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Baltikum
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Baltikum e.V. (working group Baltic States)
The Collectors of Baltic Philately in Central Europe

Emerged from: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Estland e.V. + Forschungsgemeinschaft Lettland + Forschungsgemeinschaft Litauen e.V. + Nederlandse Filatelistengroep "Het Baltische Gebied"

Wir grüßen alle Freunde baltischer Philatelie! Greetings to The Friends of Baltic Philately! Groeten aan alle vrienden van de Baltische filatelie! Tervitused kõigile Balti filateelia sõpradele! Sveiciens visiem Baltijas filatēlijas draugiem! Sveikiname visus Baltijos filatelijos bičiulius!

Visit our virtual regulars' table!

Next date: Saturday October 7, 2023 at 17:00 h CET

Special topics:

None so far – feel free to present something from your collection!

Anyone with an interest in Baltic philately is welcome!

Technical info and access data here

Mare Balticum 2024 in Tartu / Estonia

Tartu will be the European Capital of Culture in 2024, with an abundance of events. That alone is worth the trip!

For philatelists, there is another special reason to visit Tartu: the International Stamp Exhibition MARE BALTICUM 2024.

Our member Olaf Hoffmann designed the logo on the right and 3 different daily postmarks for the 3 exhibition days.

The exhibition will be held at the Eesti Rahva Museum (Estonian National Museum). 500 frames are planned and the rules can be found on the website marebalticum.ee. Exhibit labels can be in English or German.

Country commissioners will be announced on the Mare Balticum website.


Guest at Schöneberg City Hall

Quiet atmosphere, lively visitors, cheerful mood – you could experience all this at the Berlin-Schöneberg Town Hall at the end of June, beginning of July. The exhibition focused on three themes at once::

75 Years of Currency Reform, 75 Years of the Airlift and 75 Years of Stamp Land Berlin.

The organisers, the Forschungsgemeinschaft Berlin, the International Aero Philatelic Club "Otto Lilienthal", the Berliner Ganzsachen-Sammler-Verein von 1901 and the Philatelic Association Northeast can look back on the three-day event with pride. The exhibits were just as convincing all round as the lectures.

The Baltic Working Group and the Israel Interest Group were guests in Berlin. Both showed with their information stands that the future lies in the cooperation of different associations. On their own, it would have been difficult to staff the stand continuously. A total of three active members from both associations – the treasurers Michael Haslau and Christoph Wendland as well as the author – managed the marathon together. We had stimulating conversations with visitors, representatives of the organising associations and, last but not least, with each other.

We look back with satisfaction on three successful days and can only recommend to everyone to take advantage of a similar opportunity to present their own work.


Baltic Philately successful at IBRA 2023

The International Stamp Exhibition 2023 (IBRA 2023) was a philatelic world exhibition under the patronage of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP), organised by a team of the Bund Deutscher Philatelisten (BDPh). In addition to a large trade fair with over a hundred dealers and postal societies, various special shows and lectures, it was also a worldwide philatelic competition.

Hall 7 with the competition frames

View of Hall 7 of Messe Essen with the competition frames

17 of a total of 809 exhibits revolved around the philately of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, i.e. about 2 % of all exhibits. The evaluation level was high, with a total of 64 times (8 %) Large–Gold and 196 times (24 %) Gold being awarded. The Baltic exhibits were honoured with 2 x Gold, 9 x Large–Vermeil, 4 x Vermeil and 2 x Large–Silver.

"But in Baltic philately", says Vesma Grinfelds (USA), "you have to say that Large-Vermeil actually means Gold for us, because we always get so few points for it thanks to the insignificance of the collecting area as seen worldwide!"

Class Description No. Name Country ArGe member Exhibit Points Award
3B Postal History: Europe 3B.19 Hannes Westendorf Luxembourg Postal History of Estonia during the Russian Period 93 Gold, Special Prize
    3B.20 Ants Linnard Estonia   Postage payment instruments as a reflection of Estonia's development in 1918–1940 75 Large–Silver
    3B.21 Jaan–Erik Roots Norway Estonia 1918 88 Large–Vermeil
    3B.22 Vygintas Bubnys Lithuania Lithuanian Post Office Network Development, 1918–1920 88 Large–Vermeil
    3B.23 Vesma Grinfelds USA Cancellations of the Provisional Era in Latvia: 1919–1921 86 Large–Vermeil
    3B.24 Oliver Hanschmidt Estonia Traveling Post Office cancels in Estonia 1918–1944 87 Large–Vermeil
7B Thematic Philately: Culture 7B.1 Kaido Andres Estonia   400 years of the University of Tartu (people and circumstances) 83 Vermeil
12 Picture Postcards 12.11 Indrek Ilomets Estonia   Academic fraternal organisations of University of Tartu on postcards until 1940 90 Gold
13A One Frame Exhibit: Traditional 13A.2 Audrius Brazdeikis Lithuania   The First Color Stamp of Lithuania - Raseiniai District Local Issue of 1919 85 Large–Vermeil
    13A.6 Villu Roosa Estonia   The Flower Design Issue 77 Large–Silber
15A Philatelic Literature (Monografs, Special Catalogs, Studies, published since 2018) 15A.18 Michael Bockisch Germany   Handbook and catalogue: The Pictorial Postcards of Eastern Europe 2018 88 Large–Vermeil
    15A.62 Antanas Jankauskas Lithuania   Falsifikatai Lietuvos Filatelijoje / Forgeries in Lithuanian Philately 88 Large–Vermeil
    15A.73 Aivar Kuuskvere Estonia   Eesti Postmargid ja Tervikasjad Kataloog 2021 (Stamp and Stationery Catalogue Estonia 2021) 80 Vermeil
15C General Catalogues (published since 2020) 15V.18 Martin Bechstedt & Bernhard 'Tony' Fels Germany The Daily Postmarks of the Independent Republic of Lithuania since 1990 – Handbook and Companion to the Internet Database (= Lithuania–Handbook of Philately and Postal History Part 5) 81 Vermeil
15D Periodicals (2 complete volumes, published since 2020) 15D.2 Arbeitsgemeinschaft Baltikum Germany BALTIKUM 78 Large–Silber
15F Digital Literature, websites and software as experimental class 15F.2 Arbeitsgemeinschaft Baltikum Germany www.arge-baltikum.de 85 Large–Vermeil
    15F.28 Bernhard 'Tony' Fels Germany Digital database of Lithuania and daily postmarks from 1994 – a forward-looking project 81 Vermeil