Sweden: Return-to-Sender from Kiruna

This one was an experiment I made, because I wanted to check if it works. I set up this cover myself and send it "Poste Restante" to Kiruna in northern Sweden. Kiruna is the northernmost town in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland. It had 18,148 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,099 in 2008) in Norrbotten County. Due to Kiruna's position north of the Arctic Circle the city experiences both midnight sun and polar night throughout the year as well as a very cold climate by Scandinavian standards. I send the cover from Bielefeld, Germany on March, 23th and it came back on May, 28th 2016.

Stamps:
Comics "Asterix" (from a set of three) - Issued: 01-09-2015


Kiruna: ♁ 67°51′N 0 20°13′ E

Switzerland: EUROPA - "Think Green"

I'm happy to receive another cover with the EUROPA Stamp of 2016. This time it comes from Switzerland. Swiss Post issued also two different stamps. One shows the common design and on the other you can see a thinking head. The stamps are designed to increase awareness about environmental topics, bringing with them an underlying wake-up call.

Stamps:
EUROPA - "Think Green" (whole Set) - Issued: 12-05-2016


Many thanks to Hansjürg for this great FDC!

Greenland: Upernavik

Some days ago, I received another card from Greenland. This time from Upernavik. Upernavik (Kalaallisut: "Springtime Place") is a small town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on a small island of the same name. With 1,181 inhabitants as of 2013, it is the twelfth-largest town in Greenland. It is also the northern-most town in Greenland with a population of over 1,000.

Stamps:
Aviation (from a set of three) - Issued: 13-05-2015
2x Queen Margrethe II - Issued: 13-05-2015
Queen Margrethe II - Issued: 22-10-2012


♁ 72° 47′ N,  56° 9′ W

USA: Maryland Map-Card

Maryland is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east. The state's largest city is Baltimore, and its capital is Annapolis. Among its occasional nicknames are Old Line State, the Free State, and the Chesapeake Bay State. The state is named after Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles I of England and mother of Charles II and James II. Maryland is one of the smallest states in terms of area, as well as one of the most densely populated, with around 6 million residents. With its close proximity to the nation's capital, and a highly diversified economy spanning manufacturing, services, and biotechnology, Maryland has the highest median household income of any state.

Stamps (from left to right):
Legends of Hollywood - James Cagney - Issued: 22-07-1999
Legends of Hollywood - Shirley Temple - Issued: 18-04-2016
Legends of Hollywood - Cary Grant - Issued: 15-10-2002


Many thanks to Eric for this nice card and the nice stamps!

Canada: Year of the Monkey International Rate Souvenir Sheet + Toronto Card

Some weeks ago I received this nice cover. On the cover you can see a nice Souvenir Sheet of the Year of the Monkey Issue. Besides the Domestic rate stamp I now have the international rate stamp, too. Inside the cover I also found a nice card of Toronto. On the card you can see the "CN Tower". It is a 553.33 m-high (1,815.4 ft) concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976, becoming the world's tallest free-standing structure and world's tallest tower at the time. It held both records for 34 years until the completion of Burj Khalifa and Canton Tower in 2010.

Too bad, there is no cancellation on the stamp.

Stamp:
Year of Monkey Souvenir Sheet International Rate - Issued: 01-02-2016


Many thanks to Karen for this nice cover!

Estonia: EUROPA - "Think Green"

Today I received another cover with the 2016 EUROPA Stamps of Estonia on it. As you can see, besides the common design, Estonian Post issued an own second stamp. You can see it on the left. I really like it, too.

Stamps:
EUROPA - "Think Green" (whole Set) - Issued: 09-05-2016


Many thanks to Janne for this nice cover!

Ireland: Greetings Card

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, in the northeast of the island. In 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million. Its capital and largest city is Dublin.

Stamp:
ATM "Centenary of the Easter Rising" (from a set of 16) - Issued: 21-01-2016


Thanks to Ramona for this nice card!

Germany: Postcrossing Meet-Up Lake Constance

I'm very happy to receive this nice card from the Postcrossing Meet-Up at Lake Constance. It took place on 7th and 8th May 2016. On the card you can see different views at Lake Constance like Lindau or Meersburg (top row).

Stamp:
Flowers "Convallaria majalis" - Issued: 06-05-2015


Special Thanks to Becky for sending me this great card!

Germany: Moehne Reservoir (Möhnesee)

The Moehne Reservoir is an artificial lake in North Rhine-Westphalia, some 45 km east of Dortmund, Germany. The lake is formed by the damming of two rivers, Möhne and Heve, and with its four basins stores as much as 135 million cubic metres of water. The dam was built between 1908 and 1913 to help control floods, regulate water levels on the Ruhr river downstream, and generate hydropower. Today, the lake is also a tourist attraction. During WWII the dam was breached by RAF Lancaster Bombers (“The Dambusters”) during Operation Chastise on the night of 16–17 May 1943, together with the Edersee dam in northern Hesse. Bouncing bombs had been constructed which were able to skip over the protective nets that hung in the water. A huge hole of 77 m by 22 m was blown into the dam.

With matching stamp:

Stamp:
The 100th Anniversary of the Möhnetalsperre Dam - Issued: 04-04-2013

Ukraine: EUROPA - "Think Green" Official First Day Cover

Some days ago I received another cover of the 2016 EUROPA Stamps. This time it comes from the Ukraine. This is actually just a First Day Cover but it was not cancelled on the First day. This was posted in Lviv, you can check a card from there here. Too bad the cancellation is also not clear.

Stamp:
EUROPA - "Think Green" - Issued: 15-04-2016


Many thanks Roman for this nice Cover!

Germany: Hans-Dietrich Genscher (1927 - 2016)

Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor from 1974 to 1992 (except for a two-week break in 1982), making him the longest-serving occupant of either post. In 1991 he was chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). He is widely regarded as a principal "architect of German Reunification." In 1991, he played a pivotal role in the breakup of Yugoslavia by successfully pushing for international recognition of Croatia, Slovenia and other republics declaring independence, in an effort to halt "a trend towards a Greater Serbia.

Genscher died at his home outside Bonn in Wachtberg on 31 March 2016 from heart failure, one week and three days after his 89th birthday.

Stamps (left to right):
Numeral Stamp - Issued: 05-12-2013
Numeral Stamp - Issued: 03-12-2015
Mourning Stamp - Issued: 05-12-2013 with special postmark commemorating his day of death

Lithuania: Klaipėda

Klaipėda, historically also known as Memel, is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County. The city has a complex recorded history, partially due to the combined regional importance of the usually ice-free Port of Klaipėda at the mouth of the Akmena-Danė River. The population shrank from 207,100 in 1992 to 157,350 in 2014. Besides others, the city is twinned with Mannheim, Germany.

Stamp:
Traditional Crafts in Lithuania - Issued: 07-11-2015


Many thanks to Raimonda for this card!

Ukraine: The 400th Anniversary of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) (Ukrainian: Національний університет) is a national, coeducational research university located in Kiev, Ukraine. The Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the school's predecessor, was established in 1615. The NaUKMA is located on the Academy's grounds in the ancient Podil neighborhood. In 1991, it was re-organized, and teaching began the following year. NaUKMA has the highest level of accreditation as outlined by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and is one of the thirteen educational institutions in Ukraine having a status of a research and autonomous university. With around 3000 students, NaUKMA is one of the smallest universities in Ukraine. Alumni of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy played a formative role in the intellectual and church life of Ukraine and Russia in 17th and 18th centuries.Among the most notable alumni were hetman Ivan Mazepa and philosopher Hryhori Skovoroda.

Stamp:

The 400th Anniversary of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy - Issued: 18-09-2015 with special first day of Issued postmark

Many thanks to Brane who send this nice Maxicard from Serbia.

France: UEFA EURO 2016 Stamp

Today I received a nice cover with a stamp I was looking for. The 2016 UEFA European Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 or simply Euro 2016, will be the 15th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organized by UEFA. It is scheduled to be held in France from 10 June to 10 July 2016. For the first time, the European Championship final tournament will be contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format used since 1996. Spain are two-time defending champions.

Stamp:
UEFA European Football Championship 2016 (France) - Issued: 25-03-2016 with special cancellation from Le Carré d'encre


Thanks to Roland for this nice cover!

Switzerland: Rhine Falls

The Rhine Falls (german: Rheinfall) is the largest plain waterfall in Europe. The falls are located on the High Rhine between the municipalities of Neuhausen am Rheinfall and Laufen-Uhwiesen, near the town of Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland, between the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zürich. They are 150 m (450 ft) wide and 23 m (75 ft) high. In the winter months, the average water flow is 250 m³/s, while in the summer, the average water flow is 700 m³/s. The highest flow ever measured was 1,250 m³/s in 1965; and the lowest, 95 m³/s in 1921.

Stamps:

Rhine Falls (whole set) - Issued: 05-03-2015 with matching postmark

Many thanks to Hansjürg for sending me these nice stamps!

Thailand: Greetings from...

Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country at the centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Myanmar. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. The capital city is Bangkok.

Stamp:
The 48th Anniversary of ASEAN - Joint Community Issue - Issued: 08-08-2015


Many thanks to Akira for the great card and the special postmarks!

Portugal: Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital and the largest city of Portugal, with a population of 552,700. It is continental Europe's westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean and the River Tagus. The westernmost areas of its metro area is the westernmost point of Continental Europe. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, and the oldest in Western Europe, predating other modern European capitals such as London, Paris and Rome by centuries.

,

Stamp:

Extreme Sports (from a set of three) - Issued: 12-02-2015

Thanks to Vanessa for this nice card!

Germany: The 125th Anniversary of the Birth of Nelly Sachs

Born as Leonie Sachs (10 December 1891 – 12 May 1970) Nelly Sachs was a Jewish German poet and playwright whose experiences resulting from the rise of the Nazis in World War II Europe transformed her into a poignant spokeswoman for the grief and yearnings of her fellow Jews. With Shmuel Yosef Agnon, she was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Stamps:
2x The 125th Anniversary of the Birth of Nelly Sachs - Issued: 07-04-2016 with special first day of Issue postmark

USA: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX) is the largest and busiest airport in the Greater Los Angeles Area and the state of California, and it is one of the most important international airports in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually. In 2015, LAX handled 74,936,256 passengers, an increase of 6 percent from the previous year, making it the seventh busiest airport by passenger traffic in the world. As the largest international airport on the U.S. West Coast, LAX is a major gateway to and from Europe, Latin America, Asia and Oceania. With its deep connections to Asia and Latin America in particular, LAX is considered to be the premier "Gateway to the Pacific Rim."

Stamps (from the left):
American Design - American Clock - Issued: 24-01-2003
American Toleware Definitve - Issued: 25-06-2004
Patriotic Waves - Issued: 12-01-2015


Many thanks to Shanna for this card!

Poland: National Stadium, Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, about 260 kilometres (160 mi) from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.740 million within a greater metropolitan area of 2.666 million residents, which makes Warsaw the 9th most-populous capital city in the European Union. Besides others, Warsaw is twinned with Berlin and St. Petersburg.

On the card you can see the National Stadium located in Warsaw. It is used mostly for football matches and it is the home stadium of Poland national football team. The stadium has a seating capacity of 58,145 which makes it the largest association football arena in Poland. Its construction started in 2008 and finished in November 2011.

Stamps (left to right):
2x Poland - Winner of the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championships (from a set of 16) - Issued: 18-10-2014
Contemporary Aircraft in Poland (from a set of two) - Issued: 31-03-2008


Thanks to Aleksandra for this card!

Liechtenstein: EUROPA - "Think Green" Official First Day Cover

Europa stamps are special stamps issued by European postal administrations/ enterprises under the aegis of PostEurop in which Europe is the central theme. EUROPA stamps underlines cooperation in the posts domain, taking into account promotion of philately. They also build awareness of the common roots, culture and history of Europe and its common goals. As such, EUROPA stamp issues are among the most collected and most popular stamps in the world. Since the first issue in 1956, EUROPA stamps have been a tangible symbol of Europe’s desire for closer integration and cooperation and in 1993, PostEurop became responsible for issuing EUROPA stamps. Over the years, EUROPA stamp has gained more interest within the Postal community as well as with philatelist, and reflects the engagement from the members in diligently participating in the competition.

This year EUROPA Stamps is celebrating its 60th Anniversary with a common design: Ecology in Europe - "Think Green". I ordered this official FDC and the stamps from the Liechtenstein Post Shop.

Stamps:
EUROPA - "Think Green" (whole set) - Issued: 07-03-2016 with special first day of Issue Postmark

Switzerland: 75 Years of the Swiss Merchant Fleet

Switzerland as a seafaring country maybe sounds strange, but this landlocked country is on the high seas. Swiss merchant ships are operated not by the Swiss Confederation, but by private shipowners. They remain under the protection of Switzerland, whose flag they fly. In return, the government is entitled to commandeer the ships at times of crisis or emergency to ensure the country’s economic needs are met. Thus the flag is motivated not by competition or prestige; rather, Switzerland owes its flag solely to the desire to ensure economic supplies for the nation at times of crisis or in emergencies.

Stamp:
75 Years of the Swiss Merchant Fleet "Lausanne" (from a set of four) - Issued: 03-03-2016

Stamp:
left: 75 Years of the Swiss Merchant Fleet "Lavaux" (from a set of four) - Issued: 03-03-2016
right: 75 Years of the Swiss Merchant Fleet "Lugano" (from a set of four) - Issued: 03-03-2016

UPDATE: 07-07-2016

Today I received the the missing stamp from this series on a cover.

Stamp:
75 Years of the Swiss Merchant Fleet "Stockhorn" (from a set of four) - Issued: 03-03-2016


Many thanks to Hansjürg for these great covers!

Germany: The 500th Anniversary of the German Beer Purity Law

The Reinheitsgebot ( literally "purity order"), sometimes called the "German Beer Purity Law" in English, is the collective name for a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany and its predecessor states. The most well-known version of the law was adopted in Bavaria in 1516, but similar regulations predate the Bavarian order, and modern regulations also significantly differ from the 1516 Bavarian version.

Stamp:
The 500th Anniversary of the German Beer Purity Law - Issued: 07-04-2016 with special first day of issue postmark