Postal history and postage stamps of Austria

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Art Nouveau stamp from 1922

The article Postal History and Stamps of Austria covers the history of the postal service and postage stamps from the establishment of the Austrian Empire , 1804, to the present day. The Austrian Empire was also responsible for the Principality of Liechtenstein .

Pre-philately

The article Austrian Postal History up to 1806 deals with the beginnings of an independent Austrian-Habsburg postal system . In 1842 a distance-dependent tariff system was introduced. In 1842 postal contracts were signed with Bavaria , Baden and Saxony , in 1843 with Thurn and Taxis and in 1844 with Prussia . On July 1, 1850, the German-Austrian Post Association was founded.

Monarchy 1850 to 1918

First stamp issue 1850

1st edition from 1850
2nd edition from 1858

On June 1, 1850, the first postage stamps, the 1850 coat of arms , became valid in the Austrian Empire . The first Austrian stamp issue showed the Austrian coat of arms and was originally intended as a temporary solution - the next issue was not to follow until 1858. Due to the currency change (1 Gulden has 100 Kreuzer instead of the previous 60 Kreuzer) on November 1, 1858, new stamps, the so-called Kaiserkopfausgabe , were issued. The stamps of the first issue could be used up with the new value by December 31, 1858.

1st edition 1850

Separate postage stamp issues were printed for the regions of Lombardy (until 1858) and Veneto (until 1866), which at that time still belonged to Austria . They corresponded to the expenditure of Austria, but differed in the currency denomination centesimi or lira.

The Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867

Edition 1867

As a result of the equalization , the Royal Hungarian Ministry of Commerce was responsible for the postal administration of the so-called Hungarian half of the empire from 1867 . As a result of this adjustment, the Austrian and Hungarian postal administrations issued a series of postage stamps with the same image each for their postal area. The often used term "joint issue" is misleading as there was neither a joint postal administration nor a joint postal territory.

June 1, 1867 was the first day of issue of this series of postage stamps in the Hungarian half of the empire, and it is thus the first official stamp issue in Hungary , if canceled in Hungary . All previous stamp issues ceased to be valid on June 15, 1867 in the Hungarian postal territory. See also the postal history and postage stamps of Hungary .

On May 1, 1871, the Hungarian postal administration issued a new series of stamps and, in the area of ​​the Hungarian postal administration, the validity of the stamps from the 1867 issue on July 31, 1871 ended.

Currency conversion from Kreuzer / Gulden to Heller / Kronen 1900

In 1892 the Kronen - Heller currency was introduced in Austria and Hungary . However, the tariffs in the postal system were not changed until January 1st, 1900 (the previous guilder currency lost its validity in 1900).

This made it necessary to issue new stamps in the new currency. The stamps in Kreuzer Gulden currency lost their postage validity on September 30, 1900.

Austrian postal services abroad

Austrian Post in the Levant

Crete
Stamp Austrian PO Turkish 1906 10pa.jpg

Like other states, Austria had the right to operate postal services in the Ottoman Empire. This led to the issue of postage stamps in soldi, from 1886 in para / piastre currency. The first edition was published in Alexandria on September 1, 1863 .

On September 30, 1914, all foreign, including Austrian, post offices in the Levant were closed.

Austrian Post in Crete

Crete
Stamp Austrian PO Crete 1903 5c.jpg

Postage stamps from Austria from 1899 were first issued in March 1903 with the French currency overprint. Over the years, individual values ​​of the currently valid Austrian series were printed with “Centimes” or “Franc”. The 1908 and 1914 editions were already printed in French.

These brands were also valid in the Levant.

Bosnia Herzegovina

The Berlin Congress of July 13, 1878 made it possible for Austria to administer the formerly Ottoman territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina . In 1908 the complete annexation followed. On July 1, 1879, the first series of postage stamps was issued for this area. Drafts from the later Austrian edition in 1883 served as a template, although information on nationality or currency was typically missing.

The issue of November 1, 1906, in which the country name Bosnia-Herzegovina appears for the first time , has some philatelic peculiarities:

For the first time, the depicted motifs are landscape images, in contrast to the previous, also internationally common state symbols such as coats of arms or ruler's head.

Furthermore, the design comes from Koloman Moser , an important Austrian Art Nouveau artist. For many, not just Austrian philatelists, this issue is one of the most beautiful classic stamp issues.

DDSG stamps

DDSG 10 Kreuzer 1878

In 1846, the First Imperial and Royal Danube Steamship Company (DDSG) was granted the right to transport mail within the areas it traveled through, as well as in Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire up to the Austrian-Hungarian border .

Postal service in Liechtenstein

In the absence of its own postal system, Austrian Post was entrusted with handling postal services in the Principality of Liechtenstein. From June 1, 1850, Austrian postage stamps were used in the Principality and, if canceled in Liechtenstein, are forerunners of the Liechtenstein postage stamps. As a result of the chaos of war and post-war inflation, Liechtenstein ended the postal agreement with Austria on February 29, 1920.

For more details see: Postal History and Postage Stamps of Liechtenstein

Austro-Hungarian field post in the First World War

During the First World War , post offices were opened in the areas occupied by Austria-Hungary. Separate field post stamps were used to frank private mail . For individual regions, field post issues were produced by printing in the local currency or country name.

Issue dates of the various field post issues:

  • General field post issues: The first issue, published on April 28, 1915, was a temporary issue, with the postage stamps of Bosnia-Herzegovina from the 1912 issue with the imprint “K. u. K. Feldpost “were provided. From July 1, 1915, a separate general field post series was issued.
  • Field post for Serbia from March 6, 1916
  • Field post for Montenegro from March 1, 1917
  • Field post for Romania from November 1, 1917
  • Field post for Italy from June 1, 1918

Disintegration of the monarchy in 1918 - successor states

Yugoslavia 1918 on Bosnia stamp
Western Ukraine in the portrait of Emperor
Karl I.

The last Imperial and Royal Austrian series of stamps was created in 1916 and showed the imperial crown, Emperor Karl I and the coat of arms of the monarchy. The collapse of the monarchy in 1918 led to the establishment of a number of independent new states such as Poland and Czechoslovakia. Since own stamps were not yet available at the beginning, the locally existing stamps of the dual monarchy , provided with the imprint of the new country name, were used as temporary issues.

First Republic 1918–1938

Republic of German Austria 1918–1919

After the collapse of the Kuk monarchy , a republic was proclaimed in Austria. The new rump state alone was considered viable by almost no Austrian. Thus the connection to Germany was considered safe. This led to the official name of the Republic of German Austria, which was only officially given for a few months .

In order to be able to cover the urgent need for postage stamps quickly, the remaining stocks of the franking, newspaper and express stamp series of the monarchy between 1916 and 1918 were provided with an oblique imprint German Austria and issued from December 1918.

From July 1919 the issue of the first series of postage stamps designed for German Austria appeared.

Republic of Austria 1919–1938

In the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain Austria was forbidden any association with Germany, and therefore the term German was deleted from the state name in 1919 . With the issue of the stamp series in 1922, this was also done for the first time on postage stamps, and now the country name was Austria .

The stamp issues from 1923 to 1924 showed inflation values ​​of up to 10,000 crowns. As a result of the catastrophic economic conditions in the republic and the inflation that followed, a currency change became necessary. On March 1, 1925, the Schilling / Groschen currency was introduced in Austria. One shilling was exchanged for the equivalent of 10,000 kroner. On June 1, 1925, the first series of postage stamps appeared in the new currency.

In December 1935, Postage Stamp Day was celebrated in Austria for the first time .

The last Austrian postage stamps before the "Anschluss" appeared on December 12, 1937. It is a series of congratulatory stamps .

By 1939 around two thirds of all Austrian postage stamps had been designed and engraved in the Höhere Graphische Bundes-Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt in Vienna .

Austria in the German Empire 1938–1945

After the "Anschluss" , some German and Austrian stamp issues (the latter only in the Ostmark ) could be postage paid. From April 4, 1938, the postage stamps of the German Reich were also valid in Austria, but vice versa the Austrian stamps were not valid in the Old Reich. 1.00 Reichsmark = 1.50  Schilling was used as the basis for billing  . With the introduction of the German postage stamps, the tariffs of the Reichspost were also adopted. From June 22, 1938, all German brands were finally valid in Austria. An “Ostmarksatz” from the German Reichspost dated November 18, 1938, which showed Austrian landscapes and flowers, benefited the Winterhilfswerk . However, the series was only valid until June 30, 1939. Austria itself was connected to the German Reich by post, and after 1938 there were no more stamps of its own. For German postage stamps, see: Postage stamp year 1938 of the Deutsche Reichspost , 1939 , 1940 , 1941 , 1942 , 1943 , 1944 and 1945 .

Postal code from 1943

With the introduction of the postcode in the German Reich in 1941, there were also two postcode regions in Austria. (12a) for Vienna, Lower Austria, Styria and Burgenland, which is divided into Lower Austria and Styria, and (12b) for Upper Austria, Carinthia (including East Tyrol), Salzburger Land, Tyrol and Vorarlberg.

In the course of the war, postal traffic in Austria collapsed completely in 1945.

Second republic from 1945

End of war

Vienna edition, cork stamp

With the end of the war in Austria, the remaining stocks were used by the Allies in the respective occupation zones as temporary expenses with imprint ; on June 4, 1945, it was ordered for the Soviet zone that the portrait of Hitler must be made illegible. This was mainly done using handcrafted cork or blot stamps. A number of cities produced their own local editions before a series of stamps for the American, French, and British zones, made in the United States and brought back by American troops, were issued in June 1945. In July 1945 a series of stamps was published for the Soviet zone by Hans Ranzoni the Elder. J. had been designed. On November 24, 1945, the first postage stamps valid for all zones appeared, the postage stamp series “Landscape Pictures” based on designs by Alfred (von) Chmielowski.

After the currency reform

Town hall in Steyr from the series Austrian architectural monuments

On December 10, 1947, the Austrian Post and Telegraph Administration reissued the postage stamp series “Landschaftsbilder” from 1945 with color changes due to the currency reform. A permanent series of folk costumes followed from 1948 (drawings by Josef Seger ) and from 1957 a set of components (designs by Adalbert Pilch , Hans Strohofer and Otto Zeiller). The first special post stamp after the war was “Olympic Games 1948” from January 16, 1948. From 1948 onwards, numerous special post stamp series such as “Die Post in der Kunst” in 1964 were created.

Starting in 1973, the permanent series “ Beautiful Austria ” ( Otto Zeiller ) and since 1984 the series “ Pens and Monasteries in Austria ” (Otto Zeiller, Werner Pfeiler ). This was followed in 1993 " Works of art from monasteries and monasteries in Austria ", 1997 " Sagas and legends from Austria ".

Shortly after the four-digit postcodes (postcodes) were introduced on January 1, 1966, the special postcode stamps appeared in a particularly large edition to illustrate the numbering of zones 1–9 using a map and to promote the use of postcodes.

In 1966, the “Art of the Danube School” stamp created by Adalbert Pilch was officially voted the world's most beautiful postage stamp. In addition to classic designs, motifs of modern art by artists such as Hans Fronius , Paul Flora and Friedensreich Hundertwasser (e.g. "Modern Art in Austria" 1975, "Summit Conference of the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe member states" 1993) have also been used since the mid-1970s ) designed. Many of these stamps were produced by the Austrian State Printing House using very complex combination printing processes ( intaglio printing , halftone gravure printing, some with metal embossing).

Changeover to euros

The cash changeover to euros in Austria took place on January 1st, 2002. Stamps in Schilling were valid during a transition period until June 30th of the year, so mixed postage of euro and Schilling stamps was possible during this period. Schilling stamps could also be exchanged free of charge at post offices until June 30, 2002, later only with restrictions. Since December 20, 2003, exchanges are no longer possible.

Current issues

The definitive issues of Ferienland Österreich followed in 2002 and Flowers in 2007 . In 2011 a new series of definitive stamps called Kunsthäuser was issued , which was designed in a modern design by the Krems artist Rainer Prohaska (* 1966). In 2013 this series was replaced by the new definitive series Austrian Landmarks . In 2015 a self-adhesive series of definitive stamps with the title “Impressions from Austria” was issued. The mostly high-quality print version of the stamp editions (intaglio printing) has tended to be replaced by cheaper print variants. On the other hand, special stamps or blocks with remarkable details and innovative features were issued again and again, for example a block with applied crystals ( Swarovski Kristallwelten , 2004) and embroidery brands ( Edelweiß 2005, Stängelloser Enzian 2008, Dirndl 2016).

The number of blocks published rose steadily, with new and effective advertising paths being treaded in terms of subject matter and execution; z. 2008 B. a block with 3D effect (appeared Venus of Willendorf ), a block in the shape of a soccer ball (on the occasion of the European Football Championship in 2008 ), a porcelain postage stamp in 2014, a leather stamp in the form of a leather trousers 2015 or a glass painting brand 2016. In 2012 a block in the form of a comic book brand puzzle was issued for the first time.
Many blocks were edited together with postal administrations from other countries, for example Slovenia (2013), Thailand (2012), Israel (2010) or Argentina (2010). A paradigm shift has taken place with regard to the depiction of living personalities (exceptions: Federal President (Austria) , Pope ) on postage stamps. Self-adhesive postage stamps were also issued more and more frequently.

Private stamps

A personal stamp

Since 2003 you can have your own stamps printed in Austria with a minimum print run of initially 200 and since 2005 100.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Austria 1850–1918, Dr. Ulrich Ferchenbauer, 1981, Austrian Field Post p.378–406
  2. MICHEL Austria Special, Austro-Hungarian Field Post
  3. Information on personal stamps