Les Îles de Lérins | The Lérins Islands

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The Lérins Islands is a small archipelago just off the coast of Cannes in the south of France. The two largest islands in this group are the Île Sainte-Marguerite and the Île Saint-Honorat. 

Saint-Honorat Island has been home to a community of monks since the fifth century. And Sainte-Marguerite Island is known for its fortress-prison.  

Stamps

Two pretty old stamps and three stamps with smallest denomination I ever saw: € 0,01 per stamp.

Providenciales Island | Turks and Caicos Islands

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The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands. The population is about 31,000, of whom 23,000 live on Providenciales, the largest island in the archipelago.

 

Chalk Sound is a scenic turquoise lagoon on the southwest of Providenciales Island. It comprises hundreds of small rocky islands in shallow brilliant turquoise water.

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Part of a set of four stamps, Orchids of the Caribbean (2014)

The Bottom, capital of Saba | Dutch Caribbean

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With 500 inhabitants, The Bottom is the largest town of the island of Saba. A very small island, it measures only 13 square kilometers. Saba is one of the special municipalities of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean.

   

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A Lesser Nighthawk. The stamp is part of a set of 12 bird stamps, issued 2015. 

The map of Sint Maarten | Dutch Caribbean

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“The term Dutch Caribbean refers to all of the islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that are located in the Caribbean, regardless of their legal status in Dutch law” (thank you Wikipedia).

The legal status of St Maarten is a “constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands”. A country within a country, sort of.

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A Lesser Nighthawk. The stamp is part of a set of 12 bird stamps, issued 2015. 

Australian Bush Birds

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Australia has more than 800 bird species. Five of them on this postcard: Red Browed Finch, Superb Blue Wren, Kookaburra, Parrot and Budgerigar.

Stamps

Four more birds: birds that visit Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Stamps produced for Cocos (Keeling) Islands can be used for posting in Australia and all Australian Territories.

Thx Steve!

Animals of Australia

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Australia has more than 378 mammal species, 828 bird species, 4000 fish species, 300 species of lizards, 140 snake species, two crocodile species and around 50 types of marine mammal.

More than 80 per cent of Australia’s plants, mammals, reptiles and frogs are unique and are found no-where outside Australia. This postcards shows some of the best known: Dingo, Kangaroo, Koala, Kookaburra, Emu, Lorikeet, Tasmanian Devil and Wombat.

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More typical Australian animals: Echidna, Common Wombat, Grey Kangaroo and Koala. Part of a set of six stamps about native animals of Australia.

Thank you very much Steve!

Hanseatic City of Buxtehude | Germany

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Buxtehude is a town on the Este River in Northern Germany. The town has a rich history of more than 1000 years. It was the first German town to be developed in a structured way around a harbor. 

Located at the route of the Hanseatic waterways it provided for a convenient crossing of the Elbe and developed into a lively Hanseatic town. 

 

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A stamp to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Israel and Germany.

The building in typical Bauhaus style is located in the White City in Tel Aviv, a Unesco World Heritage site.

  

The Rat-Catcher of Hamelin | Germany

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Hameln (Hamelin in English) is a German town on the river Weser, famous for the folk tale of the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin. The tale has its origins in the Middle Ages when a ‘piper’ was leading the children away from the town, never to return. Since the 16th century the piper is a rat-catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his magic pipe. 

In the 15th and 16th centuries Hamelin was a member of the Hanseatic League.

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The stamp on the right depicts the House of Blackheads in Riga, Latvia. Another of the Hanseatic League members.

Freie Hansestadt Bremen | Germany

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Bremen is the third most populous city in Northern Germany, a commercial and industrial city with a major port on the River Weser. Freie Hansestadt Bremen is German for Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.

One of the oldest public squares in the city is the Bremer Marktplatz with the historic town hall and cathedral. The Town Hall, together with the statue of Roland, is a Unesco World Heritage site.

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A matching stamp!

Historic Frombork | Poland

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Frombork is a town in northern Poland, locally known as “The Jewel of Warmia” (a historical region). The astronomer and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 – 1543) died in Frombork and was buried in the cathedral. His grave only to be discovered by archaeologists in 2005.

Copernicus was born in Toruń. Both Frombork and Toruń were members of the Hanseatic League, an alliance of trading guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly along the coast of Northern Europe.

Dutch hanseatic city Zutphen

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Zutphen is a Dutch city with approximately 40,000 inhabitants. Zutphen was a member of the Hanseatic League as far back as the 13th century.

 

The medieval city centre, with a skyline featuring several towers, is extremely well preserved and houses numerous historical buildings, including the Drogenapstoren (a city gate) you see on the left.

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A machine label.

The Church of St. Michael in hansestadt Hildesheim | Germany

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Hildesheim is one of the oldest cities in Germany, located on the banks of the Innerste River.

In 1367 Hildesheim became a member of the Hanseatic League.

 

The Church of St. Michael is an early-Romanesque church in Hildesheim. Construction started in the year 1010. A World Heritage site since 1985, together with St. Mary's Cathedral.

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Europa stamp 2015, with this year’s theme:  old toys.

The Hanseatic City of Soest | Germany

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Soest played an important role in the structure of medieval Germany. It was the merchants of Soest who made a decisive contribution to the formation of the powerful Hanseatic League.

The silhouette of the town is dominated by its churches. On the left you see the St. Petri Church. On the right the Church of St. Patrokli

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This 2014 stamp depicts The Little Prince, written in 1943 at the end of the 2nd World War by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. One of the best-selling books worldwide. 

Waterfalls in Kuldīga | Latvia

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Kuldiga is a town on the Venta River in Latvia. The town is famous for having the widest waterfall in Europe (110m): Ventas Rumba.

 

In 1368, Kuldiga became a member of the Hanseatic League of trading cities because of its location as a river port with an outlet to the Baltic Sea.

Hanseatic city of Wroclaw | Poland

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Wrocław is the fourth largest city in Poland with 650,000 inhabitants. The Old Town Hall is located at the center of the city’s Market Square. The oldest parts of the Gothic building dates back to as early as the 14th century. 

In that period trade is booming which resulted at the end of the 13th century in a membership of the Hanseatic League, a powerful association of German and North European cities. Wroclaw left the league in 1474.

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The Legend of Giants: a mural by Polish artist Natalia Rak.

Hansestadt Münster | Germany

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The German city of Münster was a member of the Hanseatic League, a trading alliance in the Middle Ages.

Münster became a significant passage area between the commercial metropolis Cologne and the Netherlands, Flanders and England. 

When in 1469 Cologne was expelled from the Hanseatic League Muenster took the leading role in the whole of Westphalia.

Wesel, hansestadt am Rhein | Germany

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Wesel is a city in Germany, close to the border with The Netherlands. It is located at the point where the river Lippe flows into the Rhine.

In medieval times Wesel was an important commercial centre: a clearing station for the transshipment and trading of goods. Wesel joined the Hanseatic League in 1407.

Old Town of Kaunas | Lithuania

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Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania,  located on the banks of the Nemunas River.

Thanks to its location on the confluence of two major rivers Kaunas was important for trade since its establishment in medieval era. By this time most of the trade went by rivers as there were no roads in Lithuania and everything was surrounded by lush forests.

In 1441 Kaunas joined the Hanseatic League, a medieval league of towns of northern Germany and neighboring countries for the promotion and protection of commerce.

House of Blackheads in Riga | Latvia

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Riga served as a gateway to trade with the Baltic tribes and with Russia. The city became a member of the Hanseatic League in 1282.

The House of Blackheads was first mentioned in 1334. The Riga council rented the main hall to the Blackhead Brotherhood - a guild of young unmarried foreign merchants. As their patron, they chose St Maurice, whose paintings and sculptures tended to show him as a dark-skinned soldier dressed in armour. 

Szczecin castle | Poland

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Szczecin (Stettin in German) is a major Polish seaport. Once a member of the Hanseatic League.

The castle was the seat of the dukes of Pomerania-Stettin. It  dates back to the 14th century.   

Cathedral of hansestadt Magdeburg | Germany

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Magdeburg is one of the oldest cities in Germany and was once a notable member of the Hanseatic League.The Cathedral of St. Mauritius and St. Catherine with its imposing towers is the city's most famous landmark and Germany's first Gothic Cathedral.

Stamps

(left) 200th birthday of Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898)

(right) And a stamp to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Max und Moritz by Wilhelm Busch. 

Hanseatic city of Gdansk | Poland

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Gdansk is Poland's 6th largest city, situated in the Northern part of Poland, with a port near the Baltic Sea. Gdańsk, also known under its German name Danzig, had belonged to the Hanseatic League since the middle of the 14th century.

 

The Artus Court (Dwór Artusa), named after the famous King Arthur, was used to be the meeting place of merchants and a centre of social life. It’s origins dates back to the 14th century.

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Europa stamps 2005 and 2007. 

The port of hansestadt Hamburg | Germany

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Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany has more than 5 million inhabitants. The official name of the city is Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Reflecting the city's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League.

The St. Pauli Landing Bridges are the largest landing place in the Port of Hamburg. These floating dock are 700 metres long.

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The stamp shows another hanseatic city: Bremen. 

Dutch hanzestad Deventer | Netherlands

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Founded in the late 8^th century, Deventer is one of the oldest towns in the Netherlands. The city developed into a flourishing trade city with its harbour on the river IJssel. Deventer was a prominent member of the Hanseatic League.

The Old Town of Goslar | Germany

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Goslar is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located 40 kilometres south of Braunschweig. Both where once members of the Hanseatic League, a medieval league of towns of northern Germany and neighboring countries for the promotion and protection of commerce.

 

The Old Town of Goslar is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Stamps

In March 2015, Deutsche Post has released a set of two stamps illustrated with a famous children's book character in Germany, Felix the rabbit.