SWEDEN

EUROPA set 2021

SWEDEN

This cover from Sweden depict a joint issue with Finland issued in 2006, celebrating the Fortress of Suomenlinna. Suomenlinna (Finish), or Sveaborg (Swedish), is an inhabited sea fortress built on eight islands about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Suomenlinna is popular with tourists and locals who enjoy it as a picturesque picnic site. Originally named Sveaborg (Castle of the Swedes), or Viapori as referred to by Finnish-speaking Finns, it was renamed in Finnish to Suomenlinna (Castle of Finland) in 1918 for patriotic and nationalistic reasons, though it is still known by its original name in Sweden and by Swedish-speaking Finns. The Swedish crown commenced the construction of the fortress in 1748 as protection against Russian expansionism. The general responsibility for the fortification work was given to Augustin Ehrensvärd. The original plan of the bastion fortress was strongly influenced by the ideas of Vauban, the foremost military engineer of the time, and the principles of the star fort style of fortification, albeit adapted to a group of rocky islands. Famous for these bastion fortifications, Suomenlinna became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991.

SWEDEN

This cover from Sweden depicts 2 stamps of same type, issued in 2005, celebrating Skogskyrkogården. Skogskyrkogården, "The Woodland Cemetery", is a cemetery located south of central Stockholm, in Gamla Enskede district. It was designed by architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz on the site of former gravel pits overgrown with pine trees. It was built in 1917–1920, with additional buildings being added until 1940. Skogskyrkogården is a significant example of how architectural features can be wholly integrated into the environment and has had a profound influence on cemetery design in many countries worldwide. In 1994, Skogskyrkogården was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site and although it does not have the number of famous interments as the Norra begravningsplatsen, its much older counterpart in northern Stockholm, it is a major tourist attraction. At the Tallum Pavilion (a building designed originally by Asplund as staff facilities), visitors can see an exhibition about the cemetery and the story of its origins and the two architects whose vision created it.

SWEDEN

Europa Cept miniature sheet from 2017.

SWEDEN

This cover from Sweden depict 2 stamps of same type, issued in 2005, celebrating the Grimeton Radio Station. Grimeton Radio Station, in southern Sweden, close to Varberg in Halland, is an early longwave transatlantic wireless telegraphy station built in 1922–1924, that has been preserved as a historical site. From the 1920s through the 1940s it was used to transmit telegram traffic by Morse code to North America and other countries, and during World War II was Sweden's only telecommunication link with the rest of the world. It is the only remaining example of an early pre-electronic radio transmitter technology called an Alexanderson alternator. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004, with the statement: "Grimeton Radio Station, Varberg is an outstanding monument representing the process of development of communication technology in the period following the First World War." The radio station is also an anchor site for the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The transmitter is still in operational condition, and each year on a day called Alexanderson Day is started up and transmits brief Morse code test transmissions, which can be received all over Europe.

SWEDEN

This cover from Sweden depicts 6 stamps, including 4 of each type celebrating the "Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland. The farmhouses of Hälsingland are a cultural heritage and an example of traditional Swedish construction technique in the old farming society in Hälsingland. The magnificent dwelling houses of the farms have become symbols of the term Hälsingland farms, although the farm as a production unit, including out buildings and land, is what constitutes a Hälsingland farm. The Hälsingland farms reflect the rural construction techniques, using only wood, and are an expression of the popular architecture; the farmer’s way of building as it evolved according to the available means. To depict a general idea of the Hälsingland farm is difficult as they vary between parishes and periods of time. Still today, there are around one thousand farmhouses of Hälsingland preserved in the province. Some of them have been nominated to UNESCO list of World Heritage in 2012.

SWEDEN

SWEDEN

A nice cover from Sweden, depicting a complete Birds set on topic "Birds from the Baltic sea". This set is part of a joint issue with Latvia and Estonia issued in 1992 and there are 4 different bird species from Baltic sea: the Osprey (Pandíon halicetus), the Black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa), the common merganser (mergus merganser) and the common shelduck (tadorna tadorna).

SWEDEN