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

As well as showcasing a number of new acquisitions, this time there was a discussion on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in philately and other fields.

Attention was drawn to the free software Perplexity (available for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS), which simply gathers information from websites and provides links to them, allowing users to explore the sources found in greater depth.

In the Lithuanian town of Rokiškis, there are black and green postmark cancellations (see the 49th video chat in the news archive) from what appear to be different postmarking machines.

There does not appear to be any UPU ban on the use of different postmarking devices bearing the same distinguishing letter; if there is, it must be a matter of national regulations. Such regulations do not seem to exist in Lithuania in the same form as they do in Germany.

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: July 4, 2026

Special theme: none so far

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