Other people don't necessarily see us as we see ourselves. This may be a cliché, but it is quite an interesting one, as a series of stamps issued by Swiss Post shows. Over the past few years, foreign artists have each been asked to design a series of four stamps depicting how they see Switzerland. Artists from England, France and Italy have made their contributions, and now it is the turn of Germany.
Berlin painter Kuno Ebert and graphic designer Katja Dengel have chosen a red flower to describe how they see Switzerland. For Ebert this is no random choice, for a flower can shield itself, protect itself and hide itself away, just as Switzerland does – but he means this in a positive sense.
In addition to the flowers, each of which has a faintly discernable white Swiss Cross at their centre, each stamp features an excerpt from a poem by Friedrich Schiller. He wrote it as a dedication when he sent off "William Tell," the drama which was later to become world-famous. Each stamp cites a different passage from the poem, and the titles of the stamps reflect these: Independence, Self-sufficiency, Humaneness and Modesty.
For Kuno Ebert, the poem is the obvious choice, as it describes Switzerland perfectly. And of course, Schiller's "William Tell," the catalyst for writing the poem, is not only world-famous, but also a symbol of Switzerland and its history.
The four special stamps, worth CHF 0.85, 1.00, 1.30 and 1.80 respectively, are valid from 3 September 2009.
