Press releases
Raise your glass to our stamps
For around 125 years, Swiss men and women have been drinking more beer than wine. Today Switzerland is home to more than 900 active breweries, which is a good reason to dedicate a stamp to this popular beverage and the art of brewing beer. The third stamp issue this year also features Swiss costumes, Basel cathedral and exotic animals. The new stamps will be available from 5 September.
Rich Content Section
Humans discovered the art of brewing beer around 10,000 years ago. The first large brewery in Switzerland was opened in 1683 by the Berne native Beat von Fischer, who also founded the Berne postal service. The art of brewing beer remains a major part of our culture and society today. Switzerland has one of the greatest concentrations of breweries in the world, with 900 in total, and some people in Switzerland even brew their own beer at home in their spare time. The new Swiss Post special stamps pay tribute to the art of brewing beer as a part of Swiss cultural heritage – but not to excessive alcohol consumption. The motifs on both 1 franc stamps show a lager and a dark beer surrounded by the ingredients needed to make it.
Costumes from all over the country
The current stamp issue features another valuable example of Swiss cultural heritage: Swiss costumes. Costumes have been a part of Switzerland for over 250 years, and today there are more than 700 different varieties. Four of these costumers are now available in stamp form in a miniature sheet, with one costume for each linguistic region in Switzerland: one each from Lötschental, Fribourg, Valle Verzasca and from Engadin.
“Animals around the world”
The four “Animals around the world” stamps were designed by the internationally renowned, multi-award-winning poster artist, Claude Kuhn, who is famous for his minimalist style that is characterized by distinctive coloured backgrounds. These special stamps feature exotic animals from all over the world, and are depicted in a very unique way. The four motifs have one thing in common, and that is ellipsis. In the “Meerkat” design, it symbolizes burrows and clouds; on the “Flamingo” stamp, a puddle; in the “Giraffe” motif, a treetop; and on the “Zebra” variant, it represents the veldt and the animal’s droppings. The zebra is actually gold because, according to the artist, it is a “golden zebra” that is meant to call to mind the famous golden donkey from the Grimms’ Fairy Tales.
You can find information on other motifs in the current issue and details on the new stamps in the latest edition of the collector’s magazine “Focus on stamps”. The new stamps are available in all Swiss Post branches and in Swiss Post’s online shop from 5 September.
Motifs in the 3/2019 stamp issue – available and valid from 5 September 2019
- Animals around the world – “Giraffe” at CHF 0.85, “Zebra” at CHF 0.85, “Meerkat” at CHF 1.00, “Flamingo” at CHF 1.00
- The art of brewing beer – “Lager beer” at CHF 1.00, “Dark beer” at CHF 1.00
- Hand lettering – calligraphy – stamp at CHF 1.00
- 1000 years Basel cathedral – stamp at CHF 1.00
- Carl Spitteler 100 years Nobel Prize in Literature 1919–2019 at CHF 1.00
- Historical costumes – “Lötschental” at CHF 1.00, “Fribourg” at CHF 1.00, “Valle Verzasca” at CHF 1.00, “Engadin” at CHF 1.00 (only available at stamp counters and online)
Images:
- Animals around the world − «Giraffe» (JPG, 2653 KB)
- Animals around the world − «Zebra» (JPG, 2674 KB)
- Animals around the world − «Meerkat» (JPG, 2622 KB)
- Animals around the world − «Flamingo» (JPG, 2700 KB)
- The art of brewing beer − «Lager beer» (JPG, 4293 KB)
- The art of brewing beer − «Dark beer» (JPG, 4664 KB)
- Hand lettering – calligraphy (JPG, 5834 KB)
- 1000 years Basel cathedral (JPG, 4350 KB)
- Carl Spitteler – 100 years Nobel Prize in Literature 1919–2019 (JPG, 3233 KB)
- Traditional Swiss costumes (JPG, 2478 KB)
Information:
Denise Birchler, Media Spokesperson, 058 341 10 55, presse@swisspost.ch