With its annual issues of stamps for St. Valentine’s Day, Norway Post has helped to encourage a fine tradition: writing love letters for St. Valentine’s Day, 14 February. 14 February has become a letter-writing day all over the world
Few other animals engage our emotions as strongly as the wolf does. Some people are afraid of their presence, while others are happy that wolves are still to be found in Norway. There are not many people who have experienced the excitement of encountering a wolf, but you can meet one now in the safe surroundings of a stamp.
There is every reason to celebrate the hundredth birthday of the federation that organises Norway’s national sport, and Norway Post is doing so in style with the issue of four new stamps. These stamps portray some of Norway’s many skiing activities, with fantastic glimpses of children and elite skiers.
The Dovre mountains have a place in Norway’s cultural history as a symbol of unity and identity. The area is an integral part of the myths about the origins of the Norwegian people and of its kings and earls and it features in the initiation of heroes and in medieval pilgrimages to Nidaros. “United and true until Dovre falls”, declared the members of Norway’s constituent assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814.
“A flagship for Norwegian architecture and engineering skill”, says Minister of Culture Trond Giske. “Grand, but also intimate”, says dancer Ingrid Lorentzen. Superlatives flow, and they are all true. The official opening was on 12 April 2008. The new opera house has been greeted with great enthusiasm.
Henrik Wergeland and Fredrik Stang
The mountains surrounding the Hjørundfjord in the county of Møre og Romsdal are called the Sunnmøre Alps. This is a favourite haunt of hikers and climbers. The peaks, as high as 1700 m above sea level, line both sides of the fjord.
The need for a vessel that could cut through the ice and break the winter isolation in Modalen in Hordaland led to a decision by the Inner Hordaland Steamship Association in 1906 to build a vessel with a powerful engine and a strong hull. S/S “Oster” was delivered in 1908.
A royal visit, a parade, performers, fantastic costumes and pulsating rhythms set the scene on 12 January when Stavanger launched its year as “European City of Culture”. This prestigious title is awarded by the EU and went to Stavanger and Liverpool this year. Bergen is the only other city in Norway to share this honour. The vision for Stavanger 2008 is “Open Port”. This is based on core values such as tolerance, freedom of speech, hospitality, accessibility, cultural heritage, innovation, environment, aesthetics and architecture.
A clock in Tienanmen Square has been counting down the hours, minutes and seconds until the opening
of the XXIXth Olympic
Summer Games in Beijing on 8 August. For 17 days the eyes of the world will be on China. Beijing is ready. It has been preparing
for the sports festival for several years, building fourteen new Olympic arenas and upgrading another thirty-six.
Many Norwegians have realised their dream of appearing on a stamp since Personalised Stamps were launched in 2006. Orders for these stamps have poured in and to date we have delivered about 1,000,000.
The title of “European City of Culture” for 2008 was awarded to Stavanger and Liverpool. The wide-ranging programme for Stavanger 2008 also includes the issue of three stamps.
Norwegian Art I
“I revolusjonens forgård” (In the Forecourt of the Revolution) by Arne Ekeland.
Christmas gnomes bring a true touch of tradition to this year’s Christmas stamps. Of course, this is not their first appearance in the Christmas mail.