Special postmarks designed for Christmas greetings will be in use in Helsinki and Lahti from Thursday, December 1. You can get this year’s special postmarks for your Christmas greetings from 1 to 16 December.
Mailboxes reserved for special postmark items will be placed near Postitalo’s entrances at Mannerheiminaukio 1 and Elielinaukio 2 in Helsinki. You will recognize the mailboxes by the picture of the Christmas postmark on the mailbox’s information field.
In Lahti, the special postmark box can be found at Vapaudenkatu 6. The stamper is there from Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is no stamping on Sundays, but you can leave cards to be stamped in the special postmark box even then.
The traditional Christmas postmark, which puts the finishing touch on a true Christmas greeting, has been extremely popular among customers. Helsinki’s special postmark decorates around 300,000 Christmas greetings every year.
Graphic designers Susanna Rumpu and Ari Lakaniemi have designed Helsinki’s Christmas postmark this year. The postmark features decorated gingerbread. The theme of the postmark is a great fit for this year’s Christmas stamps.
This year’s Lahti postmark depicts Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus with the church tower of Congregation’s Church of the Cross in the background. This year's symbol is a dove taking flight, carrying an olive tree branch in its beak as a messenger of peace.
Nativity postmarks have been published almost every year since 2005. Like the previous years’ nativity postmarks, this year’s postmark, the seventeenth to be published, has been designed by heraldist Tapani Talari.
Pictures of the special postmarks: https://digilibrary.emmi.fi/l/W6KL5w8SQ6wh
A Christmas postmark in Tampere as well
Tampere also has a Christmas postmark, which was chosen based on a competition. The winner of the competition was a Christmas postmark designed by Helena Yli-Kerttula, the subject of which is the Nokia Areena under a glass dome in the snow.
You can get the Tampere Christmas postmark on Friday 2 December in museum center Vapriikki from 15-18 and from Wednesday to Friday 7-9 December at Tampere's Christmas market from 11 am to 7 pm.
Tampere's Christmas postmark was chosen for the seventh time in a competition organized by Postimuseo together with Aamulehti's Moro.