2543 - Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

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 there were over 500 000 locks on it in June 2015.

On the eastern side of the bridge the German Alpine Association maintains a public climbing facility with a wall area of about 850 square meters since 1998.

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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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