Germany - Saxony - Leipzig (3)

Greetings from Leipzig.

Sent by Juliane from Leipzig, Germany.

My other two postcards of Leipzig are here and here.

Germany - Saxony - Leipzig Steam Cultural Tour Train

Steam locomotive 52 8079-7 of Leipzig Steam Cultural Tour near Staßfurt.

Sent by Hanko fro Schmelz, Germany. Thanks for the stamp of train on the postcard.

No matter whether you love nature; like to explore buildings of past centuries; want to go hiking, cycling, horseback riding; or just want to be pampered; there will be something for everyone. All visitors planning to explore the landscape of Saxony's castle and heathland region by car, railway or in a different way, will have the chance to make their own discoveries. The warmth of Saxons and the exemplary Saxon cosiness along with the delicious regional cuisine will give your stay a really special atmosphere.

In the heart of Saxony's castle and heathland region, you will find the woodlands of Dahlen Heath as well as Wermsdorf Forest offering extensive hiking and biking trails. And where, other than in the heart of Saxony's stunning castle and heathland region, could be a better place for the Saxon STEAM RAILWAY ROUTE to start? You could start your journey through the Free State by taking a ride on the Döllnitzbahn railway. The Döllnitzbahn railway will take you from the town of Oschatz, where restored historic buildings and alleys keep the pulse of a former epoch, out into the country. Passing rivers, meadows and fields, you will reach districts of the commune of Sornzig-Ablass in addition to the commune of Naundorf and the town of Mügeln (read more).

Germany - Saxony - Seiffen

Seiffen in Erzgebirgskreis, Saxony.

Sent by Uwe from Dessau in Saxony, Germany.

Seiffen is a town in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in the central south of Saxony in Germany.

Seiffen nestles in the heart of the Ore Mountains, which are famous for many Christmas traditions. As the silver and tin deposits declined, former miners had to look for new ways to feed their families. In addition to lace making and weaving, the local population turned to wood carving. Nutcrackers, "smoking men", Christmas pyramids (carousels with figures of the Christmas story or from mining) and Schwibbögen (wooden candle arches, displayed in windows, symbolising the opening of a mine) are some of many Christmas goods made in the Ore Mountains. Seiffen is a centre of the wooden toy industry (read more).

Germany - Saxony - Dresden

Multiviews of Dresden.

Sent by Nadine from Dresden, Germany.

Dresden (German pronunciation: [ˈdʁeːsdən]; Upper Sorbian: Drježdźany) is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area with 2.4 million inhabitants.

Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its baroque andrococo city center. The controversial British and American bombing of Dresden in World War II towards the end of the war killed at least 25,000 civilians and destroyed the entire city center. The impact of the bombing ruined the face of the city, as did for other major German cities. After the war Restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of the historic inner city, including the Katholische Hofkirche, the Semper Oper and the Dresdner Frauenkirche as well as the suburbs.

Before and since German reunification in 1990, Dresden was and is a cultural, educational, political and economic center of Germany and Europe. The Dresden University of Technology is one of the 10 largest universities in Germany and part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative. (read further)

Germany - Leipzig (2)

Leipzig.

Sent by Ina, a postcrosser from Gräfenhainichen, Germany.

Germany - Free State of Saxony

 

A mapcard of The Free State of Saxony.

Sent by Sven, a postcrosser who lives near Zwickau in Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : The Free State of Saxony (German: Freistaat Sachsen [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈzaksən]; Upper Sorbian: Swobodny stat Sakska) is a landlockedstate of Germany, bordering Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with (18,413 square kilometres (7,109 sq mi), and the sixth most-populous (4.3 million) of Germany's sixteen states.

Located in the middle of an erstwhile German-speaking part of Europe, the history of the state of Saxony spans more than a millennium. It has been a medieval duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, a kingdom, a republic from 1918 to 1952 and then again from 1990.

The area of the modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony, the area inhabited by Saxons. Old Saxony corresponds approximately to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and the Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.

 

Germany - Freiberger Hüttenältester

Freiberger Hüttenältester.

Sent by Georg, a postcrosser from Freiberg, Germany.

Germany - Freiberg - Bergbau-Denkmäler

Bergbau-Denkmäler in Freiberg.

Sent by Stefanie, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from UNESCO : For more than 800 years and still recognizable today in numerous technical monuments as well as in the physical landscape it has helped transform, mining has not only created a cultural landscape but also influenced the development of mining sciences (e. g. establishment of the Mining Academy in Freiberg). The unity of mining and steel, art and culture and the science of mining - as well as their influence on other countries - marks the historical importance of the Ore Mountains.

Germany - Zittauer Gebirge

The region lies in the most southeast corner of Saxony with the border triangle Poland, Czech Republic, Germany where Europe grows together.

Sent by Norbert, a postcrosser from Germany.

Germany - Leipzig (1)

LEIPZIG
Kaffee-Haus Riquet

Sent by Detlef from Leipzig in Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : Leipzig (German pronunciation: [ˈlaɪptsɪç] ( listen), also called Leipsic in English; Upper Sorbian: Lipsk) is, with a population of appr. 519,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany and in the new states of Germany. In the 17th century, Leipzig was one of the major European city-centres of learning and culture in fields such as music, astronomy and optics. After World War II, Leipzig became a major urban centre within the Communist German Democratic Republic.

Leipzig later played a significant role in the fall of communism in Eastern Germany, through events taken place in and around St. Nikolai Church. Since the Reunification of Germany, Leipzig has undergone significant change with the restoration of historical buildings and the development of a modern transport infrastructure. In 2006, Leipzig hosted key games in the World Cup.

In 2010, Leipzig was ranked 68th in the world as a livable city, by consulting firm Mercer in their quality of life survey, scoring just below Atlanta, Georgia. In 2009, Leipzig was ranked 35th in the world out of 256 cities for cultural, economic and social innovation.

Leipzig is derived from the Slavic word Lipsk, which means "settlement where the lime trees (American: linden trees) stand".

Leipzig was first documented in 1015 during the chronicles of Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg and endowed with city and market privileges in 1165 by Otto the Rich. Leipzig has fundamentally shaped the history of Saxony and of Germany. Leipzig has always been known as a place of commerce. The Leipzig Trade Fair, started in the Middle Ages, is the oldest remaining trade fair in the world. It became an event of international importance.

The foundation of the University of Leipzig in 1409 initiated the city's development into a centre of German law and the publishing industry, and towards being a location of the Reichsgericht (High Court), and the German National Library (founded in 1912). The philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig in 1646, and attended the university from 1661–1666.

On 24 December 1701 an oil-fueled street lighting system was instituted. The city employed light guards who had to follow a specific schedule to ensure the punctual lighting of the 700 lanterns.

Germany - Semperoper Dresden

DRESDEN
The Semperoper

Sent by Sabine, a WiP partner from Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : The Semperoper is the opera house of the Saxon State Opera Dresden (German: Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden) and the concert hall of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden in Dresden, Germany. It was first built in 1841, by architect Gottfried Semper.

The building style itself is debated among many, as it has features that appear in the Early Renaissance style, Baroque and even features Corinthian style pillars typical of classical Greece (classical revival). Perhaps the most suitable label for this style would be Eclecticism; where influences from many styles are used- a practice most common during this period.

The building was reconstructed after a fire destroyed it in 1869. The citizenry demanded that Gottfried Semper do the reconstruction, even though he was in exile at the time because of his activities in the May Uprising in Dresden in 1849. So the architect had his son Manfred Semper complete the second opera house with his father's plans. This second one was constructed in Neo-Renaissance style in 1878. During construction, performances were held at the Gewerbehausall, which opened in 1870.

The building is considered to be a prime example of "Dresden-Baroque" architecture. It is situated on the Theater Square in central Dresden on the bank of the Elbe River. On top of the portal there is a Panther quadriga with a statue of Dionysos. The interior was created by such famous architects of the time as Johannes Schilling. Monuments on the portal depict famous artists such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, William Shakespeare, Sophocles, Molière and Euripides. The building also features work by Ernst Rietschel and Ernst Julius Hähnel.

In the pre-war years, the building premiered many of the works of Richard Strauss.

During the last weeks of World War II in 1945 the building was destroyed again - this time by Allied bombing and the subsequent fire storms. Exactly 40 years later, on February 13, 1985 the opera was rebuilt almost the same as it was before the war. It reopened with the same opera that was performed last before the destruction in 1945: Weber's Der Freischütz.

During the flood of the Elbe in 2002 the building suffered heavy water damage. With substantial help from around the world, it reopened in December 2002.

Today, most operas are accompanied by the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. The Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the Semperoper is generally separate from that of the Staatskapelle Dresden, with exceptions to that being Karl Böhm, Hans Vonk (conductor) and Fabio Luisi, the most recent GMD. Luisi resigned from the Semperoper chief conductorship in February 2010, with immediate effect, after reports that the Staatskapelle's management had secured a contract with the ZDF network for a scheduled televised concert on New Year's Eve, 2011, without consulting him at all in his capacity as the orchestra's GMD.

Germany - Torgau (2)

I've received this identical postcard before.

Sent by Gerald, a postcrosser from Germany.

Germany - Yenidze in Dresden

DRESDEN
Yenidze, the former cigarette factory.

Sent by Diana from Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : Yenidze is the name of a former cigarette factory building in Dresden, Germany. It was built between 1907 and 1909 and is used today as an office building. It is notable for its Orientalizing exterior design which borrows design elements from mosques.

"Yenidze" was the name of a tobacco company started by the entrepreneur Hugo Zietz, which imported tobacco from Ottoman Yenidze, Thrace (modern Genisea, Greece). The "Oriental" style of architecture publicized the origin of the tobacco. It has 600 windows of various styles; the dome is 20m high.

The architect Martin Hammitzsch designed the building in 1907. It has large, colored dome chimneys which resemble minarets. It was sometimes referred to as the "tobacco mosque", a term which is no longer officially used as the building is not a mosque. It is a unique historical feature of the city of Dresden.

Because it is an unusual architectural monument for the city, the building was restored in 1996 and is now an office building. Underneath the dome, events take place regularly, mainly readings of fairy tales.

Germany - Torgau

A tourist guide in the traditional costumes of Saxony region, with her group in town of Torgau.

Sent by Gerald, a postcrosser from Hamburg in Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : Torgau is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen.

Outside Germany, the town is most well-known as the place where during the Second World War, United States Army forces coming from the west met with forces of the Soviet Union coming from the east during the invasion of Germany on April 25, 1945.