Thursday, March 29, 2018

Slovakia: EUROPA - "Castles"

The stamp for the 2017 EUROPA Series of Slovakia depicting the Lietava castle in Northern Slovakia. The castle was built after 1241, most likely as an administrative and military centre. In the 16th century when the Thurzó family gained it, it was reconstructed and fortified, and given its own military garrison. After the death of Imre Thurzó in 1621, it was divided between his heirs. After the ownership disputes in 1641, they lost interest in it. The castle report in 1698 said that the castle was uninhabited and there was only an archive, which was moved to the Orava Castle (Hungarian: Árva) in the 1760s. After that, the castle was abandoned and not used any more. Today the castle is in the hands of the non-profit organisation Združenie na záchranu Lietavského hradu, which takes care of the castle and oversees it's conservation.

As you can see by the postmark on the left, this cover was sent during the International Stamp Fair in Sindelfingen 2017.


Stamp:
EUROPA - Castles - Issued: 05-05-2017

Monday, March 19, 2018

Germany: The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation - Joint Issue with Brazil

October 31, 2017 was the date of the 500th anniversary of the so-called "Reformation". On this date back in 1517, Martin Luther (1483-1546) pinned his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church, which brought a series of reforms not only within the Christian religion, but also in all areas of life. Because of this special Occasion the German and the Brazilian Post jointly issued a stamp showing Martin Luther. I'm happy to receive not only the german stamp but also the brazilian one.  

German Version:



- with special First-Day of Issue Postmark


Stamp:
The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation - Issued: 13-04-2017

Brazilian Version:


Stamp:
The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation - Issued: 13-04-2017


Many thanks to Helio for sending me this nice Cover!


On this card you can see an Illustration of Martin Luther pinned his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. The stamp on this card commemorates the the so-called "Luther-Bible".



Stamp:
Luther-Bible - Issued: 02-01-2017


Tuesday, March 06, 2018

Turkey: Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar - 2015 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry

Aziz Sancar (born 8 September 1946) is a Turkish-American biochemist and molecular biologist specializing in DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoints, and circadian clock. In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Tomas Lindahl and Paul L. Modrich for their mechanistic studies of DNA repair. He has made contributions on photolyase and nucleotide excision repair in bacteria that have changed his field.  Sancar is currently the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.


Stamps:
Aziz Sancar - 2015 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry - Issued: 10-12-2015


Many thanks to Baris for this nice Cover!