USA - Utah - Delicate Arch

DELICATE ARCH

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH

Probably the best known of the arches in this area, Delicate Arch, is considered by many to be the symbol of Arches National Park. The arch is reached by a 1.5 mile hike and is especially beautiful at sunset.

Sent by Kathleen from Nevada, USA.

Delicate Arch is a 52-foot-tall (16 m) freestanding natural arch located in Arches National Park, near Moab in Grand County, Utah, United States. The arch is the most widely recognized landmark in Arches National Park and is depicted on Utah license plates and a postage stamp commemorating Utah's centennial anniversary of admission to the Union in 1896. The Olympic torch relay for the 2002 Winter Olympics passed through the arch.

Because of its distinctive shape, the arch was known as "the Chaps" and "the Schoolmarm's Bloomers" by local cowboys. Many other names have been applied to this arch including "Bloomers Arch", "Marys Bloomers", "Old Maids Bloomers", "Pants Crotch", "Salt Wash Arch", and "School Marms Pants". The arch was given its current name by Frank Beckwith, leader of the Arches National Monument Scientific Expedition, who explored the area in the winter of 1933–1934. Although there is a rumor that the names of Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch were inadvertently exchanged due to a signage mixup by the National Park Service (NPS), this is false (read more).

USA - South Dakota - Wind Cave National Park (3)

The cave passages are said to "breathe" because air flows in and out, making the air pressure inside the cave the same as outside. 

Sent by Kimberley from Utah, USA. 

This is my third postcard of Wind Cave National Park. The other two are here and here.

Wind Cave National Park protects two very different worlds - one deep within the earth, the other a sunlit world of many resources. Bison, elk, and other wildlife roam the rolling prairie grasslands and forested hillsides of one of America's oldest national parks. Below the remnant island of intact prairie sits Wind Cave, one of the longest and most complex caves in the world (read more).

Coca Cola Ad Card (8)

Coca Cola 50th Anniversary (1886 - 1936).

Sent by Tijn from Amsterdam, Netherlands.

reproduction printed on postcard

1936 replica of image on Anniversary Poster of Coca Cola

Printed in Milano Italy by Nuova Arti Grafiche Ricordi

From 1997

Condition is near mint

See many more Coca Cola postcards listed! (read more)

Germany - Bremen - Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost

Klimahaus 8° Ost in Bremerhaven, Germany, a unique science center focusing on climate and climate change.

Sent by Diana from Wuppertal, Germany.

From the tropical climate of the South Seas to the sweltering Sahel heat, on to the eternal ice of the Antarctic and up into the cool Alpine air - here you can experience the different weather and living conditions for yourself. Along the eighth degree of longitude, you can immerse yourself in settings that are based on real locations and find out how people live around the globe.

Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of climate at the Climate Experience Center Bremerhaven!

Discover how the climate and weather have developed and what steps we can take to protect our planet. The new permanent exhibition “Weather Extremes” brings you up close to spectacular weather phenomena - with impressive 360-degree stagings and real reports from people who have experienced them (read more).

Germany - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - St. Nikolai Church in Greifswald

St. Nikolai Church (Cathedral of St. Nicholas) in Greifswald, Germany, with colorful baroque tenement houses in the background.

Sent by Edeltraut from Achem, Germany.

St. Nikolai, Greifswald (German: Greifswalder Dom St. Nikolai), dedicated to Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of seafarers and merchants, is a Brick Gothic church located in the western part of the centre of Greifswald. It was the main church and seat of the bishop of the Pomeranian Evangelical Church.

The first written sources referring to a church dedicated to St. Nicholas in Greifswald are from 1263. The oldest extant parts of the church have been dated to the last third of the 13th century. The building of the church started with the erection of a single-nave choir, which was later incorporated in a hall church with two aisles and a nave of equal size. The foundations of the western tower were laid at the same time. The church was furnished with its first organ already in 1362. In 1385 work was begun on a new choir with a straight eastern wall, which was finished in 1395 (read more).

Germany - Lower Saxony - Tostedt

Scenes from Tostedt, a municipality in the district of Harburg in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Sent by Silke from Tostedt, Germany.

Tostedt (Low German Töst) is a municipality in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the central administration of the collective municipality (Samtgemeinde Tostedt) which consists of 9 joint communities.

Tostedt is located on the northwestern edge of Lüneburger Heide, 35 km southwest of Hamburg and 55 km east of Bremen. The areas highest point of 70 meters above sea level is to be found at the entrance facing Welle, its lowest point is 43 meters above sea level at the eastend of Todtglüsingen.

Near Tostedt the river Este flows towards Hollenstedt, and there are the spring of the river Oste towards Sittensen, as well as the streams Dohrener Mühlenbach, Langeloher Bach and Todtglüsinger Bach (read more).

Germany - Brandenburg - Dutch Quarter (Holländisches Viertel) in Potsdam

Scenes of Dutch Quarter (Holländisches Viertel) in Potsdam, Germany.

Sent by Gunter from Hesse, Germany.

The Dutch Quarter (German: Holländisches Viertel) is a neighborhood in Potsdam, Germany, consisting of 134 red Dutch brick buildings, almost all of which have been renovated.

It was built from 1733 to 1740 and designed by Jan Bouman following the order of Frederick William I of Prussia, who invited talented Dutch craftsmen to settle there. Under him, known as the "soldier king", the district was planned and the two western squares were built. After his death in 1740, his son and successor Frederick the Great had the quarter with the two eastern squares completed largely according to his father's plans (read more).

Germany - Lower Saxony - Stade

Scenes from the Hanseatic city of Stade, Gerany and the surrounding region known a "Altes Land" (Old Land.

Sent by Heike from Stade, Germany.

Stade (German pronunciation: [ˈʃtaːdə]; Low German: Stood), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (German: Hansestadt Stade, Low German: Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district (Landkreis) which bears its name. It is located roughly 45 km (28 mi) to the west of Hamburg and belongs to that city's wider metropolitan region. Within the area of the city are the urban districts of Bützfleth, Hagen, Haddorf and Wiepenkathen, each of which have a council (Ortsrat) of their own with some autonomous decision-making rights.

Stade is located in the lower regions of the river Elbe. It is also on the German Timber-Frame Road.

The first human settlers came to the Stade area in 30,000 BC.

Swedish and Danish Vikings under Eric the Victorious conquered Stade and looted the town during the 990s. Many prominent Saxons were taken back as slaves by Swedish troops. A majority of Vikings withdrew after taking plenty of plunder. A minor part of the Swedish and Danish forces stayed but were later defeated by reinforcements sent by the emperor (read more). 

Germany - Saxony-Anhalt - Wernigerode Castle Museum

Wernigrode / Harz

View of Wernigerode Castle Museum.

Sent by Marcel from Potsdam, Germany.

Wernigerode Castle (German: Schloss Wernigerode) is a schloss located in the Harz mountains above the town of Wernigerode in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The present-day building, finished in the late 19th century, is similar in style to Schloss Neuschwanstein, though its foundations are much older and have been reconstructed several times. Wernigerode Castle was first built at the beginning of the 12th century (1110-1120) as a Romanesque architecture medieval fortress for German emperors to have a secure spot to stop during their hunting trips to the Harz. Few of these medieval walls and foundation remain today. At the end of the 15th century the castle was enlarged in a Gothic architecture style, with large arched windows. During the 16th century, it was rebuilt as a Renaissance fortress. A spiral staircase tower still remains intact today. 

The first mention of the Saxon noble Adalbert of Haimar, Count of Wernigerode, in an 1121 deed is also the first documentation of the settlement, which had been founded about a century earlier in connection with the deforestation of the area. The counts built the castle on a slope south of the town as their residence; it was first mentioned as a castrum in 1213. When the line became extinct in 1429, the Wernigerode lands were inherited by the neighbouring County of Stolberg. The castle became the seat of the subordinate Amt administration and was put in pledge several times (read more).

Germany - Hesse - Witzenhausen

Various views of Witzenhausen, a town in Germany.

Sent by Kerstin from Hesse, Germany.

Witzenhausen (German pronunciation: [vɪtsn̩ˈhaʊzn̩]) is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany.

It was granted town rights in 1225, and until 1974 was a district seat.

The University of Kassel maintains a satellite campus in Witzenhausen, which offers an ecological agricultural sciences programme, putting Witzenhausen among Germany's smallest university towns. There is also a teaching institute (DEULA) for environment and technology, agriculture, horticulture and landscaping. The town is nationally known for the invention of the Biotonne biological refuse container, and is an important cherry-growing area, with a yearly Kesperkirmes or “Cherry Fair” (Kesper is a regional name for the cherry), at which a Cherry Queen (Kirschenkönigin) is chosen.

Witzenhausen lies on the northeast slope of the Kaufunger Wald, which is surrounded by the Meißner-Kaufunger Wald Nature Park. The town is found at the mouth of the Gelster, where it empties into the Werra some 30 km east of Kassel, 16 km east-southeast of Hann. Münden, 25 km south of Göttingen and 23 km northwest of Eschwege (read more).

United Kingdom - England - Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Frontiers of the Roman Empire,
a historic Roman fortification in Northern England.

Sent by Emma from Staffordshire, England.

The Roman Empire, in its territorial extent, was one of the greatest empires history has known. Enclosing the Mediterranean world and surrounding areas, it was protected by a network of frontiers stretching from the Atlantic Coast in the west to the Black Sea in the east, from central Scotland in the north to the northern fringes of the Sahara Desert in the south. It was largely constructed in the 2nd century AD when the Empire reached its greatest extent. This frontier could be an artificial or natural barrier, protecting spaces or a whole military zone. Its remains encompass both visible and buried archaeology on, behind and beyond the frontier.

The property consists of three sections of the frontier: Hadrian’s Wall, the Upper German- Raetian Limes and the Antonine Wall, located in the northwestern part of the Empire, constituting the artificial boundaries of the former Roman provinces Britannia, Germania Superior and Raetia: Running 130 km from the mouth of the River Tyne in the east to the Solway Firth, Hadrian’s Wall was built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian in AD 122 as a continuous linear barrier at the then northernmost limits of the Roman province of Britannia. The frontier extended a further 36km down the Solway coast as a series of intervisible military installations. It constituted the main element in a controlled military zone across northern Britain. The Wall was supplemented by the ditch and banks of the vallum, supporting forts, marching camps and other features in a wide area to the north and south, linked by an extensive road network. It illustrates an ambitious and coherent system of defensive constructions perfected by engineers over the course of several generations and is outstanding for its construction in dressed stone and its excellent use of the spectacular upland terrain through which it passed (read more).

Philippines - Feast Of The Black Nazarene

The Black Nazarene, a life-sized statue of Christ is carried through town by barefooted men yelling, "Viva Señor" while huge crowd tries to touch the statue. Every year, thousands of devotees from all walks of life come to the district of Quiapo to take part in the procession as a way of strengthening their faith and fulfilling their "panata" (vow) to the Lord.

Sent by Jerome from Manila, Philippines.

The Feast of the Black Nazarene (Filipino: Pista ng Itím na Nazareno), officially and liturgically the Feast of Jesús Nazareno (Filipino: Kapistahan ni Jesús Nazareno), is a religious festival held in the Philippines. It is also known as the Traslación (lit:transfer) after the mass procession done during the feast. It is centered around the Black Nazarene, an image of Jesus Christ dating to the 16th century. The feast is celebrated annually on January 9.

The Feast of the Black Nazarene marks the octave day of the pre-1969 Feast of Most Holy Name of Jesus (the original dedication of Quiapo Church). The octave day is celebrated by the annual procession of the image of the Nazareno along the streets of Quiapo, Manila. It is now considered as the image's national liturgical feast day.

Contrary to popular belief that the Traslación occurred on 9 January 1787, which became the basis of the annual Traslación, no extant historical record verifies the exact date of the image’s translation from Intramuros to Quiapo. There is no definite date of the arrival of the image either. The Augustinian Recollects assert how upon their arrival in the Philippines in 1606, the Nazareno was not among the sacred images they had brought with them. Their arrival was also the basis of the erroneous celebration of "400 years" of the Nazareno in 2006, which began the custom of starting the Traslación at Quirino Grandstand. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that the image was already in the Philippines before the mid-17th century, as Pope Innocent X authorized the Cofradía del Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno (Confraternity of the Lord Jesus the Nazarene) on 20 April 1650 (read more).

South Korea - Bomun Tourist Complex

50th Anniversary of Bomun Tourist Complex Designation's Maxicard.

Sent by Hyein from Jeonbuk, South Korea.

The Bomun Lake Resort or Bomun Tourist Complex (Korean: 보문관광단지) is a large tourist complex around Bomun Lake in the city of Gyeongju, South Korea. The resort covers the districts of Bomun-dong, Sinpyeong-dong, Amgok-dong and Cheongun-dong. It is situated under the ruins of the former mountain fortress Myeonghwalseong, 6.5 km east of the central Gyeongju and faces Toham mountain. It provides lodging, eatery, recreation and sports facilities in the city. Although the resort was originally established to attract foreign visitors, as the domestic income and desire for tourism were increased since the late 1980s, it gained a tremendous popularity from domestic visitors. As a result, from onward, various facilities have been built for domestic visitors.

The K Pop Museum is located on the grounds.

In August 1971, the government concluded the Gyeongju tourism development plan, started in 1974, opened the Bomun Gwangwang complex in 1975, and completed the entire 2.1 million pyeong tourism development project in January 1979 (read more).

Spain - Community of Madrid - Aranjuez Cultural Landscape

The Fountain of Hercules and Antaeus, Parterre Garden, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Aranjuez, near Madrid.

Sent by Juliet from Madrid, Spain. 

The Aranjuez Cultural Landscape is a singular entity of complex and historic relationships between nature and human activity, the sinuous watercourses of the rivers and the geometrical design of the landscape, urban and rural life, and between the forest wildlife and the refined architecture. The Tagus and Jarama rivers are the two main arteries of the Aranjuez Cultural Landscape, an extensive area (2,047.56 ha) in the south of the Autonomous Community of Madrid. The surrounding buffer zone is located within the municipal boundaries of Aranjuez (16,604.56 ha).

Aranjuez bears witness to various cultural exchanges over a span of time that had a significant influence in the development of its landmarks and the creation of its landscape, thereby becoming a model for its culture's use of its territory. The process of transformation dates back to the reign of Philip II when, with the influence of the Crown and the wealth of nature as the determining elements, Aranjuez was established as a Real Sitio (Royal Site) in the sixteenth century. The Royal Commands of Ferdinand VI, Charles II, and Isabella II marked its evolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. This landscape survived during the 20th century when it was opened for the enjoyment of the public.

The property comprises diverse elements that make up the different zones: historic vegetable gardens, tree-lined avenues and groves (Legamarejo, Picotajo, El Rebollo), the Palace and ornamental gardens (the Prince’s, the Island, the Parterre, the King’s and Isabella II’s gardens) and the 18th century historic town centre. The conceptual combination of these zones creates a series of landscapes that, together, comprise the Aranjuez Cultural Landscape. These include the water landscape (rivers, ponds, dams and ditches), the agricultural landscape (orchards and nurseries, stock-breeding farms, and meadows), the delectable landscape for leisure (ornamental gardens), the ordered landscape (the geometry of the streets and squares that shape the natural terrain), and the constructed landscape (the palace, the planned town, the roads, and agricultural buildings) (read more).

Japan - All Nippon Airways (ANA)

All Nippon Airways (ANA), highlighting their "Inspiration of JAPAN" brand statement and a Boeing 777-300 aircraft.

Sent by Ayano from Shiga, Japan.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a Japanese airline headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. ANA operates services to both domestic and international destinations and is Japan's largest airline, ahead of its main rival Japan Airlines. As of March 2024, the airline has approximately 12,800 employees. The airline joined as a Star Alliance member in October 1999.

In addition to its mainline operations, ANA controls several subsidiary passenger carriers, such as its regional airline ANA Wings, Air Nippon, Air Do (a low-cost carrier operating scheduled service between Tokyo and cities in Hokkaido), Air Japan and Allex Cargo (ANA Cargo – the freighter division operated by Air Japan). ANA is also the wholly owned shareholder in Peach, a low-cost carrier joint venture with Hong Kong company First Eastern Investment Group (read more).

Australia - New South Wales - Willandra Lakes Region

World Heritage Willandra Lakes, Mungo National Park, New South Wales, Australia.

Sent by Ros from Tasmania, Australia.

The Willandra Lakes Region, in the semi-arid zone in southwest New South Wales (NSW), contains a relict lake system whose sediments, geomorphology and soils contain an outstanding record of a low-altitude, non-glaciated Pleistocene landscape. It also contains an outstanding record of the glacial-interglacial climatic oscillations of the late Pleistocene, particularly over the last 100,000 years. Ceasing to function as a lake ecosystem some 18,500 years ago, Willandra Lakes provides excellent conditions to document life in the Pleistocene epoch, the period when humans evolved into their present form.

The undisturbed stratigraphic context provides outstanding evidence for the economic life of Homo sapiens sapiens to be reconstructed. Archaeological remains such as hearths, stone tools and shell middens show a remarkable adaptation to local resources and a fascinating interaction between human culture and the changing natural environment.  Several well-preserved fossils of giant marsupials have also been found here.

Willandra contains some of the earliest evidence of Homo sapiens sapiens outside Africa. The evidence of occupation deposits establishes that humans had dispersed as far as Australia by 42,000 years ago.  Sites also illustrate human burials that are of great antiquity, such as a cremation dating to around 40,000 years BP, the oldest ritual cremation site in the world, and traces of complex plant-food gathering systems that date back before 18,000 years BP associated with grindstones to produce flour from wild grass seeds, at much the same time as their use in the Middle East. Pigments were transported to these lakeshores before 42,000 years BP. Evidence from this region has allowed the typology of early Australian stone tools to be defined (read more).

Germany - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - Binz auf Rügen

Beach villas on the promenade of Binz on the island of Rügen.

Sent by Silke who visited Rügen.

Binz (German pronunciation: [bɪnts]) is the largest seaside resort city on the German island of Rügen.

It is situated between the bay of Prorer Wiek and the Schmachter See (a lake) in the southeast of the island. To the north of Binz stretches the Schmale Heide (the "narrow heath"), a tongue of land which joins the Muttland region of Rügen to the Jasmund peninsula. The land to the south and east of Binz is hilly, reaching a height of over 100 metres above sea level.

Binz is known for its well-kept historical resort architecture and natural scenery, close to the Jasmund National Park and its chalk cliffs.

Its Polish name is Bińce, as recorded and documented in 1937 (read more).