Neuschwanstein Castle

Postcard ID: DE-2099823
Country: Germany

Now I know what is absolutely happiness for postcrosser - finding an envelope in mailbox. No, no, not unusual envelope. A chubby envelope. When you open it, you’ll find 5 (five!!!) postcards there. Really happiness.

The first card introduce Bochum City where live the sender. Bochum is located in the deep west of Germany, 70 km to the Netherlands border. It’s a former coal mining area, now all mines are closed. Only a mining museum they have. But this museum is the biggest in the world! Look at the center of postcard.

On the second card you see the biggest National park in Germany with wild living wolves, lynx and bears.

The third card is about The University where study 38 000 students.

The forth card shows Hohenzollern Castle - the family seat of Prussian kings and the German emperors. Near the small town Hechinger, south of Stuttgart

And one more amazing castle is present on the last card. It’s the Cinderella Castle in Bavaria, the favourite castle of king Ludwig II of Bavaria.

This post was copied from my another blog that I had in 2013 :)

Hradec nad Moravicí, Czech Republic

Postcard ID: CZ-538400
Country: Czech Republic

Here is a nice Autumn card sent to me by Daniela from Czech Republic. This country has many wonderful places and castles as well.

Hradec nad Moravicí is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic located about 8 km south of Opava. It had about 5,150 inhabitants in 2006. The town is dominated by a castle complex.

According to the 1910 Austrian census, the town had 329 inhabitants, 314 of whom had permanent residence there. The census asked people for their native language: 169 (53.8%) were German-speaking and 144 (45.9%) were Czech-speaking. The largest religious group was Roman Catholics with 327 (99.4%).

Here is a stamp from the postcard:

Cardiff Castle, Wales

Postcard ID: GB-467498
Country: United Kingdom

This card is photo made by sender. Unfortunately it was a little damaged during the trip to me. This castle has great history, so the message below is quite big, but interesting.

Cardiff Castle is one of Wales’ leading heritage attractions and a site of international significance. Located at the heart of the capital, within beautiful parklands, the Castle’s walls and fairytale towers conceal 2,000 years of history.

The Roman fort at Cardiff was probably established at the end of the 50s AD, on a strategic site that afforded easy access to the sea. After the Norman conquest, the Castle’s keep was built, re-using the site of the Roman fort. The site was divided into inner and outer wards, separated by a huge stone wall. The first keep on the motte was erected by Robert Fitzhamon, the Norman Lord of Gloucester, and along with many of these early defences was probably built of wood. More medieval fortifications and dwellings followed.

The Castle passed through the hands of many noble families until in 1766, it passed by marriage to the Bute family. The 2nd Marquess of Bute was responsible for turning Cardiff into the world’s greatest coal exporting port. The Castle and Bute fortune passed to his son John, the 3rd Marquess of Bute, who by the 1860s was reputed to be the richest man in the world.

From 1866 the 3rd Marquess employed the genius architect William Burges to transform the Castle lodgings. Within gothic towers he created lavish and opulent interiors, rich with murals, stained glass, marble, gilding and elaborate wood carvings. Each breathtaking room has its own special theme, including Mediterranean gardens and Italian and Arabian decoration.

The 3rd Marquess died when he was only 53 in 1900. He had transformed the Castle into a Welsh Victorian Camelot – now regarded as being of international significance. Despite huge death duties on the estate, the 4th Marquess completed many of his father’s restoration projects including the reconstruction of the Roman wall. The Bute family continued to stay at the Castle throughout the 1920s and 1930s, although they had sold off many of their business interests in South Wales. Following the death of the 4th Marquess of Bute, the family decided to give the Castle and much of its parkland, known as Bute Park, to the city of Cardiff. For 25 years, the Castle was home to the National College of Music and Drama and since 1974 has become one of Wales’ most popular visitor attractions.

‘The Essential Cardiff Castle’ by Castle Curator Matthew Williams is the definitive guidebook to the fascinating history of this site and is available from the Castle Gift Shop.

Krakow, Poland

Postcard ID: PL-870298
Country: Poland

Here is a lovely card from neighbor country, however I've not visited it yet.

The Gothic Wawel Castle in Kraków in Poland was built at the behest of Casimir III the Great, who reigned from 1333 to 1370, and consists of a number of structures situated around the central courtyard.

In the 14th century it was rebuilt by Jogaila and Jadwiga of Poland. Their reign saw the addition of the tower called the Hen's Foot (Kurza Stopka) and the Danish Tower. The Jadwiga and Jogaila Chamber, in which the sword Szczerbiec, was used in coronation ceremonies, is exhibited today and is another remnant of this period. Other structures were developed on the hill during that time as well, in order to serve as quarters for the numerous clergy, royal clerks and craftsmen. Defensive walls and towers such as Jordanka, Lubranka, Sandomierska, Tęczyńska, Szlachecka, Złodziejska and Panieńska were erected in the same period.

The Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill constitute the most historically and culturally important site in Poland. For centuries the residence of the kings of Poland and the symbol of Polish statehood, the Castle is now one of the country’s premier art museums. Established in 1930, the museum encompasses ten curatorial departments responsible for collections of paintings, including an important collection of Italian Renaissance paintings, prints, sculpture, textiles, among them the Sigismund II Augustus tapestry collection, goldsmith’s work, arms and armor, ceramics, Meissen porcelain, and period furniture. The museum’s holdings in oriental art include the largest collection of Ottoman tents in Europe. With seven specialized conservation studios, the museum is also an important center for the conservation of works of art.

Here is a beautiful Polish stamp:

Neuschwanstein Castle

Postcard ID: RU-2500127
Country: Russia

It's a little unusual, but cards showing German castle came to me from Russia :)

Neuschwanstein Castle is a nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds.

The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king, but it was opened to the paying public immediately after his death in 1886. Since then more than 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle.More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with as many as 6,000 per day in the summer. The palace has appeared prominently in several movies and was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle and later, similar structures.

Also this card contains nice stamp from Olympic Games in Sochi:

And image of butterfly for me :)

Citadel Alba Julia

Postcard ID: RO-78957
Country: Romania

Great news! I received my first card from Romania! I have never visited this country yet, just pass through it in our way to Bulgaria from Moldova. 

The Alba Iulia citadel, designed by Italian architect Giovanni Morando Visconti, was built between 1716 and 1735, using the Vauban military architectural system—the largest of this kind in Southeastern Europe. The fortress is outstanding both for its architectural elements and for the beauty of its six gates, unique in European military structures. Doubtless the artists, sculptors Johann Koning, Johan Vischer and Giuseppe Tencalla, had been inspired by ancient mythology.

About 7.2 miles of ramparts made of brick and quarry stones form a seven-point star shape with seven bastions (Eugene of Savoia, St. Stefan, The Trinity, St. Michael, St. Carol, St. Capistrano and St. Elisabeth) guarded by six monumental gates.

The gates, valuable samples of early baroque style, have served as a model for 18th century Transylvanian architecture.

A stamp from the card is:

Glücksburg Castle

Postcard ID: DE-2461474
Country: Germany

Hurray! It's my first maxicard in this blog :)

it was sent to me in October before my wedding, so sender recommended this place for our ceremony :)

I think that this is really beautifule and calm place.

Glücksburg Castle is a castle (Schloss) in the town of Glücksburg, Germany. It is one of the most important Renaissance castles in northern Europe. It is the seat of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and was also used by the Danish kings. Situated on the Flensburg Fjord the castle is now a museum owned by a foundation, and is no longer inhabited by the ducal family. Its board of directors is chaired by Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, the current titular duke and head of the House of Glücksburg and House of Oldenburg.

The card was sent to me in envelope, so here is its stamp:

Prague, Czech Republic

Postcard ID: CZ-396556
Country: Czech Republic

This card is named on the backside like Prague. The Vltava river. Charles Bridge. The Prague castle.

However for me this is one from the most beautiful city in the world. I love this place with all my heart and to be honest, I'd like to live there.

When I see on this card I remember October 2010 when i visited Czech Republic. I was walking along this bridge, floating on a boat on the Vltava river and admired this castle. I can talk about Czech Republic and Prague endlessly, however I strongly recommend just visit this place to understand that there are no words to describe beauty of Prague :)

And look on these stamps! My thanks to Hana for this great emotions which your card gave to me :)

Maryinsky Palace, Kyiv

Postcard ID: UA-901838
Country: Ukraine

Kyiv is really nice and beautiful city. I hope that now revolutionaries did not hurt and destroy its beautiful buildings.

Mariyinsky Palace is the official ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine in Kiev and adjoins the neo-classical building of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine. It is a Baroque palace on the hilly bank of the Dnieper River.

The palace was ordered to be constructed in 1744 by the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, and was designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the most famous architect working in the Russian Empire at that time. One of the students of Rastrelli, Ivan Michurin, together with a group of other architects, completed the palace in 1752. Empress Elizabeth, however, did not live long enough to see the palace. The first royal figure to stay in the palace was Empress Catherine II, who visited Kiev in 1787. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the palace was the main residence of Governors-General.

In the early 19th century, the palace burned down in a series of fires. Roughly half a century later, in 1870, Alexander II of Russia had the palace reconstructed by the architect Konstantin Mayevsky, using old drawings and watercolours as guide. It was then renamed after the reigning Empress Maria Alexandrovna. By her wish, a large park was established off the southern side of the palace. The palace was used as a residence for visiting members of the imperial family until 1917.

During the years of the Russian Civil War in 1917-20, the palace was used as the Kiev revkom headquarters, particularly during the Kiev Bolshevik Uprising. In the 1920s the building belonged to an agricultural school, soon after which it became a museum. The Mariyinsky was badly damaged in World War II, and restored at the end of the 1940s. Another major restoration was completed in the early 1980s.

Here are amazing stamps with symbols of Ukraine: