New Stamp releases on 6 November 2006
Science Series, 2nd part
The second part of the science series consists of 3 stamps with motives from science and scientific discoveries in Greenland. As a new feature compared to the three first stamps in the series from 2005, the new stamps show the location of the portrayed places on a little Greenland map. Stamp G368, DKK 0,50 shows the remnants of a larch, which was found around Kap København in Northeastgreenland, and which is about 2.4 million years old. In Isua north of Nuuk scientists are examining certain types of mountains that are believed to be the oldest in the world. Remarkably one also found traces of the earliest life on earth in this area. The excavation process is shown on stamp G369 with a value of DKK 8,00. The Arctic Station in Qeqertarsuaq celebrated its 100th anniversary on 4 August. The Arctic Station is a part of Københavns Universitet and an important centre for polar research and many international contacts.
Christmas on Greenland
In 2006 we will again close the stamp year with two beautiful Christmas stamps, which were designed by Julie Hardenberg this time. Dorit Olsen is responsible for the typography. The Christmas stamps show the first notes of the well-known Greenlandic Christmas song ”Guuterput qutsinnermiu”. The Christmas stamps are also available as self-adhesive stamps in a booklet with a total of 12 stamps, 6 of each value DKK 5,50 and DKK 6,00.
New Stamp release on 9 September 2006
Special issue: Galathea 3
On 9 September POST Greenland issued a special stamp on the occasion of the Danish research exhibition Galathea 3, which also called at Nuuk during its cruise around the world. The expedition vessel “Vædderen” anchored in Nuuk on the issue day. The stamp has a value of DKK 9,75, and is designed by Naja Abelsen; the typography is by Dorit Olsen. The scientists of the Galathea expedition amongst others conducted measurements of the bottom of the sea along the Greenlandic coast, which contains a lot of information on climate change reaching back thousands of years.
New Stamp release on 22. May 2006
EDIBLE FUNGI IN GREENLAND II
On 22nd May 2006 POST Greenland is issuing the last three stamps in the series “Edible Fungi in Greenland” featuring the fungi: The Gypsy, Saffron Milk Cap and Arctic Puffball. Below is a description of the individual species by Fungi Expert Lindhardt Larsen.
The Gypsy
(Rozites caperatus) (Qaarajuartoq)
Cap:
4 to 15 cm in diameter, dome-shaped to flat, dry, especially young fungi have a farinaceous, whitish covering, particularly towards the centre; otherwise smooth, light (yellowish) brown to brown ochre.
Gills:
Emarginated, rather dense with serrated edges, pale at first, later brown from spore dust.
Stem:
5 to 20 cm tall and 1 to 3 cm thick, cylindrical, dry. Young fungi have a whitish, farinaceous covering like the cap. Otherwise the stem is smooth with a lighter ground colour than the cap and has a thick skin-like, plain ring, which is often loose.
Flesh:
Pale brown, with a pleasant smell and a mild taste.
Distribution:
Found on rich moors around dwarf birch, rare in birch scrub, usually found in clusters. Quite common near the fiords of Southern Greenland as far north as Nuuk.
Use:
An excellent edible fungus when cooked. Suitable for cold storage, but even better after drying. The gypsy can be mistaken for some inedible cortinarius, but these have a glutinous cap and stem and lack the skin-like ring, the serrated gills and the whitish, farinaceous covering.
Saffron Milk Cap
(Lactarius dryadophilus) (Immulik)
Cap:
4 to 10 cm in diameter, low dome-shaped with curved-in, heavily tomentose edges, greasy when moist and with stuck-on plant remains, cream-coloured. Older fungi are light ochre yellow.
Gills:
Affixed, dense, yellowish white. Whitish milk juice. Spore dust whitish as in other Arctic milk caps.
Stem:
2 to 5 cm tall and 1 to 2 cm thick, greasy, has (approximately) the same colour as the cap.
Flesh:
Thick and very firm, whitish, slowly turns reddish purple on breaking, luscious-aromatic smell, stronger when cooked, mild taste.
Distribution:
Very common, particularly on dry, gravelly ground on moors, around willow or mountain avens. Widely distributed in most of Greenland.
Use:
Excellent edible fungus, especially when fried. Magnificent milk cap (L. repraesentaneous) has a cap with coarse scales, young specimens are ochre yellow with coarser tomentosebearded edges. It is also edible, but of no particular value. Saffron milk cap is suited for cold storage, but hardly for drying, which makes it somewhat tough.
Arctic Puff ball
(Calvatia cretacea) (Pujualak)
Fruit body:
5 to 12 cm in diameter, from almost globular to flattened.
Outside layer:
For a long time white, covered by coarse, angular warts, decreasing in size towards the broad, foveolate base. On maturity the outside layer peels off and a smooth, silky grey, papery inside layer remains like a bowl.
Flesh:
At first firm and white, with a faint smell and a mild taste, later soft and olive green. On maturity the flesh is transformed to a tomentose, powdery, chocolate brown spore substance; the spores are spread by the wind.
Distribution:
Quite common, especially in the northernmost parts of Greenland, on moors and fell-fields, on calcareous, open and sunny ground, often around mountain avens.
Use:
There are several similar species, all edible when young and still white inside. They can probably be eaten raw, but should be cooked. Suitable for cold storage. Ever since antiquity, puffballs have been used for stopping haemorrhages by placing freshly sliced puffballs against the wound.
Alfred Wegener
(1880-1930) in Greenland
TEXT: Jörn Thiede, Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung (Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research) (AWI)
On 1 November 1930 the famous German researcher of the Greenlandic ice cap and author of the theory of ‘continental shift’, Alfred Wegener, celebrated his 50th birthday on the station “Eismitte” (Middle Ice). A few days later he was involved in a fatal accident together with his Greenlandic companion Rasmus Villumsen during their return march to the West coast.
Based on the experiences of a pre-expedition in 1929, plans were made to operate meteorological stations throughout all seasons in order to completely measure and register the changing seasonal weather conditions for the first time. The stations were located on the West coast (at Ummannaq) and the East coast (in the Scoresbysund estuary) as well as on the vertex of the Greenlandic ice cap at an altitude of about 3,000 metres, and operated under the most difficult working conditions.
Despite Alfred Wegener’s tragic death, the expedition was concluded successfully in 1931 with an abundance of scientific findings. As a young man Alfred Wegener was a member of the Danmark Expedition (1906-1908) led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen and assisted in the exploration of North East Greenland, where he had to witness the tragic death of three participants. In 1912/1913, after spending the winter at the station “Borg” on the East coast, he crossed the Greenlandic ice-shield at its widest extension on an expedition led by Johan Peter Koch during which he got into life-threatening situations on several occasions. This expedition inspired him to undertake his two final Greenlandic expeditions in 1929-1931, which could only be concluded successfully due to the generous help of many Greenlanders and Danish officials. The memory of these expeditions is still kept alive today by a commemorative plaque and an exhibition in the museum of Ummannaq.
Under the title “The Origin of Continents and Oceans” Alfred Wegener published the scientific basis for his theory of ‘continental shift’. The book was published in 1915-1929 in four editions written by himself and made him world-famous. Although Alfred Wegener was unable to find scientific evidence in support of all his theories, this is due to the times in which he lived, rather than a lack of scientific proof. Consequently, he almost had neither data nor samples of the sub soil of the oceans, nor the necessary geo-physical data on the characteristics and the dynamics of the deeper layers of the Earth’s core. Therefore, during his lifetime, he could not overcome the resistance of his scientific opponents, yet his hypothesis has experienced a remarkable renaissance in the past decades due to the results of improved plate tectonics.
Alfred Wegener achieved world fame through his expeditions to Greenland and his scientific books and thereby made a significant contribution to our understanding of the functioning of the Earth.
Special Cancellation and Joint mobile Post Off ice at the Alfred Wegener Institute - in Collaboration with Deutsche Post
On 22nd May both a German and a Greenlandic special cancellation will be introduced. This will happen at a special event at a German – Greenlandic mobile post office at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Northern Germany.
This will take place at a ceremony to celebrate the issue of our commemorative stamp G371 and our souvenir sheet 01106371 featuring the German Arctic explorer Alfred Wegener. On this occasion, Deutsche Post and POST Greenland will each present and use a special cancellation, which will be in use on this one day only.
The host of the event at the Alfred Wegener Institute will be Director Professor Dr Jörn Thiede, while Deutsche Post will be represented by the Co-ordinator of “Erlebnis Briefmarken, Nord” (Experience Stamps, North) Dieter Stephan. Philatelic Manager Søren Rose will represent POST Greenland.
The designer of the stamp and the souvenir sheet – the Norwegian, Martin Mörck – will also be present to sign stamps, souvenir sheets, souvenir folders, first day covers and maxicards.
The event will take place from 11 am to 5 pm, the first hour being scheduled for welcomes, lectures, speeches as well as the presentation of the stamp, the complementary souvenir sheet, the special cancellations and the above-mentioned complementary products of the issue. From noon, it will then be possible to buy the new issue – and get all the various stamp products signed by the artist, of course. The sale and the signing by Martin Mörck will take place in a special joint “post office”, set up for the occasion, as a co-operation between Deutsche Post and POST Greenland.
The address of the event will be:
Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Foyer E,
Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven
GERMANY.
Both Deutsche Post and POST Greenland hope that a lot of collectors and visitors will come to the Alfred Wegener Institute on this special issue date.
Sheep Farming in Greenland over 100 Years
By Kaj Egede, President of The Agricultural Council of Greenland
“When the Directorate contacted me about taking over the sheep farming experiments in Greenland, so that the herewith connected expenses were to be covered by the Greenlandic Common Fund, at first I did not want to accept as I was not a professional. But, when my superiors, whom I consulted, advised me to accept the honorary office, I agreed.
…When the Directorate sent me the first flock for sheep farming experiments, it wrote on 7th September 1906 that two rams and ten lambs had been despatched. But one lamp died during the journey.
…Thus only nine lambs arrived at Frederiksdal on 17th
October 1906”
This was written by the Rev. Jens Chemnitz, who was in charge of the first official sheep farming experiment in Greenland. The quotes are from the year-book of the Greenlandic Society of 1919.
The experiment succeeded beyond all expectations and resulted in an actual sheep farming and educational centre being established for future sheep farmers in Qaqortoq in 1915. Approximately 175 Icelandic sheep were imported to this centre.
The precondition of sheep farming is the very nourishing summer vegetation, consisting of a variety of grasses, herbs and scrub, of the Alpine landscape of Southern Greenland. The Alpine landscape causes vegetation to be at its peak most of the summer; to begin with in the extensive valleys and later in the mountains. The accessibility of the very lush vegetation results in a high growth rate of lambs. On the down side, the industry is hampered by the long winters, resulting in a long period of winter feeding.
In the beginning, sheep farming was a supplement to sealing; but by 1924 a farm based on sheep farming was established in the settlement of Qassiarsuk. Since then the industry has progressed steadily. Initially, sheep farming was conducted extensively, the sheep were outside most of the year and a very limited amount of winter fodder was harvested. This method of extensive farming meant that the sheep population was severely reduced several times as a result of hard winters.
During the last 30 years sheep farming has been intensified. Stocks are fewer – but much larger: 400 ewes on average. They are kept with the sole object of achieving a high production. A hundred years ago nothing was grown for the production of winter fodder. Today 920 hectares of fields are used for producing winter fodder and the sheep are kept stalled for about five months.
Many competent women and men, Danish as well as Greenlandic, have contributed to this – a hundred years ago completely unknown – industry developing into becoming an important factor in the way of life and culture in Southern Greenland.
We have every reason to thank these men and women.
Stamp Issues on January 16th 2006
SISIMIUT 250th ANNIVERSARY
In 2006 the second largest town of Greenland, Sisimiut (Holsteinsborg) will celebrate its 250th anniversary, and POST Greenland is very pleased to mark this important event with a special stamp.
The Whale Jaw Gate and the Blue Church beneath the symbol of Sisimiut, the mountain »Kællingehatten « (Crone’s Hood), are proud monuments of a town with traditions of initiative, drive and courage over 250 years.
Whaling lodges around Amerloq
Since the 17th century, European whalers have passed through the present-day Sisimiut district in connection with whaling of large baleen whales.
The first attempt to establish a whaling lodge in the district was made in the island of Nipisat in 1724. Competition with the Dutch for whaling in the area ended, however, a few years later in favour of the Dutch. The Danes left the lodge, which was soon after burnt down by the Dutch.
25 years later – in 1756 – the Danes founded a new lodge in the district. This time further north near the locality of South Bay, approximately 40 kilometres north of present-day Sisimiut. Here a grocer’s and whaler’s house with a mission station attached was built and it was from here that for some years rather unprofitable whaling was conducted. The lodge was named Holsteinsborg after the head of the missionary college at the time, Count Ludvig Holstein. Further missionary stations and whaling lodges were established in the district; amongst others the lodge of Amerloq on the north side of »Ulkebugten« (The Bay of Sea Scorpions) near the present-day airport.
Holsteinsborg relocated at its present location
In 1764 the lodge buildings from South Bay and Amerloq were gathered in a small plain south of »Ulkebugten«. Around these old buildings the colony of Holsteinsborg emerged.
The Danish mission had quickly gathered a faithful congregation in the area and, in 1771, they wrote to the Missionary College in Copenhagen, requesting a meeting house (Ed.: church). They offered to pay in blubber. Materials for church building were despatched and on Epiphany in 1775 the Blue Church – Bethel Church – was consecrated.
Whaling for large whales was the economic foundation of the Danish colonisation of the area. Whaling was well organised and – apart from Danish crews – more and more Greenlanders became involved.
During the first half of the 19th century a train oil production works was built in Sisimiut near the entrance to Paaraarsuk. Navigation conditions meant that at the end of the 19th century the buildings were relocated at the quay of the present-day inner harbour.
Production changed from train oil to fish
In the middle of the 19th century the number of whales decreased and train oil production in the district was nearly exclusively based on train oil extracted from seal blubber and shark liver. Sealing was conducted traditionally by Greenlanders from kayaks and, to a certain degree, as private net fishing by traders.
Towards the end of the 19th century the catch of seals and sharks diminished, concurrently with the diminishing demand for train oil.
When fishery research – the so-called Tjalfe Expeditions, from 1908 – 1910, established large amounts of cod in the fiords and halibut on the banks near Sisimiut, parts of the population changed over to fishing. Many strong-willed fishermen have left their marks on the development of the town ever since. The first industrial production was brought into effect in the 1920’s with the construction of a canned food factory in Holsteinsborg.
Factory and shipyard leave their marks on the town
Fishing for halibut was lucrative up until the end of the 1920’s. Then the catch decreased considerably and the factory was converted for prawn production in 1935. Not least many women participated in the lucrative prawn production.
When the prawn population failed at the end of the 1940’s, subsequent experimental fishing for crabs was carried out for some years and fish manufacture was resumed, but now based on cod as a raw material. The cod population on the west coast of Greenland fluctuated and the present-day business ‘Royal Greenland’ again bases production on prawns using modern high-technological manufacturing processes, supplemented by the production of crabs. Fishing and the general modernisation of society demanded maintenance and building of large wooden vessels.
In 1931, when Greenland was to have its first building yard for the production of wooden ships, it was naturally located in Holsteinsborg. The shipyard as a repair yard has now closed down, but the beautiful shipyard buildings will again be in the front of development when, in years to come, they are to house one of the new Greenlandic innovation centres.
With two major workplaces in the town, development gathered speed. To many families this meant the possibility of a permanent job and a steady income and career prospects.
With both a shipyard and fishing industry, the town attracted further employment and opened the possibility of strengthening education and association activities.
From the tentative start of instructing shipyard apprentices at the technical school, in the rooms of the primary school in the Blue Church, at the end of the 1940’s, Sisimiut has provided the setting for an ever-developing system of technical education.
Today Sisimiut is the home town to fundamental education of the Building and Construction School, Technical Upper Secondary School, College of Arctic Engineering as well as the Interpreter’s Education of the Language School, language courses and the first folk high school of Greenland - Knud Rasmussen’s High School.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE STAMP ARTIST
Miki Jacobsen was educated at the Art School of Greenland in 1983 - 84. After a basic course in graphics he studied drawing, graphics, design and photography in, among other places, Copenhagen and later the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Canada.
Miki Jacobsen, who has illustrated several children’s books , has also participated in several exhibitions both in and outside Greenland, e.g. in Scandinavia, Ireland, the USA and Canada.
Sisimiut 250th Anniversary
Value DKK 9.75
Format: B horizontal
40 stamps pr. sheet
Design: Miki Jacobsen
Printing method: Offset
Paper: TR8 PVA
Outside measurements: 31.08 x 23.60 mm
THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF EUROPA STAMPS
By Søren Rose, Philatelic Manager
In Europe, the idea of a ”joint stamp issue” was first conceived in 1952. The motivation was to symbolise the harmonisation of the interests and objectives of the different communities.
Six countries, which were already linked in the Coal and Steel Community (namely Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, West Germany and Italy), decided to issue stamps with a common design, consisting of the letters E U R O P A in the shape of a tower surrounded by scaffolding. These stamps were issued in 1956.
The idea caught on and, by 1958, eight countries (now including Turkey) were releasing common-design EUROPA stamps. During the summer of 1959, an assembly of 23 European postal administrations took place in Montreux, Switzerland and the Confederation des Postes et des Telecommunications (CEPT) was born.
1960 saw the first official EUROPA – CEPT stamp issues in 23 countries. Throughout the next decade, more and more countries joined the CEPT organisation.
Gradually the emphasis on a common design was abandoned; instead a common theme was chosen, on which each participating country (currently numbering upwards of 35) produced its own stamps in its own unique interpretations.
A particular milestone was 1984 when twenty-five years of active co-operation was celebrated. The success of the entire enterprise has been appreciated by many postal administrations outside Europe and several are preparing to celebrate the forthcoming anniversary ”Fifty Years of European Philatelic Cooperation, 1956-2006”.
EUROPA 50th Anniversary
Value: DKK 26.50
50 stamps pr. sheet
Format: G - horizontal
Printing method: Offset
Paper: TR8 PVA.
Photo: John Rasmussen
Outside measurements: 39.52 x 28.84 mm
Norden – Postal Co-operation
Source: Frantz Wendt’s »Nordisk Råd 1952 – 1978«
(Nordic Council 1952 – 1978)
Common Post Office services were amongst the tasks which were already, in the 1840’s, on the most far-sighted Scandinavians’ ’wish list’. This hope was never fulfilled; but, gradually, a very far-reaching co-operation has been established among the Post Offices of the respective Nordic countries.
The first results could be noted as far back as 1869. That year bilateral agreements were concluded between Denmark, Norway and Sweden about the exchange of letters, postal orders, trade charges, parcels and newspaper subscriptions.
When the Universal Postal Union was founded in 1874, coming into force from 1st January 1875, the Danish representatives were, therefore, able to announce that an actual postal union already existed among the Nordic countries. The Universal Postal Convention actually sanctioned the right of the member countries of the World Postal Union to form smaller unions and make mutual agreements with the purpose of introducing lower postal rates or otherwise improving postal services among the countries. The Nordic countries have profited extensively by this authorisation.
At the suggestion of the members of the Nordic Union, the Post Offices of these five countries issued stamps with a common design (the Nordic Swans) on the occasion of the Nordic Day in 1956.
The Post Offices in Denmark, Norway and Sweden celebrated the 10th anniversary of the SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) in 1961 with the issue of a stamp featuring an aeroplane. Nordic stamps were issued in the original five countries in 1969 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the postal co-operation (featuring a Viking ship), in 1973 (the Nordic House in Reykjavik) and in 1977 (water-lilies, symbolising environmental co-operation).
Julie Edel Hardenberg
Julie Edel Hardenberg is one of the most interesting young Greenlandic artists.
She was born in Nuuk in 1971 and has an MA degree in Art Theory and Communication from the Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Her educational background also includes studies in Finland, Norway and England, and she already has an impressive curriculum of exhibitions, scenography and decorating projects, acknowledgements and honorary offices.
Also internationally, she has drawn attention to herself. Lately she was nominated as one of the 50 most promising photographers of the world and participated in a major exhibition »ReGeneration« at the Musee de l’Elysées, Lausanne, Switzerland, subsequently in Galleri Carla Sozzani in Milan, the Apertures Gallery in New York, and finally the autumn exhibition 2005 at Charlottenborg, Denmark.
Below Julie Hardenberg explains her stamp design:
My inspiration for the design of the stamp was drawn from the previously issued joint Norden stamp from 1956, which then featured five swans. I decided to use the snow bunting as an exponent of the common Nordic theme, as the bunting is a migratory bird and especially visible in northern regions. In this way, it also acts as a parallel to the earlier stamp featuring swans, as the bunting is also represented in all eight Nordic countries.
Norden 50 år
Valør: DKK 19,50
Format: B horizontal
50 stamps pr. sheet
Design: Julie Hardenberg
Printing method: Offset.
Paper: TR8 PVA
Outside measurements: 31,08 x 23,60 mm
100th Anniversary of the PARCEL POST stamp – 2nd part
While other countries can celebrate the 150th anniversary of the introduction of their first stamps these years, Greenland can celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first PARCEL POST stamp, which was not an actual stamp, but purely to be used for franking parcel post. This stamp constitutes a significant contribution in acknowledging the history of Greenland. This anniversary stamp is the second in the series of a total of three stamps.
Artist: Gerhard Heilmann.
100-års jubilæum - PAKKE-PORTO-mærker II
Valør: DKK 25,00
20 stamps pr. sheet
Format: E - horizontal
Printing method: Offset
Paper: TR8 PVA
Artist: Gerhard Heilmann
Layout: Morten Stürup
Measurements: 50.50 mm x 43.26 mm
Exclusive book: “PARCEL POSTAGE in Greenland 1905 – 2005"
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the PARCEL POST stamp, POST Greenland has issued an exclusive book. The book includes the first of a total of three stamps from the series “100 years PARCEL-POST-stamp”.
You can order a copy of the book “PARCEL POSTAGE in Greenland 1905 – 2005” on the following link:
http://www.stamps.gl/uk/Produkter/boeger
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