ch-31502 info, two

Focus on stamps

3/2007

The Collector’s Magazine Win a weekend in the “Ursli” village

English literary classics: artistic photos on Swiss special stamps Send your congratulations with the appropriate stamp

Replacing the “Swiss Design Classics” definitives

Swiss birds in miniature

Switzerland extra

Montet Bois produces hand-made Swiss wooden products For 25 years, the Swiss handicraft firm of Montet Bois has been designing and making novel natural-wood products by hand.

Although other companies manufacture more cheaply abroad, Montet Bois has remained loyal to Switzerland. The secret of its success? Teamwork driven by enthusiasm and a perceptive awareness of what gives people pleasure.

You might say that Montet Bois grew out of a meeting of Swiss tradition with multicultural open-mindedness. In 1982, a few young people from all five continents tried to fuse their passion for form and design with the tried-and-tested qualities of Swiss craftsmanship at the Montet Centre for Encounter and Education (see box). They came up with a new product line: gift items made of natural wood for people of all ages, distinctive jigsaw-style creations whose simple, clear and pure design is a source of delight and cheer.

Centre in Canton Fribourg About 150 young women and men from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds and from all five continents live in the Montet (Broye) Centre for Encounter and Education in Canton Fribourg.

The Centre, which opened in 1981, consists of residential and school buildings, as well as the community’s businesses – Montet Bois (wood crafts), Centre Art (textile products for children’s rooms), Starfjord (salmon smokehouse) and Tergon (manufacture and sale of office chairs).

Characteristic components of the Centre’s holistic education are community living in groups, courses in the social sciences and theology as well as work in the businesses.

Environment that promotes contact The magic word at Montet Bois is “encounter”. A typical Montet Bois design is not the product of a single person’s outstanding talent but of the willingness of many to combine their ideas, skills and inspirations to create a harmonious whole. The fact that all community members have a say is an essential element. Besides guaranteeing the high artistic standard of the products, it is an inexhaustible source of innovation and improvement.

This climate of convergence is found both in the firm and in contacts with customers. Compliments, criticism and suggestions are all taken on board with interest as a stimulus for further development.

Information www.montetbois.ch

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A member of the community uses a small saw to prepare a piece of wood which will subsequently be shaped into a novel object, like a jigsaw-puzzle bear (pictured top and centre). Below, some members of the craft team.

Photos: Montet Bois

Specially selected for “extra” You’ll find Montet Bois products (as well as other interesting offers) in the “extra” catalogue enclosed only with the versions of Focus distributed in Switzerland.

Editorial

Happiness and its many facets – stamp-size Contents Switzerland extra Montet Bois produces hand-made Swiss wooden products 2 News

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Special cover 75th anniversary of the balloon ascent into the stratosphere 6 Combi-Folder 125 years of the Gotthard Railway Definitive stamps Domestic birds

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Special stamps Switzerland through the eyes of foreign artists – England 12–15 Special stamps Congratulations 16–17 Special stamp Nina Corti – The dance

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Stamp booklet, maximum card, special reader offer and competition Children’s book character “Schellen-Ursli” 20–23 Added value for our faithful customers From stamps to made-up philatelic products (3) 25 Official stamp Universal Postal Union – United Nations joint issue 26–27 New products

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Cover page: Tengmalm’s owl stars on one of the four new Swiss Post definitives.

It lives in the forests of the Jura range, the Alps and alpine foothills between an altitude of around 1000 metres and the tree line.

Photo: Alfred Limbrunner

The ladybird with its cheery colouring and associations with the Virgin Mary is a typical good luck symbol.

Photo: ImagePoint

Dear Reader The motifs of our latest stamp issues all convey different aspects of happiness, thus enriching our days in many ways.

After all, isn’t it true that happiness often eludes us because we are not receptive enough to perceive and embrace it? 䊏 Take listening to bird song in spring, for instance. From a few initial, hesitant chirps, it gradually builds into a complex symphony of melodic trills. Nature’s concerts never fail to fill us with happiness, so the next four stamps in the “Domestic birds” series sing the praises of our marvellous feathered friends. 䊏 Happiness also comes from inspiration, and English artist James Peel has skilfully transposed well-known Swiss landscapes into special stamps in the “Switzerland through the eyes of foreign artists” series. 䊏 Movement releases “happy hormones”, so Nina Corti, the world-famous flamenco dancer, has devised the fourth stamp on the theme of “Swiss celebrities design a stamp” with this message in mind. Her dancing brings a smile to the audience’s faces, giving them moments of happiness. 䊏 “Schellen-Ursli” is a much-loved Swiss children’s storybook figure whose

adventures appeal to young people, adults and art professionals alike.

These stories bridge the generation gap, promoting shared experiences and a sense of family that create an oasis of happiness in a stressful, hectic world. 䊏 And then there is happiness proper – and the desire and urge to send friends and loved ones your best wishes for joy and good fortune. The three special “Congratulations” stamps designed by artist Victoria Léonard condense these wishes for happiness and carry them round the globe.

Trusting this issue of Focus will provide you with many hours of happy reading!

Elsa Baxter Head of Stamps & Philately Swiss Post

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News

Roger Federer enjoyed the unveiling of “his” winning stamp in Basel

Details of the design of the Roger Federer special stamp were kept under tight wraps for several months (Focus 2/2007), but all was revealed in early April in Basel when the No. 1 of world tennis and Ulrich Gygi, Swiss Post CEO, unveiled the CHF 1.00 stamp depicting him after his fourth Wimbledon victory in the summer of 2006.

Before the actual unveiling, Ulrich Gygi explained why Swiss Post had chosen Roger Federer as the first living celebrity to feature on a Swiss stamp. The excep-

The unveiling ceremony in the packed Basel Town Hall reception room: Roger Federer proudly presents “his” special stamp (top) following its official handover by Ulrich Gygi, Swiss Post CEO (left).

tion had been made on the grounds that he was a global ambassador for Switzerland, not only on the strength of his outstanding sporting prowess but also because of his social commitment, for instance as embodied in his Foundation’s projects to help needy children in South Africa.

The unveiling ceremony in Basel aroused considerable media interest worldwide.

Some 60 journalists were in attendance, including a television team from the USA.

First-hand information – with a Newsletter subscription As an electronic Newsletter subscriber, you are always up to speed on Swiss postage stamps, with first-hand information about Swiss Post’s upcoming issues – like the Roger Federer special stamp, for instance. So you are just a mouse-click away from access to our whole range, as well as benefiting from additional Newsletter subscriber services ranging from free admission to exhibitions through competitions to special offers.

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Twenty Newsletters have already been published, and as from the next issue, the publication will be given a new look, providing you with more information in a compact format.

To obtain your free copy, just register under www.swisspost.ch/philanewsletter.

Sale of special stamps at post offices Because of low demand, the range of products at the smallest post offices is being adjusted and, as from September 2007, they will sell only definitives over the counter. Order forms for special stamps will be available at these offices so you can either use these forms or Swiss Post’s Internet link www.swisspost. ch/philashop to order such stamps direct from the Stamps and Philately Customer Service. All other post offices will continue to stock the full range of special stamps.

And the winners are...

There was a tremendous reader response to the competition in conjunction with the “Stein am Rhein millennium” special stamps: besides loads of compliments on the stamp designs, we received over 7,300 entries from Switzerland and abroad. In the meantime, the lucky winners have been drawn, so we are pleased to announce the names of those who have carried off the top prizes:

Stamp Day: new date Contrary to what was announced in the Philatelic Diary (Focus 1/2007), the 2007 Stamp Day exhibition will now be held in Einsiedeln from 7 to 9 December.

1st prize (“Classic” Weekend for two in the Hotel Chlosterhof): Josef Kerscher, Velden (Germany) 2nd prize (Overnight stay for two with breakfast and dinner in the Hotel Rheinfels): Jean Thiry, Affoltern a.A. 3rd prize (Overnight stay for two with breakfast and dinner in the Hotel Adler): Marcel Höppli, Nussbaumen

Stamp pre-release

4th prize (20-franc “Goldvreneli” gold coin): Alfred Marty, Neuhausen

Till now, sales of newly issued stamps generally began one week before their actual validity date. Because this frequently led to confusion and misunderstandings with customers at the counter, Swiss Post has decided to discontinue the pre-release of stamps at all post offices as from the September 2007 issue. The procedure in future is therefore as follows: 䊏 Sales at post offices: from the first day of issue, no pre-release 䊏 Sales at philatelic salespoints: from the prerelease date 䊏 Orders placed with Stamps & Philately in Berne: dispatch in time for pre-release date

The competition in conjunction with the “Centenary of the Scout Movement” special stamp inspired Focus readers to try their luck once again. Around 2,800 correct entries were submitted, and the following main prize winners were drawn: 1st prize (weekend for two in the “Kandersteg International Scout Centre”): Roman Schumacher, Lucerne

Imprint “Focus on stamps” is a free magazine, published in English, German, French and Italian.

Published by Swiss Post Stamps & Philately Ostermundigenstrasse 91 3030 Berne Switzerland Total print run

2nd prize (voucher worth CHF 300 donated by hajk Scout & Sport): Noemi Teza-Minotti, Bellinzona

195 000 copies

3rd prize (Victorinox Jubilee pocket knife): Ulrich Nusko, Berne

Sales & Customer Service 䊏 Phone Switzerland: 031 338 06 09 䊏 Phone from abroad: +41 31 338 06 09 䊏 Fax: 031 338 73 08 䊏 E-mail: stamps@post.ch 䊏 Internet: www.swisspost.ch 䊏 Shop: www.swisspost.ch/ philashop

Samira Boujamil, trainee with Stamps & Philately, drawing the lucky winners of the “Stein am Rhein millennium” and “Century of the Scout Movement” competitions.

“Focus on stamps” No. 3/2007 Copy deadline: 12.6.2007 Distribution: from 24.7.2007 Stamp issue: 6.9.2007

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Special cover 75th anniversary of the balloon ascent into the stratosphere

In tribute to Auguste Piccard’s tremendous achievement Special cover Zeppelin NT – airmail jubilee Sales Philately: From 27.8.2007 until 30.6.2008 or while stocks last Post offices: Not available Price CHF 16.00 Printing Offset, 1-side, 4-colour Size C6 (162⫻114 mm) Designer Angelo Boog, Wallisellen ZH

As announced in the last issue of Focus, a jubilee airmail flight with the Zeppelin NT is being organized on 18 August 2007 to mark the 75th anniversary of the balloon flight from Dübendorf into the stratosphere. The cover for this flight was designed by Angelo Boog from Wallisellen. The picture combination on the special cover shows Professor Auguste Piccard in profile and the balloon he used back then, together with the modern-day Zeppelin NT. It also features the signatures of Wolfgang von Zeppelin and Bertrand Piccard, the jubilee flight patrons.

This cover is being produced as a limited edition to mark this exceptional event, and every collector should make a point of having one. The proceeds from the sale of the on-board cachet will be shared equally between the Pestalozzi Village for Children and Young People in Wahlwies (Germany) and the “Winds of Hope” Foundation.

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Together with Brian Jones, Bertrand Piccard – the grandson of Professor Auguste Piccard – set up the “Winds of Hope” Foundation with the aim of fighting infirmities and diseases which have almost slipped into oblivion.

Seventy-five years ago, at 5.07 am on 18 August 1932, the balloon took off for the stratosphere. Professor Auguste Piccard’s conscientiously kept log book brings the flight to life for present-day readers. The balloon finally reached the altitude of 16,114 metres at 10.40 am.

The flight lasted until 5 pm, and the log book matter-of-factly records the trip’s successful completion. Readers interested in finding out more about this exploit should read “Auguste Piccard – Reisen in ungewöhnliche Räume” by Erich Tilgenkamp, published in German

by Welsermühl, Munich-Wels.

The front of the special cover will also feature the on-board cachet, documenting that the letter was actually on the Zeppelin NT flight.

The cachet motif was not yet known at the time of going to press. On the back, the cover will bear the arrival stamp of Altenrhein where the Zeppelin NT is due to land.

Combi-Folder 125 years of the Gotthard Railway

A big birthday for the renowned rail route southwards Combi-Folder 125 years of the Gotthard Railway Sales Philately: From 1.6.2007 until 31.3.2008 or while stocks last Post offices: Not available Price CHF 7.80 Printing Offset, 2-sides, 4-colour Size Max. 310/200⫻137 mm Paper Offset white, mat coated, 250 gm2 Designer Marc Weller, Berne Contents 䊏 One CHF 0.40 “Centenary of the Gotthard Railway” special stamp with the locality cancellation Göschenen 1.6.2007

Following the tremendous success of the “Centenary of the Simplon Tunnel” Combi-Folder which sold like hot cakes, Swiss Post is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Gotthard Railway with a similar philatelic product.

Order yours early to avoid disappointment!

Three mountain rail routes – the Semmering, the Brenner and the Mont Cenis lines – had already been built and commissioned when work began in 1872 on the Gotthard Railway – arguably the boldest alpine transit project until then. It went ahead despite protracted discussions about the best route. After Switzerland had reached agreement with the Kingdom of Italy (1869) and the German Empire (1871), the respective treaties were signed, and the southern sections along the valleys from Biasca to Locarno and from Lugano to Chiasso were opened as early as 1874.

Once the whole stretch had been completed, inaugural ceremonies were staged from 21 to 25 May 1882 in Milan

and Lucerne. On 1 June 1882 (see the cancellation dates on the Combi-Folder), the Gotthard Railway was officially commissioned. Back then, the Gotthard apex tunnel was the world’s longest railway tunnel at 15,003 metres, a record it held until the opening of the Simplon Tunnel in 1906.

The Combi-Folder design emphasizes the intercantonal nature of this railway line. For train travellers, the little church in Wassen (Canton Uri) is a familiar landmark that is first glimpsed from below, then seen on the same level and finally from above. And the typical Ticino boccalino – complete with the matching stamps – is an evocative symbol too.

Once again, Swiss Post commissioned Marc Weller, the well-known Berne-based artist, to design this attractive product.

Inside, the Combi-Folder provides the salient facts about the Gotthard Railway in German, French, Italian and English, and the stamps feature the graphically coordinated locality cancellations of Göschenen and Airolo.

Limited edition The “125 years of the Gotthard Railway” Combi-Folder continues what has become a popular Swiss Post collector’s item. Besides thrilling the hearts of stamp collectors, it is sure to appeal to railway fans also. CombiFolders are not available as part of standing orders, and neither this Combi-Folder nor the stamps it contains will be reprinted. Delivery while stocks last!

Special post office Swiss Post will be in attendance at the celebrations on 9 September 2007 with a special post office and a specially designed cancellation in Erstfeld and looks forward to seeing you at its stand.

䊏 One CHF 0.40 “Centenary of the Gotthard Railway” special stamp with label and one CHF 0.90 “Pro Patria San Gottardo” special stamp with premium (+ CHF 0.40), with the locality cancellation Airolo 1.6.2007

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Definitive stamps Domestic birds

These bird species are particularly important for Switzerland Typical Swiss bird species star on the new definitives in the “Domestic birds” series. From the 195 species that breed in Switzerland, birds were selected for which our country has a special responsibility at international level. Alongside common species, they include birds which are generally sighted only by particularly keen observers of nature.

Definitives continued Following the issue of the cuckoo stamp on 7 March 2006, the set of definitives on the theme of “Domestic birds” is being continued with four more species, all of them lovingly hand-drawn down to the finest detail and shown in their natural habitats.

These follow-on designs replace the existing “Swiss Design Classics” definitives and will be added to in 2008.

Switzerland has undertaken both a national and an international commitment to preserve all native fauna and flora – an objective that calls for tremendous effort, as a survey of its native birds shows. Around 40 percent of species breeding in Switzerland are now at risk.

Together with the Swiss Association for the Protection of Birds / BirdLife Switzerland and the Federal Office for the Environment, the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach launched a nationally coordinated campaign entitled “Preserving bird species in Switzerland” in 2003 with the aim of helping the species at greatest risk.

Four particularly important species As funds do not run to helping all endangered species at the same time, choices have to be made when it comes to support measures. Decisions are based on the Red List, as well as on the so-called “Species Responsibility List”. The Red List is used to assess whether a species is at risk nationally, while the Species Responsibility List also indicates Switzerland’s importance for a species at European and/or worldwide level. The species for which Switzerland is particularly responsible include both endangered and non-endangered birds. Those featured on the new definitive stamps – the common chaffinch, the great tit, the wallcreeper and Tengmalm’s owl – are not at risk in Switzerland, but they are particularly important for our country because, by international standards, large numbers of them live in Switzerland. ➔

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Common chaffinch Fringilla coelebs Size 15 cm Diet In spring and summer, the common chaffinch feeds mainly on insects, and chicks too are fed on insects. In autumn and winter, their diet is seed-based.

Habitat In Switzerland, this species lives wherever there are at least a few trees.

Migration Common chaffinches are partial migrants.

A large percentage of our birds leave their breeding ground to spend the winter in southwestern Europe.

Reproduction Nests are built in forks of trees or bushes. The clutch comprises 4 to 5 eggs from which the chicks hatch after an incubation period of 12 to 13 days. They are then cared for in the nest for 12 to 15 days by the parent birds.

Common chaffinches generally breed twice a year.

Nesting population 900,000 to 1,200,000 breeding pairs. Switzerland is home to an above-average proportion of the European population.

Photo: Günter Moosrainer

Great tit Parus major Size 14 cm Diet The great tit feeds mainly on insects, their larvae and spiders, as well as seeds, berries, fruit, buds, etc. particularly in autumn and winter. Chicks are fed almost exclusively on caterpillars.

Habitat Great tits are easily satisfied, living indiscriminately in woods, hedges, parks and gardens.

Migration This species is mainly sedentary but invasionlike migration waves may occur in some years.

Reproduction Cavities of all kinds are used for building nests, but usually hollows in trees or nesting boxes.

A full brood comprises 6 to 12 eggs, which are incubated for 13 to 14 days. The chicks leave the nest after 18 days, and if conditions are favourable, there may be a second clutch of eggs.

Nesting population 350,000 to 500,000 breeding pairs. Switzerland is home to an above-average proportion of the European population.

Photo: Emile Barbelette

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Definitive stamps Domestic birds

First-day cover motif

Wallcreeper Tichodroma muraria Size 16 cm

Definitive stamps Domestic birds Sales Philately: From 30.8.2007, until further notice Post offices: From 6.9.2007, until further notice Validity Unlimited from 6.9.2007 Unstamped covers will be available for CHF 0.90 each at all philatelic salespoints and the Stamps & Philately Customer Service from 23.8.2007.

Printing Rotogravure, 5-colour; Joh. Enschedé, Haarlem, Netherlands Sizes Stamps: 2⫻ 33⫻28 mm 2⫻ 33⫻38 mm (incl. label) Business sheets: 2⫻ 180⫻380 mm 2⫻ 180⫻500 mm (10 rows of 5 stamps) Stamp booklets: Common chaffinch 183⫻62 mm Great tit 183⫻84 mm

Diet This species forages for all kinds of insects and spiders in rocky crevices.

Habitat The wallcreeper lives on rockfaces in the Alps and alpine foothills, from valley bottoms to high altitudes. In the Jura range, numbers are highest between 500 and 1,500 metres above sea-level.

Migration The wallcreeper is regarded as sedentary, but it abandons the highest rocky regions to spend the winter in lower-lying areas. Isolated birds may even be found in cities, on high-rise buildings.

Reproduction This species nests in rock crevices. The clutch consists of 3 to 5 eggs, which are incubated for 19 days. Its young leave the nest after 29 days.

Nesting population 500 to 1,000 breeding pairs. Switzerland is home to an aboveaverage proportion of the European population.

Photo: Eugène Hüttenmoser

Paper White stamp paper, self-adhesive, on backing paper, 220 gm2 Perforation Serpentine cut (4 sides) Designer Eva Ch. Weber, Basel First-day cancellation

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Switzerland’s responsibility ➔ Generally speaking, from an international point of view Switzerland has a great deal of responsibility for birds that live in mountains and forests because the proportion of both mountain and forest habitats is considerably higher than in many other Central European countries. However, quantity alone is not enough. The quality of Switzerland’s forest habitats is in many places inadequate for species such as the capercaillie, hazel grouse or the lesser

spotted woodpecker. The same applies to the transition level between forest and alpine habitats, where species such as the rock partridge or black grouse are coming under pressure. On the whole, bird species living at the alpine level are not at risk, but as a mountain country, Switzerland shoulders great responsibility for them because a large proportion of Europe’s mountain birds live in the Swiss Alps.

Felix Tobler, Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach

The Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach The Swiss Ornithological Institute studies native bird species and develops basic principles for bird conservation.

Its specialized staff provide invaluable practical input for upgrading landscapes in order to improve living conditions for birds in Switzerland, a service from which many flora and fauna species benefit – not to mention human beings!

The Swiss Ornithological Institute is a non-profit-making foundation. Besides moral and financial support from naturelovers, it can rely on the enthusiastic cooperation of some 1500 volunteers whose accurate observations make it possible to assess bird stock developments nationwide. These data are crucial for evaluating the situation and acting to preserve and encourage natural diversity.

The Swiss Ornithological Institute 6204 Sempach, Switzerland Tel. +41 41 462 97 00 Fax +41 41 462 97 10 www.vogelwarte.ch info@vogelwarte.ch

Tengmalm’s owl Aegolius funereus Size 25 cm Diet Tengmalm’s owl feeds mainly on small mammals.

Habitat This species lives in the forests of the Jura range, the Alps and alpine foothills from an altitude of around 1000 metres up to the tree line.

Migration This species is sedentary and stays in Switzerland through the winter too.

Reproduction Tengmalm’s owl breeds almost exclusively in old black woodpecker cavities or nesting boxes. The clutch consists of 2 to 8 eggs, which are incubated for between 26 and 27 days. Chicks leave the nest cavity after 29 to 38 days.

Nesting population 1,000 to 1,500 breeding pairs. Switzerland is home to an aboveaverage proportion of the European population.

Photo: Alfred Limbrunner

Birds – Our Neighbours Now’s your chance to secure your copy of the richly illustrated book “Vögel – unsere Nachbarn” (Birds – Our Neighbours), the definitive work on birds in Switzerland’s settled areas produced by the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach. A double page each is devoted to fifty-seven of the bird species commonly found in settled areas. A chapter on the seasons shows how birds adapt to changing conditions, and comprehensive information is provided about how to design a near-natural, bird-friendly garden. An extensive practical section provides lots of tips about nurturing and protecting native birds. The book is available in German or French.

264 pages, format 23⫻30 cm, 390 photos

Special price for Focus readers: CHF 46.– (+ postage and packing: CHF 7.50)

I’d like to order copy/copies of “Vögel – unsere Nachbarn” (German) copy/copies of “Nos voisins les oiseaux” (French)

Name First name Address Postcode/Town Telephone Date Signature

Send to: The Swiss Ornithological Institute 6204 Sempach, Switzerland Fax +41 41 462 97 10

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Special stamps Switzerland through the eyes of foreign artists – England

Switzerland – Inspiration for English literary classics In the series “Switzerland through the eyes of foreign artists”, the English artist James Peel has followed the tracks of four British authors whose works reflect their stay in Switzerland. The result is four stamps paying homage to landscapes that served as inspiration for a generation of artists.

CHF 0.85: Mönch Mary Shelley conceived Frankenstein during her stay in Switzerland where she chose the dramatic backdrop of the Alps for an encounter between Victor Frankenstein and his Monster. Mary arrived here with her half-sister Jane Clairmont and Percy Shelley in 1816.

It was later that year, shortly after the death of Percy’s wife, Harriet, that Mary and Percy married. 1816 was the so-called Year Without a Summer; a year with extreme weather conditions in many parts of the world. One evening, huddling indoors, during a visit nearby at the Villa Diodati where Lord Byron resided, a ghost story contest was held.

Mary did not have the idea instantly.

Later, however, she had a waking dream, which she included in the preface of the 1831 edition of Frankenstein: “I saw – with shut eyes, but acute mental vision – I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half-vital motion.”

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Frankenstein partly takes place in Switzerland and several allusions point to Mary’s impressions of the Alps, the “white and shining pyramids and domes, towered above all”. Mary Shelley used the Alpine landscape as the place where Frankenstein could seek refuge and ease of mind: “(I) suddenly left my home, and bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself and my ephemeral, because human, sorrows.”

Mary Shelley Born August 30, 1797, London Died February 1, 1851, Bournemouth Text Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus (1818)

CHF 1.00: Lauterbrunnen

First-day cover motif

Another writer equally impressed by the Alps was William Wordsworth. His love for this region and its untamed nature reflected his earlier work and passion for the unspoilt expanses of the Lake District in England, where he was born.

Nature was of paramount importance to Wordsworth, and he believed that the essential experience and understanding of nature could have an educative influence on humanity. From 1813 until he became Poet Laureate in 1843, Wordsworth worked as the distributor of postage stamps for Westmoreland, allowing him a steady income. This position did not keep him from travelling.

He was a keen traveller and his journeys included Switzerland in 1790 as well as 1820. It was during his second visit that he saw the Staubbach Falls, which he immortalized in his “Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, 1820”.

Special stamps Switzerland through the eyes of foreign artists – England Sales Philately: From 30.8.2007 until 30.9.2008 Post offices: From 6.9.2007, while stocks last Validity Unlimited from 6.9.2007 Unstamped covers will be available for CHF 0.90 each at all philatelic salespoints and the Stamps & Philately Customer Service from 23.8.2007.

Printing Offset, 4-colour, with hot foil stamping; Cartor Security Printing, La Loupe, France

Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, 1820 XI. On Approaching the Staubbach, Lauterbrunnen UTTERED by whom, or how inspired – designed For what strange service, does this concert reach Our ears, and near the dwellings of mankind!

‘Mid fields familiarized to human speech? – No Mermaid’s warble – to allay the wind Driving some vessel toward a dangerous beach – More thrilling melodies; Witch answering Witch, To chant a love-spell, never intertwined Notes shrill and wild with art more musical: Alas! that from the lips of abject Want Or Idleness in tatters mendicant The strain should flow – free Fancy to enthral, And with regret and useless pity haunt This bold, this bright, this sky-born, WATERFALL!

William Wordsworth Born April 7, 1770, Cockermouth Died April 23, 1850, Ambleside Text Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, 1820 (1922)

Sizes Stamps: 2⫻ 33⫻28 mm 2⫻ 28⫻33 mm Sheets: 2⫻ 170⫻162 mm (4 rows of 5 stamps) 2⫻ 162⫻170 mm (5 rows of 4 stamps) Paper White stamp paper, with optical brightener, mat gummed, 110 gm2 Perforation 131⁄4:123⁄4 Designer James Peel, London First-day cancellation

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James Peel Born in 1973, this young British artist has designed the four stamps on the theme of “Switzerland through the eyes of foreign artists”. James Peel, who works all over the world, discovered in literature the peg on which he hangs his unusual oeuvre.

Peel’s work explores forgotten histories, romanticism and language through a range of media, including photography, film, painting and sound.

Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1998, he has undertaken several commissions and residencies and has exhibited in museums and galleries in England and Europe, including the Tate Gallery, Liverpool and The Henry Moore Trust, Leeds.

Recent work has been inspired by the legacy of the romantic search for a universal harmony revealed through nature, specifically in relation to the spectrum and music, which resulted in an exhibition “Töne der Wasserfälle”, 2006, Basel.

At present Peel is living and working in the United States, where he is dividing his time between Texas and New York. He is developing a new series of interrelated work along the border in relation to the theme of “Zugunruhe”, a 19th C. term used to describe the migratory instinct in caged birds.

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CHF 1.30: Lake of Geneva At the time when Lord Byron stayed in Switzerland, his fame was by no means based on his writings only. He had led a colourful life as a celebrity and enjoyed life in all its facets. Public opinion, however, did not stay in his favour. In April 1816, his marriage with Annabelle had ended, having lasted little more than a year. At this point, Byron decided to leave England, and, accompanied by his personal physician, John Polidori, he set out from Dover, never to return. After a journey up the Rhine, he headed for the Lake of Geneva, where he had rented the Villa Diodati. He spent a lot of time sailing, and his fondness for the lake is expressed in his Sonnet to Lake Leman: “How much more, Lake of Beauty! do we feel in sweetly gliding o’er thy crystal sea.” His love for the lake nearly cost him his life as he was close to drowning during a boat trip with Percy Shelley during which they encountered exceptionally bad weather. Once, the story goes, a boatman told him the local legend of Prior François Bonivard from Geneva, who was imprisoned, chained to a pillar, in the Castle of Chillon near Montreux, back in the 16th century.

Byron was so taken by the story that, after a visit to the castle, he wrote The Prisoner of Chillon.

The Prisoner of Chillon Canto VI Lake Leman lies by Chillon’s walls: A thousand feet in depth below Its massy waters meet and flow; Thus much the fathom-line was sent From Chillon’s snow-white battlement, Which round about the wave inthralls: A double dungeon wall and wave Have made-and like a living grave Below the surface of the lake The dark vault lies wherein we lay: We heard it ripple night and day; Sounding o’er our heads it knock’d; And I have felt the winter’s spray Wash through the bars when winds were high And wanton in the happy sky; And then the very rock hath rock’d, And I have felt it shake, unshock’d, Because I could have smiled to see The death that would have set me free.

In autumn 1816, Byron left for Italy where he stayed until 1823. His final destination was to be Greece.

George Gordon, Lord Byron Born January 22, 1788, London Died April 19, 1824, Missolonghi, Greece Texts The Prisoner of Chillon (1816); Sonnet to Lake Leman (1816)

Special stamps Switzerland through the eyes of foreign artists – England

CHF 1.80: Reichenbach Fall Half a century later, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, best known for Sherlock Holmes, arrived in Switzerland. In “The Final Problem”, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle chose the Reichenbach Fall as the site where his famous character met his death at the hands of Professor Moriarty, both plunging into the “dreadful cauldron” of the torrent. Conan Doyle and his wife Louisa, who suffered from tuberculosis, had decided to go to Switzerland in 1893. They stayed in Davos in the hope that the climate would improve Louisa’s health. Doyle once went to the Reichenbach Fall and noticed that this place could be the solution to something that had been troubling him for a while.

Doyle had become increasingly uncomfortable with being known primarily for his character Sherlock Holmes and had decided to let him die. At Reichenbach Fall he had found the perfect setting for “The Final Problem”.

He let Holmes and Watson travel to Meiringen, where, one day, they decided to go for a hike. Conan Doyle described the scenery through the voice of Dr. Watson: “It is indeed, a fearful place. The torrent, swollen by the melting snow, plunges into a tremendous abyss, from which the spray rolls up like the smoke from a burning house. The shaft into which the river hurls itself is an immense chasm, lined by glistening coal-black rock, and narrowing into a creaming, boiling pit of incalculable depth, which brims over and shoots the stream onward over its jagged lip. The long sweep of green water roaring forever down, and the thick flickering curtain of spray hissing forever upward, turn a man giddy with their constant whirl and clamour.”

Here all traces of Holmes are lost. A note left for Dr. Watson and the two sets of footsteps leading to the edge of the cliffs suggest that this is indeed the end of Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle and his wife remained in Switzerland until 1897.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Born May 22, 1859, Edinburgh Died July 7, 1930, Windlesham

Texts: Niels Pedersen Text The Final Problem (1893)

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Special stamps Congratulations

Happiness tops the emotional charts

The set of three special stamps on the theme of “Congratulations”, designed by painter Victoria Léonard, got the most votes from the general public (Focus 1/2007). Congratulations are always associated in our minds with happy occasions and good fortune. But just what is happiness? Happiness is something intangible and hard to explain, but let’s give it a try.

What we humans cannot touch or grasp, we try to describe in terms of images, using symbols like four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, piglets, chimney sweeps and ladybirds as tokens of happiness and good fortune.

The sensation of happiness The sensation of happiness is both a feeling and a state of being. What it means to be happy or fortunate is very individual and varies from person to person. For some, it is health, contentment or quality of life, while for others

Smells and joy can heal Scientists have discovered the secret of human happiness – there is a direct connection between smells, the immune system and mood. For instance, the very smell of chocolate triggers a significantly higher number of disease-combating antibodies. In contrast, the immunoglobulin count of test participants who had to smell rotten meat was significantly reduced.

Another study also proved the healing power of joy. The mere thought of a bad experience immediately weakened the test participants’ immune system, whereas the evocation of pleasant memories improved their mood and boosted their bodies’ defences.

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it is prosperity, wealth or prestige. Some people need chocolate to make them happy, others turn to sport. But we all have one thing in common: we all wish for happiness.

In medical, or rather neurobiological terms, it is the neurotransmitter serotonin which triggers a sense of happiness. The brain releases this substance in various situations – for instance, when we are eating, during sporting activity and as a reaction to many other pleasant experiences in life.

But here, as in everything else, too much is bad for you! Even our bodies know that. But one or two glasses of wine, or three to four pieces of chocolate make people feel calmer and happier.

However, some drugs cause the brain to release inordinate amounts of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, thereby stimulating the metabolism so violently that the brain is flooded with these endogenous substances and experiences a state of exaltation while the effect lasts.

The ancient Greeks and happiness Epicurus was one of the great hedonist philosophers of the ancient world. The main aim of his Epicurean philosophy was to achieve a state characterized

For your passions

For your wishes

For your successes

First-day cover motif

Special stamps Congratulations Sales Philately: From 30.8.2007, until further notice Post offices: From 6.9.2007, while stocks last Validity Unlimited from 6.9.2007 Unstamped covers will be available for CHF 0.90 each at all philatelic salespoints and the Stamps & Philately Customer Service from 23.8.2007.

Printing Offset, 5-colour; Tesa Bandfix AG, Bergdietikon (ZH) Sizes Stamps: 33⫻28 mm Sheets: 204⫻140 mm (5 rows of 4 stamps)

by the absence of physical pain, not through excessive consumption of worldly goods or overindulgence but by strategic reduction to what is absolutely necessary. Epicurus believed that people who strove for the heights could also fall very low, which was why he advocated seeking happiness in little things.

The following is a famous passage from a letter to his friend Menoikeus: “Send me a piece of fine cheese sometime so I can revel in the pleasure of eating it when the mood takes me.” Towards the end of his life, Epicurus remained true to the happiness found in little things – which is hardly surprising when you know his story. Epicurus was banished

from Athens seven times in all, and his school was burnt down. Ultimately, he withdrew to a garden. He was convinced that people should strive for a happy life because bliss has a double meaning.

At its highest level it is, he believed, on a par with the divine and cannot become any more intense.

Laughter is good for our health, strengthening the immune system and stimulating the brain’s pleasure centre.

Photo: ImagePoint

Paper White stamp paper, self-adhesive, on backing paper, 220 gm2 Perforation Serpentine cut (4 sides) Designer Victoria Léonard, Porrentruy First-day cancellation

Carina Ammon, Head of Communication, Stamps and Philately

Longer availability The “Congratulations” series marks a Swiss Post innovation – special stamps that are on sale for an indefinite period. As usual, these stamps can be purchased at post offices for a few weeks only, but they will now also be available from our Internet shop and philatelic salespoints for longer, so we can provide an alternative to definitives for special occasions calling for congratulations.

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Special stamp Nina Corti – The dance

Nina Corti and flamenco – dance that knows no frontiers Swiss Post stamps created by celebrities from the arts world have so far featured designs by Emil, the comedian, Stephan Eicher, the musician, and Dimitri, the clown. Now flamenco dancer Nina Corti goes public with a special stamp.

See Nina Corti in action – for free Now Stamps & Philately customers have a chance to see Nina Corti perform live! We are giving away 160 tickets for an exclusive event in Zurich.

On 6 September 2007, the first day of issue of the special stamp designed by Nina Corti, we’re inviting you to the Rigiblick Theatre in Zurich where you can get to know this worldfamous flamenco dancer in person and enjoy an exceptional evening in her company.

Send your ticket applications (maximum of two tickets per application) stating your exact address and customer number to: Swiss Post Stamps & Philately Kurt Strässle Ostermundigenstr. 91 3030 Berne Switzerland Tickets will be allocated in the order in which applications are received. Those lucky enough to get free tickets will be sent programme details in writing.

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“I wasn’t born a gypsy, but I heard their enthralling tales of life and death, and my innermost self instinctively intuited their message and responded in the language of dance.

My movements became a sensuous interplay with the songs of joy and suffering.”

Nina Corti

Nina Corti, the world-famous flamenco dancer, was born in Zurich in 1954.

Culture and the arts were decisive influences on her life from an early age. Her father – a musician with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra – took his daughter to the opera at the tender age of four, and Nina was having dancing and piano lessons even before she went to school. She discovered Spanish dance when she was sixteen.

A déjà-vu experience What did Nina Corti find so totally fascinating in this form of dance developed by Andalusian gypsies? “It was like a déjà-vu experience. I felt as though I had already seen it somewhere, that I was long familiar with it: the music with its special melodies, harmonies and rhythms, this extraordinary type of dance, the stamping of feet and clapping of hands.”

Nina Corti also became widely known as an artiste who dances flamenco in blue jeans instead of traditional costume.

Does this departure from convention hold any message for the audience?

In reply, Nina Corti says: “No, not really.

I just wanted to express on stage the crazy ideas that popped into my head.

So the decision was based more on a gut feeling. When I was travelling with gypsy musicians in Spain, we would suddenly start to play and dance in the street, so of course I danced in jeans. That gave me the idea of doing it on stage too.”

Nina Corti the pioneer Nina Corti has broken – and is breaking – new ground in other ways, not just to do with costumes. She reinterprets, alters and gives flamenco a topical note by working and performing with jazz, pop and classical musicians.

So it’s no wonder that traditionalists are not uncritical. However, the enthusiastic audience response and her international success confirm that Nina Corti is on track with her unique creative approach.

With her exceptional powers of expression, she translates the essential elements of flamenco – seduction, sensuousness, humour, eroticism but also sadness, pain and protest – into a consummate stage performance that reflects the

Flamenco is Nina Corti’s passion and she is continually reinterpreting it: “There’s nothing intellectual or ethereal about flamenco. It’s all about spontaneous reaction, so it’s all about life.”

Photos: Fotostudio Strauch, Aachen (Germany)

First-day cover motif

Special stamp Nina Corti – The dance Sales Philately: From 30.8.2007 until 30.9.2008 Post offices: From 6.9.2007, while stocks last Validity Unlimited from 6.9.2007 Unstamped covers will be available for CHF 0.90 each at all philatelic salespoints and the Stamps & Philately Customer Service from 23.8.2007.

complete gamut of human emotion.

As she herself puts it: “There’s nothing intellectual or ethereal about flamenco.

It’s all about spontaneous reaction, so it’s all about life.”

Kurt Strässle, Stamps & Philately

Printing Offset, 4-colour; Austrian State Printing Office, Vienna Sizes Stamp: 32.5⫻40 mm Sheet: 160⫻195 mm (4 rows of 4 stamps) Paper White stamp paper, with optical brightener, mat gummed, 110 gm2 Perforation 133⁄4

“Queen of Flamenco” Nina Corti is one of the world’s best flamenco dancers, and her artistic fire has earned her the title “Queen of Flamenco”. After studying dance in Madrid and Seville, she made a name for herself as a Spanish dance interpreter who delights in experimenting. She is much in demand as a lecturer in Switzerland and abroad, passing on her expertise to young dancers and is also a champion of the free dance scene. Nina Corti has two grown-up sons and is a keen amateur gardener alongside her dancing.

Designer Nina Corti, Zurich First-day cancellation

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Stamp booklet Children’s book character “Schellen-Ursli”

A mountain farmer’s boy from Engadine is the hero of the day “Schellen-Ursli”, the mountain farmer’s boy firmly rooted in his era yet with timeless graphic appeal, has finally made it onto a Swiss stamp. Children and connoisseurs both find his adventures irresistible. On this B-stamp motif, Ursli is climbing a hill. In other words, he is moving that bit slower, which is quite appropriate for a non-priority letter...

Alois Carigiet and Selina Chönz, the author of “Schellen-Ursli” Photos: Orell-Füssli-Verlag

But did the Graubünden artist Alois Carigiet (1902–1985) get something wrong when he drew the bridge? No bridge was ever built so far up the valley side. Nobody would cross a bridge with so many gaps without a downward glance. And does the artist not have the faintest idea about perspective? Because the bridge is actually tilting away from under Ursli’s feet. Well, let’s just say the composition is symbolic. The bridge is bold and aims for the stars – a metaphor for Ursli’s courage and exuberance.

The story is all about a bell The story which was invented and put into verse by Selina Chönz (1910–2000) was inspired by the Engadine spring

custom of “Chalandamarz”. When the village boys borrow bells to ring out the winter, Ursli is left with the smallest bell. Then he remembers the big bell up at the summer pastures. Overcoming all obstacles, he makes the ascent alone, trudging through the snow to the mountain hut and returning the next day with the bell. His parents and uncles have been worrying about him all night.

His mother gives him a big hug – and when the boys gather round the well, he is the hero of the day with the biggest bell.

Unusually enough for a picture-book illustration, the artist has signed and dated the sheet “A.C. 40”, and the inscription is visible on the stamp too.

This was the first sheet he completed for the book and he had to be reminded several times by Selina Chönz, a nurseryschool teacher from the Lower Engadine, to finish the illustrations.

As a graphic artist with his own studio in Zurich, Alois Carigiet had not only designed the poster for the 1939 National Exhibition but had worn himself out with other projects. So he withdrew to the mountains of Graubünden to recuperate. At the same time, the young man was keen to make his living as a free-lance artist. And just at that point

in time, Selina Chönz was badgering him to get a move on. But Carigiet wanted to paint, and the picture book was not published until 1945.

Nostalgia combined with bold graphics In visual terms, Alois Carigiet was ahead of his time with “Schellen-Ursli” while the actual content of the children’s book looks back to themes of the 1930s: the lad who proves his mettle, the mountains as the idealized home of tradition and authenticity, and last but not least, the image of Switzerland as an agricultural country untouched by modern life. The unconscious combination of nostalgia and bold graphics was a hit from the

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First-day cover motif

Stamp booklet Children’s book character “Schellen-Ursli” Sales Philately: From 30.8.2007 until 30.9.2008 Post offices: From 6.9.2007, while stocks last Validity Unlimited from 6.9.2007 Unstamped covers will be available for CHF 0.90 each at all philatelic salespoints and the Stamps & Philately Customer Service from 23.8.2007.

Printing Offset, 4-colour; Tesa Bandfix AG, Bergdietikon (ZH) Sizes Stamp: 33⫻28 mm Stamp booklet: 254⫻64 mm (open) (2 rows of 5 stamps)

very start – not just in Switzerland but among children and tourists from all over the world.

As a painter, Carigiet was popular in his home canton and with the general public, but national art critics were lukewarm in their approval. In contrast, his picture books – above all, “A Bell for Ursli”, “Florina” and “The Snowstorm”, the so-called “Engadine Trilogy”– won him international acclaim. He was the first illustrator to receive the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Prize in 1966.

The “Uorsin” (the title of the Romansch version) was translated into ten languages, and even today, some 10,000 copies of the German original version are sold every year.

A classic that unites the generations As a Swiss export, Ursli became a brother for Heidi, the big difference being that Johanna Spyri’s heroine was known as a character in a novel whereas Ursli is an unmistakeable graphic figure. This is demonstrated not only by picture-book sales but also by the fact that Ursli has been copied illegally for advertising purposes. However, in the sphere of picture books, Ursli is a classic that has stood the test of time – an evergreen that unites the generations.

The spring custom of “Chalandamarz” is an Engadine tradition. In the Schellen-Ursli village of Guarda, school children drive out the winter by ringing bells and welcome spring with their songs.

Photo: swiss-image.ch

Paper White stamp paper, self-adhesive, on backing paper, 220 gm2 Perforation Serpentine cut (4 sides) Illustration Alois Carigiet Graphical adaptation Theresia Nuber, Zurich First-day cancellation

Hans ten Doornkaat, Reader of manuscripts and journalist specializing in children’s literature

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Maximum card Children’s book character “Schellen-Ursli”

Send “Schellen-Ursli” on his travels

Maximum card Children’s book character “Schellen-Ursli” Sales Philately: From 30.8.2007 until 30.9.2008 or while stocks last (no unstamped cards will be sold) Post offices: Not available Printing Offset Sizes Card: 148⫻105 mm Stamp: 33⫻28 mm Paper White offset board, 260 gm2 Illustration Alois Carigiet Graphical adaptation Theresia Nuber, Zurich First-day cancellation

What makes this maximum card so special is that it combines a motif from the picture book with the matching first-day cancellation.

“Schellen-Ursli” plates In the “extra” boutique, Carigiet fans will find exclusive painted ceramic plates with various motifs from the book “Schellen-Ursli”. The six different plates can also be hung up as wall decorations and feature in the “extra” catalogue enclosed with versions of Focus distributed in Switzerland. They can also be ordered by phone on 0848 78 26 77. Delivery in Switzerland only.

The village of Guarda is known for its unique atmosphere and striking Engadine houses.

Photo: swiss-image.ch

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Special reader offer and competition Children’s book character “Schellen-Ursli”

Three children’s book classics and the chance of a weekend in Engadine The “Engadine Trilogy” by Alois Carigiet and Selina Chönz is a Swiss classic whose charming tales and unique illustrations have been delighting young and old for many years.

A Bell for Ursli 44 pages, hardback, colour illustrations

An Engadine picture book. The story is based on the ancient custom called “Chalandamarz” the Engadine festival for children who ring out the winter with their bells.

The Snowstorm 28 pages, hardback, colour illustrations

Win one of the following prizes!

Florina is caught in a snowstorm.

After hunting high and low, her brother “Schellen-Ursli” finds his sister in distress and brings her home safe and sound.

1st prize: a romantic weekend in the Hotel Meisser*** Unique in the “Schellen-Ursli” village of Guarda in the Lower Engadine A night in the “La Stüvetta” junior suite (with its cosy little stone-pine-clad parlour and tiled stove), including a champagne aperitif, four-course candle-light dinner in the historic dining-room and a copious breakfast buffet, worth CHF 460.– 2nd – 25th prize: a hardback copy of “A Bell for Ursli” by Alois Carigiet and Selina Chönz, worth CHF 29.80 26th – 50th prize: a stamp booklet with ten CHF 0.85 “Schellen-Ursli” stamps, worth CHF 8.50

Florina and the Wild Bird 28 pages, hardback, colour illustrations

Schellen-Ursli’s sister Florina finds a little orphaned wild bird which she nurses back to health and then sets free. Afterwards, she discovers a beautiful treasure.

Conditions of entry 䊏 Closing date for entries: 30 September 2007 (date of postmark) 䊏 Winners will be notified in person. 䊏 Prizes will not be paid out in cash. 䊏 The organizer’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be conducted about the competition. 䊏 Entry does not entail an obligation to order.

✁

Order form and competition Order form

Competition entry

Number of copies A Bell for Ursli (English)

Competition question: What is Schellen-Ursli’s sister called?

(Tick the right answer)

The Snowstorm (English) Florina and the Wild Bird (English)

First name Address

Florina

Postcode/Town Country

I just want to enter the competition.

Send this form to:

*Switzerland CHF 6.–, Europe EUR 5.–.

Contact us about the cost of delivery to other countries.

Last name

Carina

Prize per copy: CHF 29.80 / EUR 16.80 (plus postage*)

Customer No.

Swiss Post Stamps & Philately Customer Service Ostermundigenstrasse 91 3030 Berne, Switzerland

Date of birth E-mail address Date/Signature

Orders will be dispatched by post and billed direct by the publisher, Orell-Füssli-Verlag.

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Added value for our faithful customers

From stamps to made-up philatelic products (3)

What does it take to ensure that several million stamps – affixed to first-day covers, as collection sheets or folders, or in some other philatelic form – ultimately land in the customer’s letterbox? The Production Unit where the articles which delight countless collectors at home and abroad are prepared plays a key role in Swiss Post philately.

Working from home To meet customers’ high quality expectations, all gummed stamps are still separated by hand before being further processed. This work is done by a total of 40 experienced ladies working from home who separate over 15 million stamps a year. Home-workers are also used for inserting stamps into folder or collection sheets or into glassine stamp envelopes. And lastly, special sizes which cannot be processed mechanically are affixed to first-day covers by hand.

Production In the Production Unit, the hand-separated stamps are further processed using machines. In a single pass, a special stamp-affixing machine can stick up to four stamps on a first-day cover and apply two cancellations. The same machine can be used to affix stamps and apply cancellations to folder and collection sheets. On folder and collection sheets for mint stamps, the special-stamp envelopes are first affixed using the appropriate machine before the stamps are inserted by home-workers.

The stamp-affixing machine sticks gummed stamps on first-day covers and then cancels them (picture on left).

Stamps are inserted manually into the envelopes on folder or collection sheets.

In contrast to gummed stamps, selfadhesive stamps can generally be affixed to first-day covers, collection and folder sheets straight from the production reel using a machine designed in Australia.

And an “Original Heidelberger Tiegel” – a printing machine for small-format printed matter – is used for cancellation.

Finally, the products – for instance all the first-day covers of a particular issue – are assembled for standing-order customers. This process is also done automatically on a collator.

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Official stamp Universal Postal Union – United Nations joint issue

Humanitarian mail: a mainstay of international aid A joint Swiss Post – United Nations Postal Administration official stamp on the theme of Humanitarian Mail is to be issued on 6 September 2007, symbolizing the humanitarian commitment of the United Nations (UN) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in getting food, aid materials and mail to the victims of natural disasters or armed conflicts.

The term “humanitarian mail” covers all consignments designed to restore normality to the lives of vulnerable population groups and the victims of natural disasters, persecution or armed conflicts as fast as possible. In many cases, such mail enables people to trace lost family members but above all, it helps to ensure communication when the usual channels are disrupted or severed.

Help for tsunami survivors “We do everything in our power to see that humanitarian mail gets through to civilians experiencing hardship in emergency situations”, emphasizes UPU Director General Edouard Dayan. “For instance, not so very long ago, the Posts of UPU member countries provided support for survivors of the tsunami and the Bam earthquake in Iran.”

The official stamp was designed by Rorie Katz, a graphic artist with the UN Postal Administration. The set will comprise four different sheetlets of ten stamps

Sheetlet

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Royal Mail staff sorting millions of letters with donations for the “Tsunami Earthquake Appeal” Disasters Emergency Committee (main picture).

DHL employees storing aid materials at Colombo airport (Sri Lanka) (left).

Photos: Union Postale magazine, UPU

First-day cover motif

Official stamp Universal Postal Union – United Nations joint issue – Humanitarian mail

with similar illustrations but in different colours, and the face value will be in Swiss francs (United Nations in Geneva and the UPU in Berne), euros (United Nations in Vienna) and US dollars (United Nations in New York).

The official UPU stamp – the 21st of its kind since 1957 – features the words “Timbre de service” (official stamp) und “Union postale universelle” (Universal Postal Union) as well as “Helvetia” (for Switzerland) and the face value “180”.

For UN mail Mail franked with official stamps can be sent only by the international organizations for which the stamp was issued and cannot be used for postage by private individuals. Almost all mail dispatched by UN agencies will sport the new stamp, making it an ideal marketing tool for promoting humanitarian mail as a mainstay of United Nations support for people in distress.

Jérôme Deutschmann, UPU

Sales Philately: From 30.8.2007 until 31.12.2010 Post offices: Not available Validity Unlimited from 6.9.2007 For official UPU mail only.

Not valid for private postage purposes Unstamped covers are not available.

Printing Offset, 4-colour; Cartor Security Printing, La Loupe, France Sizes Stamp: 33⫻28 mm Sheetlet: 192⫻115 mm (2 rows of 5 stamps) Paper White stamp paper, with optical brightener, mat gummed, 110 gm2 Perforation 131⁄4:123⁄4 Designer Rorie Katz, New York First-day cancellation

Special silk cover (206ⴛ140 mm) with all four joint-issue stamps. For further information, turn to page 31 (New Products) and consult the order form.

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New Products

First day of issue of stamps 6.9.2007 Special cover

18.8.2007

Zeppelin NT jubilee airmail

Definitive stamps

6.9.2007

Domestic Birds CHF 0.85 Common Chaffinch CHF 1.00 Great Tit

CHF 1.10 Wallcreeper CHF 1.80 Tengmalm’s Owl

White stamp paper, self-adhesive Dauermarken Timbres-poste ordinaires Francobolli ordinari Definitive stamps

Einheimische Vögel Oiseaux indigènes Uccelli locali Domestic birds

6.9.2006

Einheimische Vögel Oiseaux indigènes Uccelli locali Domestic birds

85 c. Buchfink Pinson des arbres Fringuello Common Chaffinch

85 c. Buchfink Pinson des arbres Fringuello Common Chaffinch

100 c. Kohlmeise Mésange charbonnière Cinciallegra Great Tit

100 c. Kohlmeise Mésange charbonnière Cinciallegra Great Tit

110 c. Mauerläufer Tichodrome échelette Picchio muraiolo Wallcreeper

110 c. Mauerläufer Tichodrome échelette Picchio muraiolo Wallcreeper

180 c. Raufusskauz Chouette de Tengmalm Civetta capogrosso Tengmalm’s Owl

180 c. Raufusskauz Chouette de Tengmalm Civetta capogrosso Tengmalm’s Owl

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

Eva Ch. Weber, Basel Martine Chatagny, Praz/Vully

Eva Ch. Weber, Basel Martine Chatagny, Praz/Vully

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing Joh. Enschedé, Haarlem, Nederland

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing 527

Joh. Enschedé, Haarlem, Nederland 681

Set on first-day cover 1294 580 䉺 only CHF 5.65

Special cover commemorates Auguste Piccard’s balloon flight with the special stamp “Auguste Piccard” of CHF 0.80 of 14.9.1978 and the Europa stamp “Stratospheric balloon” of CHF 1.00 of 17.5.1994 as well as an on-board cachet. Marked with the special “8600 Dübendorf 18.8.2007” cancellation and the “9423 Altenrhein” arrival postmark on the back.

1347 902 䉺 only CHF 16.00

Folder 1294 660 夹 1294 670 䉺 CHF 5.65

Business sheets of 50 stamps** CHF 0.85 1294 361 夹 only CHF 42.50 CHF 1.00 1294 362 夹 only CHF 50.00

Not included in standing order. Will be delivered with the orders of 6.9.2007.

CHF 1.10 1294 363 夹 only CHF 55.00

Combi-Folder

Collection sheet 1294 680 夹 1294 690 䉺 CHF 5.35

CHF 1.80 1294 364 夹 only CHF 90.00

1.6.2007

Stamp booklet with 10 self-adhesive stamps of CHF 0.85 Common Chaffinch 1294 300 夹 1294 800 䉺 CHF 8.50

** not included in standing order

125 years of the Gotthard railway

Strips of 10 stamps

Set 1294 150 夹 1294 550 䉺 CHF 4.75

Combi-Folder multilingual (en/de/fr/it) with the Pro Patria stamp “The old St Gotthard refuge” of CHF 0.90+0.40 of 12.5.1998 and two special stamps “Centenary of the Gotthard railway – Steam locomotive / Electric locomotive” of CHF 0.40 of 18.2.1982.

Cancelled with the publicity postmarks “6487 Göschenen 1.6.2007” and “6780 Airolo 1.6.2007”.

1296 900 䉺 only CHF 7.80 Not included in standing order. Will be delivered with the orders of 6.9.2007.

Key

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夹 = mint

䉺 = cancelled

No set of blocks of four available Customers with a standing order for set of blocks of four will receive for each set of blocks of four in their standing order 1⫻ 1294 150 夹 and/or 1294 550 䉺

CHF 1.10 1294 373 夹 only CHF 11.00 Single stamp on first-day cover (4 covers) 1294 600 䉺 only CHF 8.35 No block of four on first-day cover available Customers with a standing order for block of four on first-day cover will receive for each block of four on first-day cover in their standing order 1⫻ 1294 580 䉺 Unstamped cover available from 23.8.2007 1294 700 CHF 0.90

CHF 1.80 1294 374 夹 only CHF 18.00 Stamp booklet with 10 self-adhesive stamps of CHF 1.00 Great Tit 1294 301 夹 1294 801 䉺 CHF 10.00

Please note: For technical reasons, some items such as set of blocks of four and block of four on first-day covers, as well as special requests such as horizontal pairs etc., cannot be provided.

Customers with a standing order for “Stamps from sheets” will receive 1ⴛ 1294 361 夹, 1294 362 夹, 1294 363 夹, 1294 364 夹 and/or 1294 381 䉺, 1294 382 䉺, 1294 383 䉺, 1294 384 䉺 for each stamp covered by their standing order (Numbers 1294 381 䉺, 1294 382 䉺, 1294 383 䉺, 1294 384 䉺 are not listed on the New Products pages).

Special stamps

6.9.2007

Special stamps

6.9.2007

Switzerland through the eyes of foreign artists – England

Congratulations

CHF 0.85 Mönch CHF 1.00 Lauterbrunnen

CHF 0.85 For your passions CHF 1.00 For your wishes CHF 1.30 For your successes

CHF 1.30 Lake of Geneva CHF 1.80 Reichenbach Fall

White stamp paper, mat gummed

White stamp paper, self-adhesive

Set on first-day cover 1291 580 䉺 only CHF 5.85

Set 1292 150 夹 1292 550 䉺 CHF 3.15

Block of four on first-day cover (4 covers) 1291 630 䉺 only CHF 23.40

Set 1291 150 夹 1291 550 䉺 CHF 4.95

Set of blocks of four 1291 160 夹 1291 560 䉺 CHF 19.80

Sheets of 20 stamps

Half-sheet of 10 stamps

CHF 0.85** 1291 111 夹 1291 511 䉺 CHF 17.00

CHF 1.80 1291 124 夹 1291 524 䉺 CHF 18.00

CHF 1.00** 1291 112 夹 1291 512 䉺 CHF 20.00 CHF 1.30** 1291 113 夹 1291 513 䉺 CHF 26.00 CHF 1.80 1291 114 夹 1291 514 䉺 CHF 36.00 ** available in complete sheets only

Sondermarken Timbres-poste spéciaux Francobolli speciali Special stamps

Die Schweiz aus der Sicht ausländischer Künstler La Suisse vue par des artistes étrangers La Svizzera vista dagli artisti stranieri Switzerland through the eyes of foreign artists 85 c.

Lauterbrunnen

130 c.

Genfersee Lac Léman Lago di Ginevra Lake of Geneva

180 c.

85 c.

Reichenbachfall La chute d’eau du Reichenbach La cascata di Reichenbach Reichenbach Fall

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

Mönch

100 c.

Lauterbrunnen

130 c.

Genfersee Lac Léman Lago di Ginevra Lake of Geneva

180 c.

Reichenbachfall La chute d’eau du Reichenbach La cascata di Reichenbach Reichenbach Fall

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

James Peel, London

James Peel, London

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing Cartor Security Printing, La Loupe, France

6.9.2007

Die Schweiz aus der Sicht ausländischer Künstler La Suisse vue par des artistes étrangers La Svizzera vista dagli artisti stranieri Switzerland through the eyes of foreign artists

Mönch

100 c.

Set on first-day cover 1292 580 䉺 only CHF 4.05

Unstamped cover available from 23.8.2007 1291 700 CHF 0.90

Single stamp on first-day cover (4 covers) 1291 600 䉺 only CHF 8.55

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing 524

Cartor Security Printing, La Loupe, France 678

Folder 1291 660 夹 1291 670 䉺 CHF 5.85

Key

Set of blocks of four 1292 160 夹 1292 560 䉺 CHF 12.60

Collection sheet 1291 680 夹 1291 690 䉺 CHF 5.55

夹 = mint

䉺 = cancelled

Single stamp on first-day cover (3 covers) 1292 600 䉺 only CHF 5.85

Continued on page 30

29

New Products

Ordering made easy: use the enclosed order form!

Special stamps

6.9.2007

Congratulations (continued)

Block of four on first-day cover (3 covers) 1292 630 䉺 only CHF 15.30

Sondermarken Timbres-poste spéciaux Francobolli speciali Special stamps

Glückwünsche Vœux Auguri Congratulations 85 c.

Lässt Wünsche wahr werden «Pour tes souhaits» «Per i tuoi desideri» ˝For your wishes˝

130 c.

Lässt Erfolge feiern «Pour tes succès» «Per i tuoi successi» ˝For your successes˝

85 c.

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

Stamp booklet

CHF 0.85 Nina Corti – The dance

CHF 0.85 Children’s book character “Schellen-Ursli”

White stamp paper, mat gummed

White stamp paper, self-adhesive

Single stamp 1290 150 夹 1290 550 䉺 CHF 0.85

Block of four 1290 160 夹 1290 560 䉺 CHF 3.40

Single stamp on first-day cover 1290 580 䉺 only CHF 1.75

Block of four on first-day cover 1290 630 䉺 only CHF 4.30

Single stamp 1293 150 夹 1293 550 䉺 CHF 0.85

100 c.

Lässt Wünsche wahr werden «Pour tes souhaits» «Per i tuoi desideri» ˝For your wishes˝

130 c.

Lässt Erfolge feiern «Pour tes succès» «Per i tuoi successi» ˝For your successes˝

85 c.

Sondermarke Timbre-poste spécial Francobollo speciale Special stamp

Der Tanz La danse Il ballo The dance

85 c.

6.9.2007

Der Tanz La danse Il ballo The dance

Victoria Leonard, Porrentruy

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing 525

No block of four available Customers with a standing order for block of four will receive for each block of four in their standing order 1⫻ 1293 150 夹 and/or 1293 550 䉺

6.9.2007

Lässt Liebe sprechen «Pour tes amours» «Per i tuoi amori» ˝For your passions˝

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

Victoria Leonard, Porrentruy

tesa Bandfix AG, Bergdietikon, Schweiz

6.9.2007

Glückwünsche Vœux Auguri Congratulations

Lässt Liebe sprechen «Pour tes amours» «Per i tuoi amori» ˝For your passions˝

100 c.

Special stamp

tesa Bandfix AG, Bergdietikon, Schweiz 679

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

Nina Corti, Zürich

Folder 1292 660 夹 1292 670 䉺 CHF 4.05

Collection sheet 1292 680 夹 1292 690 䉺 CHF 3.75

Unstamped cover available from 23.8.2007 1292 700 CHF 0.90

Sheets of 20 stamps CHF 0.85 1292 111 夹 1292 511 䉺 CHF 17.00 CHF 1.00 1292 112 夹 1292 512 䉺 CHF 20.00

Nina Corti, Zürich

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing Oesterreichische Staatsdruckerei, Wien

523

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing Oesterreichische Staatsdruckerei, Wien 677

Folder 1290 660 夹 1290 670 䉺 CHF 1.75

Collection sheet 1290 680 夹 1290 690 䉺 CHF 1.45

Unstamped cover available from 23.8.2007 1290 700 CHF 0.90

Sheet of 16 stamps 1290 111 夹 1290 511 䉺 CHF 13.60

Single stamp on first-day cover 1293 580 䉺 only CHF 1.75

Unstamped cover available from 23.8.2007 1293 700 CHF 0.90

No block of four on first-day cover available Customers with a standing order for block of four on first-day cover will receive for each block of four on first-day cover in their standing order 1⫻ 1293 580 䉺 No sheet available Available only as a single stamp (1293 150 夹/ 1293 550 䉺) or as a stamp booklet (1293 300 夹/ 1293 800 䉺)

CHF 1.30 1292 113 夹 1292 513 䉺 CHF 26.00

Swiss Post’s General Terms and Conditions of Business concerning the purchase of stamps and philatelic items form an integral part of individual orders and are tacitly accepted by each customer who sends an order.

The version of these Terms and Conditions was published in Focus 3/2005 and can be ordered at any time by telephone (+41 [0]31 338 06 09) or with the enclosed order form.

30

6.9.2007

Official stamp

6.9.2007

Joint issue Universal Postal Union (UPU) – United Nations (UN) CHF 1.80 UPU – Humanitarian mail White stamp paper, mat gummed Sondermarke Timbre-poste spécial Francobollo speciale Special stamp

Schellen-Ursli

85 c.

Kinderfigur «Schellen-Ursli» Le personnage pour enfant «Schellen-Ursli» Letteratura per l’infanzia «Schellen-Ursli» Children’s book character “Schellen-Ursli”

6.9.2007

Schellen-Ursli

85 c.

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

Kinderfigur «Schellen-Ursli» Le personnage pour enfant «Schellen-Ursli» Letteratura per l’infanzia «Schellen-Ursli» Children’s book character “Schellen-Ursli”

Product of the UPU-UN joint issue Numbered Special Silk Cover franked with the UPU official stamp and the three UN stamps (Geneva, Vienna, New York). The four stamps are cancelled with the coinciding first-day postmark.

Dimensions: 206⫻140 mm 1333 581 䉺 only CHF 13.00

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

Theresia Nuber, Zürich

Theresia Nuber, Zürich

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing 526

tesa Bandfix AG, Bergdietikon, Schweiz

tesa Bandfix AG, Bergdietikon, Schweiz 680

Folder 1293 660 夹 1293 670 䉺 CHF 1.75

Collection sheet 1293 680 夹 1293 690 䉺 CHF 1.45

Single stamp 1328 150 夹 1328 550 䉺 CHF 1.80

Block of four 1328 160 夹 1328 560 䉺 CHF 7.20

The only product available for the joint issue is this envelope.

The UN stamps of Geneva, Vienna and New York can be ordered at http://unstamps.un.org, via e-mail (UNPA-Europe@unvienna.org) or by phone at +43 1 26060 4025 and +43 1 26060 4032.

Stamp booklet with 10 CHF 0.85 self-adhesive stamps 1293 300 夹 1293 800 䉺 CHF 8.50

Single stamp on first-day cover C6 1328 580 䉺 only CHF 2.70

Block of four on first-day cover C6 1328 630 䉺 only CHF 8.10

Please note: The official stamps are not valid for private use.

Therefore, the UPU official stamp is not valid for franking. Postmarks for the first day cancellation can only be applied to single or stamps on a sheet. We do not apply cancellations to envelopes or postcards.

The UPU stamp and the other articles will only be sent to customers with a standing order for official stamps.

Unstamped covers not available

Please note : For technical reasons, some items such as block of four and block of four on first-day covers, sheet, strip as well as special requests such as horizontal pairs etc., cannot be provided.

Customers with a standing order for “Stamps from sheets” will receive 1ⴛ 1293 150 夹 and/or 1293 550 䉺 for each stamp covered by their standing order.

Sheetlet on first-day cover C5 1328 590 䉺 only CHF 19.20

Special products

Dienstmarke Timbre de service Francobollo di servizio Official stamp

Gemeinschaftsausgabe Weltpostverein – Organisation der Vereinten Nationen Emission commune Union postale universelle – Organisation des Nations Unies

Emission commune Union postale universelle – Organisation des Nations Unies

Universal Postal Union – United Nations joint issue

Emissione comune Unione postale universale – Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite 180 c.

Humanitäre Postsendungen Courrier humanitaire Corrispondenza umanitaria Humanitarian mail

Universal Postal Union – United Nations joint issue

180 c.

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

Maximum card

6.9.2007

Children’s book character “Schellen-Ursli”

6.9.2007

Gemeinschaftsausgabe Weltpostverein – Organisation der Vereinten Nationen

Emissione comune Unione postale universale – Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite

Gestaltung /Conception/Realizzazione/Design

Rorie Katz, New York

Rorie Katz, New York

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing Cartor Security Printing, La Loupe, France

Humanitäre Postsendungen Courrier humanitaire Corrispondenza umanitaria Humanitarian mail

Offsetdruck/Impression en offset/Stampa offset/Offset printing 528

Cartor Security Printing, La Loupe, France 682

Folder 1328 660 夹 1328 670 䉺 CHF 2.70

Collection sheet 1328 680 夹 1328 690 䉺 CHF 2.40

夹 = mint

䉺 = cancelled

Set of first-day covers of 2006 1245 530 䉺 only CHF 75.60 Year Set 2006 1217 320 夹 1217 820 䉺 CHF 55.60

Maximum card with the matching CHF 0.85 special stamp + CHF 0.50 for the card 1293 851 䉺 only CHF 1.35

Key

Set of single stamps, issue 3/2007 The single stamps/sets of the 3/2007 issue of 6.9.2007 are displayed on a free A5 backing card (without the UPU official stamp) 1288 150 夹 1288 550 䉺 CHF 14.55

Set of first-day covers, issue 3/2007 The first-day covers of the 2/2007 issue of 6.9.2007 are combined in one free cover (without the UPU first-day cover) 1288 580 䉺 only CHF 19.05

Year Book “la collection suisse 2006” 1195 830 夹 1195 831 䉺 CHF 66.00

Voucher 871 399 CHF 15.00

Stamp catalogues Sheetlet of 10 stamps 1328 311 夹 1328 351 䉺

CHF 18.00

The Zumstein catalogue and the Swiss Stamp Dealer’s Association catalogue are presented on the last page as well as on the order form.

31