17th June 2023: Cover from Austria

Thank You very much Anita!

4th October 2022: Moomin FDC from Finland

Japan: Moomins

On 23rd January I got two postcards: one from Japan and one from Russia.

The card from Japan is another Moomin card.

Also this card was sent with a new Moomin stamp and the special postmark. You can find both cards also on my blog about Childhood Heroes on Stamps.

Thank You very much Makiko!

Japan: Moomin

On 21st January I got a postcard from Japan.

It is a Moomin card. 

On 15th January twenty new Moomin stamps were issued in Japan and one of them with a perfect matching First Day Special Postmark was used on this card.

Thank You very much Keiko!

Finland: The Memoirs of Moominpappa

Last Tuesday I got a postcard from Finland.

It shows the cover image of The Memoirs of Moominpappa by Tove Jansson. Originally published as The Exploits of Moominpappa in 1950 and then considerably revised in 1968 under the title Moominpappa's Memoirs, this is the fourth book in the Moomin series. Although I have never read any Moomin book, I like these little characters since I joined Postcrossing and I am always happy to get cards about them. 

Like I have already wrote here a few times, I recently sorted through all my stamps with childhood heroes and put them together in a new blog. At the end I also had a missing list of Moomin stamps: of the 45 Finnish Moomin stamps issued between 2007 and 2020 I had 31. Number 32 was used on this card. It is one of the six stamps issued on 9th May 2007 and shows Moominpappa. If you happen to have any Moomin stamps not shown here please post a comment. Maybe we can swap! An additional stamp was used on this card. It is from a set of six called Arktika and was issued on 9th May 2017.

Thank You very much Marita!

Some New Stamps in My Collection

These days incoming mail becomes really scarce and I am happy if there is at least one card a week. The reason however is not only the virus, but also because I did not do many swaps in the last weeks. To compensate this a bit I recently bought some stamps in the online stamp shop Postbeeld. This was already my third order there and once again I was very contented. Even in this difficult times my order arrived very quickly. Here I will just show a small selection. Go to my stamp blog to see all of them. 

This order now brought to my collection one of my favourite stamp sets ever in mint condition, the wonderful Simpsons stamps from the USA (issued 07-05-2009). When I began collecting stamps, I was already looking for them for my collection. Bart and Lisa I got years ago on a postcard, but the other three I was still missing. 

If you want to know more about these stamps you should check out the YouTube Channel Exploring Stamps (S2E7). I am actually following this channel since I first saw the video about the Simpsons.

I am still looking for Homer, Maggie and Marge used on a postcard. Can anybody help me?

After I already added the Hobbit stamps from New Zealand to my collection earlier this year, I now also have the three sets about the Lord of the Rings, which were issued between 2001 and 2003. Below you can see just two of the stamps with Galadriel and Gandalf. The rest of them you can see on my blog about Childhood Heroes on Stamps.

In fact many of them stamps I bought show childhood heroes. Just a few more of them you can see here.

But I did not only buy stamps about childhood heroes. I also bought some I want to show on my history blog later on.

New Moomin FDC

Last Wednesday I got the Moomin FDC I ordered online.

The sea plays a vital role in the Moomin universe, but Finland's sea, the Baltic Sea, is in fact one of the most polluted seas in the World. These new stamps are issued to promote the #oursea campaign, which was launched to save the Baltic Sea and celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first Moomin book. 

Actually Moomin stamps are issued by the Finnish Post just every other year, but after a set in 2019 this next one was already issued on 22nd January 2020. 

Finland: Moomins with New Moomin Stamp and Designer's Signature

Last Friday I got two postcards: one from Finland and one from Spain.

The card from Finland shows an illustration of the Moomins.

The card was signed by James Zambra, the son of Tove Jansson's niece and the designer of this year's Moomin stamps.
With a great matching stamp:
Moomins' Advice to a Good Life (from set of six) (issued 05-06-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark
Arktika (from set of six) (issued 09-05-2017)

Thank You very much Heli!

Some days after I got this card I also got the FDC of the Moomin stamps, which I had ordered online.

Japan: Moomintroll and Too-ticky

On Saturday I got four postcards: one from Japan, one from Austria and two from Germany.

The card from Japan shows Moomintroll and Too-ticky.

With a matching stamp:
Food (from set of two) (issued 01-11-2017)
Moomins (from set of twenty) (issued 01-05-2015)
with a special postmark about the opening of the Moominvalley Park

Thank You very much Tomoko!

Japan: New Year

On Wednesday I got two postcards: one from Japan and one from Germany.

The card from Japan is a reproduction of an old New Year's card

Stamp:
Moomin (from set of twenty) (issued 10-01-2018)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Keiko!

Finland: Virpi Pekkala

On Tuesday I got four postcards: one from Finland, one from Japan, one from Germany and one from China.

The card from Finland was designed by Virpi Pekkala for the Finnish Postcrossing Friends. Virpi Pekkala is a Finnish artist, who is especially known for her postcards.

Stamp:
Moomin (from set of six) (issued 06-05-2009)

Thank You very much Laura!

Finland: Moomin

On Wednesday I got three postcards: one from Finland, one from Germany and one from the USA.

The card from Finland is a great addition to my Moomin card collection.

With a matching stamp:
The Moomins Time Travel (from set of five) (issued 24-05-2017)

Thank You very much Sini!

Finland: Moomin

Yesterday I got two postcards: one from Finland and one from Germany.

The card from Finland is a shaped Moomin card.

Stamp:
Sound of Silence (from set of three) (issued 24-02-2017)

Thank You very much Mirva!

Finland: Centenary of Independence

In the course of this week I got four postcards from Finland.

One of them is the special postcard designed by Postallove for the Centenary of Finland's independence. Finland declared its independence from the Russia on 6th December 1917. Shortly after the independence was approved by Russia, the German Empire and the Scandinavian countries. A civil war, quarrels with the Soviet Union and the time of World War II followed, but Finland was able to develop a stable democratic and market-based system. In 1995 Finland joined the European Union and in 2002 it introduced the Euro. For the Centenary of Independence in 2017 many events are planned in Finland including the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships and the European Stamp Exhibition in Tampere.

With a great stamp:
The Moomins Time Travel (from set of five) (issued 24-05-2017)
with a special postmark of the Moomin Museum

Thank You very much Anu!

Germany: Lübeck

On Sunday and Monday I was in Lübeck.

Lübeck is the second largest city of the German State of Schleswig-Holstein. It was once the leading city of the Hanseatic League and is today still Germany's most important port on the Baltic Sea. Since 1987 is the Hanseatic City of Lübeck on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Niederegger is the most famous producer of Lübeck Marzipan. The company was founded in 1806 and now sells its products all over the World. The Café Niederegger in Lübeck's Old Town offers a shop for Niederegger sweets and a Marzipan Museum on its upper floors.

The Town Hall of Lübeck was built in the style of the Brick Gothic and became the model for other town halls in the Baltic Sea region. It was once the meeting place of the Hanseatic League.

The Holy Spirit Hospital was founded in the 13th century by rich merchants and is thus one of the oldest existing welfare institutions in the World. During the Reformation the abbey-like hospital was transformed into a usual retirement home.

Lübeck is known as City of the Seven Towers, because the seven towers of Lübeck's five main churches shape the city's skyline. The five main churches are the Lübeck Cathedral, the Church of Saint Aegidien, the Church of Saint Peter, Saint Mary's Church and the Church of Saint Jacob.

The Lübeck Cathedral was founded in 1173 by Henry the Lion. First built in the Romanesque style it was converted into a Gothic-style building between 1266 and 1335. During World War II the church was partly destroyed, but was rebuilt until 1982.

Während meines Aufenthaltes in Lübeck hatte ich leider keine Möglichkeit in die Aegidienkirche zu gehen. Falls mir jemand helfen kann, eine Karte dieser Kirche zu bekommen, würde ich mich sehr freuen. ^__^

The Church of Saint Peter was first mentioned in 1170 and in the 15th century it got its modern day appearance. It was badly damaged during World War II, but it was rebuilt until 1987 without restoring the interior. Today it is not used for services anymore.

Saint Mary's Church was built between 1277 and 1351. It is located on the highest point of Lübeck's Old Town and was used as the church of Lübeck's middle classes. The church is of enormous architectural significance, as it is considered to be the mother church of the Brick Gothic. It also has the highest brick vault in the World.

The Church of Saint Jacob was consecrated in 1334. It was the church of the fishermen and seamen and is a part of the Way of Saint James.

The Holsten Gate is one of only two preserved city gates of Lübeck's medieval city fortifications. It was built in the style of the Brick Gothic in 1464. Today is the Holsten Gate a symbol of Lübeck and houses a museum about Lübeck's history.

The Lübeck Museum of Theatre Puppets is a museum about the puppetry in Africa, Asia and Europe and developed from the private collection of Fritz Fey.

The cards I bought at the museum show Chinese Shadow Puppetry (an Intangible Heritage of the UNESCO), a puppet from Gabun, German marionettes, a shadow puppet from India, marionettes from Myanmar, puppets for the Turkish Karagöz (an Intangible Heritage of the UNESCO) and Moomins.

The Willy Brandt House was opened in 2007. It houses an exhibition about the life of Willy Brandt, the former Federal Chancellor and Nobel Prize Winner who was born in Lübeck.

The Buddenbrookhaus was the location of Thomas Mann's novel "Buddenbrooks". Today it houses a museum with two exhibitions, one about the Mann family and one about the novel.

The European Hansemuseum is the World's largest museum about the history of the Hanseatic League. The exhibition is divided between the new building and the historic Burgkloster. The museum was opened in 2015.