The Pforzheim City Museum was inaugurated in 1979. Pforzheim has a lengthy history. It was first settled by the Romans in CE 90. The Romans called it Portus "river crossing" During World War II, Pforzheim was heavily bombed. Many of the factories were converted to produce weapons such as anti-aircraft shells, fuses for bombs, and parts for the V-1 and V-2 rockets. In February 1945, one of the most devastating area bombardments of the war was carried out by the Royal Air Force. About 17 000 people, or about one-quarter of the population, were killed, and 83% of the city's buildings. The RAF's job was to destroy built up area and associated industries and rail facilities. The bombardments was via carpet bombs.  After the war, the city was occupied by the French and Moroccans for three months. Both sides were hostile towards one another and there were many reported incidents of rape and looting. The American Army took over occupation in July 1945 and helped repair Goethe

A couple of ex-pats from the United Kingdom sent a lovely card from the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The card shows an orchid called Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim, or the Singapore orchid, or the Princess Aloha orchid, or the Vanda Miss Joaquim. . This orchid just happens to be the national flower of Singapore.  The Miss Joaquim was chosen for its resilience and year-round blooming  quality, to represent Singapore's uniqueness and hybrid culture.  Miss Joaquim is Agnes Joaquim. She was a Singaporean Armenian born in Singapore. She was an avid gardener. She won many prizes at annual flower shows. In 1899 she won the prize for the rarest orchid and the flower show. First prize was getting the honour of a hybrid orchid named after her. Unfortunately, Joaquim was suffering from cancer at the time and died three months after winning the flower show. 

I nice little tourist postcard from Sologne. Sologne is a natural region in Centre-Val de Loire. It is about 5000 square kilometres.  The sender actually lives in Chuzelles, which is a small town or village just over 2000 people. 

A great card of a cable car on Mount Tsukuba. The mountain is one of the most famous in Japan and is known for its double peaks. The two peaks have their own names - Nyotai-san  女体山 translates to female body, while Nantai-san  男体山 means male body. Hikers can climb the mountain to take in the panoramic view of the  Kantō Plain. The Tokyo skyline, Lake Kasumigaura, and Mt Fuji can all be seen from the summit on clear days. Tsukuba is also different from most Japanese peaks as it is not volcanic, but made up of granite and gabbro. 

 

A great card of the landscape artist, Caspar David Friedrich. This particular painting is called Chalk Cliffs on  Rügen (Kreidefelsen auf  Rügen) . In was painted in 1818 during his honeymoon to Christiane Caroline Bommer. They were visiting relatives in Neubrandenburg and Greifswald. During their time there they visited the island of  Rügen with Friedrich's brother, Christian. 

I great card of ski jumping facilities in Lahti. The sender, seeing I was from near Calgary, mentioned he remembered watched the Calgary Olympics in 1988. The Finns had high hopes for ski jumper, Matti  Nykänen.  Nykänen won 4 gold medals, and one silver medals at the Sarajevo (1984) Olympics and Calgary (1988) Olympics. Nykänen was married six times. His first wife was a 'sausage heiress" named Mervi Tapola. They were married in 2001; divorced in 2003; and remarried in 2004 only to finally divorce again in 2010, after Tapola's 15 request for a divorce. The marriage was unhealthy and because they were both famous, in the news.   Nykänen assaulted Tapola in 2000 and he was given a suspended sentence. While on probation he abused her again. He was sent to prison for four months. When he was released, he stabbed a man at a pizza restaurant. On Christmas Day in 2009, he assaulted he wife with a knife and tried to throttle her with a bathrobe belt. He was arrested but the charg

Calgary is a 2.5 hour drive from where I live. The sender spared me the usual card of the Rocky Mountains she sends everyone else, and sent an Opel Motoclub card.  Opel is a German automobile maker. However, the company first began  in 1886 when sewing machine manufacturer, Adam Opel, decided to start making bikes. Eventually, Opel started making cars in 1899.  Opel's main headquarters is in  Rüsselsheim am Main. Stellantis currently owns Opel.

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. 

Sparkassen Giro Bochum is held annually in Bochum since 1998. It is a road bicycle race for men and women. The route is an urban circuit in Bochum. The last men's champion was Pieter Vanspeybrouch from Belgium, and the last women's champion was Barbara Guarischi from Italy. 

Łódź is a city of 670 000 people in central Poland. It was first mentioned in records in 1332. Łódź was designated for centrally planned industrial developemtn in 1820. A new city centre was planned and created, with an octagonal square. Cotton mills were developed and cottages built for weavers. Steam powered looms were brought in soon after. Between 1870-1890 saw the most intense industrialization. During this time, social inequalities and terrible working conditions became major problems.  In 1989, Łódź saw a sharp economic decline. It wasn't until the 2010s wehn Łódź begane to experience a revitalization of the downtown area.  Łódź is the home of three state-owned universities and a number of other educational facilities. 

 

 

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. 

 

A nice Christmas card that was created to sell as a fundraiser for the Associations for Retarded Children.  Whitsett is a town of just under 600 people located east of Greensboro. Lenovo, an American-Chinese technology company that specializes in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, software, business solutions, and related services, has a manufacturing plant in Whitsett.

 

Havraň is a small villiage of about 600 people. The card is a painting of Lazen. The explanation on the back says: The Czernin empire chateau about 13 km away from Klatovy in the south-western Czech Republic, build in 1849-1859, a place of pilgrimage and baroque baths. In 1842 the arboretum "American Garden" was found here, with a Douglas fir - the third oldest in Europe. 

Hohentengen am Hockrhein lies on the northern banks of the Rhine, overlooking Switzerland. The postcard is of Engstlenalp (mountain) and Englstleness (lake). The lake is in Switzerland near the Joch Pass and is 1850 m in elevation. 

Dortmund was founded around 882 and was a major city in the Hanseatic League. However, during the Thirty Years' War, the city was destroyed and it decreased in significance until the industrial revolution. It became an important coal, steel, and beer centre. Because of that, Dortmund was heavily bombed during World War II. On 12 March 1945, 1110 Allied aircraft destroyed 98% of the buildings of the inner city, the most aircraft the Allies sent to one target.  When the steel and coal industries collapsed in the later 1900s, the city has shifted to a high-technology - biomedical, micro systems, and technology services.  That along with the largest canal system in Europe, it has connections to seaports on the North Sea. 

Owatonna is a city of 26 000 in south east Minnesota. It was first settled in 1853. Owatonna was originally named Straight River, but was soon changed to Owatonna after the name of a local indigenous chief's daughter.  The Steele County Blades https://www.scbladeshockey.com/ of the United States Premier Hockey League play in Owatonna. They are in the Midwest West Division. They finished in sixth place in the division, and 44th overall, with a 19-22-2-1-1 record in 2022-23.  The USPHL is for players aged 20 and under.                            

Takatsuki  高槻市 is a city in southern Japan of about 350 000 people. It was founded in 1943 and is right in between Kyoto and Osaka. Both cities are about a 14 minute train ride so Takatuski is one of the biggest commuter cities in Japan.  Takatsuki is know for its Imashirozuka Kofun  今城塚古墳  (burial mound). Earthenware funerary objects discovered around the mound include figurines of warriors for protective purposes. This site has been designated a National Historic Site of Japan. 

A great card from a fellow teacher (although retired now). Newton is a city in Catawba County and is a part of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was established in 1845. Tori Amos, singer, was born in Newton, but moved away when she was two. 

 

A Christmas card from  Saarbrücken which is translated to "Happy Holiday." An ancient city found in south-west Germany, very close to the French border,  Saarbrücken  has an interesting bit of 20th century history I didn't know about. From 1920 - 1935, under the Treaty of Versailles (which ended the First World War),  Saarbrücken became the capital city of the Saar Territory. The Saar coal mines were made the exclusive property of France for a period of 15 years as compensation for the destruction of French coal mines during the war. In 1935, as part of the treaty, a plebiscite was held to determine the future of Saar. Ninety percent of voters choose to re-join Germany, while only 0.8% voted to remain a part of France. The remaining 9% wanted to rejoin Germany, but not while the Nazis were in power.  During the Second World War,  Saarbrücken was heavily bombed by the Allied forces due to the coal mining. The Royal Air Force raided  Saarbrücken at least 10 times. Much of t

Traunstein is a small city of 21 000 located in the south-eastern part of Bavaria. The town was mentioned in church records as early as 790. The name itself means "castle on the Traun."

Jellyfish have been around for about 700 million years and can be found all over the world, including to the deepest parts of our oceans.  The jellyfish pictured on the front are bioluminescene, caused by green florescent protein.  Jellyfish tentacles having stinging cells on them which they use to subdue their prey. These can also injure humans, and in some cases, kill them. Some cultures consider jellyfish a delicacy.

Kazhikode, or Calicut as it is known in English, is a city along the west coast of India. It has a population of 610 000 people, and 2 million in its metropolitan area.  The postcard shows Indian rhinoceros. I didn't know there were rhinoceros outside of Africa. Apparently there are three species of Asian rhinos.  Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is native to the Indian subcontinent. It is list as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List. There are an estimated 3588 individuals in the world, and Kaziranga National Park has about 2048 of those. Poaching remains a problem as their horns are wanted for their ivory. 

A great card of enthusiastic football fans. The card looks to be from the 1960s or early 1970s. Celle is home to TuS Celle FC. It was founded in 1945 with the merger of SPVgg Celle 1921 and Freie Turnschaft Celle 1899. The Allied Occupation authorities dissolved many sports and football clubs after World War II as a part of the process of denazification. The later club was shut down by the Nazis in 1933 as left-leaning or faith-based club were politically undesirable.  Today TuS Celle FC plays at  Günther-Volker-Stadion, which has a seating capacity of 11 000. They play in the  Landesliga Lüneburg, the sixth tier of men's football in Germany, and the second tier in Lower Saxony. Maybe the men in the photo are TuS Celle supporters! Attached is a walking tour of Celle.

A Christmas postcard from a high school teacher in Cerritos, which is found in Los Angeles County. He stamps a great quote on the back of his card - one that I've always been fond of: "A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child." As a teacher myself, I always hope that this will be case when people think of me. 

Olga's biography starts with this: WE HAVE A WAR WITH RUSSIA ‼️ Russia is an aggressor, it wants to conquer the territory of Ukraine. Ukrainians are guarding their independence and their territory together with Donbass and Crimea. Do not support the Russian economy - it kills civilians and children of our country, destroys our homes ‼️ Olga and her daughter are actually from Donetsk but had to leave back in 2014 due to Russian occupation - technically, pro-Russian activists - and set up the Donetsk People's Republic. There was a referendum in May 2014 and 90% of voters voted to seperate from Ukraine. Ukraine does not recognize the referendum, and European Union and United States state the polls were illegal.  It's not much, but I show my support for Ukraine by not writing anything about Russian or Belorussian cards I receive. Although I also support Russians who are against the war, I also understand why so many are afraid to stand up to Moscow. Putin wanted a return to the