If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 96

Aerial view of Kristiansand, Vest Agder, Norway

The postcard above shows an aerial view of the city Kristiansand located in Southern Norway and the county capital of Vest Agder.   Normann, a company that has produced many picture postcards of Norway, published the card.  The photograph is by Fjellanger Widerøe.   Widerøe is a well-known company that takes aerial photos of Norway.  They began taking this type of picture as early as 1934 and have over 3 million photos in their archives.  Normann is just one company that has used their images.  The photos taken by Widerøe are not only used for postcards like the one above but also used by the public and private sectors, anything from real estate to public roads, law and architecture. 

A distant cousin, John Galteland, sent the card to me when he visited Norway in 1996.  Many branches of the extended family of Mikal Alfsen Hornnes came from the Setesdal area of Norway where Krisitiansand is the main city.   When Lil Anna took a trip home to visit Norway in 1907/1908 she mentioned staying in a hotel in Kristiansand and meeting her mother there.  

The city takes the name from King Christian IV who founded it in 1641.  The “sand” refers to the sandy headland where the city was built.  The coat of arms for the city is based on a seal dating from 1643 that has the Norwegian lion, the Royal crown and a tree.  There are thick woods near the city, the crown signifies the King founded the city, and the lion was used as a symbol for the country.

For additional information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristiansand

The stamp on the card is quite pretty also.  It shows an operatic scene with the famous Norwegian singer, Kirsten Flagstad (1895-1962).  She was a soprano who was especially renown for her dramatic Wagerian roles.  In 1932 she played Isolde in Tristan und Isolde for the first time. The following year she sang minor roles but in 1934 she sang the parts of Sieglinde in Die Walküre and Gurtrune in Götterdämmerung at the Bayreuth Festival.  In later years she performed several other roles from Wagner’s Ring.  Many critics said she had “the voice of the century.”  Her career included several years with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.  Even after her retirement from the stage she continued to give concert performances and make recordings. 

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsten_Flagstad for more about her.