Tromsø postal service issues local stamps

In conjunction with the Nansen-Amundsen Jubilee Year 2011, the district post office in Tromsø will issue four local stamps. The first set of two stamps, issues 10 June, features the vessel Polstjerna.
Picture of M/S PolstjernaSealing vessel M/S Polstjerna.  Photo: The Polar Museum Tromsø University Museum Picture of M/S PolstjernaSealing vessel M/S Polstjerna Photo: The Polar Museum Tromsø University Museum

The M/S Polstjerna (Pole Star) is Norway’s best preserved sealing vessel. She was built at Moens shipyard near Risør in the spring of 1949 and has spent 33 hunting seasons out in the ice. The ship is linked to Tromsø’s polar history and currently houses the exhibition «Snowhow. What polar heroes learned from Inuits, Saami, and Arctic seafarers».
 
The exhibition shows the background behind Nansen’s and Amundsen’s achievements in the polar regions and challenges the observer to reflect on how much of the Norwegian polar knowhow (snowhow) relied on the expertise of indigenous Arctic peoples and the polar seafaring traditions of North Norway.
 
The stamps have been designed in collaboration between the Arctic Association, the Polar Museum, and Tromsø University Museum, and go on sale 10 June 2011. The print run is 1000. The stamps can be purchased at Tromsø post office, the Polar Museum and on M/S Polstjerna.
 
On 14 December 2011 – the hundredth anniversary of Roald Amundsen’s conquest of the South Pole – two more stamps are being issued. These will feature Helmer Hanssen, who participated in Amundsen’s expedition to the pole.