Today's postcard comes from Satteins, a small Austrian town of around 2,700 residents in the western state of Vorarlberg. Nestled in the Rhine Valley, Satteins lies close to both the German and Swiss borders, making it part of a region where three countries meet within a short distance of one another. One detail that caught my attention was the sender's note that she works as a prison officer. It is not a profession that appears often in postcards, and it prompted me to learn a little about Austria's correctional system. Although I do not know where she works, one of the principal correctional facilities in the region is Prison Feldkirch. Prison Feldkirch traces its origins to the nineteenth century, when it was established as a regional justice centre. From the outside, the complex still reflects the architectural style of that period, while the interior has been modernised to meet contemporary Austrian correctional standards. Located in Vorarlberg on the banks of the Ill ...

Ried is a small municipality located in southern Germany near the Austrian border. There are about 3234 people that call Ried home. 

A great German language movie card of Shrek der Dritte (Shrek the Third). It was sent from  Mühldorf, a town of about 1400 people located in northern Austria.

St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom) is an almost 900 year old cathedral. It is the home of the Archdiocese of Vienna,    Christoph Schönborn . Groundbreaking took place in 1137 and the building was complete 1578 - 441 years later. It was dedicated to St. Stephen in 1147, in the presence of Conrad III of Germany, Bishop Otto of Freising, and other German nobles who were about to embark on the Second Crusade.  The first structure was completed in 1160, major reconstruction and expansion lasted until 1511, and repair and restoration projects continue to the present day.  The heighest part of the cathedral is 136.7 metres.

Easter greetings from Mittenwald. Mittenwald in located in southern Germany on the border with Austria. Mittenwald is famous for the manufacture of violins, violas, and cellos, which began in the mid-17th century by the Klotz workshop. Matthias I Klotz (1640 - 1696) founded the Mittenwald school of violin making. Aegidius Klotz is believed to have crafted the personal violin of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. 

This is a portrait of Emilie  Flöge  (1902) by Gustav Klimt (1862 - 1918) He was an Austrian symbolist painter. He is known for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art (French term for ornamental work of art).  Emilie  Flöge (1874 - 1952) was an Austrian fashion designer and businesswoman. She was the life companion of Klimt. She was portrayed in many of his works. She inherited half of Klimt's estate when he died in 1918. In 1945, in the final days of World War II, her house caught fire destroying her collection of fashion garments and some valuable objects from the estate of Klimt. 

One of the photos on this card is of Johann Strauss II, found in the Stadtpark. The Stadtpark is a large municipal park found in Vienna and is 65 square km big. It was officially opened in 1862 becoming the first public park in Vienna. The statue of Johann Strauss II is the best known and most frequently photographed monument in Vienna. It is a gilded bronze monument which was unveiled to the public in 1921. The gilding was removed in 1935, and laid on again in 1991. Other composer statues found in the park include Frank Schubert, Franz Lehár, Robert Stolz, and Hans Makart. Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) composed light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composes 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas and a ballet. He was known as "The Waltz King." His father, Johann Strauss, was a composer during the Romantic Period. Strauss II's younger brothers were also composers of light music, but not as well known...

Oberwart is a town of 7600 people in eastern Austria. The settlement was established in the 11th century by the guards of the Hungarian frontier together with Unterwart and Siget in der Wart. The town was first mentioned in documents in 1327 under the name  Superior Eör . Oberwart is home to the Oberwart Gunners, who play in the  Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga. The team has won the Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga twice - 2011 and 2016, and have been the runner ups six times. Officially they are known by their sponsors name, Unger Steel Oberwart Gunners.  The Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga (Admiral Basketball League - sponsor is Admiral Sportwetten) started play in the 1947-48 season and is the top-tier league of Austrian basketball. There are nine teams in the ÖBL. The arenas are small with the largest one with a 3000 seat capacity (Raiffeisen Graz) and the smallest at 1000 seats (Xion Dukes Klostermeuburg). The UBSC Wien have the most ÖBL titles with ...

Markdorf is a small community of 15 000 located in southern Germany, beneath the Gehrenberg Mountain. It was first mentioned in documents in 817, and was given city rights in 1250.  The card shows Markdorf on the shores of Lake Constance (Bodensee, in German). Lake Constance borders on Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

The sender is from Wien (Vienna) and is a grade school teacher. She sends a photo of Kloster Weltenburg (Weltenburg Abbey) in which is located on a Danube Gorge in Bavaria, Germany.  The abbey was established in 617 by two Aglius and Eustace of Luxeuil, who were two monks from the Luxeuil Abbey, which was founded by Saint Columbanus. Weltenburg is believed to be the oldest abbey in Bavaria.  Today the abbey still performs pastoral responsibilities for two parishes, as well as farming, adult education, and hosts lectures and concerts.  The brewery at the abbey has been in operation since 1050. Although disputed, it is believed to be the oldest monastic brewery in the world. The abbey produces Weltenburger Kloster Barock Dunkel which was given the World Beer Cup awared for best Dunkel beer in the world in 2004, 2008, and 2012.  

The sender is from Vienna (Wien), but the card is from Salzburg. It's a multiview card and the view that caught my attention was the Stubnerkogel Bad Gastein - a big, long suspension pedestrian bridge.  Bad Hofgastein is a market town and a spa town. There is a large ski resort near by. The Gastein Valley has four large ski areas with over 200 km of downhill slopes. Bad Hofgastein is located under the Schlossalm-Angertal-Stubnerkogal ski area. There is even a ski lift that will take you directly from Bad Hofgastein to the Schlossalm summit. There are also a large number of luxury hotels. The area is frequented mostly by Austrians, but there are also a large number of Italian and Russian tourists who flock to the area. 

A great card of a self portrait of George Baselitz (1952). Baselitz is a German painter, sculptor, and graphic artist. He lives with his wife in Salzburg, Austria. The sender is from Fukuoka, the sixth largest city in Japan with 1.6 million people (2.6 million in the metropolitan area). It has been a centre of international trade since ancient times. 

Anita is from Vienna (Wien) but sent a card from Hallstatt. She writes she visited there the weekend prior.  Hallstatt is a small town of just under 800 people located between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See (Lake Hallstatt) and the steep slopes of the Dachstein. Salt production is what Hallstatt has been known for since pre-historic times. However, tourism has become the town's biggest source of income. Tourism has been a blessing and a curse for Hallstatt. It was named a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1997 and tourist numbers exploded, especially amongst people from southeast Asia. By 2017, local churches were employing bouncers to prevent services from being interrupted by tourists. In 2020 it is estimated the town can see 10 000 to 30 000 tourists per day, mostly from bus tours, who bring tourists in for photo opportunities and then move on. Social media images captioned Hallstatt as the "most Instagrammable town in the world." Because of over-tourism, da...

Neunkirchen is one of the oldest settlements in the Vienna Basin. It has been permanently settled since the La  Tène Culture - an Iron Age culture - until the Romans came around 450 BCE. A Roman settlement was also on the site from about 30 CE to 400 CE, but what it was called is unknown. The first mention of Neunkirchen was in 1094. Today Neunkirchen has a population of just under 13 000 people. 

Innsbruck is a tourist mecca and a skier and mountaineering paradise! Innsbruck means "Bridge Over the Inn." Evidence of human activity dates back to the stone age. A Roman settlement was also in the area.  Innsbruck has hosted two Winter Olympics - 1964 and 1976. I didn't know that Denver, Colorado was supposed to host the 1976 games after being awarded them in 1970. However, Denver voters rejected a bond referendum to finance the games in 1972. Innsbruck was awarded the games as they had the infrastructure to host after hosting in 1964 and hosting many World Cup and World Championship events. Sochi, Russia, in 2014 almost had a similar fate with cost overruns and worries about venues not being completed on time. Vancouver, who had hosted in 2010, was rumoured to having been asked to stand in if the International Olympic Committee determined Sochi wasn't going to be ready.  Russia insisted they were going to be ready and they were, although I think there was still so...