Following a brief update on Philatelia Munich (see separate article), Olaf Hoffmann spoke about his visit to the FIP World Exhibition, which took place in Dubai from February 4–8, 2026.

Entrance to the exhibition hall with an attractive frontage

As the author of a gourmet blog, Olaf naturally couldn’t resist visiting a few top-class restaurants; here at "The Link", run by Madame Le Pic, with breathtaking views of Dubai’s skyline (in the background on the left is the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building)

Following Ruud van Wijnen’s article in BALTIKUM No. 20 on value letters from Latvia, a number of members rummaged through their collections for similar items.

Simon Schütt found this cover, which was actually sent on April 23, 1919, from Talsi in Latvia to Jena in Germany.

Front

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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: Easter Saturday, April 4, 2026

Special theme: none so far

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Some trade fairs still attract large audiences. Philatelia Munich proved this on its opening day. Visitor numbers only began to decline slightly around 3 p.m., which is normal. While this success could not be repeated on Sunday, professional philatelists' reactions indicate that Philatelia performed above average. The organisers of the APHV, led by Wolfgang Lang and Stefan Lutter, deserve credit for this.

The exhibition team from our working group had some interesting conversations with visitors and colleagues from other groups. Considering the size of countries with populations similar to those of Munich, Hamburg and Berlin, it is astonishing how many philatelists have an interest in the Baltic states. We sold the last copy of the railway post book presented by Oliver Hanschmidt, as well as some of the remaining stock of stamps ordered privately for the association's anniversary. Our exhibition team this time consisted of Friedhelm Doell, Reinhard Heinrich, Olaf Hoffmann, Thomas Löbbering and Torsten Berndt.

We also exchanged ideas among ourselves and strengthened our connections, particularly with active collectors in the Munich area. We also spoke with representatives of the trade press, as well as professional philatelists whose offerings provided all participants with one or two gems for their collections. Visiting trade fairs, especially Philatelia Munich, is always worthwhile.

Addition to the image on the right: This special catalogue from the Köhler auction house presents the "Mare Baltikum" collection, which will soon be put up for sale. We sent it to ArGe members who had requested it to supplement their literature collection.

Friedhelm Doell and Olaf Hoffmann posed for the photographer on behalf of the exhibition team.

The articles about value letters from Estonia and Latvia in BALTIKUM No. 20 / 2025 encouraged Michael Wieneke to look for value letters from Lithuania in his collections. And lo and behold, he found what he was looking for:

Here is an example: Registered letter from September 1939 to the Netherlands, weight 17 g, value: 7,500 litas = 3,750 gold francs.

The letter is franked with 14.45 litas. For a letter in the first weight category, the postage is 0.60 litas for the letter + 0.60 litas for registered mail. For the insured value of 7,500 litas, the insurance fee and any postage costs for the sealing wax and sealing cannot be verified due to a lack of reference information.

The website of the late fellow collector Sijtze Reurich from the Netherlands is offline; ArGe Baltikum will endeavour to obtain the information on postage rates collected there.

To continue Wolfgang Strobel's stamp numbering system for displaced persons mail from the British Zone, Friedhelm Doell was recommended to define his own numbering system (with reference to Strobel's numbering system).

Olaf Hoffmann showed some special new acquisitions, including West Army overprints and documents relating to the German occupation of Latvia during the Second World War. A postal stationery item with 1,000 kopecks = 10 handstamp value impressions of 100 roubles each, unfortunately forged to the detriment of the postal service, but genuinely sent (see the OCR code, the yellow KB and the pink A9 on the reverse), dated January 19, 1991, for an international letter to the USA, shows the rapidly rising postal charges in Latvia after regaining independence and before the introduction of its own currency.

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

Next date: exceptionally postponed to the second Saturday of the month, March 14, 2025 at 17 h CET, due to Philatelia Munich.

Special theme: among other things, Olaf Hoffmann will report on the World Stamp Show in Dubai (February 4–6, 2026).

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