More new stamps from Switzerland

In Switzerland new stamps are like buses. You wait ages for one and then loads come along at once. Unlike Royal Mail, which create issues of 8-10 stamps and spaces them out throughout the year, Switzerland's issues are often a single stamp (although sometimes as many as four) and they issue a lot of them on the same day. Back in September I reviewed all nine new Swiss issues. At least this time there are only six! PRO JUVENTUTE - GROWING UP IS FUN!

The Pro Juventute stamps are a Swiss tradition going back to 1913. Every year a set is issued "for the youth" and money from the surcharge (note the +50 and +60 on each stamp) goes to a charity that supports "the rights and needs" of Swiss young people.

This year the theme is "growing up is fun" and the Pro Juventute charity says that "all children and young people [should] grow up empowered, confident and joyful in a supportive environment and a society that gives them a voice." We see this vision in the stamps.

The illustrator is Rahel Winiger, who is also a mother. She "was guided by Goethe’s words about giving children 'roots and wings'." She included "playful handwriting" to "give the stamps a wonderful lightness". The first stamp shows a confident girl standing in parents' hands. We see her wings! The hands represent protection but also represent growth. The artist says: “A child with strong roots is like a mighty tree they have a strong framework to freely develop their potential”.

The second stamp shows "four children sailing in a paper boat towards the future. Each child is playing their part in the success of the adventure by studying the treasure map or looking through the telescope and the focus is on orientation and looking to the future with optimism."

Design Quality: The design feel very simple and almost child-like but they are very clever and the artist has worked so many important themes into the stamps. 8/10 Theme and Subject Choice: There are Pro Juventute stamps every year but, even without this tradition, themes around growing up are excellent subjects for stamps. Sadly we don't see enough stamps like these. 10/10 Historical and Cultural Significance: The Pro Juventute stamps have been issued annually for well over 100 years. They have a very strong cultural tradition in Switzerland. 9/10 Innovation and Creativity: The creativity is all in the very clever artwork, putting very important ideas into simple pictures. 8/10 Collectability: The theme probably isn't one that gets too many people excited but a lot of collectors are very interested in the annual Pro Juventute (and Pro Patria "for the country") stamps. 7/10 Personal Appeal: I like the themes that are being explored and how so many ideas are being presented in two pictures. 8/10 Overall Score: 50/60

ENDANGERED SWISS LIVESTOCK

These might look like ordinary farm animals but in actual fact they are very rare.

These stamps show "five ancient Swiss animal breeds with one thing in common". They are all endangered. Some of the reasons why they are endangered include "very small population, declining numbers, severely restricted geographic range or genetic factors." They actually have something else in common because they are all native breeds in Switzerland.

The five animals are: Valais Red sheep, Tricolour small spotted rabbit, Copperneck goat,

Rhaetian Grey cattle and Appenzell bearded hen.

Design Quality: The drawings of the animals are very detailed and the backgrounds have been left very plain, perhaps so the animals stand out more. The names of the animals are printed in different languages on the left side of the stamp. The simple design I think helps us focus on the animals themselves instead of clever photography or background landscapes. 7/10

Theme and Subject Choice: We often see rare animals on stamps, but it is not often we see endangered farm animals. This is a good choice because it allows us to see that there are several species of farm animals that need to be protected, which we probably wouldn't know about otherwise. 7/10

Historical and Cultural Relevance: These are historic breeds of animals that are native to Switzerland. 9/10

Innovation and Creativity: These are very detailed illustrations of beautiful animals and aren't trying to to anything creative. I think the plain backgrounds help though. 5/10 Collectability: Animals on stamps will always be collectable. These are more unusual animals, which might help make them even more collectable than usual. 7/10

Personal Appeal: These are interesting animals and I especially like the rabbit. I have seen a lot of stamps about animals, but never these particular ones. When we think about endangered species we don't think about livestock so these stamps can raise awareness of these unusual animals. 7/10

Overall Score: 42/60

75 YEARS OF JUNIOR MAGAZINE

Junior is a magazine for young people, which was founded in 1951. The colourful anniversary stamp shows Klexx, the dog belonging to the main character, Junior.

Swiss Post tells us more about this stamp: "Since November 1951, Junior has been entertaining children, young people and families with stories, puzzles and fascinating facts. Despite its advancing years, the cult magazine remains eternally youthful. The monthly publication with the cute animal images on the cover has a circulation of 170,000 copies in Switzerland. It is available free of charge in shops and pharmacies and has been the highlight of shopping trips for many generations of children." Laura Palermo, Product and Partner Manager for Stamps & Philately at Swiss Post, said: “When I think of the Junior magazine today, I picture myself as a child, standing with my mum and brother in the local pharmacy. I particularly remember Klexx. For me, this character was more than just a little mascot; it was part of my childhood. This is why I’m so glad we are commemorating the anniversary of the magazine with a stamp and that Klexx has taken his place there. A character known to generations of children has now found his way onto a stamp." Design Quality: It's a cartoon drawing of a dog. But if you are Swiss, you will recognise it as being Klexx who seems to be an iconic character that has been part of millions of people lives. 8/10

Theme and Subject Choice: The 75th anniversary of a popular magazine that even today has a circulation of 170,000 seems like something to be celebrated. 9/10 Historic and Cultural Relevance: I think Junior and Klexx are as important to Swiss people as the Beano and Dennis the Menace are to British people. 9/10 Innovation and Creativity: The creativity is in the cartoon work, not the design of the stamp. 6/10

Collectability: This is the kind of stamp that is going to be really collectable in Switzerland, but people who don't know what Junior magazine is will probably not understand the interest in it. 7/10 Personal Appeal: I have never read Junior magazine, but it has been a part of so many people's lives for 75 years. I think Klexx looks quite cool too! 7/10

Overall Score: 46/60 STAMP DAY, BRIG

This miniature sheet celebrates Stamp Day, Brig.

Switzerland has a National Stamp Day (did you see that, Royal Mail?). Last year a special event took place in the village of Döttingen and this year a similar event is taking place in Brig. From 19 to 21 November 2026, the small town "will become a meeting point for those who are curious and enthusiastic about stamps". Sounds pretty good, and the kind of thing that I would imagine a lot of non-collectors in the area will visit!

The miniature sheet was released on Stamp Day (5th November) and it shows parts of the town including Stockalper Castle, the town’s most famous landmark. The golden eagle monument is on the Simplon Pass which, "along with the Simplon Tunnel, once the longest railway tunnel in the world made Brig a central transport hub in the Alpine region." The middle stamp shows Sebastiansplatz, which is a popular lively square in the town.

Design Quality: The artist has created a beautiful miniature sheet showing three important locations in the town of Brig. The town looks very attractive and historic. But there isn't anything in this, apart from the writing on the left of the sheet, that says this is about Stamp Day. The arch-shaped stamp is different! 8/10

Theme and Subject Choice: This is another annual tradition. It doesn't go back quite as far as Pro Juventute, but the first Stamp Day issue was way back in 1938. You can't very well have a Stamp Day without creating a stamp for it! 9/10 Historical and Cultural Relevance: Stamp Day itself is historically and culturally relevant. But as we see from the stamps the town of Brig is also very historic with a fine castle. 8/10 Innovation and Creativity: The artist has been very creative in bringing three different parts of the town together under a series of arches. 8/10 Collectability: If there is an annual tradition of creating a new stamp for something, people will want to buy it. it could be for Remembrance, Pro Juventute or even Stamp Day. They won't want to miss an issue and have a gap in their collection! 7/10 Personal Appeal: I like the idea of stamp day and I think the artist has shown how beautiful and historic the town of Brig is. The use of the arches is fantastic, but surely there should be be stamps in a stamp for Stamp Day? 8/10

Overall Score: 48/60 HEIDI BUCHER

This stamp celebrates 100 years since the birth of Heidi Bucher, a Swiss artist. I will let Swiss Post tell you more about her. "Not understood in her lifetime, but later celebrated worldwide: Heidi Bucher would have turned 100 this year one more reason to pay tribute to the work of one of Switzerland’s most important artists.

"A room drifts through the air, the walls fluttering in the wind the design shows one of Heidi Bucher’s best known works, Fliegender Hautraum [Flying Skinroom]. She created the work in 1981 in her grandparents’ ancestral home; it is a typical example of one of her famous 'skins', produced using an archaeological conservation technique by covering rooms with liquid latex and textiles before allowing the layers to dry and peeling them off like a skin. It is a way of creating impressions of places of remembrance between preservation and transformation.

“'My mother was truly Avant Garde, a kind of emancipation artist constrained by the Helvetian corsets of the time. The skinroom represents freeing yourself from the past, from conventions, constraints and patriarchal structures. A bold statement that was sadly not understood by Swiss society or the art scene at that time,' explains her son, Mayo Bucher, who designed the stamp and is custodian of his mother’s artistic legacy.

"Heidi Bucher (then Heidi Müller) was born in 1926 in Winterthur in to a middle-class family. She studied under Johannes Itten, Max Bill and Elsie Giauque at the arts college in Zurich. In 1955, she moved to New York, where she was the only woman in a group exhibition of the 44 most influential artists of the time. The exhibition in the legendary World House Gallery still reads like a Who’s Who of the art world: from Hans Arp, Giorgio Morandi and Heidi Müller to Edward Munch, Wassily Kandinsky and Kurt Schwitters. Decades later, her son reflects on the event: 'I have to say "Wow, Mum really impressive that you achieved all that so early".'

"From 1960, Heidi Bucher returned to Switzerland, before returning to live in North America again for several years with her husband and two sons a few years later. Heidi Bucher had to hold her ground in an art world dominated by men. Despite initial success, her big break remained elusive. 'It was frustrating but also brought freedom. Outside of the limelight, our mother could forge her own uncompromising path to become the pioneering object and conceptual artist that we know her to be today,' says Mayo Bucher.

"Heidi Bucher died in 1993 in Brunnen in the canton of Schwyz. Broader recognition came only after her death. In 1994, she posthumously received the cultural award for the city of Winterthur. International acclaim followed, especially from the 2010s after worldwide exhibitions in Asia, USA, Switzerland and at the Biennale in Venice. 'Perhaps she was just ahead of her time. Or perhaps she was always working for posterity. As is the case for all truly significant artists, she created something that has lasted beyond her own lifetime. This is why I’m particularly delighted that her life’s work is now being recognized in the form of a stamp. I like to think that, as a stamp, the skinroom is continuing its flight around the world.'"

Design Quality: The design shows one of Heidi's most famous artworks. The stamp was designed by her son, and he will know exactly how she would have wanted her work presented. 8/10

Theme and Subject Choice: It is the 100th anniversary of one of Switzerland's great artists. 10/10 Historical and Cultural Significance: The anniversary and the artist's work are very important for Switzerland and Heidi Bucher's work is recognised around the world. 9/10 Innovation and Creativity: The artwork featured is well-known and obviously a work of creative genius. I have looked at pictures of it, but the way it has been shown against the sky in this stamp is just wonderful. 8/10 Collectability: Collectors appreciate stamps that are artistic and celebrate art. Heidi Bucher is an artist whose work hasn't appeared on stamps before, which will hopefully add to the interest. 7/10 Personal Appeal: This is an amazing tribute to a very talented artist. 8/10

Overall Score: 50/60 CHRISTMAS

FInally, this is Switaerland's Christmas stamp. I am not going to review it as Xanthe wants to review all the Christmas stamps together in December. These are the six stamps released on Switzerland's National Stamp Day. Which do you like the most?