[press release]
Typically Dutch: Iconic canal houses on new stamps

The Hague, March 25, 2021 – Wherever you go in the world, almost everyone knows the canals of Amsterdam. Five beautiful buildings on these canals have now been immortalized on the latest PostNL stamps from the Typically Dutch series.

In 2021, the series will focus on housing types and facades that are characteristic of our country. Stamps about traditional farmhouses and wooden houses have already been published. Issues on houseboats and terraced houses will follow later this year.

Colorful illustration
The Typically Dutch canal houses stamps show a colorful illustration of 5 canal houses from Amsterdam. The buildings, large and small, are adjacent. The silhouette of the façades on the canal behind it is visible on the left and right in the background. The depicted canal houses can be admired in real life on the Herengracht, the Oude Turfmarkt, the Brouwersgracht and the Leidsegracht.

Crescent shape
The Amsterdam canal belt, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been laid out in phases. The Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht and Herengracht were dug in the early 17th century. From around 1660, the city extended the canals to the Amstel. Finally, the expansion to the Eastern Islands came about around 1680. This is how the map of Amsterdam got the typical crescent shape.

Painting
The stamps on the Amsterdam canal houses were designed by Edwin van Praet of Total Design from Amsterdam. Van Praet’s choice was based on the desire to show different buildings with different uses and different types of facades from different periods. He also wanted to emphasize that large and small buildings stand next to each other on the canals. Based on the typical appearance of the canal houses, Van Praet tried, as he says, to make “a painting”. “A romantic illustration as an ideal image of the canal house. There can be a list around it. ”

Availability
The Typically Dutch canal houses stamp sheet has 6 identical stamps with the denomination Nederland 1, intended for mail up to and including 20 grams with a destination within the Netherlands. The stamps are available from March 22, 2021 at the Bruna stores and via www.postnl.nl/bijzondere-postzegels. The stamps can also be ordered by telephone from the Collect Club customer service on telephone number 088 – 868 99 00. The period of validity is indefinite.

[press release] [translated by Google]
Stamps show the value of sustainability

The Hague, 22 March 2021 – PostNL’s latest stamp sheetlet is based on the principle that people must pass on the earth from generation to generation as well as possible. In the

Click for a larger version

design of the sustainability stamps, this idea is visualized by handing over a globe: from parent to child, from one stamp to another.

The design refers to Dorien Pessers’ idea of the ecological constitutional state. This legal philosopher argues for a society with a new right of inheritance. In it you are grateful for what you receive from the previous generation and you are obliged to pass on this legacy to the next generation in good order.

Visual symbolism
The design of the Sustainability stamp sheetlet is a collective achievement of the graphic designers Reynoud Homan and Martijn de Wilde. According to Homan, PostNL’s sustainability objectives could play a role, but the extent to which was left to the designers. “We started looking for answers based on all kinds of questions. For example, about how the concept of sustainability has developed in recent years. What the visual symbolism is about climate change and sustainability.”

Emotional and poetic
The designers worked out several concepts, including those around the idea of passing on a well-preserved legacy. PostNL chose this concept without hesitation, says Homan. He was happy with that. “Especially because of the argument with which PostNL justified the choice, namely that this design was mainly emotional. For us this proposal was the most poetic.”

Ambitions
Stephan van den Eijnden, commercial director Mail of PostNL, supports the idea of the new sustainability stamps. This also ties in seamlessly with PostNL’s ambitions in this area. “We have set ourselves an ambitious goal to deliver all parcels and letters in the Benelux emission-free in the last mile by 2030 at the latest. We report on progress every year in our annual report. At the moment, almost all mail is already delivered emission-free. Currently, our mail deliverers walk and cycle more than 1200 times around the world per year to deliver the mail. ”

Sustainability
Index In November 2020, it was announced that PostNL once again ranks among the most sustainable companies in the world in the logistics and transport sector, with a third place on the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). In the field of the environment, PostNL is even in first place within the sector.

Availability
The Sustainability stamp sheet consists of 6 stamps in 2 designs with the value indication Nederland 1, intended for mail up to and including 20 grams with a destination within the Netherlands. The stamps are available from March 22, 2021 at the Bruna stores and via www.postnl.nl/bijzondere-postzegels [direct link]. The stamps can also be ordered by telephone from the Collect Club customer service on telephone number 088 – 868 99 00. The period of validity is indefinite.

[press release, translated using Google]
Stamps with ideal image of a farmhouse
Issue date: January 4th   Larger image of full pane below

The Hague, 6 January 2021. PostNL will issue the first stamps of this year for the Typically Dutch series. In 2021, the series will focus on housing types and facades that are characteristic of our country. The first sheet of stamps is a tribute to the farmhouse.

After this Stolpboerderij sheet
More stamps in the Typically Dutch series will appear in the coming months about wooden houses (22 February), canal houses (22 March), houseboats (6 April) and terraced houses (14 June).

All under one roof
The square bell-jar farmhouse with pyramid-shaped roof was created in the mid-16th century in North Holland. A characteristic of this Dutch farm type is that the entire farm – people, animals and harvest – came together under one roof. There are 2 variants: with the North Holland bell jar the stable doors are at the back, with the West Frisian bell jar at the front.

Dutch skies
The design of the Typisch Nederlands stamp series was again made this year by graphic designer Edwin van Praet of Total Design from Amsterdam. Initially, Van Praet wanted to depict the farmhouse against a neutral background. While illustrating, he thought how beautiful it would be if you also saw the famous Dutch skies. “Every stamp in the series shows a different time of the day,” says Van Praet. “At the farmhouse it is dawn, the break of day when the farmer goes to work and the dew is still on the land.”

Broedersbouw
The 1742 farmhouse depicted on the stamp is called Broedersbouw and can be found in the North Holland village of Zuidoostbeemster. In the illustration on the stamps, the farm is flanked on the side by a tree, the front shows the green grassland. There is a black line at the bottom of the stamp that refers to the street level. To the left of the farm, the rising sun can be seen against a sky with blown strips of sky.

Romantic ideal
According to Van Praet, the farmhouse has an “incredibly beautiful shape”, as if it was made to be depicted on a stamp. He made a painting based on that form. “A romantic illustration as an ideal image of the bell jar. But it is not a nostalgic picture, it has really become an illustration of today.”

Availability
The Typisch Nederlands – Stolpboerderij stamp sheetlet has 6 identical stamps with the denomination Nederland 1, intended for mail up to 20 grams with a destination within the Netherlands. The stamps will be available from January 4, 2021 at the post office in the Bruna stores and via the website. The stamps can also be ordered by telephone from the Collect Club customer service on telephone number 088 – 868 99 00. The validity period is indefinite.

[press release, translated using Google]
Stamps about the quietest area in the Netherlands
Issue date: January 4, 2021  Larger picture at bottom of page

PostNL is publishing the first stamps in this year’s Experience Nature series. The stamp sheet Experience Nature – Dwingelderveld pays attention to the unique flora and fauna of this heather landscape in the middle of Drenthe.

In the Experience Nature series, PostNL will be issuing 4 stamp sheets with a total of 40 stamps this year. The stamps contain images of plants and animals in special Dutch nature reserves. Later this year, stamp sheets will be published about the swamp landscape De Onlanden (22 February), the dune area Duin en Kruidberg (14 June) and the park near the Haarzuilens estate (16 August).

Wet slits, dry sand ridges
The Dwingelderveld National Park is the largest wet heathland area in Western Europe. This protected nature area was also voted the quietest area in the Netherlands at the end of 2020. Wet ditches and dry sand ridges alternate on the extensive moist heathland of the Dwingelderveld. As a result, there is a lot of variation in plant growth and animal life.

Natural environment
The stamps published today depict 10 striking residents of the Dwingelderveld in their natural environment. These are the Drenthe Heath sheep, the sand lizard, bee wolf, Scots pine, grass snake, yellowhammer, slow worm, crane, sphagnum moss and deer. A separate graphic layer on the stamp sheet contains transparent images of a kestrel with spread wings, the needles of a Scots pine, a creeping dung beetle, the profile of the head of a Drenthe heather sheep and a bare pedunculate oak.

Natural monuments
The Experience nature for 2021 series is, just like the previous issues, designed by graphic designer Frank Janse from Gouda. Janse collaborated with nature conservation organization Natuurmonumenten in the selection of the nature areas. “During that intensive search,” says Janse, “it became clear to me again how incredibly beautiful nature in the Netherlands is. These stamps about Drenthe also show that. ”

Sheep and Yellowhammer
The stamp sheetlet opens with an intense winter image of the Drenthe heath sheep. According to Janse, this animal can still be considered as semi-wild because it can keep itself alive. “On the stamp next to it, there is the yellowhammer, a beautiful bird, on a twig. Typical for the east of our country, especially in Drenthe. And, very special, his vocals resemble the opening bars of Beethoven’s 5th symphony.”

Availability
The stamp sheet Experience nature – Dwingelderveld has 10 different stamps with the value indication Nederland 1, intended for mail up to 20 grams with a destination within the Netherlands. The stamps will be available from 4 January 2021 at all PostNL points of sale, the post office in the Bruna stores and via the website. The stamps can also be ordered by telephone from the Collect Club customer service on telephone number 088 – 868 99 00. The validity period is indefinite.