Co l l e c t o r GREENLAND
AIL PLANE NO. 2 N GREENLAND „ANGUARTI“ ON THE WING Page 3
Subscription Magazine for Collectors of Greenland Stamps Vol. 7 – No. 2 – May 2002
NAVIGATION IN GREENLAND
NEWS ABOUT THE CROWN PRINCE'S „PROJECT QAANAAQ“
THE GREENLAND STAMP OF THE YEAR 2001
THE PITERAQ - THE DREADED EAST GREENLANDIC HURRICANE
ICEGOLF IN UUMMANNAQ
Page 4
Page 8
PAGE 10
PAGE 12
PAGE 16
D
ear Reader
Summer is approaching fast in Tasiilaq - and we are all preparing for summer activities like walking in the mountains, sailing, fishing and camping. It is lovely to follow the development from the melting of the last snow to the first green plants and flowers, which appear afresh at different spots in the mountains. Every season returns as usual, yet never in quite the same way. Tasiilaq has become an attractive and exciting holiday destination for many, something which we experience both in the spring (the dog sledge season) and in the summer. Many of the tourists also visit Filatelia, where now and then we meet a number of our own customers. We would like to take this opportunity to invite many more inside to visit us at Filatelia, where we will give a guided tour of our production and sales rooms as well as hand out some material about ourselves and a small philatelic gift. Among our many visitors many are surprised at the great amount of manual work in philatelic production. It is very difficult to mechanize all processes, both because the technique today is not good enough, but also because of the fact that these machines are exorbitantly expensive. We take great pride in the fact that our philatelic products are of a very high quality, and for all our customers we treat and handle all products in the best possible conditions. On the philatelic market forged stamps now and then turn up from different countries. UPU - the World Post Union - has this year taken steps to ensure the genuineness of the stamps of the respective countries by introducing the WNS registration system (WADP Numbering System) on a worldwide basis. POST Greenland has experienced one or two attempts at forgery of our products.
POST Greenland has therefore joined this registration system in order to ensure that there are only real and genuine philatelic products from Greenland on the philatelic market, also in the future. In connection with a number of campaigns for Greenland philately this spring we have had many positive reactions and attracted a large group of new customers. We are proud to be able to continue welcoming more and more new customers in spite of the global downward trend within philately. We often get both negative and positive input from our customers from all over the world, as well as proposals for new stamps and philatelic products or changes in existing philatelic products. We are very pleased with the many incoming proposals and comments, which we can often use constructively. We hope that our readers and customers will continue to send us comments and proposals. I will also on behalf of all in Filatelia wish all our readers and customers a really good summer and point out that any visitors to Tasiilaq will be very welcome here. Enjoy your reading.
Yours sincerely,
Søren Rose Philatelic Manager
Mail Plane No. 2 in Greenland - „Anguarti“ on the Wing
By Per Svendsen,General Manager
In July 2001 POST Greenland deployed the first mail plane OY – TPG „Paartoq“ (The Kayak Mailman) in co-operation with Air Alpha. The background of the deployment of our own mail planes was the change in the domestic flight structure as well as the price rise of Air Greenland as of 1st January 2001. After some major analysis work it was therefore in the spring of 2001 decided to bring down the costs of transport of mail by the deployment of our own mail planes to selected destinations in Greenland internally. The first nine months have passed, and the expectations in the first plane have been fully met, not least economically. The background for starting with one plane instead of two was the desire to collect the necessary operational experience, which would then form the basis for the decision to launch mail plane no. 2. The acquired experiences confirm that mail flight with two planes in Greenland will offer a good service to our customers - and be a good investment for POST. On Tuesday 5th March 2002 POST Greenland thus launched mail plane number 2, OY – TPC „Anguarti“ (she who rows the women’s boat), and in the fixed spring flight schedule the two planes will have fixed bases as Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strøm-
fjord) and Ilulissat (Jakobshavn) respectively and will fly to the towns of Nuuk (Godthåb), Sisimiut (Holsteinborg), Ilulissat, Aasiaat (Egedesminde), Maniitsoq (Sukkertoppen), Kangerlussuaq, Uummannaq (Umanak) and Upernavik. POST Greenland can now on its own set the service targets for approx. 85% of the mail, which gives POST Greenland alone great possibilities for setting the service level for the towns involved.
The deployment of yet another mail plane will mean very great improvements in quality for our customers as our capacity is increased considerably. As an example more flight departures improve postal communication to/from Denmark considerably, faster transport of parcels, less vulnerability in the case of technical problems, faster normal postal communication after bad weather conditions etc. With such considerable changes the information of our customers is of course of great importance, and apart from direct information to customers in the affected towns and press releases, there will be other initiatives, e.g. on www.post.gl, where information of flight schedules, any interruption of service etc. can be obtained. The deployment of mail planes is therefore a significant reason that POST Greenland has not increased prices (postal rates) for more than 5 years. On the occasion of the deployment of „Anguarti“ on 5th March 2002 a first day cancellation has been made. POST Greenland emblem envelopes franked with DKK 4.75 and cancelled with this FDC cancellation can be bought in a limited number. Only one FDC per customer. Will be sold as long as stocks last. Article number 01205102 at DKK 10.75 each
New series
Preface by Søren Rose, Philatelic Manager
A couple of years ago the now deceased Helge Schultz-Lorentzen contacted POST Greenland with a proposal for a new series of Greenland stamps. Mr Schultz-Lorentzen, who all his life had strong ties to Greenland, felt that the ships in the waters of Greenland ought to have their own complete series of stamps. POST Greenland agreed to further discussions with Mr Schultz-Lorentzen about an actual series of stamps. I therefore had the great pleasure of participating in several meetings with Mr Schultz-Lorentzen during the work on this exciting project. It was a great experience to hear him generously draw on his enormous knowledge on the ships of Greenland. Now today the series is finished, and the first four ship stamps are ready for issue. Unfortunately Mr Schultz-Lorentzen never lived to see the series printed and issued on stamps. I am sure that as the initiator and the man he was he would together with the rest of us have been pleased with the result. Before his death Mr Schultz-Lorentzen managed to send me a lot of notes on his great knowledge on the Greenlander ships. The below presentation of the first issue of the ships series to a large degree consists of Mr SchultzLorentzen’s own words. POST Greenland dedicates the ships series to Helge SchultzLorentzen, without whom it would not have been possible to issue such a comprehensive and fine series of stamps on the theme of „Greenlander Ships“. It is my hope that the ships series will present this exciting piece of Greenlandic cultural history in a good and meaningful way - quite in Helge SchultzLorentzen’s spirit.
Navigation
POST Greenland is planning a total of 4 issues in the ships series. The motifs include ships as well as boats from the Greenlandic maritime history. POST Greenland has previously issued stamps showing wellknown Greenlander vessels. In 1950 the screw-propelled schooner GUSTAV HOLM was issued, in 1974 the longboat KAREN followed, in 1975 Knud Rasmussen’s old expedition ship SØKONGEN (the King of the Sea), in 1976 the coaster passenger ship KUNUNGUAQ, in 1985 the brig HVALFISKEN (the Whale), in 1994 the expedition ship, the steam launch DANMARK, and in 1998 the steamer HANS EGEDE as well as the steam schooner GERTRUD RASK, which were both lost during the Second World War. On 24th June 2002 the next 4 Greenland stamps with ship motifs will be issued. The 4 „Hvidbjørnen“
stamps are issued at the same time in a stamp booklet as well as in an exquisite souvenir folder. Read more on page 7. THE HOPE (HAABET) The ship that brought „the apostle of Greenland“ the clergyman Hans Egede and his wife Gertrud Rask to Greenland in 1721 was a so-called crayer. The ship received the name THE HOPE and was of 76 lasts equivalent to a cargo carrying capacity of approx 225 tonnes or 950 barrels of lard. It had been bought by „The Trade Company of Bergen“, which had been founded with the purpose of trading in Greenland at the same time as the company was to support the missionary activity which Hans Egede had managed to get the king and a lot of influential people to support.
in Greenland On 12th May 1721 THE HOPE set sail from Bergen with a total of 46 people on board as well as materials, tools and supplies. The southern point of Greenland, Cape Farewell, was sighted on board on 4th June. But hereafter THE HOPE ran into field ice, which caused a lot of anguish. Not till 3rd July did THE HOPE reach port, presumably the old Dutch port on the northern side of the mouth of the Godthåb River. Some days later Hans Egede decided to erect a house on one of the islands not far from here. This was to become Hans Egede’s first home, the Island of Hope. Here THE HOPE lay up for the winter and returned to Bergen next spring.
As time went by more colonies and trading stations were founded from where trading took place, and at the end of the 18th century there were at most of the colonial districts stationed one or more vessels which were used for collecting Greenlandic products and delivering supplies. Thus at the beginning of the year 1800 several fairly large transport vessels were stationed round about in Greenland. We know that the sloop STRONG OTTER was situated at Qaqortoq (Julianehåb) around the year 1800. When it got there and how big it was can only be surmised. Presumably it was 15 – 18 metres long equivalent
ashore 3 miles south of its destination. The crew managed to reach the shore and after great efforts also managed to get the vessel with most of its cargo to Paamiut, where it was repaired. In 1832 STRONG OTTER is at Qeqertarsuaq (Godhavn) on the Disco Island. The last we hear of the sloop is that it is lost during the night between 29th and 30th October 1846 returning from Ritenbenk to Nugssuaq. The whole crew managed to reach the shore safely.
01100295. „Stærkodder“ 24.06.2002. DKK 6.00
01100296. „Haabet“ 24.06.2002. DKK 16.00
STRONG OTTER (STÆRKODDER) In order to be able to trade with the Greenlanders and apart from this also do missionary work it was necessary to visit the scattered Greenlandic settlements. To this end wooden boats - gigs, which had been brought from home, but also the Greenlanders’ own women’s boats were used.
„Stærkodder“
to approx. 48 – 58 feet and had a tonnage of approx. 20 lasts or 150 barrels of lard. We know that in October 1805 the sloop was on its way from Qaqortoq to Paamiut (Frederikshåb) with cargo and that it ran
The first mechanically propelled Greenlander vessel - the steam bark „THE WHITE BEAR“ (HVIDBJØRNEN) Until 1888 it was exclusively sailing ships which had carried supplies to Greenland and brought the purchased Greenlandic products back to Denmark. The Greenland Trade Department was in possession of 3 bark vessels and 5 brigs, the oldest was from 1801 and the newest had been purchased in 1878.
The Directorate of the Greenland Trade Department then decided to open a new era in Greenland trade, and during the years 1886 – 87 commissioned Elsinore Wooden Ship Yard with the building of a wooden ship at a tonnage of 388 gross tonnes and a length of just over 132 feet (42 metres). The ship was to be equipped with a steam engine at modest 60 hp and was rigged as a bark ship so that it was also possible to use sails. The ship received the name „THE WHITE BEAR“ and departed on its maiden voyage on 24th April 1888. The first year THE WHITE BEAR undertook two voyages and the following years three voyages annually. There was, however, no great confidence that old experienced skippers of sailing vessels would be able to sail a modern mecha„Nordlyset“
tions in 1895. On its way to Qaqortoq the ship had put into a port of refuge on the south side of Nunarsuit because of large amounts of field ice. Here „THE WHITE BEAR“ was pressed down by some violent movements in the ice, which were described as a kind of „sea quake“. The 2 passengers of the ship and the crew of 19 managed to reach the shore with few supplies, which they had to make do with until they were rescued three weeks later.
01100295. „The White Bear“ 24.06.2002. DKK 6.00
Department. It has never been laid up for the winter and never received serious damage. After returning from its second voyage in 1926 (on 3rd October) the ship was laid up and scrapped. In the summer of 1929 the Danish Ministry of Naval Affairs took over the ship in order to use it as a training ship for cadets. The plan was, however, never realized, and the old bark was sold for scrap in Sweden.
01100296. „The Northern Light“ 24.06.2002. DKK 16.00
The last Greenlander sailing ship, the bark „THE NORTHERN LIGHT“ (NORDLYSET)
nically propelled vessel. Therefore there were changing naval officers in charge of the ship. Also the position as chief officer was filled by a naval officer the first year. This arrangement was naturally not popular amongst the skippers of the Greenland Trade Department. „THE WHITE BEAR“, however, did not have a long life and only managed to make 21 voyages. The ship was lost under dramatic condi-
„THE NORTHERN LIGHT“ sailed for 73 years between Denmark and Greenland, only surpassed by the brig „THE WHALE“ which sailed for 97 years (1802 – 1899). The bark ship „THE NORTHERN LIGHT“, a vessel of 237 tonnes, was built at Elsinore in 1851. There the Directorate for the Greenland Trade Department bought the ship off the slip in November 1852 and sent it out on its first voyage in the spring of 1853 destined for Uummannaq (Umanak) and Upernavik. Altogether „THE NORTHERN LIGHT“ undertook 111 voyages during the 73 years, hereof 36 years with two annual voyages and 39 years with a single voyage. „THE NORTHERN LIGHT“ is described both as a noble ship and one of the luckiest of the ships of the Greenland Trade
01301210. Stamp booklet no. 10 24.06.2002. DKK 56.00
01303010. Souvenir folder. Greenlander Ships I. DKK 28.00 Date of issue Printing method Engraving Format Outside Measurements Paper 40 stamps per sheet
: : : : : :
24th June 2002. Steel Engraving Martin Mörck G - horizontal 39.52 x 28.84 mm Yellow fluorescent
New souvenir folder from POST Greenland featuring the new ships stamps he 4 stamps featuring the ship motifs are also issued in a beautiful souvenir folder. The price is only DKK 28.00 face value of the therein contained stamps.
T
„The Hope“ „The White Bear“ „The Northern Light“ „The Strong Otter“
Apart from the stamps and the beautiful pictures the folder also contains a story about every one of the 4 ships, which are depicted on the stamps:
e in on this unique Greenland stamp series from the start.
B
uy POST Greenland’s historic Ship Souvenir Folder.
B
01303010. Souvenir folder. Navigation I DKK 28.00
News on Crown Prince Frederik’s „Project Qaanaaq“ In Greenland Collector No. 3 of September Qaanaaq needs a community centre for 2001 we had attached a small folder about the children and young people. auction sale of 300 of the famous inverted overQaanaaq has a school with 165 pupils, print of the Greenland provisional stamp from and the children can spend their leisure 1996 with a portrait of Queen Margrethe. The time in a small sports hall. There is nothing auction was a success and took place during the else! Precisely as in Denmark, and perhaps HAFNIA 01 World Exhibition in Copenhagen even more so, children and young people in in October of last year. The complete proceeds Qaanaaq need to be together and share from the sale of these inverted overprints will go to „Project Qaanaaq“, a charity project for children and young people in the most northerly town of Greenland, Qaanaaq (Thule). One of the initiators of „Project Qaanaaq“, HRH Crown Prince Frederik in the winter of the year 2000 made a long visit to the town preparatory to Expedition Sirius 2000, a sledge journey expedition which was mentioned in Greenland Collector two years ago. In connection with his stay at Qaanaaq the Crown Prince was touched by the lack of Photo: Lene Anker/TV 2 offers for crisis hit children and young experiences in secure surroundings. They people in the town. This is the story of how need to talk together and have a good time „Project Qaanaaq“ started and how far the together with music, dancing and challenproject has developed until now. ges like e.g. computer games, access to the Internet and things like that. By Palle Sanvig, Governor of Rotary district 1470 When HRH Crown Prince Frederik and Qaanaaq has been a settlement for hundthe Sirius 2000 Expedition made the jourreds of years, but the town was not founded ney across Greenland, they started at till 1953. It is the most northerly municipaQaanaaq - and their stay at Qaanaaq made lity in the world and a lovely place situated a deep impression on the participants of so beautifully 45 minutes’ flying by helicopthe expedition; especially the children’s ter to the north from Pituffik (the Thule Air conditions for growing up and the employBase). ment prospects made an impression.
The Co-operation - Sirius 2000 Expedition, Rotary and Save the Children Fund. The participants in the expedition contacted the Save the Children Fund, which has worked for more than 50 years in Greenland, in order to get the planning and the establishment of a leisure and activity house in Qaanaaq going. The Save the Children Fund in turn contacted Rotary District 1470, which covers Greater Copenhagen, North Zealand, Bornholm and Greenland, and cooperation on „Project Qaanaaq“ was soon established. HRH Crown Prince Frederik and the participants in the expedition earmarked the profits from the sale of their expedition diary to the purpose. The Save the Children Fund defined both the problem as well as the need in Qaanaaq and established a local committee on the spot. Rotary District 1470 started fund raising in the clubs with the sole purpose of raising 1 million DKK for the project. POST Greenland and „Project Qaanaaq“. On 7th September 2001 Rotary District 1470 and Save the Children Fund held a gala night at the Bella Center near Copenhagen with the participation of HRH Crown Prince Frederik and the other participants in the Sirius 2000 Expedition, the proceeds from which function go exclusively to the project at Qaanaaq.
The head of the board of directors of TELE Greenland Kuupik Kleist and General Manager Per Svendsen took part in the gala night. They brought a magnificent gift to the project. During the gala night the gift was presented to the Crown Prince, who in turn presented it to Rotary District 1470. The gift was 300 inverted overprinted Greenland stamps, which have now been sold via Thomas Høiland Auctions. The proceeds from the sale will go Govenor of Rotary District 1470, Palle Sanvig (left), receives the cheque for 1 million DKK from Auctioneer Thomas Høiland and General Manager exclusively to „Project Qaanaaq“, Per Svendsen. Photo: Bent Paulsen. and it is our hope that this magnificent gift from POST Greenland can be a clubs with 11,600 members, including the foundation stone in the children’s leisure clubs in Nuuk and Aasiaat in Greenland. and activity house at Qaanaaq. On a world-wide basis Rotary is the organisation which has the largest network and Rotary - a world-wide organisation amount of experience at its disposal as all The first Rotary club was founded in ChiRotarians hold top positions as decision cago in 1905. The organisation has grown makers. into being the largest private humanitarian The Rotary Clubs alone or together and educational organisation of the world across frontiers implement a great variety with 30,000 clubs and 1.3 million members of projects, which all have the purpose of all over the globe. Denmark has 272 Rotary helping people or localities in need of help.
It can be support for the purchase of an ambulance for a cancer hospital in Mexico, the establishment in Slovakia of a surgery clinic to heal children born with lip palate cleft, the building and furnishing of a community centre for children in Qaanaaq or the major project of Rotary: to stamp out polio on a world-wide basis by the year 2005. To this end Rotarians all over the world have raised over 500 million USD. On the education side Rotary is responsible for the exchange of young people who amongst other things live and go to school in a foreign country for one year. Furthermore Rotary has several exchange programmes and scholarships for young people so that they can be educated and gain experience during a short or long stay in a foreign country. Yours sincerely Palle Sanvig, Governor, Rotary District 1470
Thomas Høiland Auctions organised the auction splendidly. The sales amounts reached amazingly high figures, for the benefit of the good cause. In April Thomas Høiland and General Manager of POST Greenland, Per Svendsen, presented Mr. Sanvig with a cheque for 1 million DKK. HRH the Crown
unique and charitable initiative, which will benefit the children and young people of Qaanaaq for many years to come. In future issues of the Greenland Collector, and on www.stamps.gl, we will keep you updated on the latest news on the „Project Qaanaaq“.
Prince was unable to participate during the presentation. However, the Crown Prince has announced that he will probably be present during the inauguration of the new community centre building in September 2002. POST Greenland wishes to thank the collectors for their great interest in this
The Greenland stamp of the year 2001 For the third consecutive year POST Greenland has held a competition for readers to elect the previous year’s most beautiful Greenland stamp. 2,552 readers of Greenland Collector from all over the world have taken up our challenge to send in their votes by deadline, which was 19th April 2002.
The distribution of votes is as follows: G No. Number of votes in % G 273 94 3.7 G 274 20 0.8 G 275 144 5.6 G 276 120 4.7 G 277 162 6.4 G 278 370 14.5 G 279 56 2.2 G 280 132 5.2 G 281 60 2.4 G 282 70 2.7 G 283 11 0.4 G 284 212 8.3 G 285 171 6.7 G-286 685 26.8 G-287 235 9.2 Invalid 10 0.4 Total 2552 100
The votes turned out to be evenly distributed on the 15 stamps in the competition. There was, however, one favourite, which received 27% of the altogether 2,542 valid votes. The winner with a total of 685 votes was the Christmas stamp G286 at a value of DKK 4.50. This is an offset stamp in horizontal G format, drawn by the artist Buuti Pedersen from Tasiilaq. The stamp is one of the two Christmas stamps from Buuti’s hand, which we issued on 16th October 2001. The motif shows a ptarmigan in the foreground of a breathtaking Greenlandic snow landscape. It is actually the second consecutive year that a stamp with the theme „CHRISTMAS IN GREENLAND“ carries off the victory in our voting competition! But as Greenland is Santa Claus’s own country, it is probably not so strange after all ...
Title Catching in the Skerries Uninvited Guests Farewell to the Land Nature Moves In Arctic Winter Games 2002 Mountain Trout Leister Europa 2001 - Marine Resources Definitive 1/01 Definitive 2/01 Stamp Never Issued - Northern Light Stamp Never Issued - Seal Stamp Never Issued - Polar Bear Christmas 1/01 Christmas 2/01
Position 10 14 7 9 6 2 13 8 12 11 15 4 5 1 3
Runner-up in the vote was G278 „Mountain Trout“ - also denominated DKK 4.50.
This stamp is also printed in offset. The motif is issued in vertical F format and has been drawn by Anne-Birthe Hove from Nuuk. The stamp is the fifth of so far six motifs created by Anne-Birthe on the theme of „Greenland’s Cultural Heritage“. The beautiful mountain trout stamp achieved a total of 370 votes, or just over 15%. Our sincere congratulations to Anne-Birthe on the fine result.
Third with 235 votes or 9%, came Buuti Pedersen’s second Christmas stamp - the one at a value of DKK 4.75! Both Christmas
Recently a piece of driftwood was found outside Ammassalik, and Ole was by the museum of the town asked to make old, traditional masks of this driftwood, exactly as the people used to do in the old days. After the draw of the winner we have drawn the names of the 10 recipients of the consolation prizes in the shape of our new „mini sheets“. The 10 consolation prizes will be sent direct to the winners. We are very pleased with the positive response we have had from our readers who have participated in the selection of the most beautiful Greenland stamp of 2001. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the winners and thank all our readers for their great support. We look forward to launching the competition for the selection of the „Greenland Stamp of the Year 2002“.
Ole Kúnak draws the lucky winner of the beautiful first prize, an original East Greenlandic drum, which he made himself.
stamps have thus won the hearts of our readers and collectors. Our sincere congratulations to Buuti on this very outstanding result and the approval of the collectors. The artist, Ole Kúnak was in charge of the draw of the winner of the competition „Stamp of the Year 2001“, and the winner was Ole Christian Kjekshus in Norway. Ole is 37 years old, has a wife and 2 children. He has collected stamps for 25 years and Greenland stamps since 1980. He collects stamps from the Nordic countries, and in time it has thus become quite a large collection. Ole looks forward to hanging up the prize in their home in Hønefoss. The prize is a very beautiful Greenlandic drum made by Ole Kúnak. Iver Asser Ole Peter Kúnak lives in Tasiilaq and is known as one of the prominent artists of the town. He was born at Kulusuk Kap Dan in 1937. After his confirmation he moved to Tasiilaq,
where among other things he worked with the Greenland Trade Department as well as the Technical Organisation of Greenland and the hospital department. Besides his daily work there was naturally also time to go fishing and sealing to get extra supplies for the family. At the beginning of the eighties rheumatism put a stop to Ole’s working life, and he had to find something else to do. From his childhood Ole remembered the old, beautiful East Greenlandic drum, which was frequently used in the old days. He started making these old and partly forgotten art wares, and in time it has become a matter of honour for him to uphold the old traditions amongst other things in the shape of drums and masks. But Ole can also make all kinds of other handicraft, and over the last years he has turned out quite a lot of things.
The Piteraq -
the dreaded East Greenlandic hurricane
At the end of the 1960’s the Dane Peter J. Andersen moved from South Greenland to Tasiilaq in order to discharge the duties as storekeeper with the Greenland Trade Department. Peter is one of the many „newcomers“ who in time have taken roots in the beautiful East Greenlandic town - a Greenlandic town like so many others - and then again quite different. For Tasiilaq has one certain meteorological phenomenon which does not have its equal anywhere else on the globe - the Piteraq - this violent East Greenlandic storm from the inland ice, which several times a year stops all activity in Tasiilaq and makes people and sledge dogs run for cover. In 1970 Peter experienced the great Piteraq, which has been described as the greatest Piteraq ever. Here we bring his account of this catastrophe of nature. By Peter J. Andersen, former storekeeper, former chairman of the Tourist Association etc.
I have been requested to give a small account of the 1970-Piteraq as I remember it now after 32 years have passed. When I got here in 1967 the name of the town was ANGMAGSSALIK; this was later changed to AMMASSALIK and later again to TASIILAQ. I was then employed with the Greenland Trade Department as a storekeeper and lived in a small flat in the only block of flats in the town. The 6th February 1970 started like any other normal day,
Photo: Robert Christensen.
there was only a strong wind when I left for work in the harbour warehouse. I had experienced storms and Piteraqs before, so I did not give it any further thought, but left at the usual time. I had, however, not gone very far, when I was nearly torpedoed by a door which came flying through the air. Then I realized that something unusual was afoot, but walked on with a bit more caution until outside „Skæven“, which was then the office of the Greenland Trade Department and the local telephone exchange, I saw that the windows to the north were smashed, and I
therefore went inside to see if I could do anything to help. It was a terrible sight which met me inside. Desks, chairs, bookcases, papers and the telephone exchange were lying in a corner in an enormous snow drift. Others of the personnel of the Greenland Trade Department had also come to help, and we agreed that we should try to get something fastened in front of the windows which had been blown in. We therefore went up to the archives upstairs to see what we could find by way of plates and the like. There were some bookcases, which we took apart. We
also found a hammer and nails, so we dragged the plates downstairs. It did not go so well with the first plate. I just managed to get around the corner of the house, then a gust of wind got hold of the plate. Both I and the plate went flying, so I had to let go. I am not exactly small, but I just could not manage to hold the plate down. It went better with the next plate, so the opening of the windows were soon nailed down securely. Thereafter we agreed that we could do no more. We could not move very far outside,
which was tied round my waist and then a couple of men again tried to lower me down. We succeeded this time, and soon the shutters were nailed down securely. There were 18 degrees of frost outside and lots of snow in the air, so it was a cold afternoon. We fled into a small room on the lee side where we made ourselves comfortable wrapped up in quilts and what else we could find by way of blankets. 3 men, 2 women and 4 children, of whom one child was a baby, and whom by the way we had fetched across when the chimney of the house they
The fire station was badly damaged during the 1970 piteraq. Photo: Robert Christensen.
so we crawled across the street to the assistant’s residence in order to get inside and get a bit of warmth. The assistant’s wife had made a giant pot of soup, which we soon got stuck into. It did not take long, however, before the shutters began to vibrate, and suddenly they flew open. They then banged shut with a deafening crash, the glass from the windows lay scattered all over the living room. So that was the end of the hot soup. Again we had to get hold of a hammer and nails. I tried to elbow my way out to the windows through a backdoor and a kennel; but I could not stand up. So I crawled back into safety. We found an old hose,
lived in suddenly blew down, and they therefore dared not stay there. When we had sat in the little room for a while I thought I heard knocking noises through the noise of the storm. Nobody believed me, but at last we fortunately opened the door. Outside stood a „snowman“. It turned out to be our friend, the baker. He had been working in the bakery from the early morning and thought later on in the afternoon that enough was enough and tried to go home. The road from the bakery is very steep, and there was such a strong wind that he could not move forward. So he went back to the bakery, he could, however, not get in again as he was
so unlucky as to break his key in the lock. There was therefore no other way out than to try again, and he crawled all the way up to the assistant’s house. We got him inside and got him thawed out. Later in the evening we thought that the storm had calmed down. The baker and I took a child each under our parkas and tried to reach the block of flats. We crawled most of the way and had great difficulty in finding our bearings due to the snow. Suddenly there was an opening for a moment, and we saw „Angerkoq“, which was a small clubhouse. We saw a flight of stairs and a house end and knew we were on the right way. We crawled on and reached the block of flats. We were very tired, but happy that we had reached our destination safely, just in order to find that the shutters on the outside corridor had come loose and the hardware had shattered most of the windows and the shutters were beating to and fro with a terrific noise, so we also had to crawl the last bit. We finally got into my flat, a window was broken, and a built-in cupboard was overturned. There was, however, heating in the radiators, so we could justify going to get all the others. This we then did, and all of us got inside safely. When we went back we found that only the flight of stairs and the house end were left of the „Angerkoq“; the rest was gone. We were 9 people living in my flat for about a week until there was heating in the houses again, and it was possible to move back home again. Everybody had to make do with water from the water truck for quite some time. Facts about the damage during and after the Piteraq on 6th – 7th February 1970. • Beams of up to 8 metres in length damaged the only block of flats in Tasiilaq. • Several families either had to seek refuge
under the floorboards with the help of axes or completely leave their homes as the hurricane blew down their houses. • Flights of stairs outside several houses disappeared during the storm. • The roof of a 6-man hut took off and flew 125 metres through the air. • A motorboat of 2 tonnes was moved 50 metres by the Piteraq. • Altogether 27 buildings were severely damaged during the hurricane. 21 of these buildings had to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground. • No human being was severely injured as a result of the piteraq. • Just over 75% of all windowpanes were shattered. • Damage was caused for up to 10 million DKK at a rough estimate. • Tasiilaq received emergency aid, and the total of 111 school children from the town were sent to Denmark for tuition for some months, as the school in Tasiilaq had been totally levelled with the ground during the Piteraq.
NEWS New Subscription Item - „Europa“ Stamps
POST Greenland's postcard motif for the „Europa“ issue 2002. Motif: Kunuk Platoú.
As something new you now have the opportunity of taking out a special subscription with POST Greenland, Filatelia, to all our issues in the popular Europa series. By taking out a subscription to Europa stamps you make sure that you will continue to have your Europa series complete. You can without problems subscribe to Europa stamps concurrently with your existing subscription to Greenland stamps. Note: If you already subscribe to our stamps or the year pack, you are already a recipient of our „Europa“ stamps. However, if you wish to set up a separate, additional
subscription to our „Europa“ issues, you can take out this special „Europa“ subscription. A Greenland Europa issue will typically consist of: the actual stamp, a postcard, a maxi card, a special envelope, an FDC/1 and an FDC/4. The Europa stamp is naturally available in whole sheet, half sheet, upper marginal, lower marginal, strips of 2 or 3 connected stamps, etc. For further information see our order form list. Item no. 150.
“Circus” - the theme for the Europa stamp 2002
The theme for the Europa stamp 2002 is „Circus“. The Greenlandic traditions for circus in the prevalent sense are rather limited. In fact Greenland has never had tradition for either a national or a local circus troupe on tour. The artist behind the motif of this year’s Greenland Europa stamp therefore had quite a task when he agreed to take on the task of interpreting the circus theme into a special Greenlandic variant. At POST Greenland we are very proud to be able to present our readers and collectors with an incredibly fine and original motif created by a representative of the new generation of artists in Greenland: Kunuk Platoú.
back as to my childhood in 1977 when I saw circus for the first time in my life. I was at Circus Benneweis in the Circus Building in Copenhagen with my family. I was then 12 years old, and I remember that I laughed a lot at a certain clown. As I was to make the motif for the stamp, I wanted to make the motif with the clown as I, a Greenlandic boy, experienced him then. When I think of circus, I always think of clowns. A circus without a clown is not a circus.
Studios in Lyngby, where at the start of the year he completed the cartoon film „Ballerina“. This year’s Greenland Christmas stamps, which POST Greenland will issue on 21st October, have also been created by Kunuk Platoú. We look forward to presenting our readers and collectors with the Christmas motifs in the next issue of Greenland Collector, No. 3, in September 2002.
About the artist
By Kunuk Platoú
When I got the offer of making a stamp for POST Greenland I was very interested in carrying out this work, and at the same time I felt very honoured. The theme of the stamp was „Circus“, and as it is a well-known fact that the tradition for circus in Greenland is not so widespread, I have thus spent much time on finding a motif. I can remember that Circus Arena has been to Nuuk, but I was not there then. My thoughts of circus have had to go as far
Kunuk Platoú was born in 1964 and was educated at the School of Art in Nuuk in 1987, the Danish School of Design (Drawing and Graphics) in 1992, as well as the Danish Film School (the Animation Instruction Line) in 2000. Kunuk Platoú started his career as a drawer. In 1989 Kunuk drew Radio Denmark's Advent calendar in aid of developing countries „The Gang of Pixies in Greenland“. Concurrently with his artistic education Kunuk has made commercials, computer graphics and various illustrations for the business world of Greenland. Since January 2001 Kunuk Platoú has worked as an animation director with the film company „Rambling Rose“ in the Danish Film
01100297. Europa 2002. Circus. DKK 11.00. 24.06.2002
Date of issue Printing method Typography Format Outside measurements Paper 50 stamps per sheet
: : : : : :
24th June 2002 Offset Morten Stürup B - horizontal 31.08 x 23.60 mm Yellow fluorescent
Icegolf in Uummannaq By project leader Julia Pars, Greenland Tourism
The Drambuie World Ice Golf Championship 2002 was won by one stroke by the Scots golfer Roger Beames A cloudless sky and 20 degrees of frost awaited the many ice golfers at their arrival at Uummannaq on 18th March 2002. A total of 31 golfers from 12 different countries were to take part in the tournament, and several of them had high expectations from this media popular sports event. Expectations which were clearly met during the 4 days the guests were at Uummannaq.
Photo: Manfred Horender
A golf course laid out between icebergs and ice packs challenged the excited golfers, and the course put all experiences of golf on grass on the shelf. Ice golf is demanding, but talent does not deny itself even in extreme conditions when the object is to get the ball in the hole. The main sponsor Drambuie, which is a Scots whisky liqueur brand, had made an extra effort to attract professional golfers, amongst them the Scots Challenge Tour Golfer Roger Beames, who ended up winning the tournament by one stroke over the professional
golfer, the American Jack O’Keefe. Roger Beames: „I knew that perhaps I was in with a chance, but I had never dreamt of winning. There were some really good golfers participating in the tournament, and it was hair-raising to the very last hole.“ The last and previous years’ world champion the Dane Annika Östberg ended up fifth, 15 strokes behind the leading world champion, but Annika was satisfied with her effort considering the hard competition from some really good golfers. During the three years she has come to Uummannaq
landic ice sculptor to the town. Jens Abrahamsen carved figures of animals and men directly into the walls and surfaces of the icebergs. Polar bears, seals, musks and Inuit faces decorated the surroundings of the nine golf holes and made the ice golf course even more worth a walk. The Drambuie World Ice Golf Championship is held every year in the month of March or April. The dates of next year’s ice golf world championship will be published via the ice golf web site. Here information and pictures from this year’s ice golf world championship can also be found. The address is: www.greenland.com/icegolf.
Photo: Matthew Harris
Annika has got herself quite a lot of fans from among the local population, who until 3 years ago had no knowledge of golf. Each year Uummannaq Ice Golf Committee arranges an ice golf school for the population out on the ice, and this has become very popular among many teenagers and children in the small community of only 1,700 inhabitants. The Drambuie World Ice Golf Championship is on many golfers’ lips when there is talk of golf under extreme conditions. The common and intensive marketing effort made by Drambuie and Greenland Tourism - The Greenland Tourist Association has put Uummannaq on the world map in many countries. Drambuie brings a film team to the championship every year, and the spec-
tacular shots from Uummannaq are broadcast via London and distributed to news channels all over the world. On the Internet it is possible to follow the event on a dayto-day basis and enjoy an extract of beautiful pictures from the fantastic ice landscape surrounding the island of Uummannaq. Runner-up Jack O’Keefe even compared the surroundings with the last scene in the Superman film, where Clark Kent flies back to the planet of Krypton. The ice plays an important part in the ice golf championship, and every year makes for new ideas around ice art, which so far has consisted of an impressive heavy transparent ice bar situated at the starting point on the frozen fiord. This year Uummannaq Ice Golf Committee had invited a Green-
www.greenland.com/icegolf
News from POST Greenland On 1 July 2002 POST Greenland will replace the ordinary day cancellation at the post offices in 3920 Qaqortoq (Julianehaab) and 3952 Qasigiannguit (Christianshaab) respectively. Please forward your franked and addressed covers for last and first day cancellations to POST Greenland, Filatelia. Note that your covers should reach us no later than on 28 June 2002. POST Greenland will take part in the following exhibitions in the period August – October 2002 • „Amphilex 2002“ in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from 30th August – 3rd September • „Philatelia Leipzig“ in Germany from 27th – 29th September • „Nordia 2002“ in Kristiansand, Norway from 10th – 13th October • "Int. Briefmarkenbörse" in Sindelfingen, Germany, from 25th – 27th October 2002. A special cancellation will be made for each of these four exhibitions. If you wish to obtain these cancellations we must, as always, receive your covers no later than on the day before the opening of the exhibitions.
Final Sale on 30th November 2002 The following stamps and philatelic products will be removed from our sales list on 30th Novem-
01100200. 25.04.1996 Humpback Whale. DKK 0.50
01100286. 16.10.2001 Christmas 1/01. DKK 4.50
ber 2002, provided they are not sold out prior to this date. Any remaining stocks will be shredded.
01100227. 05.02.1998 Harbour Porpoise. DKK 2.00
01100224. 15.08.1997 Ammassalik Woman DKK 16.00 01106277. 05.02.2001 Additional Value Souvenir Sheet Arctic Winter Games 2002 DKK 20.00
01100287. 16.10.2001 Christmas 2/01. DKK 4.75
01100248. 07.05.1999 The Man from Aluk DKK 7.00
01100274. 05.02.2001 Uninvited Guests DKK 4.50
01100273. 05.02.2001 Catching in the Skerries. DKK 1.00
01301106. 16.10.2001 Christmas Stamp Booklet No. 6 DKK 55.50
The year pack 1998 is sold out On 24th April 2002 POST Greenland's year pack 1998, Item No. 01304098, was sold out. The stock figure of this item issued on 5 Nov., 1998 amounts to 31,450 pcs. From our Final Sale on 31st March 2002 we announce the following stock figures:
www.stamps.gl
Item No. 01100237 01100254 01100255 01100259 01100262 01100277 01106270 01304098
Title DKK Brother is being Breast-fed 11.00 Tjodhilde’s Church 8.00 Greenland Year 2000 5.75 The Good Times 0.25 Natural Resources 21.00 Additional Value Stamp Arctic Winter Games 2002 4.50 + 0.50 Additional Value Souvenir Sheet HAFNIA 01. 22.00 Year Pack 1998 122.25
Issue Date 20.08.1998 13.08.1999 11.11.1999 21.02.2000 21.02.2000
Stock 147.223 251.899 250.161 257.607 158.595
05.02.2001
122.166
18.08.2000 15.11.1998
78.366 31,450
Worth knowing... Please send your orders/alterations to: POST Greenland, Filatelia P.O. Box 121, 3913 Tasiilaq, GREENLAND Phone: (+45) 7026 0550 and (+299) 98 11 55 Fax: (+299) 98 14 32 E-mail: stamps@tele.gl Any alterations of name, address and/or subscription must be received by POST Greenland, Filatelia no later than five weeks prior to an issue. When exchanging stamps worth more than DKK 100.00 POST Greenland, Filatelia charges a fee of 45% of the face value. No more than three exchanges of stamps per customer per year are allowed. The annual total value of exchanged stamps per customer cannot exceed DKK 50.000. The stamps are always exchanged into new stamps according to the customer’s wishes. The fee of 45% is to be paid in cash and is therefore not payable in stamps. For further information, please contact POST Greenland, Filatelia. PLEASE NOTE: Please do not write your order on a giro transfer form as these are processed automatically
How to pay: NEW: By the internet At www.stamps.gl, under our menu item “Catalogue & Shop”, you will find the option “Payment”. In this payment online section you can choose an amount, e.g. DKK 25.00, 50.00 or 100.00. Thus, you can transfer this chosen amount to your own customer’s account with us to be drawn from the credit card number stated by you. The amount will be transferred according to the credit card data that you provide online. All money transactions on our homepage are processed through the secured website technology (SSL). By giro: Denmark: BG BANK A/S, Girostrøget 1, 0800 Høje Taastrup. Account No.: 1199-940 4120.
Sweden: Postgirot Bank AB (publ), Vasagatan 7, 105 06 Stockholm. Account No.: 41 45-9. Norway: Postbanken, Kunderegister Bedrift, 0021 Oslo. Account No.: 0805 1919794. Finland: SAMPO BANK, UNIONINKATU 22, 00075 SAMPO. Account No.: 80001670617928. The Netherlands: Postbank N.V., Zakeliijke Relaties, Postbus 94780, 1090 Amsterdam. Account No.: 3487172. Switzerland: Postcheckamt, Office de cheques postaux, Ufficio dei conti correnti postali, 4040 Basel. Account No.: 40-6773-5. Germany: Postbank, Niederlassung Hamburg, Überseering 26, 22297 Hamburg. Account No.: 541414200 BLZ 200 100 20. United Kingdom: International Banking Service, Girobank plc, Bootle, Merseyside, GIR 0AA. Account No.: 358 7118. Luxembourg: Postes et Telecommunications, Division des Postes, Service des Cheques Postaux, Secretariat, 38 Place de la Gare, 1090 Luxembourg. Account No.: 26606-28. France: La Poste, Centre Régional des Services Financiers, de la Poste en ile-de-France, 16 rue des Favorites, 75900 Paris. Account No.: 250.01 F020.
We are your service team Whenever you write, fax, e-mail, or telephone POST Greenland we are the people you reach. Some of us have been here for several years, others among us are fairly new. We look forward to servicing you further on philatelic inquiries.
Irene Warming, Head of Sales. Danish, German, English.
Lene Skov Meyhoff, Correspondent. Danish, German, English.
Anja Panduro Pedersen, Sales Assistant, Danish, German, English.
Kristian „Karé“ Pivat, Assistant Clerk. Greenlandic, Danish.
If you transfer an amount from outside Denmark through our giro account 940-4120 in Copenhagen, Eurogiro will charge you a fee for each transaction. Credit Card Access, Eurocard, JCB, MasterCard, VISA Cheque - in your own currency Cash - by value-registered mail Postal Money Order IRC (IBRS) - international reply coupons: value DK 6.00 each.
Bjarne Andersen Correspondent. Danish, German, English, French.
Service
: :
1 year deadline for claims Any claims concerning stamps and philatelic items purchased from POST Greenland must reach POST Greenland, Filatelia, no later than one year from the last day of the month during which the items were dispatched. The date of the postmark or the invoice is valid as the date of dispatch.
:
Layout and production
:
Errors and omissions are excepted as regards prices, fees, etc.
ISSN
:
Publisher
Homepage : Editorial staff :
Cover photo :
POST Greenland POST Greenland, Filatelia P.O. Box 121, 3913 Tasiilaq, Greenland Phone +45 70 26 05 50 +299 98 11 55 Fax +299 98 14 32 stamps@tele.gl www.stamps.gl Søren Rose, Editor., Pertti Frandsen TELE Greenland, Ulrik Madsen 1397-8632 Erwin Reinthaler
„Stamps Tell the Story of Greenland“ The perfect gift for your friends - or for your own collection.
Campaign price until 1 Sept.
DKK
169.00
Next issue, read about • The joint issue of DK – FO – GRL • The mysterious Life of the Greenland Shark • The Christmas Stamps 2002 • Christmas Stamp Booklet No. 7 • and much more ...
Means of Payment The Christmas Seal Committee
Experience the fascinating and colourful story of Greenland told through stamps. Buy POST Greenland's book "Stamps Tell the Story of Greenland". Normal Price DKK 198.00 Campaign price until 1 September 2002: DKK 169.00. All orders for "Stamps Tell the Story of Greenland" forwarded before 1 September 2002 will be invoiced at 169.00 per book.
Available in either Greenlandic, Danish or English. Item number 01520600. Remember to state the required language version.
Payments to the Greenland Christmas Seal Committee can be made to: The Bank of Greenland, P.O. Box 1033, 3900 Nuuk, Greenland. Account No.: 6471 – 1406970 or BG Bank A/S, Girostrøget 1, 0800 Høje Taastrup, Denmark. Account No: 1199 – 6 00272868. Apart from this payments can naturally still be made in cash, by cheque or credit card to: The Greenland Christmas Seal Committee, P.O. 19, 3913 Tasiilaq, GREENLAND. You can pay your Christmas Seal subscription for 2002 in advance, required that when paying you forward a note to this effect. Since The Christmas Seal Committee and POST Greenland are two separate companies, it is not possible to use the giro account numbers of POST Greenland in Denmark and abroad in this connection.