Melis letters, crafts and more!: September 2012

~ Birthday Cards ~

I finally made my birthday cards now. I wanted to make them for weeks. :D

Outside

Here we took a walk to some lakes close by in Kirchheim.

Hohenzollern Castle (Burg Hohenzollern) is a castle about 50 kilometers (31 mi) south of Stuttgart, Germany. It is considered the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family, which emerged in the Middle Ages and eventually became German Emperors.

The castle is located on top of Mount Hohenzollern at an elevation of 855 meters (2,805 ft) above sea level, 234 m (768 ft) above Hechingen and nearby Bisingen, both located at the foothills of the Swabian Jura. It was originally constructed in the first part of the 11th century.

When the family split into two branches, the castle remained the property of the Swabian branch, which was dynastically senior to the Franconian/Brandenburg branch which eventually acquired an imperial throne. The castle was completely destroyed after a 10-month siege in 1423 by the imperial cities of Swabia. A second, larger and sturdier castle was constructed from 1454 to 1461 and served as a refuge for the Catholic Swabian Hohenzollerns during wartime, including during the Thirty Years' War. By the end of the 18th century, however, the castle was thought to have lost its strategic importance and gradually fell into disrepair, leading to the demolition of several dilapidated buildings. Today, only the chapel remains from the medieval castle.

The third version of the castle, which stands today, was constructed for Frederick William IV of Prussia between 1846 and 1867, under the direction of Friedrich August Stüler, who based his design on English Neo-Gothic style as well as the castles of the Loire Valley. Because the castle was built as a family memorial, no member of the Hohenzollern family took residence in this third castle until 1945, when it became home to the last Prussian Crown Prince Wilhelm; he and his wife, Crown Princess Cecilie, are buried there.

Among the historical artifacts of Prussian history contained in the castle today are the Crown of Wilhelm II and some of the personal effects of Frederick the Great and a letter from US President George Washington thanking Baron von Steuben, a scion of the House of Hohenzollern, for his service in the American Revolutionary War. The castle is today a popular tourist destination.

Oberstdorf

Oberstdorf is a skiing and hiking town in southwest Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps.

At the center of Oberstdorf is a church whose tall spire serves as a landmark for navigating around town. The summits of the Nebelhorn and Fellhorn provide dramatic panoramic views of the alps. The Nebelhorn can be reached with a big cable car. Oberstdorf is one of the highest market towns in Germany.Visitors can ride a unique diagonal elevator to the top of the Heini-Klopfer-Skiflugschanze. Oberstdorf hosts every New Year the first part of famous Four Hills Tournament in ski jump. The American Broadcasting Company's Wide World of Sports inadvertently featured Oberstdorf when Vinko Bogataj fell during the ski jump in 1970 and became "The Agony of Defeat".

The Nebelhorn is a 2,224 metres (7,297 ft) high mountain in the Allgäu Alps. It lends its name to the Nebelhorn Trophy figure skating competition and the Nebelhorn Classics a freeride race event. Also the Nine Knights freeski contest takes place just above the "Höfatsblick" station of the Nebelhornbahn.

Its summit is a well-known viewing point, from where there is a view far into the Alpine massif.

Munich

Munich is the capital and the largest city of the German state of Bavaria. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, behind Berlin and Hamburg. About 1.42 million people live within the city limits. Munich was the host city of the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Marienplatz is a central square in the city center. It has been the city's main square since 1158.

In the Middle Ages markets and tournaments were held in this city square. Today the Marienplatz is dominated by the New City Hall (Neues Rathaus) on the north side.

The Englischer Garten for "English Garden", is a large public park in the center of Munich, stretching from the city center to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), later Count Rumford (Reichsgraf von Rumford) and extended and improved by his successors, Reinhard von Werneck (1757–1842) and Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell (1750–1823), who had advised on the project from the beginning.

With an area of 3.7 km² (1.4 sq mi) (370 ha or 910 acres), the Englischer Garten is one of the world's largest urban public parks, larger than New York's Central Park but smaller than London's Richmond Park. The name refers to the style of gardening; the term English garden is used outside of the English speaking world to refer to the style of informal landscape gardening which was popular in the United Kingdom from the mid 18th century to the early 19th century, and is particularly associated with Capability Brown.

The Theatine Church of St. Cajetan (German: Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan) is a Catholic church. Built from 1663 to 1690, it was founded by Elector Ferdinand Maria and his wife, Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, as a gesture of thanks for the birth of the long-awaited heir to the Bavarian crown, Prince Max Emanuel, in 1662.