Germany - North Rhine-Westphalia - Metropole Ruhr (Ruhr Area)

Hoheward Landscape Park, Landschaftspark Dusiburg-Meiderich, and Zollverein (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) in Ruhr Area, Germany.

Sent by Sandra from Ruhr, Germany.

The Ruhr area (/ˈrʊər/ ROOR; German: Ruhrgebiet [ˈʁuːɐ̯ɡəˌbiːt], also Ruhrpott German pronunciation: [ˈʁuːɐ̯pɔt]), also referred to as the Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km² and a population of over 5 million (2017), it is the largest urban area in Germany and the third of the European Union. It consists of several large cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west, and Lippe to the north. In the southwest it borders the Bergisches Land. It is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 10 million people, which is the third largest in Western Europe, behind only London and Paris.

The Ruhr cities are, from west to east: Duisburg, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Herne, Witten, Hagen, Dortmund, Hamm and the districts of Wesel, Recklinghausen, Unna and Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis. The most populous cities are Dortmund (with a population of approximately 612,065), Essen (about 583,000) and Duisburg (about 497,000) (read more).

Germany - Schleswig-Holstein - Eckernförde

Scenes from Eckernförde, a popular seaside town in northern Germany.

Sent by Birgit from Eckernförde in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Eckernförde (German pronunciation: [ɛkɐnˈføːɐ̯də]; Danish: Egernførde, sometimes also Egernfjord; Low German: Eckernför, sometimes also Eckernföör) is a city located in the Kreis of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany. Situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea, approximately 30 km north-west of Kiel, it has a population of about 23,000. Eckernförde is a popular tourist destination.

The name of Eckernförde is of mixed origin, but derived from the name of a Danish castle formerly located near the current town, which is also reflected in the name of the town district of Borby. This fortification is listed in the 13th-century Liber Census Daniæ (Danish Census Book) as Ykærnæburgh. In 1441, the town used an official seal listing its name as Eherneborgh. The first syllable corresponds to the modern Danish word "egern" meaning squirrel, while "-förde" is Low German meaning fjord. The -förde ending is documented in Latinized form on two official seals used by the town in 1602 and 1624. The etymology of the town's name is reflected in the presence of a squirrel in the town's coat of arms, a feature first documented by the 1441 seal (read more).

Germany - Saxony - Zwickau

Places in Zwickau in Saxony, Germany.

Sent by Kerstin from Lichtentanne in Saxony, Germany.

Zwickau (German pronunciation: [ˈtsvɪkaʊ]) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants.

The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: Zwickauer Mulde; progression: Mulde→ Elbe→ North Sea), and lies in a string of cities sitting in the densely populated foreland of the Elster and Ore Mountains stretching from Plauen in the southwest via Zwickau, Chemnitz and Freiberg to Dresden in the northeast. Zwickau is the seat of the Zwickau District, the most densely populated district in the new states of Germany.

Zwickau is the seat of the West Saxon University of Zwickau (German: Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau) with campuses in Zwickau, Markneukirchen, Reichenbach im Vogtland and Schneeberg (Erzgebirge). The city is the birthplace of composer Robert Schumann (read more).

Germany - Rhineland-Palatinate - Speyer Cathedral (3)

1294 1797 Imperial City, 1527 - 1689 seat of the Imperial Chamber Court, 1689 and 1793 devastated by the French, restored in 1771 and 1852. The cathedral, is a masterpiece of the German Romanesque "Imperial Style" (built 1030 - 1061); Eight kings/emperors and three empresses rest in the crypt (burial place of the Salians, Hohenstaufens, and Rudolf of Habsburg).

Sent by Yvonne from Germersheim in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Two other postcards of Speyer Cathedral are here and here.

Germany - Thuringia - Erfurt (3)

Features of German city Erfurt.

Sent by Sabine from Erfut in Thuringia, Germany.

Two other different postcards of Erfurt are here and here.

USA - Maine - Owls Head General Store

Owls Head General Store., 2 S Shore Dr., Owls Head, ME 04854 (207) 466 -9046.

Sent by Katarina from San Francisco Bay Area in California, USA.

OWLS HEAD'S ONE-STOP SHOP FOR GREAT FOOD, GROCERIES, GIFTS, FUDGE & MORE!

Voted Maine's Best Burger by Food Network and Best of the Best Burger by Village Soup and the readers of Down East Magazine two years in a row! (read more)

USA - Utah - Wasatch Mountains/Range

UTAH

WASATCH MOUNTAINS

Rising to an elevation of 12,000 feet, the Wasatch Mountains receive over 500 inches of snow annually, providing some of the most desirable skiing conditions on earth.

Sent by Tatiania from Utah, USA.

The Wasatch Range (/ˈwɑːsætʃ/ WAH-satch) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about 160 miles (260 km) from the Utah–Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Great Basin region. The northern extension of the Wasatch Range, the Bear River Mountains, extends just into Idaho, constituting all of the Wasatch Range in that state.

In the language of the native Ute people, wasatch means "mountain pass" or "low pass over high range." According to William Bright, the mountains were named for a Shoshoni leader who was named with the Shoshoni term wasattsi, meaning "blue heron". In 1926, Cecil Alter quoted Henry Gannett from 1902, who said that the word meant "land of many waters," then posited, "the word is a common one among the Shoshones, and is given to a berry basket" carried by women (read more).

Postcrossing Meetup - Sofia Online Meeting 28th March 2020

Postcrossing online meeting.

Sofia, 28th March 2020.

Sent by Zenny from Sofia, Bulgaria.

Belgium - Antwerpen-Centraal Railway Station

An illustration of the grand hall of the Antwerp-Centraal Railway Station in Belgium.

Sent by Elise from Flanders, Belgium.

Antwerpen-Centraal railway station (Dutch: Station Antwerpen-Centraal; French: Gare d'Anvers-Central) is the main railway station in Antwerp, Belgium. It is one of the most important hubs in the country and is one of the four Belgian stations on the high-speed rail network. From 1873 to early 2007, it was a terminal station. The current building, designed by the architect Louis Delacenserie, was constructed between 1895 and 1905. On 23 March 2007, a tunnel with two continuous tracks was opened under part of the city and under the station. The train services are operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB).

Antwerp's first station was the terminus of the Brussels–Mechelen–Antwerp railway line, which opened on 3 June 1836. The original station building was made of wood and was replaced by a new and larger building on the occasion of the opening of the new international connection to the Netherlands in 1854–55 (read more).

USA - Pennsylvania - Edward W. Bok Vocational High School

The image of Edward W. Bok Technical School in Philadelphia, which was named after Edward W. Bok.

Sent by Ramya Sivakumar from Philadelphia, USA.

The Edward W. Bok Technical High School was a public high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, designed by Irwin T. Catharine and named after literary figure Edward William Bok, editor of the Ladies' Home Journal. It was completed in February 1938 by the Public Works Administration (WPA) as a vocational high school at 8th & Mifflin Streets. As part of the Philadelphia Public Schools' Multiple Property Submission, the school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December, 1986. Bok High School was reorganized in 2006-2007 to prepare students for jobs in modern technology. After the 2012-2013 school year, the school was closed. In 2014, the school was renovated to become a home for over 200 businesses including restaurants, art studios, daycares, and hair salons (read more).

Finland - Kymenlaakso - Verla Groundwood and Board Mill (2)

Verla Groundwood and Board Mill, a historical industrial site located in Jaala, Kouvola, Finland. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Ste, inscribed in 1996.

Sent by Leena from southern Savonia, Finland.

My other postcard of Verla Ground an Board Mill is here.

The Verla groundwood and board mill and its associated residential area is an outstanding, remarkably well-preserved example of the small-scale rural industrial settlements associated with pulp, paper and board production that flourished in northern Europe and North America in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Only a handful of such settlements survive to the present day.

Verla Groundwood and Board Mill, located in the northern part of the Kymi River Valley in southeast Finland, consists of the Mill, the associated residential area and the power plants. The mill buildings and the workers' houses mostly date from the 1890s and from the beginning of the 20th century. The property is a very well preserved example of a forest industry settlement of the late 19th century. Similar communities were established in coniferous forest zones in northern Europe and in North America, where wood as a raw material and water as a source of energy were easily at hand (read more).

Remarkable Man - Chief Joseph Dreaver

Chief Joseph Dreaver of the Mitawasis First Nation bravely served during the First and Second World Wars. Painting : Dreaver by Mike Holden.

Sent by Jes from Toronto, Canada.

Chief Joseph Dreaver was a Veteran of the First and Second World Wars. He made impressive contributions as a soldier, a Veteran and a leader in the Indigenous community.

Joseph was born on 2 June 1891 in what is now known as Mistawasis Nêhiyawak, a Cree First Nation in central Saskatchewan.

He was the grandson of Chief Mistawasis, an important leader of the Plains Cree. Chief Mistawasis signed Treaty 6 with the British Crown in 1876. Joseph’s father, George Dreaver, was also chief of his First Nation for decades.

Joseph attended the Regina Indian Industrial School in his youth, hundreds of kilometres away from his home in Mistawasis. After the First World War broke out, he volunteered to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in March 1916. Joseph’s enlistment papers tell us he was a farmer and at 24 years old stood 5 foot 9 ½ inches (177 cm) tall. He was married to Evelyn (Cardinal) Dreaver and had two young sons at that time (read more).

China - The Pamir Mountain

Pamir Mountain Range, Xinjiang region of China.

Sent by Peter Zhang from Hebei, China.

The Pamir Mountains are a range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia. They are located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, the Karakoram, the Kunlun, the Hindu Kush, and the Himalayas. They are among the world's highest mountains.

Much of the range lies in the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan. Spanning the border parts of four countries, to the south, they border the Hindu Kush mountains along Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor in Badakhshan Province, Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan regions of Pakistan. To the north, they join the Tian Shan mountains along the Alay Valley of Kyrgyzstan. To the east, they extend to the range that includes China's Kongur Tagh, in the "Eastern Pamirs", separated by the Yarkand valley from the Kunlun Mountains.

Since the Victorian era, they have been known as the "Roof of the World", presumably a translation from Persian (read more).

France - Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - Marseille

Several famous locations in Marseille.

Sent by Greg from Marseille, France.

Marseille (Provençal Occitan: Marselha) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, near the mouth of the Rhône river. Marseille is the second-most populous city proper in France, after Paris, with 886,040 inhabitants in 2023 over a municipal territory of 241 km² (93 sq mi). Together with its suburbs and exurbs, the Marseille metropolitan area, which extends over 3,972 km² (1,534 sq mi), had a population of 1,900,957 at the January 2022 census. The cities of Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, and 90 suburban municipalities have formed since 2016 the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, an indirectly elected metropolitan authority now in charge of wider metropolitan issues, with a population of 1,922,626 at the January 2022 census.

Founded c. 600 BC by Greek settlers from Phocaea, Marseille is the oldest city in France, as well as one of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited settlements. It was known to the ancient Greeks as Massalia and to Romans as Massilia. Marseille has been a trading port since ancient times. In particular, it experienced a considerable commercial boom during the colonial period and especially during the 19th century, becoming a prosperous industrial and trading city. Nowadays the Old Port still lies at the heart of the city, where the manufacture of Marseille soap began some six centuries ago. Overlooking the port is the Basilica of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde or "Bonne-mère" for the people of Marseille, a Romano-Byzantine church and the symbol of the city. Inherited from this past, the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille (GPMM) and the maritime economy are major poles of regional and national activity and Marseille remains the first French port, the second Mediterranean port and the fifth European port. Since its origins, Marseille's openness to the Mediterranean Sea has made it a cosmopolitan city marked by cultural and economic exchanges with Southern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. In Europe, the city has the third largest Jewish community after London and Paris (read more).

Remarkable Man - Harold Sakata

Harold Sakata as Oddjob in Goldfinger (1964).

Sent by Fabienne from Brussels, Belgium.

Toshiyuki Sakata (坂田 敏行, Sakata Toshiyuki; July 1, 1920 – July 29, 1982), known as Harold Sakata, was an American Olympic weightlifter, professional wrestler, and film actor. He won a silver medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London in weightlifting, and later became a popular professional wrestler under the ring name Tosh Togo, wrestling primarily for various National Wrestling Alliance territories as a tag team with Great Togo.

Sakata also wrestled in Japan for the Japanese Wrestling Association between 1955 and 1957, and was an early mentor and sometimes-tag-partner to Rikidōzan. On the basis of his wrestling work, he was cast in the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964) as the villain Oddjob, a role he would be closely associated with for the rest of his life (read more).

Remarkable Man - Bill Pickett

Bill Pickett (1870 - 1932)

American cowboy and rodeo performer.

Sent by Jason from Austin in Texas, USA.

Willie M. Pickett (December 5, 1870 – April 2, 1932) was an African American cowboy, rodeo performer, and actor. In 1972, he was the first African American man inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame. In 1989, Pickett was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

Pickett was born in the Jenks Branch community of Williamson County, Texas, in 1870. (Jenks Branch, also known as the Miller Community, is in western Williamson County, five miles southeast of Liberty Hill, and near the Travis County line. He was the second of 13 children born to Thomas Jefferson Pickett, a former enslaved man, and Mary "Janie" Gilbert. Pickett had four brothers and eight sisters. The family's ancestry was African-American and Cherokee. By 1888, the family had moved to Taylor, Texas.

In 1890, Pickett married Maggie Turner, the formerly enslaved daughter of a white southern plantation owner. The couple had nine children (read more).

USA - Texas - Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge (formerly known as Congress Avenue Bridge)

AUSTIN, TEXAS.

The Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge (formerly known simply as the Congress Avenue Bridge) crosses over Lady Bird Lake.

Sent by Charity from Austin in Texas, USA.

The Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge (formerly known simply as the Congress Avenue Bridge) crosses over Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. Before construction of the Longhorn Dam was completed in 1960, the bridge crossed the Colorado River from which Lady Bird Lake is impounded. The bridge was known as the Congress Avenue Bridge from the construction of the first span across the Colorado River at that location in the late 19th century until November 16, 2006, when the Austin City Council renamed the current bridge in honor of Ann W. Richards, the 45th Governor of Texas and a long-term resident of Austin. The bridge is a concrete arch bridge with three southbound and three northbound vehicle lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the bridge.

The bridge currently serves as a habitat for the world's largest urban bat colony. This particular colony is a maternity colony, which means it provides a roosting place for pregnant female bats during the spring season. The females then raise their pups in this location from mid-summer to fall. Male bats are not present under the bridge until after the pups are born (read more).