Hattingen is located on the south bank of the Ruhr in western Germany. It was first mentioned in documents in 1396, when the Duke of Mark granted permission to build a city wall. Today Hattingen is a tourist draw because of its historic district with Fachwerk (timber-framed houses) built between the 14th and 16th centuries. The old part of the city is still surrounded by the city walls today.  There are about 55 000 people living here. Back in 1720, there were 52 operating coal mines in the area and Hattingen became one of the first industrial cities in the region. Steel production started in 1853. This lasted until 1987, when the steel factory was shut down. 

Montargis is a French commune of almost 15 000 people about 110 km south of Paris. The town is known to date back to ancient times. At one point it was the stronghold of the Frankish king Clovis I (466 - 511).  In the 1910s and 20s, Montangis was a hub of Chinese expatriate political activity. Deng Xiaoping   邓小平 ( 1904 - 1997) worked here producing rubber goloshes in 1922. He went on to become the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 to 1989. He is regarded as the "Architect of Modern China." The square in front of Montargis railway station was renamed in his honour. 

Rheinfelden is located on the German-Swiss border in south west Germany. It has a population of about 40 000 people and located on the right bank of the Rhine.  On the card the German is translated to "I can read your mind! You really should be ashamed of yourself!" :)

 

A great card of football terminology (in German). The sender in a Bayern Munich fan.  Bocholt is located 4 km from the border of Netherlands. It was first mentioned in documents in 779, when Charlemagne won a battle against the Saxons nearby. Today it is a city of over 70 000 people and is mainly a manufacturing town. Textiles are a main industry, but is declining. It is a leading manufacturer of transmissions for wind energy plants. Industries here are smaller and manufacture highly specialized products.  Bicycles are the norm here and the bicycle network is vast and convenient. In 2005 and 2006, Bocholt was named "most bicycle-friendly city in Germany" (for cities of less than 100 000 people. 

 

 

The sender is an aircraft maintenance engineer from Beijing. The card he sent was from Hong Kong. It's a photo of a China Southern Airlines plane. 

 

 

A cute card with typical German items, in German. The sender lives in Berlin and enjoys going to the "Gardens of the World" in eastern Berlin. There is a cable car and a spectacular view over the city from an observation tower. 

A great Postcrossing meetup card from Stuttgart from 13 July 2024. Looks like there was about 20 people there, based on the number of signatures and rubber stamps. 

7.5 million people call Dalian  大连  home. It is a financial, shipping and logistics centre for East Asia. There is a history of foreign powers using the port. Britain, Russia, and Japan have all occupied Dalian at some point.  Dalian is also nicknamed "Football City"  足球城, as many of the professional football players in the Chinese Super League come from here. Dalian Professional FC, established in 2009, played in the Chinese Super League, but folded in 2024. They experienced success in lower leagues, but only as high as fifth in the Super League. 

Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town of 76 000 people in northern Germany. It is found in Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea. The German Navy's main port is located here. For that reason,  Wilhelmshaven was bombed heavily with two-thirds of the town destroyed. The Polish First Armoured Division captured  Wilhelmshaven on 28 April 1945. The entire garrison surrendered, which included 200 ships of the Kriegsmarine.  Today,  Wilhelmshaven is Germany's only deep water port, and its largest naval base. In 2011, the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) made several changes that included reducing the number of military bases in Germany. Because of this reduction,  Wilhelmshaven is also Germany's largest military base. The military base make up big part of the local economy. 

The sender is an architect and sent this neat postcard of New Tivoli, the football stadium where Alemannia Aachen (ATSV Alemannia 1900) play. Alemannia play in the 3, Liga, the third level of German football. They played briefly in the 1960s in the Bundesliga, and once more in the 2005-06 season. Their nickname are the Potato Beetles ( Kartoffelkäfer) because of their stripe yellow-black jerseys, which make them look like the beetles.  New Tivoli can host 32 960, and, according to the sender, is easily filled for each game. It was first played in 2009. It replaced old Tivoli

Ankeny is a city of 75 000 people and a suburb of Des Moines, the capital city of Iowa. It started as an agrarian community in 1875 by John and Sally Ankeny. Agriculture was the first and most important economic activity early on. Coal mining in the early 1900s became significant part of the economy. Deere & Company purchased a World War II factory in 1947 and began to manufacture agricultural equipment as John Deere Des Moines Works. Iowa State University purchased the last surrounding the factory for agricultural research. 

Trento is a city on the Adige River in northern Italy. If you are a history buff this is where the Council of Trent took place between 1545 and 1563 and the last time an ecumenical council was organized outside of Rome. There are about 120 000 people in Trento, which dates back to the 4th century BCE.  The card, however, is from Seychelles, an island country and archipelagic state located off the eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. It is the considered the smallest country in Africa with about 100 000 people.  The sender spent time on Curieuse Island, a small granitic island of 2.9  km 2  . There are some 300 Aldabra giant tortoises in the area, but only seven people, probably park rangers. 

The sender is from  Mülheim an der Ruhr, a city on the Ruhr with about 170 000 people.  The card comes from New York City and is a photo of the clock of the Grand Central Terminal. The Grand Central Terminal is a commuter train terminal locked in Midtown Manhattan. It is the southern terminus of the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Lines, which serve the northern parts of the New York Metropolitan Area. There is also a connection to the Long Island Rail Road. It is the third busiest train station in North America, behind New York Penn Station and Toronto Union Station.  It is a U. S. National Historic Landmark. There are many works of art incorporated in and around the station. It is the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions, with 21.6 million visitors in 2018. This does not include train and subway passengers. Its been featured in many films and television programmes. In the building is a library, event Hall, tennis club, control centre, and of...

Milwaukie is a city and suburb of Portland. There are about 21 000 people who call Milwaukie home.  The card comes from Singapore and shows an aeriel view of Ngee Ann Polytechnic  義安理工學院  a post secondary school. It is known for its business programmes and focus on entrepreneurship education. It was founded in 1963 by the Ngee Ann Kongsi, a charitable foundation in Singapore. There were 116 students the first year studying languages, commerce, and technology. Today there are nine academic schools that provide 39 full-time courses to 14 800 students.  www.np.edu.sg

Reichelsheim is a town of about 6750 people. It is first mentioned in documents in 817. It is located about 30 kilometres north of Frankfurt am Main.  

A photo of Sibelius Hall (Sibeliustalo), a concert hall in Lahti. It was named after Jean Sibelius, A Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early modern periods. It was completed in 2000 and can seat 1250. It is also home to the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. 

 

 

The card comes from the Humboldt Forum and an exhibition entitled "Environment and its Pollution." The word 'plastic' in German translates to 'sculpture.'

 

Neubokow is a small town of 4000 on the coast of the Baltic Sea in north east Germany.  Archeologist Heinrich Schliemann was born here and there is a small museum here dedicated to his life and work.  Schliemann (1822-1890) was a German businessman and influential amateur archaeologist. He advocated for the historicity (historical actuality of people and places) of places mentioned in the works of Homer. He spent much of the second half of his life unveiling the actual physical remains of the cities of Homer's epic tales. The location of Troy was his first interest. He were persuaded to begin digging at Hissarlik. By 1873 he discovered nine buried cities. Artifacts of copper and metal molds, metal tools, cutlery, shields, and vases were found at a depth of 8.5 metres. Gold artifacts were also found in June 1873. Schliemann smuggled to gold out of the Ottoman Empire to Greece.  He continued to excavate dig sites up to his death in 1890. He died in Naples, Italy, of Cholest...

Dubuque is a city of 60 000 people located along the Mississippi River; at the junction where Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin meet. Because of this the area is known as the Tri-State Area.  This card comes from the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Garden established in 1980. The grounds are  230,000 m 2 .   It is staff entirely by volunteers - about 300 in total 

 In Germany, September is Low Germany month. Low German is a German dialect spoken mainly in Northern Germany and in north east Netherlands. There is also a version common to those of Russian Mennonite background. In my part of Canada, there are a lot of Hutterites and Mennonites and their first language is low German. Hutterite on the colony take German classes before regular school begins. 

This card comes from Riga, but but the sender is from  Rēzekne. The building pictured in the Blackheads House. It is first mentioned in documents in 1334 as the new house of the Big Guild. It was rented by merchants of the Big Guild. Later, it was rented by unmarried merchants, who later became the Blackheads Brotherhood. The Blackheads were an association formed by young, unmarried merchants and captains of the trading ships. The building was destroyed during the Second World War but was rebuilt and and restored in 1999. 

The sender is from Tananger, but the card is from the Lofoten Islands. In the photo is the village of  Henningsvær. It is a fishing village of 507 people located in northern Norway. It is located a several small islands i the Lofoten archipelago. Most of the village is located on the islands of  Heimøya and Hellandsøya. It is a popular tourist destination that  draws people for climbing and diving/snorkling.  Henningsvær Stadion has gained international attention. The Stadion and its clubhouse are regarded as a hub for the  Henningsvær community. The venue is used for children's football and for amateur football. The stadion only has a capacity of around 500 and was laid out on a rocky islet and has no actual seats. The stadion itself is a tourist attraction, too, and many foreign clubs have played on the pitch.

Here is one of the famous Blue Cat cards that so many Postcrossers covet. This one depicts the Blue Cats at Oktoberfest In Munich, Bavaria.  The sender is from Bamberg, a city of almost 80 000 people located on the river Regnitz. It dates back to the 9th century. It is called one of Germany's most beautiful towns, with medieval streets and buildings, the old town of Bamberg, with around 2400 timber houses, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.  Bamberg extends over seven hills, each hill is crowned by a church. Bamberg is called the Franconian Rome , although Bamberg tour guides refer to Rome as the Italian Bamberg. 

A card from the Prague Botanical Garden. This photo is of the Japanese Garden section, the sender's favourite place at the gardens. 

Fact card about Dutch cows, of which there are 1.6 million of in the Netherlands. 

The sender is from Schwäbisch Gmünd, in southern Germany. The card is from their family holiday, in St. Peter-Ording, in northern Germany, an eight hour drive for them.  St. Peter-Ording is a popular seaside spa. It is the only German seaside resort with a sulphur spring. There is also a 12 kilometre long beach and a kilometre wide. 

Konstanze is a university city with about 85 000 people located at the western end of Lake Constance. The German-Swiss border runs along the south western and southern edge of the city. The Swiss town of Kreuzlingen is right next to Konstanz. 

I received another card from Oranienburg a week before this one (see 3889).  Oranienburg Station ( Bahnhof Oranienburg)  is a railway station that opened in 1877 and is located on the Berlin Northern Railway. There are seven train services on call at the station. 

Kirchseelte is a small town of 1150 people located in north west Germany. This card was made by illustrator Andree Volkmann from www.andree-volkmann.de

One of the "Greetings from..." cards that I love to receive. I'm not sure how many of them I have. Maybe I should go back and see some time.... This one is coming from Indio, which is in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert, about 200 km east of Los Angeles. It is home to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. It began in 2001 and attracts many big names from a variety of musical genres.  What caught my eye in the postcard was the sender mentioned Indio is near the home of the Coachella Valley Firebirds, a professional hockey team. The Firebirds play in the American Hockey League, the second tier of professional hockey in Canada and the United States. It is the affiliate (farm team) for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League. They were founded in 2022 and play in Thousand Palms. In their first two full seasons, the team reached the Calder Cup Finals twice in a row, losing to the Hershey Bears both times: 4 games to 3 in 2022-23; and 4 games to 2 in...

The sender is from Walnut Creek, but the card is from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arizona. The museum was founded by Alice Walton and officially opened on 11 November 2011. There is free admission to the musuem. Alice Walton is the daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. The museum is 20 200  m 2   and includes galleries, meeting and classroom spaces, a library, a sculpture garden, a museum store, and a restaurant and coffee bar. There are also outdoor spaces for concert and other public events.  Featured on this card is an acrylic, oil stick, and collage of canvas entitled,  Mischief, Indian Land Series , by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (1992).  Here is the museum website: https://crystalbridges.org/

Waldsassen is located on the border with the Czech Republic in south east Germany. It is famous for the Waldsassen Basilica and Waldsassen Abbey. Both buildings were built in the Baroque style of architecture.  The Basilica was built between 1685 and 1704. It was made a papal basilica minor by Pope Paul VI in 1969. The Abbey's history is much older beginning in the 12th century. It was founded by Gerwich of Wolmundstein, a Benedictine monk, with permission from the Bishop of Regensburg. It was built between 1128 and 1132.  The second abbey was built in 1864. 

Sevran is a commune, located in the north east suburbs of Paris, about 16 km from the centre of Paris. It has a population of almost 52 000 people. It is an ethnically diverse population, with over half of the resident from outside of France. Many are from sub-Saharan Africa, Algeria, and Morocco.  French rapper Kaaris, born to parents from the  Côte d'Ivoire, is from Sevran. He started rapping in 1999. Kaaris returned to  Côte d'Ivoire for a short period of time but returned to France due to political unrest. His first rap to chart was Kalash . He also dabbles in acting and has appeared in five films to date. 

A neat illustration of a sauna by Timo M ä ntt ä ri. The sender is from Suonenjoki, "The Strawberry Town." Suonenjoki is famous for strawberries. International workers from Ukraine and Russia come to Suonenjoki to work on strawberry farms. There is also a strawberry festival each summer called  Mansikkakarnevaalit.

The sender is from Shenzhen, which is just north of Hong Kong. So it makes sense that they have been to Hong Kong and was able to buy this card of Stanley Market  赤柱市集.   Stanley Market is a street market in Hong Kong and is a traditional old open-air market. It has become a major tourist attraction and well known locally for having great bargains. There are souvenir stores, clothing stores, and Chinese arts and crafts stores. There are also small restaurants and small dai pai dong  大牌檔 ( open food stalls).

Grand Haven is a city of 11 000 people in south west Michigan, on the shore of Lake Michigan. The sender says the lighthouse on the front of the card is "just up toe road" from her.  The lighthouse is the Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Light, one of two lighthouses on the south pier of Grand Haven. It is here where the Grand River enters Lake Michigan. It was first lit in 1839. The City of Grand Haven owns the lighthouse, but the Army Corps of Engineers maintains it.  In the senders biography she states she had some medical issue that required her to be bedridden for three years. She said there little chance she would get better. However, she did and shares a talk she gave about her experience so I thought I would share it with you, too: https://youtu.be/D6uLxoMp0b8 Her website is https://www.rhondarobinson.net/

Point is a 'city' of 745 located about 100 kilometres east of Dallas. It was founded in 1880 as a flag station for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. The name Rice's Point was suggested for the name of the post office, after early settler William Rive, but it was rejected and the name Point was chosen.  At first I thought this was just an ad card - which it is - but the sender writes this is the Palo Duro, the second largest canyon in the United States. It can get up to 305 meters deep. 

I've always liked Norman Rockwell paintings. This one is entitled, The Lineman  (1949). It was an advertisement for American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T).  Herriman is located in south west Salt Lake County. It has a population of 55 200 people. It is home to the Zions Bank Real Academy, a soccer complex that serves at the training centre for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. At the complex is Zions Bank Stadium for the Real Monarchs who play in MLS Next Pro, a reserve club for Real Salt Lake, kind of like the minor leagues. The Utah Warriors also play here. They play in Major League Rugby.

A busy household. The sender says they have five children, five big dogs, five cats, and only four geckos.  Dexter is found in west central Oregon and is an unincorporated community of almost 900 people. The original post office named it Butte Disappointment in 1848. It was renamed Dexter in 1975, by the postmaster's family, after the Dexter brand cook stove in their house.  A claim to fame for Dexter is the nearby Dexter Lake Club was used in the filming of the road trip scene in the movie Animal House .  The card is a great photo of Mount Hood (Wy'east) and Trillium Lake. Mount Hood is an active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range and a member of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It attracts 10 000 climbers a year and there is a year-round life-served skiing area, the only one in North America.  The United States Geological Survey estimates there is a 3 - 7% chance that Mount Hood will erupt in the next 30 years. 

Sad news regarding this card. The sender has passed away at the age of 57. His daughters updated his biography to let Postcrossers know about their dad's passing and that they are registering any cards they receive. Before his passing, he said he worked at the public library. 

A beautiful photo of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Washington Monument in the background. The Vietnam Memorial is located on a 8100 square meter site on the National Mall. It is two black granite walls engraved with the names of those service members who died or remain missing from the Vietnam War (1955-1975). It was designed by American architect Maya Lin.  Each wall is 75.21 meters long and is composed of 72 black granite panels that are polished to a high finish. Seventy of the panels are inscribed with the names of the men and women being honoured.  On dedicated day in 1982, there were 57 939 names listed in chronological order of the dates of casualty. As of May 2018, there are now 58 320 names listed. Thirty two names were erroneously included. The names remain on the wall, but they have been stricken from the databases and printed directories. There are eight women's names on the memorial. All were nurses. 

Oranienburg is located 35 km north of the centre of Berlin. It was first mentioned in documents in 1216. Margrave Albert the Bear ordered the construction of the castle on the banks of the Havel River. Around the castle grew a settlement of traders and craftsmen. In 1646, Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg married Louise Hen riette of Orange-Nassau. She loved the town so much that Wilhelm gifted the entire region to her. A new castle was built and renamed Oranienburg.  Oranienburg was the site of one of the earliest Nazi concentration camps. Located on the outskirts of the town, 200 000 people were interned there over the nine years of operation. About 20 000 people died there. It was liberated by the Soviet Red Army in 1945. The Soviets reopened the site as Soviet Special Camp 7. About 12 000 people, mostly Nazis not awaiting trail, died here before the camp was closed in 1950. The remains of the 12 000 people were discovered in the 1990s.  Oranienburg was also the centre of ...