[press release]
Vlieland to get its own stamp depicting nature and architecture

The well-known ‘Mooi Nederland’ (‘Beautiful Netherlands’) stamp series will be dedicated to the Dutch Frisian Islands in 2019. Today the second stamp sheetlet from this series was published, paying ample attention to Vlieland’s nature and architecture. Stamps about Texel were published last month and later this year PostNL will put the spotlight on Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog. There will also be an assembled stamp sheetlet about all five islands.

Scenic beauty
Since 2005, the ‘Beautiful Netherlands’ stamp series has drawn attention to local history, cultural wealth and scenic beauty. This year’s new series about the Dutch Frisian Islands was designed by Birza Design from Deventer.

Recognisable images of Vlieland
In the design of ‘Beautiful Netherlands 2019: Vlieland’, the island shape plays the leading role. This is reflected in the map of Vlieland, which the designers have positioned in miniature on the stamps and in large on the stamp sheetlet. The stamps show recognisable images of the island: the lighthouse on Vuurboetsduin, a whale jaw as a gravestone, the rescue house on the Vliehors nature reserve and a house with a blue wooden gable on Dorpsstraat. The typical shape of the island is also reflected in the design in other ways. For example, the font of the captions is a ‘stencil font’, made up of elements that are separate from each other.

Nature in abundance
Almost all of the photographs used were taken during a working visit to Vlieland by graphic designers Ingmar and Carla Birza in the sunny summer of 2018. Carla Birza describes Vlieland as an island “characterised by an abundance of nature, but without fences. Visiting Vliehors is a special experience due to its vastness, which sometimes makes it difficult to work out where the horizon is. That is something I have experienced almost nowhere else. The north-eastern point from which you can see Terschelling is also beautiful. Of course, with so much nature, you have to be careful when constructing new buildings. On Vlieland, they handle this issue very carefully.”

Availability
The ‘Beautiful Netherlands 2019: Vlieland’ stamp sheetlet features five identical stamps with ‘Nederland 1’, the denomination for items up to 20g in weight destined for mail in the Netherlands. The stamps are available from 25 February 2019 from PostNL locations on the island of Vlieland and online at postnl.nl/bijzondere-postzegels. The stamps can also be ordered by phone from the Collect Club customer service on telephone number +31 (0)88 – 868 99 00. The validity period is indefinite.

[press release]
Spring bloomers in nature on stamps

They are delicate plants, often with soft colours, which mainly bloom in spring: exotics. Originally they did not come from our country, but they have since acquired a firm spot in Dutch nature. Ten of these exotics have now been depicted on stamps by PostNL.

Colourful spring bloomers
Exotics are plants that used to be planted as ornamental plants on country estates, in monastery gardens and in the grounds of manor houses. These later feral plants are often spring bloomers with striking colourful flowers.

Sensory and associative
The ‘Experience Nature – Exotics’ stamp sheetlet was designed by graphic designer Frank Janse from Gouda. His concept focuses on the sensory and associative aspects of experiencing nature. Janse: “They are all beautiful, high-quality photos. But I didn’t want to limit myself to beautiful pictures of beautiful flowers. The bulbs and tubers also had to make an appearance. For this I edited old botanical drawings, depicting the plant from head to toe – from bulb or tuber to stem, leaves and flowers.”

The beauty of nature
With the new stamps, PostNL shines a spotlight on the diversity of nature in our country. “It’s much greater than we sometimes realise at first,” says Stephan van den Eijnden, PostNL’s commercial director for Mail. “These exotics are a good example. Some of them we all know, such as the snowdrop or the lesser celandine. Others are much more modest and we only notice them if we are looking out for them. Now that they are in bloom, you have the best chance of seeing them!”

Buiten-Beeld
After mammals (2 January) and exotics (25 February), PostNL will release another two other stamp sheetlets in the ‘Experience Nature’ series, with butterflies, trees and leaves taking the spotlight. All of the photos on the stamps are from Buiten-Beeld, the Dutch image database for nature photography. An individual ‘Experience Nature’ stamp sheetlet costs €8.70. The complete series costs €34.80, including a storage folder.

Availability
The ‘Experience Nature – Exotics’ stamp sheetlet consists of ten different stamps marked with ‘Nederland 1’, the denomination for items up to 20g in weight destined for mail in the Netherlands. The stamps are available from 25 February 2019 from all PostNL sales points, the post office counter in Bruna stores and online at postnl.nl/bijzondere-postzegels. The stamps can also be ordered by phone from the Collect Club customer service on telephone number +31 (0)88 – 868 99 00. The validity period is indefinite.