USA - Wisconsin - Badger State

WISCONSIN

Badger State

Date of Statehood : May 29, 1848

Capital : Madison

Population : 5,757,564

Name for Residents : Wisconsinites

State Bird : American Robin

State Flower : Wood Violet

State Tree : Sugar Maple

Highest Point : Timms Hill, 1,951 ft.

Total Area : 65,496 sq mi. (ranked 23rd).

Sent by Joni from Milwaukee in Wisconsin, USA.

Wisconsin (/wɪˈskɒnsɪn/ wih-SKON-sin) is a state in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. With a population of about 6 million and an area of about 65,500 square miles, Wisconsin is the 20th-largest state by population and the 23rd-largest by area. It has 72 counties. The state's most populous city is Milwaukee. Its capital and second-most populous city is Madison; other urban areas include Green Bay and the Fox Cities.

Wisconsin's geography is diverse, with dense forests in the north (including Chequamegon–Nicolet National Forest), rugged unglaciated hills in the western Driftless Area, and wooded plains, lowlands, and farms stretching from the interior east to Lake Michigan. Wisconsin has the third-longest Great Lakes coastline, after Ontario and Michigan. At the time of European contact, the area was inhabited by Algonquian and Siouan nations, and today it is home to eleven federally recognized tribes. Originally part of the Northwest Territory, it was admitted as a state in 1848. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, many European settlers entered the state, mostly from Germany and Scandinavia. Wisconsin remains a center of German American and Scandinavian American culture, particularly in its cuisine, with foods such as bratwurst and kringle (read more).

USA - Michigan - Mapcard

MICHIGAN

Wolverine State

26th State admitted to the Union.

CAPITAL : Lansing.

AREA : 58,216 sq. mi.

POPULATION : 8,875,083.

MOTTO : Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice (If You Seek a Pleasant Peninsula, Look About You).

FLOWER : Apple Blossom

BIRD : Robin.

Sent by Christel from Watervliet in Michigan, USA.

Michigan (/ˈmɪʃɪɡən/ MISH-ig-ən) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, Indiana and Illinois to the southwest, Ohio to the southeast, and the Canadian province of Ontario to the east, northeast and north. With a population of 10.14 million and an area of 96,716 sq mi (250,490 km²), Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the largest by total area east of the Mississippi River. The state capital is Lansing, while its most populous city is Detroit. The Metro Detroit region in Southeast Michigan is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies. Other important metropolitan areas include Grand Rapids, Flint, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, the Tri-Cities, and Muskegon.

Michigan consists of two peninsulas: the heavily forested Upper Peninsula (commonly called "the U.P."), which juts eastward from northern Wisconsin, and the more populated Lower Peninsula, stretching north from Ohio and Indiana. The peninsulas are separated by the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and are linked by the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge along Interstate 75. Bordering four of the five Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair, Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline of any U.S. political subdivision, measuring 3,288 miles. The state ranks second behind Alaska in water coverage by square miles and first in percentage, with approximately 42%, and it also contains 64,980 inland lakes and ponds (read more).

20th Year of Postcrossing #6 - Meetup in Berlin, Germany

Postcrossing's 20th Anniversary Meetup

Berlin, Germany

12th - 13th July 2025.

Sent by Waltraud from Bielefeld, Germany.

20th Year of Postcrossing #5 - Den Haag, The Netherlands Meetup

Postcrossing's 20th Anniversary Meetup

Den Haag, The Netherlands

14th July 2025

Sent by Marianne from Utrecht, The Netherlands.

20th Year of Postcrossing #4 - 1st International Postcard Convention in Berlin

Berlin

12th - 13th July 2025

1st International Postcard Convention

Sent by Merlin from Berlin, Germany

Postcrossing Meet-Up - Socorro, New Mexico, USA

November 16, 2024

Socorro, New Mexico

Sent by Jen from Los Alamos in New Mexico, USA.

Socorro (/səˈkɔːroʊ/, sə-KOR-oh) is a city in Socorro County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is in the Rio Grande Valley at an elevation of 4,579 feet (1,396 m). At the 2020 census, the population was 8,707. It is the county seat of Socorro County. Socorro is located 74 miles (119 km) south of Albuquerque and 146 miles (235 km) north of Las Cruces.

The instruments used by the LINEAR program are located at Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site (ETS) on the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) near Socorro, New Mexico (read more).

20th Year of Postcrossing #3 - Krems an der Donau Postcrossing Meetup (Austria)

Steiner Tor in Krems an der Donau, Austria.

The Steiner Tor is the symbol of Krems and the only surviving of the four former city gates.

Sent by Anna from Linz, Austria.

Krems an der Donau (Austrian German pronunciation: [ˈkrɛms an deːɐ̯ ˈdoːnaʊ], lit. 'Krems on the Danube') is a city in Lower Austria, Austria. With a population of 24,821, it is the 20th-largest city of Austria and fifth-largest of Lower Austria. It is approximately 70 kilometres (43 miles) west of Vienna. Krems is a city with its own statute (or Statutarstadt), and therefore it is both a municipality and a district (read more).

20th Year of Postcrossing #2 - Malaysia

20th Year of Postcrossing 

Malaysia

Sent by Kathleen from Cologne, Germany.

20th Year of Postcrossing #1 - Zurich Celebratory Meet

Zurich Celebratory Meetup

July 13 2025

Sent by Karin from South of Basel, Switzerland.

Swimwear #13

Enoch Bolles. 1936.

For the July 1936 issue of Breezy Stories.

Sent by Berry from Uithoorn, Netherlands.

Swimwear #12

Swimwear #12.

Sent by Mark from Maryland, USA.

Bicycle (58)

Bicycle #58

Sent by Tuulia from Helsinki, Finland.

Bicycle (57)

Bicycle #57.

Sent by Anja from Lahr, Germany.

Faroe Islands - Kalsoy Island

Kalsoy - filming location, Faroe Islands.

Sent by Barbara of GTFI from Faroe Islands.

Kalsoy (Faroese pronunciation: [ˈkalsɔɪ], Danish: Kalsø) is an island in the north-east of the Faroe Islands of Denmark between Eysturoy and Kunoy. The name means man island; by contrast with the parallel island to the east, Kunoy, the name of which means woman island.

The northernmost part and scenery of Kalsoy was used as stand-in for the Kuril Islands in eastern Russia while filming for the 25th James Bond movie No Time to Die. In the film, which was released in 2021, the villain's lair is located on the island, for which a harbour and missile silos were added digitally.

Kalsoy, like Svínoy, is a comparatively isolated island, in that no bridge, tunnel, or causeway links to it (read more).

Malaysia - Federal Territory - Putrajaya - Putra Mosque

Putra Mosque in Presint 1 of Putrajaya, Malaysia

Sent by myself.

The Putra Mosque (Malay: Masjid Putra; Jawi: مسجد ڤوترا‎) is the principal mosque of Putrajaya, Malaysia. Construction of the mosque began in 1997 and was completed two years later.

It is located on Putra Square and is adjacent to man-made Putrajaya Lake.

The pink-domed Putra Mosque is constructed with rose-tinted granite and consists of three main functional areas – the prayer hall, the Sahn, or courtyard, and various learning facilities and function rooms. The mosque can accommodate 15,000 worshippers at any one time (read more).

South Korea - Jeju ShinChang Windmill Coastal Road

ShinChang Windmill Coastal Road in Jeju Island

Sent by SuRim from Incheon, South Korea.

Sinchang Windmill Coastal Road, which continues along the western tip of Jeju Island, presents a view of windmills lined up along the road from an offshore wind farm. The view of white windmills and emerald-colored sea along the winding coastline offer a pleasant fall scenery. There are many other things that unfold before one's eyes as while looking out upon the blue sea, like Chagwido Island afar. The road is well-known for its beautiful sunset so it is a great place to take pictures and watch the setting sun. Along the coastal road is a trail named Eco Experience. It features a Kelp grouper statue, Wondam Experience Site and a rest area where visitors can take selfies with many different backdrops. The observatory located in the middle of the trail is relatively quiet and visitors are recommended to head towards the observatory after taking a few photos on their walk up from Sinchang Windmill Coastal Road (read more).

Czechia - Děčín Castle

Děčín Castle

After the withdrawal of Soviet troops, when it served as a dilapidated barracks, today the extensive Baroque chateau represents a prouddominant of the city of Děčín and at the same time an exemplary example of the restoration of significant historical architectural and cultural heritage. Originally a Přemyslid castle, it passed into the hands of the powerful Vartenberk family in the 14th century. It's more significant transformationtook place in the second half of the 16th century, when it was in the possesson of the Saxon familyof knights from Bünau. The current appearance is the work of the Thun-Hohe count family, former ownersof the Děčín estate in the years 1628-1932.

| Tea Pavilion, Castle Southern Terraces | Rose garden with gloriette | View from the gloriette |

| View of the castle from the Shepherd's Wall | Castle and the steamboat on the Elbe | Castle from Tyrš Bridge |

| Castle Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross | Gardener's house, castle's southern terraces | The long drive to the castle |

Sent by Petra from Česká Kamenice, Czechia.

The forerunner of the Děčín Castle was a wooden fortress built towards the end of the 10th century by the Bohemian princes controlling the surrounding Děčín province. The first written record of the province dates from 993 A.D. and of the fortress itself from 1128. In the thirteenth century this original wooden structure was rebuilt in stone as a royal castle that, under unknown circumstances, fell into the hands of the powerful Wartenberg dynasty around 1305.

No one knows exactly how this medieval castle looked. However, we can say with some certainty that it was divided into two sections – the upper (rear) and lower (forward) parts, which each operated more or less independently. This layout endured until the end of the 18th century, and even survived siege and fire in 1444. Numerous later renovations, however, erased all but fragments of the original medieval semblance of the castle. A significant change to the castle came in the second half of the 16th century when it was held by the Saxon Knights of Bünau, who gradually rebuilt the lower castle into a Renaissance palace with a grand ceremonial hall. Rudolph of Bünau had the walls adorned with life-size portraits of 22 members of the Bünau clan. Remodeling at the end of the eighteenth century destroyed these murals. Fortunately, their likenesses, commissioned in 1775, were recently discovered in the collections of the National Museum in Prague (read more).

Battleship Cove : Hiddensee

Hiddensee is a Russian-built missile corvette that was deployed by the East German Navy during the mid-to-late 1980s. Shortly after the reunification of Germany, she was transferred to the US Navy, where she served as a test platform for five years. She arrived at Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA in 1997 and exhibits a fascinating collection of Cold War technology.

Sent by Iryna from Connecticutt, USA.

Hiddensee was a Tarantul-class corvette. Originally a Soviet naval warship, the corvette was transferred first to the East German navy, then to the new unified German Navy, and ended her career in the United States as a non-commissioned naval ship. After decommissioning, she was later part of the Battleship Cove site at Fall River, Massachusetts as a museum ship, before being scrapped in 2023.

The Tarantul I-class missile corvette was launched in 1984 at the Petrovsky Shipyard of Almaz Shipbuilding Company in Leningrad, Russian SFSR. She was commissioned in 1985 by the East German Volksmarine as Rudolf Egelhofer, but after the reunification of Germany in 1990, she was transferred to the German Navy and renamed Hiddensee (read more).

Bulgaria - Pleven

Pleven City Centre.

Sent by Georgiev from Pleven, Bulgaria.

Pleven (Bulgarian: Плèвен pronounced [ˈplɛvɛn]) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest economic center in Northwestern Bulgaria. At the 2021 census its population was 89,823.

Internationally known for the siege of Plevna of 1877, today it is a major economic centre of the Bulgarian Northwest and Central North and the third largest city of Northern Bulgaria after Varna and Ruse.

The name comes from the Slavic word plevnya ("barn") or from plevel, meaning "weed", sharing the same root, and the Slavic suffix -en (read more).

Germany - Lower Saxony - Historic Town of Goslar

Historic Town of Goslar, highlighting the market square and surrounding buildings, including the Imperial Palace of Goslar.

Sent by Günther from Goslar, Germany.

Goslar (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɔslaʁ]; Eastphalian: Goslär) is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and is located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar with over 1.500 timber houses and the Mines of Rammelsberg are UNESCO World Heritage Sites for their millennium-long testimony to the history of ore mining and their political importance for the Holy Roman Empire and Hanseatic League. Each year Goslar awards the Kaiserring to an international artist, called the "Nobel Prize" of the art world.

Goslar is situated in the middle of the upper half of Germany, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Brunswick and about 70 km (43 mi) southeast of the state capital, Hanover. The Schalke mountain is the highest elevation within the municipal boundaries at 762 metres (2,500 feet). The lowest point of 175 m (574 ft) is near the Oker river. Geographically, Goslar forms the boundary between the Hildesheim Börde which is part of the Northern German Plain, and the Harz range, which is the highest, northernmost extension of Germany's Central Uplands. The Hildesheim Börde is characterised by plains with rich clay soils – used agriculturally for sugar beet farming – interlaced with several hill ranges commonly known as the Hildesheim Forest and Salzgitter Hills. In the northeast the Harly Forest stretches down to the River Oker, in the east, Goslar borders on the German state of Saxony-Anhalt (read more).

Germany - Bavaria - Augsburg Cathedral

Augsburg Cathedral, a prominent Catholic  cathedral in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany.

View from the south.

Sent by Helga from Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

The Cathedral of Augsburg (German: Dom Mariä Heimsuchung) is a Catholic cathedral in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany, founded in the 11th century in Romanesque style, but with 14th-century Gothic additions. Together with the Basilica of St. Ulrich and Afra, it is one of the city's main attractions. It measures 113 x 40 m, and its towers are 62 m high. It is dedicated to the Visitation of Virgin Mary.

The cathedral is perhaps located on the site of a pre-existing 4th-century building, not necessarily a church, whose foundations have been excavated beneath the current level; the site is included within the ancient Roman walls of Augusta Vindelicorum. The first known church in the place is documented from 822, but dating to the late 8th century reigns of bishops Wikterp and Simpert.

The edifice was damaged by the Magyars and was restored in 923 under bishop Ulrich. Another repairing intervention occurred in 994 when the western apse crumbled down; the restoration was funded by empress Adelaide. The current Romanesque structure was commissioned in 1043 by Bishop Henry III and was completed in 1065. The two towers, which are visible from the whole city, were completed in 1075. From 1331 to 1431 numerous Gothic elements were added, including the eastern choir (read more).