3102 GERMANY (Lower Saxony) - Braunschweig

3102 Braunschweig: 1. Aerial view of the city;
2. The Brunswick Palace; 3. Virgin Mary's Fountain;
4. Burgplatz, with Castle, Cathedral, lion, and Town Hall.

Braunschweig is situated north of the Harz mountains at the furthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser. A powerful and influential centre of commerce in medieval Germany, it was a member of the Hanseatic League from the 13th until the 17th century, and the capital city of three successive states: the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1269-1432, 1754-1807 and 1813-1814), the Duchy of Brunswick (1814-1918) and the Free State of Brunswick (1918-1946).

The Burgplatz (Castle Square), comprising a group of buildings of great historical and cultural significance: the Cathedral (St Blasius, built at the end of the 12th century), the Burg Dankwarderode (Dankwarderode Castle) (a 19th-century reconstruction of the old castle of Henry the Lion), the Neo-Gothic Town Hall (built in 1893-1900), as well as some picturesque half-timbered houses. In the centre of the square stands a copy of the Burglöwe (Brunswick Lion), a Romanesque statue of a Lion, cast in bronze in 1166.

The Brunswick Palace, residence of the Brunswick dukes from 1753 to 1918, was bombed in WWII and demolished in 1960. The exterior was rebuilt to contain a palace museum, library and shopping centre, which opened in 2007. The Palace Park (Schlosspark) was laid out on the resulting waste ground. This was completely removed in the spring of 2005, in order to erect a large shopping centre, the so-called Schloss-Arkaden (Palace Arcades). Its western facade was to consist of a faithful reconstruction of the facade of Ottmer's palace.

About the stamp
The stamp is part of the series Blumen, about which I wrote here.

References
Braunschweig - Wikipedia

Sender: Jorn Hegner (direct swap)
Sent from Braunschweig (Lower Saxony / Germany), on 02.06.2017