In 1910, the explorer Knud Rasmussen established a missionary and trading post in north-western Greenland, which he named “Thule” (later Qaanaaq).

Thule has given its name to the northernmost United States Air Force airfield, Thule Air Base in northwest Greenland, and to the smaller lobe of Kuiper belt object 486958 Arrokoth, visited by the New Horizons spacecraft (No stamps from there… yet).

The first European to arrive in the area was William Baffin, for whom Baffin Bay was named in 1616. While in the area, Baffin named several places, such as Wolstenholme Fjord, Smith Sound, and Wolstenholme Island. Thule had few other visitors until the late 1800s. The first group of Europeans to spend the winter in the area was the crew of the ship North Star. The bay is named after this ship.

Between 1849 and 1850, several other expeditions took place. Between 1892-1909, Robert E. Peary started using the area as a base for his North Pole expeditions. He established a close relationship with the Greenlanders by taking care not to violate the existing culture.

Knud Rasmussen, a famous Danish explorer, began the Danish Literary Expedition in this area in 1903-1904. Rasmussen returned to the area in 1906 and again in 1908 to begin a mission station in the Thule area. In 1909 the ship Godthaab anchored in North Star Bay and the first two buildings, a missionary and a storehouse, were built. The Danish flag has flown in the area ever since.

In 1910, Rasmussen and his associate, Peter Freuchen, came to the area of Cape York (Kap York Trading Post) Station. On the suggestion of Freuchen, Rasmussen named the village which grew up around the post “Thule”. At that time, the area north of Mt. Dundas, called Uumanaq by the Greenlanders, was still inhabited. Freuchen became the first trading post manager and held the position until 1920. The post served many purposes, such as providing a base for scientific expeditions and providing equipment and food for the native Greenlanders.

Rasmussen returned to Thule each summer from 1926-1929. The station was now growing. A hospital was built in 1928-1929 and a pre-fabricated house, the Knud Rasmussen House, was built in 1929 and was later used as a school. In 1929-1930 a Church was erected. In 1928 the Thule Law was born; it was signed by Knud Rasmussen on June 7, 1929, and ratified by the Danish Government in 1931. The Danish government took over the Thule district in 1931 and named Rasmussen to represent the Danish state. In 1933, two settlements were founded in the Thule district, Siorapaluk in the north and Savigsivik in the south. Rasmussen died that same year, and the Danish government took over his responsibilities.

Later, the indigenous people living there were relocated to make way for an Air Force base built on the location.

Stamps were issued in 1935 for the remote settlement in Thule. The series was issued on the 25th anniversary of the founding of the settlement and depicted Knud Rasmussen, the Danish flag, walruses and local scenery. The stamps were valid for mail from Thule to Copenhagen.

The stamps were withdrawn when ordinary (Greenland) postage stamps were introduced.

Thule is a Latin term that means “a place beyond the known world.” When NASA’s New Horizon spacecraft flew past the most distant object in our solar system they named it “Utima Thule” and got a backlash forcing them to rename it.

Thule has a history with a Nazi occult society with the same name so people objected. The name Thule actually goes much further back. The Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia was the first to have written of Thule, after his travels between 330 and 320 BC.

“This isn’t just some obscure element among hundreds of others in the Nazi cosmology,” Eric Kurlander, a professor of history at Stetson University in Deland, told The New York Times. “They named a tank division after Thule in World War II. It keeps popping up, which is why it probably makes sense not to name something that anyone has any interest in Thule. It has too much baggage at this point.”

I would suggest Greenland’s Arctic Circle Race, a 160 kilometer-long adventure type, cross-country race in Sisimiut. The Race is known as the world’s toughest cross-country race.