The Christmas Meeting 1888 (Faroese: jólafundurin) is considered as the official start of the Faroese National Movement.

On December 22, 1888 the only newspaper at that time in the Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...

, Dimmalætting

Dimmalætting

Dimmalætting is the oldest and largest newspaper of the Faroe Islands and is based in Tórshavn.The first edition of the Dimma, as it is commonly known, appeared on January 5, 1878. Today it has a print run of 8,500 copies and appears five days weekly...

, carried the following notice:

The invitation, signed by nine prominent Faroemen, marked the inception of a new era in Faroese history

History of the Faroe Islands

-Pre-Norse history:The early details of Faroese history are rather nebulous. It is possible that Saint Brendan, an Irish monk sailed past the islands during his North Atlantic voyage in the 6th century...

 - the rise of the National Movement.

In spite of a raging storm and slushy roads, a large crowd of people gathered in the house of the Logting that afternoon. Speeches were made and patriotic songs were sung. The highlight of the meeting came when the poet Rasmus Effersoe recited a battle hymn written for the occasion by young Jóannes Patursson

Jóannes Patursson

Jóannes Patursson was a Faroese nationalist leader and poet.He was the great-grandson of the Faroese national hero Nólsoyar Páll. His brother Sverre Patursson was an important writer and his sister Susanna Helena Patursson the first feminist of the Faroe Islands.-Background:Jóannes was born in...

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The message of the lengthy poem was evident in the first stanza:

Now the hour has come,

when we must join hands

and rally around

our native tongue.

Ours is the duty to safeguard this most precious cultural heritage, which is suffering such abasement in its own country that it doesn't stand to be saved without the will and effort of the whole nation.”

Resolution

The meeting ended with the acceptance of a six point resolution:

1. As soon as there were enough Faroese schoolbooks available, Faroese should be used as an educational language in schools.
2. In history, the emphasis must be on Faroese national history.
3. In religion, all Danish rote learning should be abolished and the subject matter rendered in Faroese.
4. Priests must be free to use Faroese in and outside the Church.
5. Faroese should be used for all official ends and purposes.
6. Finally, the resolution stressed the necessity of establishing a Faroese Folk High School.

Stamps

Bárður Jákupsson has made the stamps on the right-hand side which show the nine people who sent out the invitation to the Christmas Meeting in 1888.

• 3.00 kr stamp - Notice in Dimmalætting December 22 1888, which is mentioned in the text.
• 3.20 kr stamp - Drawing of meeting in Reynsmúlalág in 1908 by William Heinesen
  William Heinesen
  Andreas William Heinesen was a poet, composer and painter from the Faroe Islands.- His Writing :The Faroese capital Tórshavn is always the centre of Heinesen's writing. He is famous for having once called Tórshavn "The Navel of the World". His writing focuses on contrasts between darkness and...
  
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• 12.00 kr stamp - First verse of poem by Jóannes Patursson
  Jóannes Patursson
  Jóannes Patursson was a Faroese nationalist leader and poet.He was the great-grandson of the Faroese national hero Nólsoyar Páll. His brother Sverre Patursson was an important writer and his sister Susanna Helena Patursson the first feminist of the Faroe Islands.-Background:Jóannes was born in...
  
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