POSTCARD N.223 - NETHERLANDS

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 14th April; received on the 24th April 2026

Postcard image:  Mehringdamm, Berlim.

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A nice ambient night shot of a street in Berlin, near  Mehringdamm U-Bahn station, with a quote on the back that reads "even if 5 mini spring rolls for 2.5 €uro isn't a bad offer, the gastronomic leader of the U-Bah station at Mehringdamm is still Mustafa's famous Vegetable kebabs"

This got me curious.... I'll be sure to check if it still holds if I ever return to Berlin again.

Danke sehr, Anna.

Anna also included a "quirky historical fact" on his postcard, this being Postcrossing's writing prompt  for March:

She writes:"Did you know that in the 18th century the Prussian state had its citizens checked to see if they were secretly roasting coffee to avoid paying taxes?

So-called "coffee sniffers" sneaked through the stair wells and sniffed to see if they could smell coffee roasting".

No I did not know that, but as far as stupid taxes go, I remember when you had to pay a tax (in order to protect the matchbox industry) if you wanted to use a cigarette lighter here in my own country, in plain 20th century. This tax was only abolished in 1970.

On to the stamps:

- 5 and 15 Euro  cents World of letters series stamps:

0,05€ - Letters as Lotus Flower - issued on 02DEC2021 

0.15 € - Letters Peacock - issued on 10AUG2024 

- 0,45 + 0,20 € welfare surtax stamps, part of a set of 5 (.45 + .20; 3 x .55+.25; 1.44 + 56 €) dedicated to climate types in the wonderful world series, issued on 07OCT2004.

The  Polar climate is the type illustrated by this particular stamp, which features a photograph of icebergs  in the ocean.

- 0,45 € self-adhesive stamp, issued on 09FEB2012, celebrating the  125th Anniversary of the Narrow Gauge Railways in Harz, illustrated with a photo of one of the company's steam powered trains. 

The first narrow gauge railroad in the Harz mountains, in Central Germany, opened to traffic in 1887, with a service between Gernrode and Mägdesprung.

Today the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways network extends over 140 km of narrow gauge railroad.

Mechanical postmark from Briefzentrum 10 - Central Berlim.