Collector GREENLAND
SUBSCRIPTION MAGAZINE FOR COLLECTORS OF GREENLAND STAMPS VOL. 9 - NO. 1 - FEBUARY 2004
KALAALLIT NUNAAT
150TH ANNIVERSARY OF OTTO SVERDRUP
50 YEARS OF CIVILIAN SCHEDULED FLIGHTS
THE KINSHIP WITH THE PAINTER HARALD MOLTKE
NORSE MYTHOLOGY
THE 2003 GREENLAND STAMP OF THE YEAR
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Dear Reader, customers at POST Greenland - Filatelia is decreasing, which has been the case for a number of years. Because of this we have been obliged to change some of our internal activities, however, so far it has not affected our customers. The problem of retaining the quantity of customers within the philatelic market place is worldwide and we experience keen competition from electronics, games, toys, sports and new kinds of hobbies. Of course it is of outmost importance to us not only to maintain our existing customers and give them good service, but also to welcome more and new customers. During 2004 we will implement several innovative, economical and investing initiatives. There will be restructuring within POST Greenland, amongst other things. Our website will get a totally new layout, with a higher level of simplicity and user friendliness and, due to
enquiries from a large number of customers, it will in the future be possible to subscribe to themes. You can read about the above mentioned and other initiatives along with our next issues during the year. Greenland stamps will continue to bear a unique cultural testimony to the characteristic history, culture, flora and fauna of Greenland. We look forward to yet another year of servicing our customers as well as welcoming many new customers to POST Greenland, Filatelia.
Publisher: POST Greenland Service: POST Greenland, Filatelia P.O. Box 121, 3913 Tasiilaq, Greenland Phone +45 70 26 05 50 and +299 98 11 55 Fax +299 98 14 32 Email: stamps@tele.gl Website: www.stamps.gl
Editors: Søren Rose, Chief Editor, Lene Skov Meyhoff, Anja Panduro Pedersen, Pertti Frandsen Layout and production: TELE Greenland, Datagraf Auning AS ISSN: 1397-8632 Cover photo: Erwin Reinthaler
Enjoy your reading. Yours sincerely, Søren Rose Philatelic Manager
Photo: Jens Rasmussen
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In honour of the joyous event of the wedding between Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mary Donaldson, Post Greenland has decided to bring forward the second stamp issue of the year to the actual wedding date, 14 May 2004. Therefore, the next Greenland Collector will be published at the end of April 2004. At the same time we would like to inform you that the issue date for the last stamp issue of the year 2004 has been changed to 18 October 2004. The Greenland Collector will be published at the end of September for this issue. A new year has begun and it will be a year that POST Greenland regards as a turning point in many ways. The number of
KALAALLIT NUNAAT 25 years of the Greenland Home Rule Members of the landsting in front of the landsting building in Nuuk.
In the old days the original population, the Inuits, called the country Inuit Nunaat meaning "country of the Inuits". Today the country is called Kalaallit Nunaat, which means "country of the Greenlanders". Kalaallit Nunaat has been inhabited since around 2,500 B.C., when smaller groups emigrated from northern Canada, crossing the ice. After many years of conducting a policy of isolation, Denmark set the scene for a radical modernisation of Greenland in 1950. The intention of the reform was to "raise Greenlanders’ economic, material and cultural level and, in the long run, enable them to trade with the rest of the world." The Danish constitutional amendment in 1953 gave Greenlanders the status of Danish citizenship. Colonialism was finished. Greenland was now to be developed. The plan was for the Danish State to be responsible for the development of Greenland's infrastructure and provisions together with education and national health. Industry should focus on fishing, based partly on investment from the Danish private sector and various initiatives. Politically speaking, Greenland now had a provincial council and the right to elect its own representatives for the Danish Folketing (parliament). The 1950's and 60's were marked by Danish development policy. But private efforts for the development of the business sector failed to materialise, and from the Greenlanders’ viewpoint Danish initiatives were
Text by Ivalo Egede, the Greenland Home Rule · Photo: Knud Josefsen
not regarded as sufficient. Denmark appointed the so-called G-60 Committee in 1960, with participation of both Greenlandic and Danish politicians. The aim of the G-60 Committee was to make development more efficient in five sectors: Increase employment, rationalise trade and industry, provide more education and more residential building. These five points would concentrate the population in the growth areas of large towns. This resulted in the migration and movement of whole villages - a policy which created both frustration and confusion in the population. At the same time, a so-called "place-ofbirth" criteria was used, which meant that the Danish workforce should be paid higher wages than the local Greenlandic workforce, the difference in wages being attributed to compensation for the privations of being stationed in Greenland, and also the fact that there should not be too large a discrepancy in wages among Greenlanders. Dissatisfaction with Danish politics and the search for the roots of Greenlandic culture resulted in the first Greenlandic independence movement arising during the 1960's and 70's. The self-confidence of the population grew and with it the demands for self-rule. In 1971 young Greenlandic politicians were voted into the provincial council and the Danish Folketing (Parliament), respectively. At the same time, new guarantees regarding Danish/Greenlandic politics were made. These three newly elected men
developed the idea of Greenland's Home Rule and are regarded today as the fathers of modern Home Rule policy. The Greenland Home Rule was a reality and came into effect on the 1st of May 1979. Today, demands for independence from Denmark still continue. The Home Rule Government has created an autonomy commission for the study of self-rule within the boundaries of the Danish Commonwealth. Kalaallit Nunaat has it's own flag and stamps, but share monetary standard with Denmark. Kalaallit Nunaat is part of the Danish federation called 'Rigsfælleskab' comprising of Denmark, the Faroes and Greenland.
01100322 The Home Rule – 25 years Issue date: 26.03.2004 DKK: 11.00 50 stamps per sheet Format: B-horizontal Printing method: Offset Paper: TR4 yellow fluorescent Typography: Morten Stürup Outside measurements: 31.08x23.60 mm
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JOINT ISSUE – NORWAY, CANADA, GREENLAND
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Otto Neumann Sverdrup – a modest, but extraordinarily important arctic explorer.
In spite of his considerable arctic expedition achievements around the turn of the 20th century, the Norwegian Otto Sverdrup, has always been overshadowed by the Dane Knud Rasmussen as well as his famous fellow countrymen Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen. In many ways it is a pity, because not only did Otto Sverdrup participate in Fridtjof Nansen’s expedition and was captain on the ship "Fram" during the expedition to the Arctic Ocean, he also undertook his own research expedition with the ship "Fram" in the Canadian Arctic over a period of four years. Therefore it is now time to celebrate the considerable arctic expedition achievements by Otto Sverdrup. POST Greenland is delighted to be able to present our readers and collectors – in coalition with Canada Post and Posten Norge (the Norwegian Post) – the story of Otto Sverdrup – arctic explorer in Greenland and Canada.
150th anniversary of Otto Sverdrup
– a Norwegian
Text by Pertti Frandsen · Photo: Asbjørn F. Aastrøm-expeditions The story of Otto Sverdrup is in many ways the story of the arctic explorer and captain, who was never successful on a rostrum – let alone at marketing himself in his own days in the same successful way as his famous fellow countrymen, Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen. He was a modest man, without any reason to be. For Otto Sverdrup was the workingman, the practical man and the handyman within arctic exploring. He was the one to do the "tidying-up" – but most of all, the one to map larger geographical territories during one single arctic expedition than any other arctic explorer. The arctic adventures of Captain Otto Sverdrup began in 1872, when at only 17 years of age he was apprenticed to a shipmaster. An education he completed in three years. Otto Sverdrup met Fridtjof Nansen for the first time in 1877 and a lifelong friendship began. Eleven years later Otto Sverdrup participated in Fridtjof Nansen’s expedition across the arctic ice cap. The lack of knowledge of the ice conditions along the east coast of Greenland led to great difficulties
for the expedition right from the start. As a matter of fact it is doubtful that the participants of the expedition would have survived had it not been for the splendid seamanship of Otto Sverdrup. In addition to his practical experience, Otto Sverdrup had the advantage of being both exceptionally fit physically and mentally strong. These qualities would prove very important in his adventurous life. Otto Sverdrup was a key figure in the construction of the arctic vessel "Fram". In 1893 Fridtjof Nansen set off on his famous expedition to the North Pole with Otto Sverdrup as captain of the ship. While Fridtjof Nansen and his companions tried to reach the North Pole using dog sledges and skiis, Otto Sverdrup navigated the "Fram" safely through the ice until the expedition was able to return to civilization in 1896. Shortly after his return and having set the record at the time for any human expedition in the northernmost parts of our planet, Fridtjof Nansen provided the opportunity for Otto Sverdrup to take over command of the
second expedition of "Fram". The ship was rebuilt and in 1898 Otto Sverdrup set off on his new expedition. The goal was to lead "Fram" as far north as possible along the west coast of Greenland and then to navigate the expedition around the northernmost part of Greenland and then south along Greenland’s east coast. However, the ice condition made it impossible to navigate through "Kane Basin". Otto Sverdrup had to change his plans and instead he explored the territory west of Ellesmere Island. The expedition spent the next four years carrying out extraordinary exploration trips using dog sledges; often setting out from frozen, naturally made harbours. So he became the first to thoroughly map the southern and western coastline of Ellesmere Island. All in all approximately 160,000 square kilometres – an area the size of half of Norway! Otto Sverdrup overcame an early loss of his physician as well as the closest to a shipwreck he could come, due to a fire onboard. In 1902 "Fram" returned to Oslo and Otto Sverdrup and his companions returned
From the first expedition with "Fram". On 11 March 1895 the participants were ready to depart. Fridtjof Nansen and Frederik Hjalmar Johansen would try to reach to North Pole. From the left: Otto Sverdrup, Fridtjof Nansen, Hendriksen, Pettersen, Mogstad, Roald Amundsen, Frederik Hjalmar Johansen, Jacobsen, Scott Hansen and Juell.
Sledge tracks from the second "Fram" expedition. Several tracks span more than 1000 km roundtrip from the mother ship.
Photo: Frammuseet
Pictures: From the book "Aldri Rådløs" ("Never in Doubt") by Per Egil Hegge, J. M. Stenersens Forlag AS.
A comparison of these two maps clearly show the territory mapped by the expedition participants during the four years the second expedition of "Fram" lasted.
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arctic explorer in Greenland and Canada home to a munificent welcome by the Norwegian population, the State of Norway and the Norwegian scientists. Otto Sverdrup was presented with the Royal Norwegian Society’s golden medal. The exercise of sovereignty over the territories Otto Sverdrup had explored and claimed in the name of King Oscar II, remained a matter of dispute until the Canadian government bought Otto Sverdrup’s papers shortly before his death in 1930. At the time Otto Sverdrup achieved great international fame for his explorations. However, his achievements were celebrated much less in Norway than his formerly mentioned colleagues. Finally in 1957 a monument was erected in Steinkjer, the hometown of his parents, in honour of their local expedition hero. With this joint issue of a special stamp in honour of Otto Sverdrup, POST Greenland, Post Canada and Posten Norge hope to contribute to the greater awareness in people’s minds of the fantastic arctic explorations of this Norwegian – and who knows – maybe also give him a more prominent position in the history books.
01100321. Joint issue GL-NO-CAN The expeditions of Otto Sverdrup Issue date: 26.03.2004 DKK: 17.50 40 stamps per sheet Format: F-vertical Printing method: Combination Paper: TR4 yellow fluorescent Artist: Martin Mörck Outside measurements: 33.44 x 28.84 mm
01106321. Souvenir sheet Joint issue GL-NO-CAN The expeditions of Otto Sverdrup DKK: 17.50
01303016. Souvenir folder Joint issue GL-NO-CAN The expeditions of Otto Sverdrup DKK: 50.00
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On 15 November we shall celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first civilian scheduled flight service between Denmark and Greenland. It will be a very special day in Greenland and POST Greenland is very pleased to be able to mark this important event with a special stamp.
50 years of civilian scheduled flights Text by Pertti Frandsen · Photo: SAS Of course the largest island in the world had already been crossed by aircraft prior to this first scheduled flight service between Denmark and Greenland. The famous letters by Charles Lindbergh from his flight across, for example, Greenland are highly valued collector’s items. Some Danish adventurers have also made their mark in the history books for flying across Greenland. In 1938 the Dane Lauge Koch took off to find some islands, which allegedly were situated just off the northeastern coast of Greenland. Lauge Koch never did find the "mirage islands" during this flying expedition – this was, however, only due to the fact that the search took place in latitudes a bit too northerly. The 50th anniversary of the first civilian scheduled flight service between
Denmark and Greenland had already commenced in 1941, when the USA build a landing strip in the West Greenlandic town, Søndre Strømfjord, in Greenlandic: Kangerlussuaq (pronounced something like: Gaarnger-schluus-suak). During the Second World War thousands of the Allies’ combat planes flew via Narsarsuaq in South Greenland and Kangerlussuaq to Europe in order to aid in the effort against the Luftwaffe. After the war, when Denmark became a member of NATO, a defence alliance between the Danish and the American government was established. This alliance entitled the USA to build distinct military bases in Kangerlussuaq and Thule. Concurrently with the construction of the Thule Air Base in 1952-53, the Americans
began to withdraw from Kangerlussuaq and prepared to shut down the base. However, when the Korean War broke out six months later, the USA changed their minds. Kangerlussuaq has been used for civilian transportation since 15 November 1954, when Scandinavian Airlines System, better known as SAS, established an intermediate landing on their arctic route between Copenhagen and Los Angeles. The base became an important stopover on the long flights between Europe and the USA. Passengers, who wished to travel from Denmark to Greenland, just had to take the flight to Los Angeles and get off in Kangerlussuaq. When SAS became capable of flying the arctic route non-stop in 1966, a new and permanent route between Kastrup Airport in Denmark and Kangerlussuaq was
Photo: Air Greenland
01100323 50 years of civilian scheduled flights GL-DK Issue date: 26.03.2004 DKK: 8.75 40 stamps per sheet Format: F-vertical Printing method: Offset Paper: TR4 yellow fluorescent Artist: Anne-Birthe Hove Outside measurements: 31.08 x 23.60 mm
Airbus
between Greenland and Denmark established and, today, the airport has developed into being one of the busiest airports in Greenland - a transit airport and a centre for all travellers, who are going to other towns in Greenland. The flight routes between Kangerlussuaq and other Greenlandic towns have been used by Air Greenland since 1965. In 1987 the outworn DYE-stations were closed and so the base in Kangerlussuaq lost its original function and therefore were no longer of interest to the Americans. Because of this they wanted to withdraw and negotiations were initiated. All parties were prepared to let the withdrawal period last 10 years, since neither the Danish nor the Greenlandic Home Rule could afford to pay the yearly approximately 80 million Danish crowns it cost to run the base.
When the Berlin Wall was knocked down in 1989, however, the Americans all of a sudden wanted to leave the base as soon as possible. The gradual conveyance no longer appealed to the Americans. However, the negotiation parties succeeded in reaching an agreement of a transitional period of 2 years, which meant the last American was to leave the base on 1 October 1991 – several years before it was first agreed upon. In the end the Danish State promised to give a yearly contribution of 60 million Danish crowns to run the airport. At the same time the Greenland Home Rule took charge of the airport after the Danish Ministry of Defence. On 25 October 2002, SAS completed its last flight from Kastrup Airport to Kangerlussuaq. However, the decision
made by SAS to pull out of flights to Greenland was not the end of all civilian scheduled flights to and from Greenland. Nowadays Air Greenland is the only company to carry out civilian scheduled flights between Greenland and Denmark. Incidentally, the Greenlandic base was one of the very few places for which the Americans never paid any rent. On the other hand they handed over Kangerlussuaq with all its usable buildings and facilities to the Home Rule without any charge. The only condition made by the USA was the right to use the airport in Kangerlussuaq on payment should any critical situations occur around the world.
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Postal pilot in Greenland Text by Gudleifor Arnason (Levi) · Photo: Jack Stevens, American meteorologist at Thule Air Base Shortly after the co-operation between POST Greenland and Air Alpha Greenland to fly an airmail service had commenced, I was offered a job as co-pilot. For some years I had piloted charter services, ambulance planes and similar types of planes on the northwestern coast of Iceland, which is where I come from. I had never been to Greenland before and therefore it was with great excitement I said yes to the offer. It was indeed to become a very exciting time. The organisation had just begun and a lot of new things still had to fall into place to get the entire operation running smoothly. It was somewhat of an upheaval for me suddenly having to load 8-900 kg on and off the plane – often 5 to 6 times a day. My arms hung down all the way to my feet and my back ached when, late in the afternoon, we were able to pull the plane into hangar in Ilulissat.
Flying in Greenland It was not an unknown experience for me to fly in bad weather, since the weather in North Iceland is very far from winning any competitions for most hours of sunshine, but I soon realised that this postal route was not for any "fine weather" pilots. The destinations reach from Nuuk in the south to Upernavik in the north – a distance of 1000 km and as it often occurs on this long stretch of coast, we have to take the many different weather conditions into consideration. In the beginning there was only one Cessna Grand Caravan (OY-TPG) associated with the operation. Later on yet another caravan was procured. The Cessna Caravan has proved to be a fantastic plane to transport mail between the small runways on the coast. The single-engine plane is especially equipped with various additional instruments, radios
and the like – specifically intended for flying in Greenland. It is a very reliable plane and it has only caused very few problems. Particularly in the spring and autumn months we often run into problems with ice formations in the clouds. The caravan is not equipped with a pressurised cabin, which is why our usual flying altitude is approximately 10,000 feet (3 km). This means we often do not fly above the layer of clouds, but have to fly directly through the cloud formations, which at certain temperatures and conditions may contain ice to a large or small degree. The plane can withstand a certain amount of ice, but it does happen on occasions that a flight to a destination has to be postponed because of the danger of ice formations. In the main the weather is actually very good and often we possibly have the best view in the world straight from our workplace.
From the vernissage of the Memorial exhibition for Harald Moltke. From the left: Jens Fynbo, the Greenland collector Flemming Petersen, Philatelic Manager Søren Rose as well as Susanne Hart Hansen. The painting by Harald Moltke in the background portrays his wife Else Moltke and their daughter Rose Moltke playing the piano. The painting below also portrays his daughter Rose Moltke.
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The kinship of POST Greenland with
the painter Harald Moltke Text by Pertti Frandsen · Photo by Finn Yde-Andersen In March 2003 POST Greenland marked the 100th anniversary of the Danish literary Greenland expedition 1902-1904 led by journalist Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen. POST Greenland paid tribute to the fact by issuing two special stamps, a souvenir sheet and a souvenir folder in a joint issue with Post Danmark. Incidentally, the Danish literary Greenland expedition was the very first expedition, in which the Danish artic explorer Knud Rasmussen participated. The rest of the participants in the Danish literary Greenland expedition were – besides Knud Rasmussen and Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen – the Greenlander and catechist Jørgen Brønlund, the physician Alfred Berthelsen – and the painter count Harald Moltke. Harald Moltke was the artist who painted the designs for the very first two Greenland stamps issued in 1938. Because of this, we
in POST Greenland have a particularly special relationship with the Danish painter. Consequently POST Greenland found it most natural to arrange a memorial exhibition for Harald Moltke during "Frimærker i Forum", since the year 2003 was the 65th anniversary of the foundation of the Greenlandic postal service as well as the 70th anniversary of the all too early death of Knud Rasmussen in 1933. The exhibition was held on 23 to 26 October 2003 in Harald Moltke’s old home in Frederiksberg, Denmark. Harald Moltke lived from 1871 till 1960. He participated in several arctic expeditions. It was up to Harald Moltke to provide the illustrated documentation of the expeditions and especially to depict the northern lights as lifelike as possible. Under harsh conditions he managed to depict the northern lights in a series of paintings, which are considered
as being some of the finest of their kind in the world. Harald Moltke’s fascinating paintings and illustrated documentations from the arctic expeditions, e.g. the Danish literary Greenland expedition 1902-1904, constitute exceptional and quite invaluable historical testimonies of some of the most significant ethnographical studies of Greenland of the time. Besides drawings of the northern lights, Moltke also drew a series of Greenlandic portraits – among others the large painting "Knud Rasmussen reconnoitres the ice cap". Posterity can learn quite a lot by studying the pictorial art and the momentous testimonies of his participations in e.g. the Danish literary Greenland expedition 100 years ago.
The artist Nina Spore Kreutzmann Photo: Tegnestuen Tita
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Norse mythology – Once again the eight Nordic countries have made the decision to join forces in a stamp issue – this time a series of 6 stamps in all issued over a period of 6 years, featuring the topic "Norse Mythology", with one joint issue every other year. POST Greenland somewhat differs from the rest of the Nordic countries using their very own Inuit legends and myths. The stories are numerous and have been embodied by several experts as well as historical figures. When he returned from the Danish literary Greenland expedition 100 years ago, Knud Rasmussen was one of the few lucky ones at a very early time to experience the exciting stories first hand at some of the first meetings with the original Inuits. His impressions of the Inuit tales of spirits and beliefs can be read in many of his books. Text by Nina Spore Kreutzmann and Søren Rose · Photos by Asger Fredslund When I began to sketch, the assignment was to illustrate Nordic Gods, since the two stamps are the Greenlandic contribution to a Nordic series about the Gods. I did not, however, consider the Greenlandic figures which are found in the legends to be Gods in the same sense as for example Odin, Freya and Loke in the Norse mythology – instead I chose to depict figures which are present in the Greenlandic myths. The common ground among the Inuits has been the sealing and whaling culture as well as a shared range of spiritual beliefs and rites. The Moon Man and the Northern Lights are two of the spiritual figures, which are present in many tales in the Green-
landic mythology and are also the two aspects, which POST Greenland has chosen to be illustrated on our joint Nordic issue of two stamps as well as one souvenir sheet. In Greenland the Inuits have generally focused on and worshipped darkness and the dark forces, because they wanted to be able strongly to withstand the dark spirits during the long polar nights, which also are aspects of the everyday life in Greenland. In Greenland the Moon Man is called Aningaaq, brother of the Sun. The Moon Man appeared in the shape of a huge man wearing a white polar bear skin and he was one of the most important aspects in the tales by the Inuits in East Greenland and
Alaska. The Moon Man was sometimes a stubborn and angry man, who was able to descent to Earth, seize the catch and punish people who did not follow his rules. The Moon Man was the one who controlled the fertility of animals and people and natural phenomena, such as the tide, thunder and snow-fall as well as controlling the sealing patterns among the sealers. The Moon Man was extremely fond of women. He still runs across the sky trying to catch his sister, the Sun, in order to be with her. However, he has not yet succeeded in catching her. In the meantime he has plenty of time to seduce other women, whom he brings home. Because of this, the shaman sometimes has
01100324 Norden – Myths 1/2 Moon Man DKK 5.50
01100325 Norden – Myths 2/2 The Northern Lights DKK 6.50
Common to both: Issue date: 26.03.2004 50 stamps per sheet Format: B-horizontal Printing method: Offset Paper: TR4 yellow fluorescent Artist: Nina Kreutzmann Outside measurements: 31.08 x 23.60 mm
the Moon Man and the Northern Lights to go to the moon to bring back a woman. Sometimes she does not even want to be brought home! There are several tales of the Moon Man and his sister, the Sun, with which we strongly recommend the reader becomes acquainted. Arsarnerit – the dead who play ball. In order to enter the land of the dead, all dead people had to crawl through a large hide after which they were cleansed of all evil. Usually it took one year to crawl through and on Earth it was the year of mourning for the surviving relatives. Henceforth the dead lived off berries and ravens so, in former times, people did not like the thought of ending up among the dead in the sky. The dead in the ocean ate all kinds of marine animals, so death at sea was far preferable. The only pastime for the dead in the sky was to play ball and, therefore, when the northern lights appear in the sky they are happily playing ball with a walrus head. It is said to be dangerous to whistle during the northern lights – because then the dead will come to get you. Try to whistle during the northern lights one night and see what happens – if you dare!
01303017 Souvenir folder Norden – Myths DKK 117.00 Udgivelsesdag: 26.03.2004 Contains one mint sample of each of the 8 Norden souvenir sheets 2004 by the Nordic postal services including, of course, the Norden souvenir sheet by POST Greenland.
01106324 Miniark Norden - Myter DKK 12.00 Udgivelsesdag: 26.03.2004 Trykkemetode: Offset Papir: TR4 yellow flourescent
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2003
The Greenland stamp of the Year
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POST Greenland has repeated its successful competition for the fifth consecutive year by inviting collectors of Greenland stamps, readers of the Greenland Collector and anyone else interested to vote for the stamp of the year from a total of 16 stamps, all issued by POST Greenland during 2003. All participants in the competition took part in the draw for the first prize, which was a beautiful soapstone mini-statue of an East Greenlandic drum dancer. In addition, we drew 10 ‘consolation prizes’ in the form of beautiful Greenland philatelic gifts. This time it was clear from the beginning that the stamp G-315 would become the ‘2003 Greenland stamp of the Year". This stamp was out-and-out in the lead right from the beginning of the competition and won with 340 votes, equivalent to 26.8%. Once again the winner is one of our popular ship stamps, "Godthaab" denominated DKK
8.75, printed in combination print, horizontal G-format, drawn and engraved by Martin Mörck, who is the well known artist of several of POST Greenland’s stamps. Martin was responsible for the winning stamp last year too – which was also a ship stamp. Once again POST Greenland congratulates Martin on the selection of one of his beautiful ship stamps as the "2003 Greenland stamp of the Year". The competition for second place was a bit more exciting; in this case the stamps G-303 (Sledge dog puppies), G-306 (Saunder’s Island) and G-318 (the Christmas stamp denominated DKK 5.50) almost tied. The sledge dog puppies drawn by Naja Abelsen was the one narrowly to take the second place with 140 votes, equivalent to 11% of all valid votes. An even more narrow victory in third place with 131 votes, equivalent to 10.3% went to the Christmas stamp denominated DKK 5.50 drawn in Kunuk Platoú’s characteristic and artistic style. The The votes were distributed as follows: winner of the beautiNumber ful first prize was W. G-no. of votes in % Title Position H.’t Hooft from the G-303 140 11.0 "Sledge dog puppies" 2 Netherlands, who G-304 73 5.7 "Portrait of a sledge dog" 6 G-305 37 2.9 "Sledge dog at work" 11 was delighted and G-306 122 9.6 Expeditions I - "Saunder's Island" 4 most surprised when G-307 25 2.0 Expeditions I - "Knud Rasmussen" 14 we called him up G-308 59 4.6 Additional value stamp 8 with the good news. "Santa Claus of Greenland" The 77-year-old Mr. G-309 32 2.5 Qaanaaq 50 years 12 Hooft became a G-310 14 1.1 "Europa" stamp 2003 - Poster Art 16 subscriber in the G-311 18 1.4 Cultural heritage IV - Comb 15 early 80’s during a G-312 87 6.8 Cultural heritage IV - Ice bucket 5 visit to Copenhagen. G-313 51 4.0 Ship stamp II - "Emma" 9 G-314 41 3.2 Ship stamp II - "Gamle Fox" 10 He collected stamps G-315 340 26.8 Ship stamp II - "Godthaab" 1 during his youth, but G-316 27 2.1 Ship stamp II - "Sonja" 13 then took a break G-317 70 5.5 Christmas stamp - 1/03 7 until sometime G-318 131 10.3 Christmas stamp - 2/03 3 during the 70’s, when 1267 99.7 he rediscovered an Invalid Total
4 1271
0.3 100
interest in stamps. Mr. Hooft had many complementary comments to say about Greenland stamps and he hopes to be able to continue his collection for many years to come. Mr. Hooft, who has had a great interest in Greenland and the Greenlandic culture ever since his early youth, now enjoys the first prize which is decorating his home in Oosterhout in the Netherlands. The consolation prizes have also been forwarded to the 10 additional winners. POST Greenland is delighted with the positive response from our readers and collectors who participated in voting for the Greenland stamp of the year. We take the opportunity to congratulate all the winners and are grateful for their great support. We look forward to organising the competition for the "2004 Greenland stamp of the Year".
The winner of the yearly competition among all subscribers! Oddgeir Strømme from Norway was very happy and surprised, when I told him he had won POST Greenland’s first prize among the subscribers 2003 – a book by Ivars Silis entitled "My Wide, White World - 30 years with a camera in Greenland". Oddgeir collects themes and has been doing so for many years but in June 2003 he decided to take out a subscription to Greenland stamps and was the lucky one to be drawn from the many thousands of subscribers. All of us at POST Greenland send our hearty congratulations to Oddgeir.
FRIMÆRKER I FORUM 2003 Text by Lars Anker-Møller · Photo: POST Greenland The exhibition "Frimærker i Forum" was held from 24 – 26 October 2003. It is the largest collector’s exhibition in Northern Europe with approximately 60 sales booths and with postal services and stamp dealers from across Scandinavia and Europe. It was rumoured among the dealers that sales at the previous year’s exhibition had been exceptionally good; so a few more stamp dealers had been lured to attend Forum. On 24 October we were ready at POST Greenland’s sales booth with somewhat mixed views. Six months of preparing lectures, the exhibiting of artefacts as well as visits by some artists had to form a synthesis. We did not expect the success to match the one we had the previous year, however, all doubts soon proved unfounded. At the opening a large crowd of people were ready to plunge into Forum’s stamp mekka. Once again I send a thank you to the good spirits and patience of our customers. This year POST Greenland’s sales booth carried the theme Knud Rasmussen and "The Mapping of Greenland". We had arranged to borrow some items from Knud Rasmussen’s House and Arktisk Institut (the Arctic Institute),
such as paintings, a sledge and a kayak. Flemming Petersen exhibited his very unique collection of letters, which Knud Rasmussen had written during his expeditions in Greenland. Therefore the scene was laid for an interesting mixture of Greenland’s history, very vividly lectured by Ib Eisenhardt (Knud Rasmussen’s House) and Leif Vanggaard (Arktisk Institut) during all three of the days. We were also visited by a couple of fine Greenlandic sledge dogs
accompanied by Mai Anouk Høllet and her husband. The artists Naja Abelsen, Ina Rosing and Martin Mörck signed their stamps and the author Ole Vendtegodt signed his new ships book "Ships in Greenlandic Waters – over 1000 years" - Volume 1 of 2. The preparations for this year’s Frimærker i Forum exhibition have already begun and I look forward to seeing you there again this year.
Winner of the competition held during "Frimærker i Forum" The winner of the book "Peary Land" was Ebba Sembach from Brøndby, Denmark. She answered all three questions correctly as follows: • How many times during 2003 did POST Greenland issue stamps? Correct answer: "3 times" • Which of the four ship stamps was elected stamp of the year 2002? Correct answer: G-293 "Nordlyset" • In which town is POST Greenland, Filatelia situated? Correct answer: "Tasiilaq" We thank everybody for the great interest in the competition and heartily congratulate Ebba Sembach and hope that she enjoys the read.
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Final Sale on 31 March 2004
The following stamps will be withdrawn from our sales list on 31 March 2004, provided they are not sold out prior to this date. Any remaining stocks will be shredded. 01100250. 07.05.1999 Europa VI DKK 6.00 01100261. 21.02.2000 The wild reindeer hunt DKK 5.50
14 01100275. 05.02.2001 Farewell to the land DKK 5.00 01100280. 09.05.2001 Europa 2001 DKK 15.00 01100290. 05.03.2002 Drum. Cultural heritage III DKK 4.50 01100291. 05.03.2002 Mask. Cultural heritage III DKK 4.75
News from POST Greenland
On 26-28 March POST Greenland will participate in the exhibition "NorrPhil 2004" in Täby (Stockholm, Sweden). Please note: No special exhibition cancellation will be produced for "NorrPhil 2004".
The themes are as follows:
• Nature • Animals
Royal wedding – joint issue on 14 • Transport May within the Danish federations • Anniversaries/events On 14 May 2004 Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark will wed Australian Mary Donaldson. A joint issue from the three postal services within the Danish federation marks this joyous royal event. Consequently, on 14 May Post Danmark, Postverk Føroya and POST Greenland are each issuing two special stamps and one souvenir sheet. Also, all three of the souvenir sheets from the postal services will be issued in a beautifully designed souvenir folder. You can read more about this in the Greenland Collector, no. 2, 2004, which, due to the occasion, will be published in late April.
Collecting themes, take a look at this! As from today it is possible to subscribe to 6 new subscription themes introduced by POST Greenland, Filatelia.
• Art/Culture • "Europa"
It is possible to subscribe to stamps, upper/ lower marginal, FDC, maxicards, postcards, souvenir sheets, stamp booklets and souvenir folders within all the themes – just fill in the order form! Please call +299 98 11 55 if you have any questions about the themes mentioned above. We will be ready at the phone. Look at the offer on www.stamps.gl – it also applies to additions to an existing subscription!!!!!
Methods of payment – The Christmas Seal Committee 01106D83. 16.10.2001 HAFNIA01 souvenir sheet SOLD OUT ON 04 DKK 34.75 7 JANUARY 20 The stock figure is 89,763
The year pack 2000 is sold out! On 14 November 2003 our year pack 2000, item no. 01304000, was sold out. The year pack was issued on 09.11.2000 and cost DKK 147.50. The stock figure for this year pack is 29,576.
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 to: BG Bank A/S, Girostrøget 1, 0800 Høje Taastrup, DENMARK. Account No. 1199-60072868. IBAN: DK2564710001406970, BIC: GRENGLGX or BG Bank A/S, Girostrøget 1, 0800 Høje Taastrup, Account No.: 1199-6 0072868 IBAN: DK86 300000060072868, BIC: DABADKKK
Naturally payments may still be made in cash, by cheque, international reply coupons or by credit card to: The Greenland Christmas Seal Committee, P.O. Box 19, 3913 Tasiilaq, GREENLAND. You may pre-pay your subscription to Christmas Seals 2004, provided you enclose a note about it. It is not possible to use POST Greenland’s giro accounts in Denmark or other countries, since the Greenland Christmas Seal Committee and POST Greenland are two separate companies.
Worth knowing…
0021 Oslo. Account No.: 7878.06.55312. IBAN: NO44 78780655312, BIC: DNBANOKK
Please send your orders/amendments 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 Email: stamps@tele.gl
Finland: SAMPO BANK, UNIONINKATU 22, 00075, SAMPO. Account No.: 800016-70617928. IBAN: Fi2580001670617928, BIC: PSPBFiHH
Any change in name, address and/or subscription must be received by POST Greenland, Filatelia no later than 5 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 3 exchanges per customer per year are allowed. The maximum annual value of exchanged stamps per customer cannot exceed DKK 50,000 in nominal value. The stamps are always exchanged into new stamps of the customer’s choice. The fee of 45% must always be paid in cash and is therefore not payable using other stamps. For further information please contact POST Greenland, Filatelia. NOTE: Please do not write your order on a giro transfer form as computers process these automatically. How to pay: By giro: Denmark: BG BANK, Girostrøget 1, 0800 Høje Taastrup. Account No.: 1199-940 4120. IBAN: DK98 30000009404120, BIC: DABADKKK Sverige: Postgirot Bank AB (publ), Vasagatan 7, 105 06 Stockholm. Account No.: 41 45-9. IBAN: SE9795000099602600041459, BIC: NDEASESS Norge:
Postbanken,
Kunderegister
Credit cards: Access, Dankort, Eurocard, Maestro, Mastercard, VISA, VISA Electron. Cheque: - in your own currency.
Holland: Postbank N.V. Account No.: 3487172. IBAN: NL92 PSTB 0003 4871 72, BIC: PSTBNL21
Cash: - to be sent by registered mail
Schweiz: Postscheckamt, Office de cheques postaux, Ufficio dei conti correnti postali, 4040 Basel. Account No.: 40-6773-5. IBAN: CH37 0900 0000 4000 6773 5, BIC: POFiCHBE
Postal order IRC (IBRS) - International reply coupons: value DKK 6.00 each.
Tyskland: Postbank, Niederlassung Hamburg, Überseering 26, 22297 Hamburg. Account No.: 541414200 BLZ 200 100 20. IBAN: DE03 2001 0020 0541 414200, BIC: PBNKDEFF Storbritannien: Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank plc, Bridle Road, Bootle, Merseyside, Liverpool GIR 0AA. Account No.: 358 7118. IBAN: GB69GIRB72000003587118 Luxembourg: Postes et Telecommunications, Division des Postes, Service des Cheques Postaux, Secretariat, 38 Place de la Gare, 1090 Luxembourg. Account No.: 26606-28. IBAN: LU18 1111 0266 0628 0000, BIC: CCPLLULL Frankrig: 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. IBAN: FR51 3004 1000 0100 2500 1 F02 022, BIC: PSSTFRPPPAR If you transfer an amount from outside Denmark through our giro account 1199-940 4120 in Copenhagen, Euro Giro will charge you a fee for each transaction.
Bedrift,
JCB,
One 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 dated from the last day of the month in which the items were dispatched. The date of the postmark or the 15 invoice is valid as the date of dispatch. Fees for registered letters and parcels dispatched from Greenland Fees for registered letters in Greenland or to Denmark and the Faroes are DKK 35.00. E.g.: Postage for a registered letter stamped with 4.75 (max. 20 g) comes to a total of 39.75. For postage on letters to Scandinavia, Europe and other countries, see: www.post.gl Payment within 30 days Payment of our invoices is to be made within 30 days from the date of the invoice. We kindly ask you to note that the registration of your payment will take approximately 2 weeks or more. Therefore, you may receive an invoice with a balance which does not include your recent payment. All information on prices, fees etc. are subject to printer’s errors.
We are your service team We are the people you reach whenever you write, fax, email, or telephone POST Greenland. Some of us have been here for several years whilst others are fairly new. We look forward to being of service to you regarding your philatelic inquiries.
Sonja Brønlund Anja Panduro Pedersen, Accountant Sales Assistant Greenlandic, Danish, English Danish, English, German
Lene Skov Meyhoff, Correspondent Danish, German, English
Kristian „Karé“ Pivat, Assistant Clerk Greenlandic, Danish
Andreas Fett, Sales Assistant German, Danish, English
Lars Anker-Møller, Head of Sales Danish, English, German
Pertti Frandsen, Head of Production Danish, English, German
• The royal wedding • Edible Greenlandic flowers • "Foreningen af grønlandske børn" (the society of Greenlandic children)
We draw your attention to the fact that the second issue date of this year has been changed in order to coincide with the special issue in honour of the royal wedding. Therefore the new issue date will be on 14 May instead of 14 June. The third issue of the year will be brought forward from 1 November to Monday 18 October.
• The "Europa" theme – holidays • Tasiilaq – Hot seal on cold ice floes • And much more…. The Greenland Home Rule for 25 years – Anniversary Package
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In honour of the 25th anniversary of the Greenland Home Rule in 2004, POST Greenland issues a special anniversary package in a limited number – 1000 items – containing the following: • The special stamp "The Home Rule – 25 years" • FDC/1 • Maxicard • A Greenlandic silk flag on an aluminium foot. • A map of Greenland with a print of the stamp G-250 • A small handbook "Greenland in figures" • The latest issue of the "Greenland Collector" The special anniversary package by POST Greenland will only cost DKK 75.00 plus postage. It will be issued on 26 March – but may be pre-ordered now. Item no. 01520801.
Etching by POST Greenland – a very limited edition Etching by POST Greenland - in a very limited edition In connection with our joint issue with Canada Post and Posten Norge carrying the theme "Otto Sverdrup - Norwegian arctic explorer in Canada and Greenland" a very special hand printed etching on 300 g Hahne Mühle art paper is offered in a very limited edition. The etching, which is drawn by Martin Mörck, the artist, who designed the expedition series, will be signed and numbered by the artist, and each etching comes with a specially made passe partout. Printed in A4 size. Item no.: 01520802. Price: DKK 500.00 plus postage. The first customers to order this very special collector's item from POST Greenland will become the happy owners of the etching. Please note: POST Greenland will only sell one etching per customer.
New T-Shirts – Design: The Home Rule – 25 years Size: 12-14 years S L DKK 85.00
Item no.: 01520420 01520421 01520422
Photo: Søren Rose
In the next issue (April 2004), read about