When the Arctic winter envelops Greenland in silence and the last light of day glides across snow and sky, images unfold a special power. The new Christmas stamps from Tussass Greenland, to be released on 20 November 2025, capture precisely this moment. They were designed by Nikolaj Andersen Olsvig, who presents his second and third stamps with these motifs since his debut in 2013. Olsvig is known for his atmospheric, light-focused depictions of everyday life in Greenland. His almost impressionistic style avoids hard outlines and instead emphasizes mood, movement, and emotional openness—qualities that also define these two stamps and elevate them far beyond their purely functional purpose.
Between the Church Path and the Shepherd’s Trail
First postage stamp of Denmark (1851)
The first motif depicts a small group of churchgoers on their way to the Christmas service. Wearing traditional dress, they move through the snow-covered landscape toward a red-painted wooden church. Dusk bathes everything in a gentle light, while a bright star shines directly above the church. As I looked at it—entirely subjectively—the biblical journey of the shepherds to the stable in Bethlehem inevitably came to mind. The path through darkness, light as guidance, and the destination as a place of hope can all be read effortlessly into the scene. This association is explicitly my own, yet it fits the openness that Olsvig’s visual language consciously allows. Greenland is a politically self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and yet this connection remains subtly present in the background at all times. 
Perhaps this is precisely why a quiet, contemplative tone resonates within this scene. In light of the announced discontinuation of traditional letter delivery in Denmark at the end of 2025, the very real possibility arises for the first time that the nearly 175-year-old Danish stamp program could be approaching its end. All the more does the hope grow that these Greenlandic Christmas stamps will not be among the last of their kind, but that such culturally deep-rooted issues will continue to endure in the future.
Journeying Through Snow and Time
The second stamp shows a family on a dog sled: father, mother, and child traveling through the snow-covered landscape, pulled by seven strong dogs. The dynamic scene feels intimate at the same time. As I looked at it, it reminded me of depictions of the Flight into Egypt—a family setting out into the unknown. On a purely associative level, the motif can also be situated in the present day. Against the backdrop of geopolitical discussions surrounding Greenland, for example through statements by Donald Trump, it can be mentally linked to situations in which decisions about people’s futures are made without them having any influence themselves. 
This reflection does not lie within the image itself, but emerges from today’s perspective on it and is deliberately left open—linked to my hope that it must never become a reality in which Greenlanders might be forced, for whatever reasons, to leave their homeland.
Small Formats, Great Openness
These stamps therefore do not tell fixed stories, but deliberately leave room for personal perceptions and reflections. They function as wintery mood images and collectible items—but also as small works of art that allow for personal associations as well as cultural and contemporary historical references. Within this open field of tension, these two Christmas stamps unfold their effect as well: not as unambiguous statements, but as images that invite pause and reflection, showing just how much narrative potential can lie even in the smallest format.
Details of the stamps: 
- Issued on: 2025-11-07
- Size: 30 x 40 mm
- Colors: Multicolor
- Designers: Nikolai Andersen Olsvig
- Printers: Gutenberg AG
- Format: Commemorative
- Printing: Offset lithography
- Face value: 25 dkr. And 28 dkr- Danish krone, respectively