BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss Post 9 May put its new spring stamps on the market. This year’s batch of philately delights includes two William Tell stamps, for fans of Swiss history. The fabled apple-shooter has been commemorated in stamps for more than 100 years, with the first in 2007, by Swiss artist Albert Welti. This year the stamps commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Tell plays in Altdorf and the 100th anniversary of the Tell outdoor theatre in Interlaken.
Other new special issue stamps, all with a face value of CHF1.00 are:
- Zurich comedian Ursus Wehrli “tidies up” a stamp for Swiss Post
- Bernese cartoonist Max Spring designs a “visits” theme stamp, a theme picked up in 2012 by other European post offices
- a tribute to Swiss Red Cross blood donation service for its untiring efforts to obtain blood for hospitals
- the Stanserhorn: the only two-storey aerial railway in the world with an open top deck
In addition, says Swiss Post, “The new Pro Patria surcharge stamps are making a big thing out of small buildings. Since 1996, the foundation has been committed to the preservation and restoration of small buildings in Switzerland. Wherever there are buildings, there are measurements. For 100 years the “Cadastral Surveying” has been keeping a check on plots of land, buildings, courses of water and forest boundaries. As of 9 May 2012, it will be leaving its mark on a special stamp for the first time ever.”
The stamps are available from any post office or from Swiss Post’s online shop.
New Swiss collector's stamp issued 8 March as a regular CHF1 stamp, showing the red Jungfraubahn train, with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains behind
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss Post’s new centenary stamp to celebrate the creation of the rail line up to “the roof of Europe”, on the Jungfrau mountain, went on sale Thursday 8 March.
“The cog wheel railway to Jungfraujoch is still an impressive piece of engineering 100 years after its opening,” notes the post office, which also released three other philately stamps Thursday: the beaver, the 100-year anniversary of the Pro Juventute Foundation, and “one of the cornerstones of life in Switzerland, the Swiss Civil Code”.
The post office provides a short history of the rail line, one of Switzerland’s most popular tourist attractions:
“The route, which is just over 9 kilometres, takes you up 1,393 metres in altitude from the station at Kleine Scheidegg, cuts through the Eiger and the Mönch, and offers fantastic views before stopping at Jungfraujoch, the summit of the Jungfrau. At 3,454 metres above sea level, it is the highest railway station in Europe. At the end of the 19th century, the construction of the railway was merely a dream envisaged by Adolf Guyer-Zeller, an entrepreneur from Zurich. Thanks to his perseverance, it became a reality. After much work the tunnel finally broke through at the beginning of 1912, and on 1 August of the same year, the cog wheel railway began operating.”
A number of events will be taking place in Switzerland during 2012 to celebrate the centenary.
The amazing comeback of the Swiss beaver
Beavers are rodents seldom seen because of their nocturnal lives. They died out in Switzerland 50 years ago, but reappeared and thanks to better protection today there are now about 1,600 of them in Switzerland.
Two more centenaries
Pro Juventute and Swiss Post have a long history of collaboration; the foundation advocates the rights and and concerns of children and young people, and the post office has created a number of stamps in its honour. This year, to mark the centenary of the group, a special stamp has been created, with CHF.50 going to the foundation for each stamp sold.
Another centenary is that of the Swiss Civicl Code, the basis of Swiss civil law.
Swiss beaver, back again!
100 years anniversary for Swiss foundation that advocates for children and youth
A postage stamp to honour 100 years of Swiss laws
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland has a reputation for being a nation of tidy, law-abiding citizens, at least until the clichés abroad about secret bank accounts for foreigners get into the act; it is hard to imagine the country without laws to abide. This week the centenary of the Swiss civil code’s creation is being celebrated by another Swiss institution, the postal system, with a special issue stamp.
The civil code is known as the Swiss Civil Code of 10 December 1907, when it was approved, but it went into effect 1 January 1912. It was based primarily on the German civil code but borrowing from the French one at the time.
The underlying principle: “Every person must act in good faith in the exercise of his or her rights and in the performance of his or her obligations.”
Forget the Christmas licking – self-adhesive holiday stamps are here
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Stamp collectors and those who still send Christmas cards (and this is not a dying breed, according to the post office) have a treat in store Thursday 24 November, with the new Swiss Post philately collection going on sale.
Eight stamps are featured this year and for the first time they will be self-adhesive.
Three holiday stamps designed by Raphael Volery from Zurich also have matching gift card sets or the stamps can be purchased alone: “chapel” for CHF0.85, “Christmas tree” for CHF1.00 and “chalet” for CHF1.40.
They are collectors’ items, but can be used for Swiss internal and international post.
Four new Pro Juventute stamps have a surcharge, with the added cost going to support the organization’s projects in its centenary year of 2012.
Two have a face value of CHF0.85 (+0.40) and two have a face value of CHF1.00 (+0.50). Children’s faces draw attention to four important moral and ethical core values, Swiss Post notes: “Trust”, “Confidence”, “Security” and “Friendship”.
An additional stamp designed by Estonian-born rapper Stress (real name Andres Andrekson) shows his perception of Switzerland’s multicultural society. The colourful stamps have a face value of CHF1.00.
The stamps are available starting Thursday at the online philately shop as well as at Swiss philatelic salespoints and post offices.
Three CHF1 stamps, issued 9 September 2011 by Swiss Post, pay hommage to the Lavaux vineyards, a Unesco World Heritage site
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Montreux’s lakefront will be abuzz with VIPs and journalists Friday morning 9 September as “The Suisse” steamboat sets out to tour the lake in front of the Lavaux vineyards, a Unesco World Heritage site. On board will be Vaud artist Bernard Völlmy whose landscape of the vineyards and Lake Geneva, with the Alps in the background as viewed from above, features in the newest set of philately stamps issued by Swiss Post 9 September.
The latest collection of stamps is available at post offices and from Swiss Post online 9 September. The postal service is issuing five collections in 2011.
The new collection includes beautiful artwork from a group of young handicapped artists who worked with the Pro Infirmis art project “mehrlebenswert – c’estbonlavie” (lifewellworthliving).
Völlmy’s artwork covers three separate CHF1 stamps, which can be used for regular mail as well as collected. The original painting pays hommage to the extraordinary terraced vineyards that date back to the 12th century, with dry walls that can reach 15 metres in length.
The region produces some of Switzerland’s finest wines, red, white, rosé and a small amount of sparkling. It is home to several charming Medieval wine villages and has a number of popular walking paths.The painting covers a 900 hectare area of vines.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss Post’s latest stamp offerings include a package of three in honour of the Lavaux vineyards, a Unesco World Heritage site, to be issued Friday 9 September.
The stamps are part of the popular Swiss philately collection but they can also be used as normal stamps.
The Swiss postal service, La Poste, bissued the Basel Carnival commemorative stamp 5 January 2009. You can order them online, in English. Great for collectors, or even as easy gifts for non-philatelists: these are particularly charming stamps. Background story on GenevaLunch
