Press releases
Nature the main focus of our latest stamps
Our latest stamps are just the thing for nature lovers. We are issuing two stamp sets that truly highlight the wonders of nature, with one set of four designs showing age-old trees, and another depicting four of Switzerland’s nature parks. And we are even issuing a stamp made of natural material: the “Swiss Post art collection” stamp is the first Swiss stamp to be made of linen. They will be available, together with all other new stamps, from 9 September.
Rich Content Section
Trees can live to become ancient, outliving generation upon generation of people. The current stamp issue honours four such living witnesses of time, including a 900-year-old larch under the Dent de Nendaz in Valais and a 430-year-old oak south of Delémont. The other two stamps feature illustrations of a 500-year-old sycamore beneath the Stanserhorn which, with its nearly 10-metre-thick trunk, is one of the largest sycamores in the world and the 450-year-old Swiss stone pine which stands on a hill in the Bernese Oberland. The stamps were designed by tree expert Michel Brunner. He consciously avoided using a wide range of colours, tonal values or surroundings so that the observer would focus their full attention on the trees themselves. The stamps are printed on an extremely high-quality paper, known as “Munken” paper. Its extraordinary quality harks back to historic stamps of the past.
Swiss nature parks of national importance
The Swiss nature parks stamps depict pristine nature, intact settlements and living traditions. Swiss Post has dedicated a stamp to four of the nineteen parks of national importance, namely the Jura Vaudois Nature Park, the Argovia Jurapark, Parc Ela and the Binntal Nature Park.
A stamp made from a very special material
The “Swiss Post art collection” stamp is the first Swiss stamp made from the natural plant-based fibre linen. The stamp portrays a blank canvas; canvases are typically also made from linen. In this depiction, the canvas, as the base for various painting techniques, symbolizes art in general. The emptiness of the canvas is intended to convey the idea that art can often only materialize with the right support.
This special stamp draws attention to Swiss Post’s long-running commitment to promoting corporate art collections and culture in Switzerland. Swiss Post has been promoting and collecting contemporary art since 1924. Today, its collection comprises around 400 works and a nationwide portfolio of art in architecture pieces.
Further information:
More information can be found in the collectors’ magazine “Focus on stamps” and at swisspost.ch/stamps.
Information on Swiss Post’s commitment to art can be found at swisspost.ch/art-collection.
Downloads:
- Trees – Larch (JPG, 6014 KB)
- Trees – Oak (JPG, 5233 KB)
- Trees – Sycamore (JPG, 6178 KB)
- Trees - Swiss stone pine (JPG, 5948 KB)
- Swiss Parks – Jura Vaudois Nature Park (JPG, 4943 KB)
- Swiss Parks – Parc Ela (JPG, 4399 KB)
- Swiss Parks – Argovia Jurapark (JPG, 4421 KB)
- Swiss Parks – Binntal Nature Park (JPG, 4392 KB)
- Swiss Post’s commitment to art – Swiss Post art collection (JPG, 5805 KB)
- Animal messengers – Owl (JPG, 5564 KB)
- Animal messengers – Fox (JPG, 4597 KB)
- Swiss inventions − Menzi Muck (JPG, 4971 KB)
- Helvetia 2022 World Stamp Exhibition (JPG, 4522 KB)
Information
Silvana Grellmann, 058 / 341 26 71, presse@swisspost.ch