tatiana of Otkritie Arena (Spartak Stadium) in Moscow. It is a multi-purpose stadium used mostly for football matches. It is the home of Spartak Moscow and one of the stadiums used by the Russian national team. It was also one of the stadiums that hosted the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The stadium includes a monument to the Starostin brothers, founders of FC Spartak Moscow, as well as a 25.5 metre statue of the Roman gladiator Spartacus, for whom the club is named in honour of.  FC Spartak Moscow will be celebrating its centenary in April 2022. In its history, Spartak has: 12 Soviet champions (second most after Dynamo Kyiv) 10 Russian championships 10 Soviet Cups 3 Russian Cups 1 Russian Super Cup 1 USSR Federation Cup reached the semi-finals of all three European club competitions. Today, of the 30 men on the roster, 21 are Russian, with France, Belgium, Dutch, Brazilian, Nigeria, Argentina, Sweden, and Jamaican men rounding out the rest

A new World Postcard Day Card from Ralf. Ralf lives in Friedrichsdorf, a town of 25 500 people located in the Taunus (mountain range in Hesse).  Johann Philipp Reis (1834-1874) is Friedrichsdorf's most famous citizen. He is the inventor of the electric transmission of speech (telephone)... This was news to me as we are taught it was Alexander Graham Bell. It turns out that Reis first described his idea in a paper entitled, On the Radiation of Electricity , which was rejected by a Professor Poggendorff for publication in the Annalen der Physik. In 1860, Reis built the first prototype of a telephone which covered a distance of 100 metres. He tried to interest Professor Poggendorff in 1862 but was again rejected. People in Germany was uninterested in the telefon, especially Wilhelm von Legat, inspector of the Royal Prussian Telegraph Corps. Instead a Professor Vanderwyde took the prototype to the United States where it seemed to gain interest.  Alexander Graham Bell took the invention

San Pablo  Lungsod ng San Pablo  is a city of just under 300 000 and one the Philippine's oldest cities. It is nicknamed the "City of Seven Lakes." The seven lakes are: Lake Sampaloc, Lake Palakpakin, Kale Bunot, Lake Pandin, Lake Yambo, Lake Muhikap, and Lake Calibato. For years the lakes have provided food and livlehood, leisure, and respite for the citizens of San Pablo. Before the Spanish arrived, there was a village on the site called Sampaloc. In 1571 the first Spanish soldiers arrived under the direction of Captain Juan de Salcedo. Sampaloc was established as a parish in 1586 and then a municipality in 1647. It was renamed San Pablo de Los Montes to honour St. Paul the First Hermit. By 1734 the parish was under the control of the Franciscans. 

Kerstin's card depicts street lamps and a street sign in the middle of water suggesting a flood. In her message, Kerstin says it is a storm day in Hamburg and they are expecting a storm tide. She says the harbour area will look like the photo tonight.  One of the areas of Hamburg that tourist like to visit and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site is Speicherstadt. It is the largest warehouse district in the world where the buildings stand on timber-pile foundations.  It was built between 1883-1927. There are several museums in the area such as the Deutsches Zollmuseum (German Customs Museum), Miniatur Wunderland (a model railway), and the Hamburg Dungeon.

What an interesting card and interesting person. Hans and his family are members of the Salt River Pima tribe in Arizona. Hans' father is German and Hans was born in Gdansk. He came to the United States in 1968. I am assuming maybe the mother was in the military, or she was in Europe during a gap year - all speculative. The Salt River Pima community is made up of two distinct Indigenous groups - the Pima (Akimel O'odham) and the Maricopa (Piipaash) - most originally belonged to the Halchidhoma (Xalchidom) tribe. President Rutherford B. Hayes created the Salt River Community on 14 June 1879. The community holds 217 square kilometres - just over 35% of it remains a natural reserve.  Two community owned casinos operate on the community reserve. In February 2011, they opened a Major League Baseball spring training facility, a first on Indigenous land in the United States. It is the spring training home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies.  The Great Seal of the Sal