The booklet includes brief summaries of each castle’s history in Finnish, Swedish, English and Russian.
The Ancient Castles stamp booklet is designed by one of Finland’s most respected graphic designers, Erik Bruun. He is known to the general public for his designs for several past Finnish stamps, the final series of Finnish Markka banknotes and his popular nature and advertising posters.
Ancient castles are an especially personal subject for Erik Bruun, as he has lived in Suomenlinna, the sea fortress, for 43 years. ”The cover of the stamp booklet is of Suomenlinna’s stone walls and a firing embrasure, which I walk past almost every day.”
Erik Bruun has depicted Suomenlinna in four previous stamps, which were published between 2000 and 2006. He has also produced a number of Suomenlinna-themed posters. For Vyborg-born Bruun another pleasant assignment was the Vyborg Castle 700-year stamp published in 1993.
Castles are an important part of Finnish cultural heritage – in their time, the ancient castles of Finland were strategically important buildings for the country’s defense and trade. As their strategic importance declined, the castles were taken over for other purposes, e.g. for use as prisons, and they began to fall into disrepair.
“The antiquarian value of the castles was understood in the late 1800s and plans for their restoration began. In the 1930s, decades of work began to restore them. “Today, the castles are amongst Finland’s most important pieces of cultural heritage and most popular tourist destinations,” says Juhani Kostet, Director General of Finland’s National Board of Antiquities.
Source: Finland Post
Released January 20, 2014
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