Theme : Esperanto 12

In april 1945, while Europe was still under the destructive influence of the second world war, a peace loving, universal congress took place at the other side of the world, in Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro, hosted the 10th Brazilian Esperanto congress, from April 14 till April 22.
On the occasion of this event, two stamps were issued, a 40 cent green stamp and a brown 1.20 cruzeiros stamp for airmail.

Brazil 1945 - 1.20  Cr. and 40 cent

This letter sent to an address in Brazil, didn't need the extra rate for air mail, but the value was good to send the letter by express service.

Express sending cancel

Letters sent by esperantists often show some extra labels, stickers, or even drawings of topic-related items.
For this 10th Brazilian congress, a rubber stamp printing was used, depicting L.L. Zamenhof 

rubber stamp cancel 'Zamenhof'

Often are those extra decorations in green, as shown above. The cover in my collection has the same decoration twice, once in green, once in the uncommon colour red.

The text, surrounding the image of L.L. Zamenhof says : "Rio de Janeiro - Brazil - 10th Brazilian Congress of esperantists - April 1945"

The back of the cover shows another cancel, from the day of arrival, April 17, 1945.
The cover was sent on the 1st day of issue of the two stamps. Most likely, a special post office was in office during the Esperanto congress.

1st day cover 16 april 1945 Brazil

to be continued ...

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 01 k

After the Giant Panda issue, and the various round stamps depicting Thailands regions, this is the third round emission of this South Asian country.

In 2017, Thailand issued a set of 4 individual round stamps, celebrating the 120th anniversary of the State Railway of Thailand.

4 round stamps of Thailand 2017

The set came in sheetlets of 10 identical stamps (4 sheetlets) and in a souvenir sheet with al 4 stamps.
Also a souvenir sheet with the 4 stamps, was issued.

The border of the square part around each stamp, is different in the individual and the sheetlet' issue.

Souvenir sheet 2017 State Railway of Thailand

In 1890, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) ordered the construction of a railway that would connect Krung Thep (Bangkok) with Nakhon Ratchasima - now the 5th largest city in Thailand.
6 years later, the first part was inaugurated and connected Bangkok with the old captial of Ayutthaya.
This 71 km long distance allowed the public to travel by train for the first time.
March 26 (1896) is considered as the establishment day of Thailand State Railways.

The stamps were issued in 2017 - after the 120th year was accomplished.

Krung Thep (Bangkok) and Nakhon Ratchasima.
Ayutthaya is north of Bangkok
picture from Google Maps

 

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 01 j

It has been a while since I posted some round stamps.

Round stamps are not an exception anymore, but still the shape is special.
It will not easily fit in standard albums, with individual holders and in classic albums, it tend to roll away.

Today I present a special set of stamps, that were issued in 2005.
Two round stamps depict the two Giant Pandas Chuang Chuang (male) and Lin Hui (female) from the People's Republic of China. Both pandas are ambassadors of friendship in the so-called Panda-Diplomacy of the P.R.China.

A panda showing his tongue,
and a panda eating bamboo

 

They are residents of the Chiang Mai Zoo since October 2003. The pandas are on 'loan' from the Zoo of Chengdu and will help to learn Thai about wildlife conservation.
Both pandas were supposed to return in 2023, but unfortunately, on September 19, 2019, Chuang Chuang passed away, aged 19.

The sudden death of the Giant Panda, has put some stress on the diplomatic relations between both countries, as millions of people in China (P.R.) questioned the cause of death of the male bear.
Chinese experts arrived later on to investigate the case.

Apart from the two individual stamps, also a souvenir sheet was issued.

2005 Thailand Giant Panda sheet

 

This issue was the first round emission in Thailand, followed by the emblems of the different regions in 2007 (see previous posts)

0-euro notes : 1 g. Dinant : Adolphe Sax

Where in my previous post, I talked about the most famous building in Dinant (Belgium), today I present its most famous inhabitant, Adolphe Sax (1814-1894).
Sax already appeared on a 200 belgian franc note in 1994 :
http://rainbowstampsandcoins.blogspot.com/2021/01/belgian-notes-pre-euro-01b-series-1994.html

Adolphe Sax and the saxophone (2019)

 

To honour Adolphe Sax, a 0-euro note with his image, and of course a saxophone, was issued in 2019.
Entering the city from train station, will lead to the Charles de Gaulle bridge.
The bridge was destroyed on 12 May 1940, to prevent field marshal Rommel taking the city.
The city was eventually liberated by the American forces on September 7, 1944.
Now, you can find several saxophones along both sides of the bridge.

Ch. de Gaulle bridge with saxophones

Each saxophone is representing an allied country . Some saxophones are not on the bridge but can be found in the city.

My dog overlooking Dinant city

0-euro notes with Adolphe Sax, can be bought in the souvenir shop nex to the main church.
There you also find the longest stairways of Belgium, 408 steps bring you to the citadel, 150 m higher.
You can take the cable car next to it too, or another option is to walk through the woods, starting at the open air theater in Dinant.

Open air theater, Dinant

0-euro notes : 1 f. Belgium : Dinant Citadelle

For the next 0-euro note, I take you to the south of Belgium.

Along the Meuse (Maas) river  serveral cities have fortified sites overlooking the city.
These fortifications are called 'citadels'. The word is derived from the diminutive of the italian word for city : 'citta'. This 'cittadella' is a smal city in the city, strongly fortified to protect the city often from a higher point.

Dinant in Belgium (French speaking part)

Along the Meuse river alone, Huy, Namur, Liège and Dinant have similar citadels.

Citadel of Dinant, seen from the river bank

The first time the citadel is mentioned, is in 1051, when Dinant is ruled by the prince-bishop of Liège, within the Holy Roman Empire.

Later on, when the region came under French and later Dutch influence, the citadel was modernised and its current structure dates from 1815.

In 2016, a 0-euro note was issued, depicting the citadel together with the church in front.
Also a soldier refers to the role Dinant has played in both first as second world war.
 

Charles de Gaulle, lieutenant in the French army in 1914, attempts to liberate the city of Dinant on August 15. He gets injured while crossing the bridge with his troops.
One week later, on August 23, 1914, German troups execute 674 people in various places in the city, and by the end of the day, fire was set to the buildings in the city, destroying 1100 houses and buildings

0-euro note 'Citadelle de Dinant'

The bridge connecting both sides of the city is named after Charles de Gaulle.