Following presentations by participants on some of their new acquisitions, Thomas Löbbering reported on the meeting of European Estonia examiners in Finland, which included a number of internal presentations aimed at mutual professional development.

Jaan Roots announced there that he would be publishing a longer article on Estonian postal links with Europe in 1918–1919:

On December 12, 1918, two trains collided on the broad-gauge railway line between Tallinn and Tartu; shortly afterwards, rebels blew up a bridge. This cut off rail links from Tallinn to the south.

Post from places north of the disruption was transported to Germany by sea via the Finland– Sweden route – after lying in storage for up to several weeks in some cases.

South of the break, it was transferred via Walk/Valga to the Upper-East Administration, which operated until December 26, 1918 (closure of the Riga post office) and thereafter until January 2, 1919. After January 2, 1919, the post was stored in Tartu until the end of the Soviet occupation; it was then taken over by the Estonian Post Office. However, as civil war was raging in Latvia, also this post was initially routed via Finland and Sweden to Europe.

We can't wait to hear the details!

Michael Wienecke presented a number of items from Estonia that were carried on the Zeppelin trip to the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. This was a triangular journey: Germany – South America – North America – Germany, as illustrated by the well-known triangular postmark. Only around 10 to 15 feed-in documents from Estonia relating to this Chicago journey are known to exist.

The document shown here is a registered postcard dated 9 X 33, sent by airmail via Berlin C on October 12, 1933 to Friedrichshafen and from there forwarded via the aforementioned route to Chicago – arriving on October 26, 1933.

As no specific Zeppelin postal charges had been defined prior to May 1, 1934, such items were usually franked as airmail, as is the case here: 12 senti for the international postcard, 20 senti for the registered post fee and 60 senti for the Zeppelin charge on postcards = 92 senti in total.

Our monthly video chat, where anyone with an interest in Baltic philately is welcome, takes place on every first Saturday of the month at 17 h CET more technical information on this here).

Next date: September 5, 2026

Special theme: none so far

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At the ArGe Baltikum stand, we were asked many questions about Baltic philately, particularly regarding the postal history of Russian rule over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We handed out a few copies of our magazine BALTIKUM and hope that these contacts will endure. Of course, we also caught up with one or two old acquaintances.

Michael Haslau, Olaf Hoffmann and Torsten Berndt manned the stand over the three days. Thanks to the strong team, everyone was also able to visit the exhibition and browse the traders' stalls. We were even able to offer support to other clubs. The three days in Bernau were well worth it.

← Torsten talks to Wolfgang Maassen

Olaf and Torsten are available to answer enquiries →

↓ A view inside the exhibition hall

BALTIKUM 21 has been printed and is being distributed to members.

Thomas Löbbering’s article on the beginnings of civil aviation in Estonia was published in the commemorative volume marking "50 Years of ArGe Luftpost".

Friedhelm Doell presented documents of incoming mail to displaced persons from 1945 to 1949.

Olaf Hoffmann also presented a number of new acquisitions, this time from Latvia:

Although there are Latvian stamps from the Soviet era which, following the Soviet rouble’s devaluation, were later reissued in Latvian roubles or lats with the same face value, but (due to the different currency unit) a significantly higher value, the Latvian postal stationery shown here, denominated in the invalid Soviet rouble currency, is merely a used envelope bearing a commemorative postmark dated October 21, 1991.

Jaan Roots presented a number of examples from his multiple gold-award-winning Estonian collection, with which he had just won the Grand Prix International at NORDIA 2026. The collection features rarities that are unique worldwide; shown here is a telegraphic money order sent within Estonia.

The document shows a telegraphic money order for 7,000 marka from Narva, dated October 6, 2026, to Tartu.

The fee for the money transfer was 10 Marka as a basic charge plus 35 Marka for the transfer amount of 7,000 Marka; for the telegram, a basic charge of 40 Marka plus 60 Marka (red handwritten note); and for home delivery (blue handwritten note) 42 Marka, totalling 187 Marka.

Thomas Löbbering also reported that Ahto Tanner is working on a book about the Otepää overprints, which may be published not only in Estonian but also in English, which is likely to attract considerable interest here.

Our monthly video chat, where anyone with an interest in Baltic philately is welcome, takes place on every first Saturday of the month at 17 h CET more technical information on this here).

Next date: August 1, 2026

Special theme: none so far

Join the Zoom meeting with:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85338222428?pwd=WGpZRXJTZVpnSnB6eHg4Ukx2aFVHdz09