Here’s a postcard I received from Germany! This is a multi-view card showing several different views of Duisburg, a city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which is in the western part of the country. Duisburg sits where the Rhine and Ruhr rivers meet, with the Rhine practically bisecting it north to south and the Ruhr branching off the Rhine to the east. Thanks to the industrial revolution in the 1800s, Duisburg has served as large industrial center, particularly with iron and steel but also with tobacco and textiles. In recent decades many of the industrial bases have been replaced by parks – which is bittersweet because it promotes the natural beauty of the area and at the same time reduces job availability in the industrial sector. But this card here certainly has no shortage of beauty in it! I won’t go into every panel, but let’s tackle a few! Probably the most gaudy on this card is the Lifesaver statue (top-center), which was sculpted by Niki de Saint Phalle. I thought this unique sight was a giant bird with a cool suit of colorful armor… but that “armor” is actually a woman clinging on to it! Lifesaver is part of the city center and serves as a good navigational point (I mean, you can’t miss it). A few panels beneath is Tiger and Turtle Magic Mountain, which is another artistic creation borne from steel. It’s a staircase designed as a roller coaster, and contains stairs on every part of it, including that loop-de-loop you see here! That particular part’s off limits, but maybe when suction cup shoes are invented it can be traversed. Let’s do one more… okay, the third panel down on the right side. That would be Merkez Mosque, the largest mosque in Germany, which can hold up to 1,200 worshipers. What’s beautiful about this mosque (besides the really cool exterior) is that, unlike other mosque openings that triggered some cultural rifts, this one was embraced by both the Turkish and German communities and helped to strengthen the coexistence of the two. Man, there are so many neat places here – if you have any particular questions on any other panels just let me know, and I can try to get you some answers! Thank you so much for another beautiful postcard, Jule-Blau!
