EUROPA stamps promote cooperation in the postal sector, particularly in relation to philately. The theme changes each year and helps to raise public awareness of Europe’s shared roots, culture and history. The theme for 2020 is ancient postal routes. Swiss Post in cooperation with Germany introduced two special items that depict a postal route from 1627, printed in a vertically correlated form. The issue was designed by Jürg Glauser.
The route ran from Rheinhausen in Germany, passing through Basel and Zurich, before reaching Milan and Mantua. It was operated by the House of Thurn and Taxis, a noble family from Lombardy who set up a courier service for the Republic of Venice in the 14th century. The brothers Janetto and Francesco de Tassis (the Germanized form of Taxis) founded the postal service spanning Europe in 1490 on behalf of the later Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. The post riders were adventure seekers who encountered many dangers along the way.
Take a look at other spectacular Europa 2020 stamps.
