[press release]
Beautiful Netherlands 2018: walking through cities with city gates
The Hague, 4 June 2018 – In 2018, as part of the stamps series ‘Beautiful Netherlands’, PostNL will be highlighting the monumental city gates that our country boasts. Today, two stamp sheetlets with the Nobelpoort of Zierikzee and the Binnenpoort of Culemborg, as well as an assembled stamp sheetlet, appear. The assembled stamp sheetlet also features the city gates on the stamps about Vianen, Bergen op Zoom, and Hattem, which appeared previously. The ‘Beautiful Netherlands 2018’ series was designed by visual artist Jan Rothuizen.
The artist drew the outlines of the city gates on the stamps with a black pen against a white background. The background of each stamp sheetlet shows a perspective drawing in red or blue of a map of the surrounding area.
Strong involvement
By means of his written and drawn records, Rothuizen has made a report in words and images of his walk through each city, the buildings he saw, and the people he met. “In each city, I noticed the strong involvement of the inhabitants with their residence, how much they know about its history, and how eager they are to tell wonderful stories about it,” the artist said.
Rooted in society
Since 2005, the ‘Beautiful Netherlands’ series has been paying tribute to local history, cultural treasures, and scenic beauty. Stephan van den Eijnden, commercial director Mail of PostNL: “This way, we want to show that our business is rooted in Dutch society. City gates are proof of a past in which cities were walled to protect them. Fortunately, these days are over, but beautiful city gates have been preserved throughout the Netherlands. And now, five special ones can be found on stamps!”
Availability
Each stamp sheetlet from the ‘Beautiful Netherlands 2018’ series consists of five stamps marked with ‘Nederland 1’, the denomination for items up to 20g in weight destined for delivery in the Netherlands. The assembled stamp sheetlet will be available at post offices in Bruna shops as well as via postnl.nl/collectclub from 4 June. As from today, the stamp sheetlets about Zierikzee and Culemborg can be bought in their own regions and online. The stamps can also be ordered from the Collect Club customer service by calling 088 – 868 99 00. The validity period is indefinite.
