Exhibition of postcards with Friedensau motifs

“Friedensau – von der Klappermühle zur Hochschule” (Friedensau—from rattling mill to university), that is the title of the postcard collection with motifs of Friedensau of the past 120 years that was exhibited in the event barn in October 2019. More than 250 postcards with motifs of Friedensau have been printed in the course of 120 years—most of which Pastor Armin Richter from Mittweida has collected. The postcards give insight into the development of Friedensau from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century. At the same time, they are documents of the changing art of printing.

Armin Richter was born in Rathenow in 1962. After a vocational training as a precision mechanic, he completed his training as a pastor at the former Friedensau Theological Seminary—the predecessor of Friedensau Adventist University—from 1981 to 1985, before taking over his first district in Pulsnitz (Saxony) in 1985. He worked as a pastor in Burgstädt, Chemnitz, Aue, Auerbach im Vogtland, Grimma, Mittweida. He has been an active scout leader since 1989; he gained experience in addiction care, prison chaplaincy and, after graduating in religious education, also in religious education at school.

When he was asked how he had come to collect postcards, he confessed: “Actually, I collect post stamps. Since I enjoy creating things, I put together several philatelic exhibits, such as `Die Bibel – das Buch der Bücher´ (The Bible—The Book of Books); `Sachsen – meine Heimat´ (Saxony—My Home). Out of solidarity with my place of study and that of my father—he is a retired pastor—I was looking for postcards of Friedensau in order to develop an exhibit from them. And that became a large collection, so that I could publish a catalog of all postcards of Friedensau printed so far. This catalog is available as a CD in the archive of Friedensau. The third edition of 2014 contains 229 cards; and there are many more to be added. The postcard exhibit `Friedensau – von der Klappermühle zur Hochschule´ (Friedensau—from rattling mill to university) with its 100 postcards has already received several awards; most recently a bronze medal at a Germany-wide exhibition in Essen in May 2019.”

The postcard exhibition is part of the festivities and commemorations of “120 Jahre Friedensau” (120 Years of Friedensau).