3134 SWITZERLAND (Ticino) - The Monte Brè funicular and Lake Lugano

Lake Lugano, named after the city of Lugano, is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. Well-known mountains and tourist destinations on the shores of the lake are Monte Brè to the east, Monte San Salvatore west of Lugano, and Monte Generoso on the south-east shore. The lake is 48.7km² in size, 63% of which is in Switzerland and 37% in Italy, has an average width of roughly 1km, a maximum depth of 288m  found in the northern basin.

2485 GERMANY / SWITZERLAND / AUSTRIA - The map of Lake Constance

Lake Constance (German: Bodensee) is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, in  Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee (Upper Lake), the Untersee (Lower Lake), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine (Seerhein). The Rhine flows into it from the south, with its original course forming the Austro-Swiss frontier. Located at an altitude of 395m, it is 63km long, and at its widest point, nearly 14km.  The greatest depth is 252m.

2098, 2099, 2294 SWITZERLAND - The map and the flag of the country

2098 The map and the flag of Switzerland,
and the coats of arms of the 26 cantons

Posted on 04.12.2015, 14.02.2016
Located between Italy, France, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein, Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the  Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura. While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found. Among them are the two global and economic centres,  Zürich and Geneva, and also Bern, de facto capital city. It has a stable, prosperous and high-tech economy and enjoys great wealth, being ranked as the wealthiest country in the world per capita in multiple rankings.

2099 The physical map of Switzerland

Even if it is still named the "Swiss Confederation" (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, abbreviated CH) for historical reasons, Switzerland is a federal directorial republic consisting of 26 cantons. Straddling the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, it comprises four linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and Romansh. It don't form a nation in the sense of a common ethnicity or language; rather, its strong sense of identity is founded on a common historical background, and on shared values.

2294 The administrative map of Switzerland

One of the most important tribal groups in the Swiss region in Antiquity was the Helvetii. The territory of modern Switzerland was part, successively, of Roman Empire, kingdoms of Alemannia and Burgundy,  Frankish Empire, and Holy Roman Empire. The Federal Charter of 1291 is considered the confederacy's founding document, the Old Swiss Confederacy being an alliance among the valley communities of the central Alps, aiming to facilitated management of common interests and ensured peace on the important mountain trade routes.

1435 SWITZERLAND (Jura) - Saint-Ursanne bridge

The small city of Saint-Ursanne, which name refers to Saint Ursicinus, a 7th-century monk who built a monastery here, has preserved its medieval character, and contains many historical curiosities, including collegiate churches, a cloister, the ruins of a castle, and a hermitage. Additionally, the city is famous for the medieval festival which it organizes each summer. The River Doubs makes a loop by Saint-Ursanne before flowing into France. The entrance from the south over the bridge and through the Porte St-Jean is very impressive. A statue of St. John of Nepomuk, patron saint of all bridges, stands on one of the abutments.

1261, 1262 SWITZERLAND (Appenzell Innerrhoden) - Little herders

Settlement of the Appenzell region (in the northeast of Switzerland, entirely surrounded by the Canton of St. Gallen) began along the River Glatt during the 7th century. Herisau was first mentioned in 907, while the name of Appenzell (from the Latin abbatis cella, which means abbey cell) first appears in 1071. It joined the Old Swiss Confederacy as the 13th canton in 1513, and in 1597 it was divided into two half-cantons on denominational grounds: Appenzell Ausserrhoden is the Protestant part; Appenzell Innerrhoden is Catholic.

Known as the most authentic of Swiss villages, Appenzell is also the birthplace of yodeling, alphorn blowing, talerschwingen (the rolling of a coin around the inside of an earthenware bowl to create a rhythm) and alpstobede (herdmen’s sports). Cattle breeding and dairy farming are the main agricultural activities in Appenzell, so that for the rural people the most important events of the year aren't Christmas or Easter, but the times when the cows are moved up to mountain pastures or brought home.

1256 UNITED NATIONS - United Nations Office at Geneva

Apart from the Headquarters situated in New York City, the United Nations has three regional headquarters, opened in Geneva (Switzerland) in 1946, Vienna (Austria) in 1980, and Nairobi (Kenya) in 2011. These help represent UN interests, facilitate diplomatic activities, and enjoy certain extraterritorial privileges, but only the main headquarters in New York contains the seats of the principal organs of the UN.

0348, 0871 SWITZERLAND / AUSTRIA - Prehistoric pile dwellings from the Alps (UNESCO WHS)

0348 SWITZERLAND - Reconstruction of a prehistoric pile dwelling
from Bronze Age at Laténium, Hauterive.

Among the sites included in 2011 by UNESCO in its list of World Heritage Sites is one called Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps, which contains, as say its name, pile-dwelling settlements in and around the Alps, built on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. So far have been identified 937 such sites, of which UNESCO has chosen 111, located in Austria (5), France (11), Germany (18), Italy (19), Slovenia (2), and Switzerland (56).

0871 AUSTRIA - Computer animation of some prehistoric pile dwellings,
which are nowadays on the bottom of the Keutschacher See, Carinthia.

These settlements were built between 5,000 and 500 BC, i.e. during Neolithic and Bronze Age, a period about which we know little, but for which clarification would be an important step in finding our origins as Europeans. For now it is clear that at the end of the Neolithic has occurred a profound transformation, due to the penetration in Europe of a Proto-Indo-European populations wave, named by Marija Gimbutas Kurgan Culture. Equally clear is that these populations, more warlike and technologically superior to the ones found in Europe, were imposed and caused a cultural leap.

0773 SWITZERLAND (Bern) - Old City of Bern (UNESCO WHS)

The city of Bern, Bundesstadt (federal city, de facto capital) of Switzerland since 1848, was founded in 1191 and grew to become the biggest aristocratic city-state north of the Alps and a major power in the Old Swiss Confederacy. The medieval city center, named The Old City, built on a narrow hill surrounded on three sides by the Aare River, has remained essentially unchanged since its construction during the 12th to the 15th century, despite the major fire from 1405, and the substantial construction efforts from the 18th century.

0752 SWITZERLAND (Ticino) - Montebello Castle - part of Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the Market-Town of Bellinzona (UNESCO WHS)

0752 Montebello Castle

Because occupies an privileged geographic location in the Alps, with acces to the Po valley southward, to the high alpine passes of Nufenen, St. Gotthard, Lukmanier and San Bernardino northward, and to the San Jorio Pass to the eastward, Bellinzona was always coveted by the powers of the day. Ruled succesively by the Romans, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Longobards, and Franks, it became eventually part of the Holy Roman Empire, that has long disputed it with the Pope. For a while, it was divided between the Ruscas family (pro-Imperial) and the House of Visconti (pro-papacy), and in 1500 joined the Swiss Confederation, as a condominium under the joint administration of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden.

0740 SWITZERLAND (Bern) - Chästeilet in Bernese Oberland

In the 15th century, the people living north of the Alps began to use rennet (a substance from the stomach of a cow) to make hard cheeses, much more durable than the cottage cheese. This was the foundation of the Swiss cheese culture. Until the 18th century, this cheese was made only in the summer, because the cows were dry in the winter. This changed in the early 19th century, and the cheese made year-round in the valleys in the mountainous regions is now known as mountain cheese, to distinguish it from Alp cheese, which is still produced ​​only in the summer, from milk which comes from cows that spend the summer up on the Alps.

0566 SWITZERLAND (Zurich) - The Grossmünster

On the northwestern shore of the Lake Zurich, where today is Zurich, there were human settlements since 6,400 years ago, and 2,000 years ago the Romans founded Turicum. During the Middle Ages Zurich gained the independent and privileged status of imperial immediacy and, in 1519, was the place of origin and centre of the Protestant Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland. The church from the postcard, the Grossmünster (Great Minster) is one of the three major churches in the city.

0480 SWITZERLAND (Schaffhausen) - The Rhine Falls

Located on the Upper Rhine, near the town of Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland, Rheinfall (The Rhine Falls) is the largest plain waterfall in Europe, with 150 m wide and 23 m high. Between the 17th century and the first half of the 19th century in the north side of the falls operated a blast furnace for smelting iron, but after closing it all industrial use projects of the falls met a strong opposition from the citizens.

0193 SWITZERLAND (Ticino) - Madonna del Sasso church and Lago Maggiore

"When, by chance, you have a heart and a shirt, you have to sell the shirt to see the surroundings of Lake Maggiore..." wrote Stendhal in a letter to his sister, Pauline, in 1811. Lago Maggiore (literally Great Lake, but named in english Lake Maggiore), about 65km long, with a width between 1 to 4km, situated at 194m above sea level, and with a maximum depth of 372m, is located on the south side of the Alps, its shores covering a total lenght of 150km from Canton Ticino in Switzerland to Sesto Calende in Italy (Lombardy).

0027 SWITZERLAND - Alphorn players

Until recently I was confident that the bucium (also called tulnic in some areas) is an musical instrument used exclusively by Romanians. Behold, isn't it, even if its origins are however in the Carpathian mountains, where it was used by the Dacians more than 2,000 years ago and afterwards by the dwellers of Moldavia and Wallachia principalities as signaling devices in military conflicts, as well as for guiding sheep and dogs in the mountains. The name comes from the Latin bucinum (curved horn) and instrument is in fact a very long tube (a truncated cone, more precisely) made from limetree bark or wood.

0021 SWITZERLAND (Bern) - Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes (UNESCO WHS)

0021 Bernina Express across the Landwasser Viaduct

Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes, brings together two historic railway lines that cross the Swiss Alps through two passes. Opened in 1904, the Albula line in the north western part of the property is 67 km long. It features an impressive set of structures including 42 tunnels and covered galleries and 144 viaducts and bridges. The 61 km Bernina pass line features 13 tunnels and galleries and 52 viaducts and bridges.

The property is exemplary of the use of the railway to overcome the isolation of settlements in the Central Alps early in the 20th century, with a major and lasting socio-economic impact on life in the mountains. It constitutes an outstanding technical, architectural and environmental ensemble and embodies architectural and civil engineering achievements, in harmony with the landscapes through which they pass.

The Bernina Express, operated by the Rhaetian Railway company, connects Chur in Switzerland with Poschiavo and Tirano in Italy and since summer 2008 the section between Thusis and Tirano has been classed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The trip on the Bernina Express is a 4 hour railway journey across 196 bridges, through 55 tunnels and across the Bernina Pass on the highest point at 2,253m in altitude, without the use of toothed-wheel mechanism. It seems very spectacular and the postcard received from Gabriela - that captures the train across the Landwasser Viaduct (Landwasserviadukt), built between 1901 and 1902 by Müller & Zeerleder – proves it the most.

About the stamps

The first stamp it’s a special one (I know, I said that many times, but it’s really special), issued on September 9th, 2011. The series title, Handicapped Artists pays tribute to those who continue to follow their artistic path despite being handicapped by a disability that makes this path more demanding. The author of this painting is Claudia Aebi-Torre (33), a former nurse and medical masseuse who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 27 and now works reduced hours with a non-profit organization and paint. The picture on the stamp, entitled Emmental, showing, as Gabriela says, a landscape of the region with the same name, forming part of the canton of Bern, famous for the Emmentaler cheese.

The other two stamps, depicted Rye (0.20 CHF), are part of the Agriculture & Food series, about I wrote here.


Sender: Gabriela Bläsi (direct swap)
Sent from Büren an der Aare (Bern / Switzerland), on 21.10.2011

0015 SWITZERLAND (Bern) - Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch (UNESCO WHS)

0015 The Eiger and Mönch mountains
seen from Grütschalp railway station

Grütschalp (1,487m) is a station on the Lauterbrunnen-Mürren mountain railway, a hybrid cable car and rail link that connects the villages of Lauterbrunnen and Mürren in the Bernese Oberland region. It is even the point of interchange between the cable car from Lauterbrunnen and the high-level railway from Mürren. The Lauterbrunnen-Mürren line opened in 1891, but until 2006 the connection between Lauterbrunnen and Grütschalp was effected by a funicular railway. The current cable car replaced this when the funicular was damaged by landslides, and uses the same route and adapted terminal stations.