Aland:SEPAC - Historical Maps

On 25 March 2021, Åland Post issued a stamp in the 2021 SEPAC Series on the theme Historical Maps issued by the Small European Postal Administrations.

The Åland contribution shows a Nautical Chart from 1747 of Rödhamn, a group of islets located off Mariehamn, close to a major waterway. For centuries, Rödhamn has served as a sheltered harbour for seafarers.

Issue Description
Located by the Åland Sea, approx. 10 nautical miles off Mariehamn, Rödhamn is familiar to all seafarers who have used the waterways between Finland and Sweden. Protected from all types of weather and with a muddy sea bottom for good anchoring, it has, for centuries, been a safe harbour for galleasses, sloops, yachts, Swedish warships, and Russian galleys before crossing the open sea.

Today, pleasure crafts jostle in the harbour. Rödhamn is the name of the harbour but, today, defines the entire group of islets consisting of Långö, Ljungskär, Gloskär and Rödö. On Rödö, we find remains of a medieval seafarer's chapel. On Gloskär stood a sailor's inn from the 1750s until the early 1900s, and one of the first radio beacons in Finland was active on Långö (1937–1970). A pilot station located on the highest point of Långö bears witness of pilots stationed on the islet until 1928. The maritime traffic could be fully controlled from Rödhamn.

Stamp
The Nautical Chart on the stamp was drawn up in 1747 by Jonas Hahn (1703-1759), a Swedish Pilot Officer who carried out maritime measurements around Åland and southern Finland. Measurements were then made, first and foremost, to chart the archipelago for navy requirements, establish fairways and locate good harbours for warships.

Sheet
The Sheet contains two panes of fifteen stamps (5 x 3) (one design) - 30 stamps in total.

First Day Cover
The First Day Cover is a pictorial envelope with the stamp from the issue affixed and postmarked.

SEPAC Folder
The stamps featured in the twelfth edition of the special folder entitled Old Maps 12 contain stamps from the participating postal administrations of Åland, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Guernsey, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta and Monaco. All the stamps bear the official SEPAC logo.

SEPAC Series
Other Issues under the SEPAC theme include: