COVER N. 482 - SERBIA

Postmark: Novi Sad 21117 24.06.24

Posted on 24th June; received on the 2nd July 2024

_________________________________________________________________________________

What a joyful set of stamps on this lovely cover.  Amphibians are sometimes not that well looked upon by people due to their often slimy look, but  I find them absolutely fascinating (and this goes well back in time). Hvala najlepše, Antea!

Looking at the three stamps what is immediately apparent is the fine way in which the predominant colours of the three amphibians depicted in the stamps go together. After all we have blue and yellow on the sides and their complementary, green, in the middle, so this would always work great. 

The uncommon viewpoints for the images also add interest to the images and I do find this set quite a fine one.

The three 48 Dinar se-tenant stamps were issued under the theme "Protected Animal Species" on 22NOV2023. From left to right we have:

- Alpine newt (Ichtyosaura aplpensis), a newt species that occurs in much of Continental Europe and the north of Spain, and which has been introduced in Great Britain and New Zealand.

The adults measure between 7 and 12 cm and even if classified as Least Concern by IUCN, pressure on the species due to loss of habitat and predation by other species is on the rise.

- Hyla arborea, the common tree frog, also a species classified as "Least Concern", native to much of Europe. Asia and northern Africa. 

Genetic studies though have resulted in new divisions for the genus which now numbers several species in the general European Tree Frog Family.

- Fire Salamander (Salamandra salamandra), the dandy yellow dotted black salamander which can be found all across central and southern Europe and which is now classified and "Vulnerable" as a consequence of the mortality brought about by a fungal infection by  Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans.

The postmark although very difficult to read hails from Novi Sad, Serbia’s second largest city, with a population of approximately 360,000 inhabitants.

COVER N. 481 - ALGERIA

Postmark: Beida-Bordj 19021 05.06.2024

Posted on 5th June; received on the 2nd July 2024

_________________________________________________________________________________

A cover from Algeria with beautiful stamps. Just what I needed to wear off the bloody Covid virus that made me feel for quite a few days that I had been ran over by all my local buses, trains and metro carriages of the public transportation system.

I am now finally getting back to my own self again, but do take care. Infections are on the rise again and I, at least, had a nastier time than the last time....

So Thanks a lot, Fateh. Looking at beautiful stamps does help me to feel better.

- The  Desert Monitor (Varanus griseus) is a widespread and common carnivorous lizard which can grow up to 2 metres long and which  be found across the North of Africa all the way to northern India. 

The members of the species are known to be an excellent swimmers and runners, although in the later case  they can only maintain their speed for little time, after which they go back to their usual slow motion stance. In spite of being considered as “Least Concern”, in terms of conservation status, their numbers are slowly decreasing, due to loss of habitat and also for being hunted for their skins.

The 8.60 dinar stamp is part of a two stamp set (2; 8,60 dinar) dedicated to reptiles, issued on 20NOV1993.

- The Cuvier's gazelle (Gazella cuvieri) is endemic to the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, where it can be found living at up to 2,600 meters above sea level.

This member of the Bovidae family  is listed by IUCN as “Endangered”, due to overhunting and habitat loss.

The 6,20 dinar The stamp bearing its image was issued on 13MAR1992, as part of a three stamp set (1,50; 6,20; 8,60 dinar) dedicated to gazelles.

- A common site where I live, where it is considered the herald of spring, the barn swallow is the most widespread swallow species in the world and can be found in all continents but Antarctica, being classified as “Least Concern” by IUCN.

Another least concern species is the Pharaoh Eagle-Owl (Bubo ascalaphus), which can be found in the arid and desertic regions of northern Africa and the Middle East.

The two stamps illustrated with the picture of both these birds are part of  a three stamp set (20; 25and 30 dinars) dedicated to flying animals, issued on  24FEB2020, (the third stamp being dedicated to a bat).

The mechanical postmark was applied at the city of Beida-Bordj, located in the south of the country.

POSTCARD N.144 - GERMANY

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 25th June; received on the 1st July 2024

Postcard image: Zwickau landmarks
__________________________________________________________________________________

Inside cover #480 Antje put a very musically minded postcard illustrated with several pictures of the city of Zwickau in the state of Saxony, which I gather was quite connected to the automotive industry, it being the city where Horch, which would become present day Audi, was founded and later VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau, the producer of the DDR auto icon Trabant, was headquartered.

But Zwickau was also important for being the birthplace of one of the great German Romantic composers, Robert Schumann, who saw the light of day there for the first time on 8  June, 1810, and would die in Endenich, Bonhn, on 29 July 1856.

Top to bottom, Left to right:

- The city hall and the adjacent jakobskapelle, located in the main market square (Hauptmarkt). The city wall war rebuilt to resurrect it from a fire that destroyed it in 1403, and was given its neo-gothic façade in 1866/67. The church, dating from 1473-77, still maintains its original form. 

- The monument to the city's most well known citizen, Robert Schumann, conceived by Johannes Hartmann (1869 - 1952)  was inaugurated in 1901,  and having been implanted in several locations is now back at its original place in the Hauptmarkt, since 1993.

- Kinderbrunnen, a fountain also located in the Hauptmarkt, designed by Berthold Dietz and inaugurated in 1968

- The statue of Thomas Muentzer, a preacher and a theologian of the Reformation, created by Jürgen Raue and unveiled to the public on the 500 anniversary of Munzer's birth, in May 1989.

- A fountain at the site of the former jewish market.

- Robert Schumann's house, the birthplace of the composer and pianist, also located in the Hauptmarkt.

COVER N. 480 - GERMANY

Postmark: Illegible

Posted on 25th June (?); received on the 1st July 2024

_________________________________________________________________________________

It has been a while since I received a Postcrossing postcard. My fault mainly, since I haven't sent out that many in a while too, but two of my latest sendings were not registered as received, so that hindered my position as a recipient too. 

So I was quite pleased to receive a beautiful letter from Germany (probably the country with most Postcrossing users) with a postcard inside and a couple of nice stamps on it, 

Danke Sehr, Antje! Ich habe deine postkarte geliebt! (ouch... my German lessons were so much long ago...hope I got it right..)

Antje, like me, is a music lover, she even plays the violin in a mall orchestra, and knowing I used to sing in a choir (something which presently is not occurring, unfortunately) she did her best to find a stamp that she knew I would be pleased with.

An so she used a 1€ stamp, part of a three se-tenant stamp strip dedicated to famous boys choirs.

The choirs honoured in this set, issued on 13FEB2003, are:

- the Leipziger Thomanerchor (0,45€), the guardians of the the works of the Thomaskantor, from 1 June 1723 till his death on 28 July 1750, who, of course, was none other than the incomparable Johann Sebastian Bach;

- the Dresden Kreuz Choir (=,55€), the boys' choir of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden, and

- the Regensburger Domspatzen, (1€) the choir of the Regesburg cathedral, this being the stamp which can be seen on the cover.

The mechanical postmark is totally illegible but  I gather that the letter was sent from Zwickau, the place depicted also in the postcard that was inside the envelope and also a musically connected location, but more on that for the postcard entry.