Österreichische Post AG issues labels twice each year in two designs for the printing of variable value stamps — a definitive series featuring floral themes issued in early January (Sommer), and a series with winter illustrations at the beginning of November (Winter), for use in its philatelic kiosks over the Christmas season. These are available with three imprints: VÖPH (which stands for Verband Österreichischer Philatelistenvereine — the Association of Austrian Philatelic Associations), SONDERPOSTAMT (meaning “Special Post Offices” set up temporarily at first day of issue ceremonies or as part of exhibitions, fairs or other special events), and PHILATELIE.SHOP. All are available from the four Inform philatelic kiosks permanently installed at philatelic shops in Vienna (Philatelie Shop – Post am Rochus and Philatelie Ost), Graz (Philatelie Mitte/West) and Steyr (Philatelie Mitte/West).
Additional imprints will be available at various philatelic events that occur throughout the year, obtainable at the four kiosks mentioned above several days before the date of the event, and also directly from the philatelic service stand at each of the exhibitions. The Sommer labels can be used until they are replaced by the Winter labels in November.
The rolls of gummed labels were manufactured and printed by Royal Joh. Enschedé in Belgium using offset lithography and thermal printing. Every fifth label has a 4-digit number preprinted on the back to indicate the number of labels remaining on the roll. The 2023 Sommer labels were designed by Tristan Fischer featuring Snapdragons and Daffodils.
The cello is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 and A3. The viola’s four strings are each an octave higher. Music for the cello is generally written in the bass clef, with tenor clef, and treble clef used for higher-range passages.
Played by a cellist or violoncellist, it enjoys a large solo repertoire with and without accompaniment, as well as numerous concerti. As a solo instrument, the cello uses its whole range, from bass to soprano, and in chamber music such as string quartets and the orchestra’s string section, it often plays the bass part, where it may be reinforced an octave lower by the double basses. Figured bass music of the Baroque-era typically assumes a cello, viola da gamba or bassoon as part of the basso continuo group alongside chordal instruments such as organ, harpsichord, lute or theorbo. Cellos are found in many other ensembles, from modern Chinese orchestras to cello rock bands.
Austria released a single stamp in the series “Musikland Österreich” on 18 January. Pictured on the stamp along with a cello is one of the most important concert pieces for the instrument, the Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major (Hob. VIIb:2) by Joseph Haydn. He composed it in 1783 for Anton Kraft, who was cellist in the court chapel of Prince Esterházy. The technically demanding cello concerto is divided into three movements: Allegro moderato, Adagio and Rondo: Allegro. It is accompanied by two oboes, two horns and strings.
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 18 January 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | One (1) gummed stamp |
| Denomination: | €1.20 |
| Designers: | Kirsten Lubach |
| Printer and Process: | Royal Joh. Enschedé, Brussels, Belgium by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 31.8mm x 50mm |
| Sheet Layout: | 10 stamps |
| Perforations: | comb 14 |
| Quantity Printed: | 360,000 |
First Day Covers
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Information Sheet
Max Oppenheimer was an Austrian painter and graphic artist born in Vienna on July 1, 1885. He studied from 1900 to 1903 at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in that city studying under Christian Griepenker and Siegmund L’Allemand, and then – from 1903 to 1906 – at the Academy of Fine Arts of Prague, where he studied under Franz Thiele. Along with Egon Schiele, with whom he shared a studio in 1910 and Oskar Kokoschka he was considered as being one of Austria’s leading avant-garde artists. His work was influenced by several different movements including expressionism, cubism and futurism and was included in two art exhibitions in 1908 and 1909 in Vienna co-organized by Gustav Klimt. His first one-man show was held in Munich at the Moderne Galerie in 1910. In 1911 he settled in Berlin and adopted the stage name MOPP. He was known for his portraits of contemporary cultural figures such as Thomas Mann and Arnold Schoenberg. In 1938, the artist, who came from a Jewish family, had to flee and lived in the USA until his death in New York on May 19, 1954.
Tilla Durieux was born as Ottilie Godeffroy on August 18, 1880. She was an Austrian theatre and film actress of the first decades of the 20th century. In 1933, Durieux left Germany for Switzerland to escape Nazi rule. She continued to perform at the Vienna Theater in der Josefstadt and in Prague. In 1937 she moved to Zagreb, Croatia (then in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) where she became a member of the International Red Aid. Durieux unsuccessfully tried to obtain a visa for the United States; in 1941 her third husband director Ludwig Katzenellenbogen was arrested by Gestapo agents in Thessaloniki and deported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He died in 1944 at Jüdisches Krankenhaus Berlin. Durieux managed to return to West Germany in 1952, appearing on stages in Berlin, Hamburg, and Münster. In 1971 she underwent surgery for a hip fracture and died of post-operative sepsis. Despite the fact that the date on her gravestone is 21st of January 1971, she died on the 21st of February 1971, which would have been the 100th birthday of her second husband Paul Cassirer.
Shortly after he was drawn to Berlin at the invitation of the art dealer Paul Cassirer, Oppenheimer informed his patron of his desire to make a portrait of his
wife, Tilla Durieux. Cassirer was more than skeptical: “What? You want to paint my wife? Many have already tried that. [Lovis] Corinth and Max Slevogt and Stuck in Munich.” The painting process did indeed take a toll on the twenty-five-year-old, yet he managed to create a portrait, which came as a pleasant surprise to the art dealer. “l didn’t think you were capable of this,” said Cassirer — who seemingly held the portraiture of a “hideous beauty” as the greatest imaginable challenge.
The famous actress is here endowed with a cool, repellent gaze and the placement of her hands is reminiscent of gestures found in Kokoschka’s works. Novel to Oppenheimer’s work at this point in his career, the background’s crystalline tissue evinces his venture into Cubism.
Painting Details
| Title: | Portrait of Tilla Durieux |
| Creator: | Max Oppenheimer |
| Date Created: | 1912 |
| Physical Dimensions: | 789cm x 955cm (without frame) |
| Type: | Painting |
| Technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Rights: | Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria |
| Signatures, Inscriptions & Markings: | Signed below right: MOPP |
| Inv. no.: | LM 443 |
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 19 January 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | One (1) gummed stamp |
| Denomination: | €3.00 |
| Designers: | Regina Simon |
| Printer and Process: | Royal Joh. Enschedé, Brussels, Belgium by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 30mm x 36mm |
| Sheet Layout: | 50 stamps |
| Perforations: | comb 13¼ |
| Quantity Printed: | 180,000 |
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Information Sheet
Ferdinand Porsche was an Austro-Bohemian automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first gasoline–electric hybrid vehicle (Lohner–Porsche), the Volkswagen Beetle, the Auto Union racing car, the Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK, several other important developments and Porsche automobiles.
The Lohner–Porsche Mixed Hybrid was the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle. It was developed by Ferdinand Porsche at Lohner-Werke. The first prototypes were two-wheel drive, battery-powered electric vehicles with two front-wheel hub-mounted motors, while later versions were series hybrids that used hub-mounted electric motors in each wheel, powered by batteries and a gasoline-engine generator.
At the Paris World Exhibition in 1900, the vehicle was presented as the “world’s first transmissionless car” and caused a sensation. In order to increase the range of the electric vehicle, which is very heavy due to the lead batteries, Porsche designed the first hybrid automobile, the “Semper Vivus”, in which additional gasoline engines supplied the batteries and the wheel hub motors with energy.
Too costly for popular consumption, Lohner utilized the revolutionary drivetrain technology for larger commercial vehicles. Lohner-Werke manufactured rear-drive double-decker buses for Berlin and front-drive fire engines for the cities of Vienna, Frankfurt, and London. Lohner was commissioned to build vehicles for the Austrian emperor, as well as the kings of Norway, Romania, and Sweden. According to a biography by Andreas Stieniczka, the funeral coach for Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose murder in Sarajevo was the event which sparked off World War I, was manufactured by Lohner-Werke. Over 300 Lohner–Porsche vehicles were sold through 1906.
The vehicle has four wheel hub motors with an output of 1500 W each. The electric current is stored in accumulators with a total mass of 1800 kg.
In addition to custom coachworks, Lohner supported Porsche’s continued racing efforts. Several Austrian land speed records were set, with a top speed eventually achieving 37 mph (60 km/h) with Porsche at the wheel. It was victorious in a number of motorsport events including the Exelberg-Rally in 1901. With both drivetrain engineering excellence in Lohner’s custom coaches and motorsport experience, Porsche won the 1905 Potting Prize as Austria’s most outstanding automotive engineer. In 1906, Porsche was snapped up by Austro-Daimler as chief designer. Jacob Lohner said at the time: “He is very young, but is a man with a big career before him. You will hear of him again.”
In June 1934, Porsche received a contract from Hitler to design a people’s car (or “Volkswagen”), following on from his previous designs such as the 1931 Type 12 car designed for Zündapp. The first two prototypes were completed in 1935. These were followed by several further pre-production batches during 1936 to 1939.
An important contributor to the German war effort during World War II, Ferdinand Porsche was involved in the production of advanced tanks such as the VK 4501 (P), the Elefant (initially called “Ferdinand”) self-propelled gun, and the Panzer VIII Maus super-heavy tank, as well as other weapon systems, including the V-1 flying bomb. Porsche was a member of the Nazi Party and an officer of the Schutzstaffel (SS). He was a recipient of the German National Prize for Art and Science, the SS-Ehrenring and the War Merit Cross.
Porsche was later contracted by Volkswagen for additional consulting work and received a royalty on every Volkswagen Beetle manufactured. This provided Porsche with a comfortable income as more than 20 million Type I were built. In November 1950, Porsche visited the Wolfsburg Volkswagen factory for the first time since the end of World War II. He spent his visit chatting with Volkswagen president Heinrich Nordhoff about the future of VW Beetles, which were already being produced in large numbers.
A few weeks later, Porsche suffered a stroke. He did not fully recover, and died on January 30, 1951.
The Lohner–Porsche’s design was studied by Boeing and NASA to create the Apollo program’s Lunar Roving Vehicle. Many of its design principles were mirrored in the Rover’s design. The series hybrid concept underpins many modern railway locomotives, and interest in series hybrid automobiles is growing rapidly.
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 27 January 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | One (1) gummed stamp |
| Denomination: | €1.00 |
| Designers: | David Gruber |
| Printer and Process: | Royal Joh. Enschedé, Brussels, Belgium by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 31.8mm x 50mm |
| Sheet Layout: | 10 stamps |
| Perforations: | comb 14 |
| Quantity Printed: | 360,000 |
First Day Covers
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Information Sheet
The KTM X-Bow (pronounced cross-bow) is a series of lightweight, two-seater sports cars known as the X-Bow R, the X-Bow RR, the X-Bow GT, the X-Bow GTX, and the X-BOW GT4. The R and GT versions of the X-Bow are street-legal in Europe, North America, China and Australia. It uses an Audi engine and a carbon fiber chassis developed in cooperation with Italian racing car manufacturer Dallara, making it the world’s first street-legal car with a full carbon fiber monocoque.
The X-Bow uses a 2.0-litre transversely-mounted turbocharged inline-4 engine from Audi that produced 237 hp (177 kW; 240 PS) at 5,500 rpm and 230 lb⋅ft (310 N⋅m) of torque between 2,000 and 5,500 rpm. In the X-Bow R model for 2011 and for other models onwards, the Audi inline-4 is further tuned to produce 300 hp (224 kW; 304 PS) and 400 N⋅m (295 lbf⋅ft) of torque at 3,300 rpm.
Two transmission options were available for the X-Bow; a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed Holinger twin-clutch DSG sequential manual. The front tires are 205/45 ZR17 and the rear tires are 235/40 ZR18. The X-Bow features Brembo brakes with 305 mm (12.0 in) diameter discs at the front and 262 mm (10.3 in) diameter discs at the rear. The X-Bow was capable of accelerating from 0-62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.9 seconds. Its top speed is 217 km/h (134.9 mph). For the GTX, GT2 Concept, and GT-XR models, the X-Bow uses a 2.5-liter Audi TFSI 20-valve I5 engine sourced from the Audi RS3.
Originally, KTM planned a production of 500 units per year; however, the company increased production to 1,000 cars a year and built a new plant near Graz due to high demand.
The X-Bow GT is a slightly more refined version of the X-Bow. The car contains a windscreen and side windows for the driver and passenger. The car has the same power output as the standard model and uses a 6-speed manual. The weight is slightly heavier at 847 kg (1,867 lb) due to the addition of the windscreen and windows, resulting in a slightly slower 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) time of 4.1 seconds, as well as a different weight distribution ratio of 38:62. The ride height is 10 mm higher. The car’s aerodynamics have also been decreased. The X-Bow GT provides luggage with 50 liters of capacity, and its center console was changed to accommodate climate control, windscreen wiper adjustment, and a windscreen washer and heating system.
The X-Bow GTX is a longer wheelbase track-only race car version released in 2020, manufactured in collaboration with Reiter Engineering. Aesthetically, the design is very different to the standard X-Bow. The car uses a different engine to the standard X-Bow, making use of a 2.5-liter Audi TFSI 20-valve I5 engine sourced from the Audi RS3. The 6-speed Holinger sequential transmission and carbon fiber monocoque are retained. The inline-5 engine receives a number of upgrades for racing, including upgrades to the engine management system, injection valves, waste gate, intake, and exhaust. The fuse box comes from Reiter’s subsidiary company Sareni United. It also comes with fully electric power steering.
The X-Bow GT-XR is a long wheelbase model of the X-Bow based on the GTX and GT2 Concept track-only race cars, built in a collaborative effort with Reiter Engineering. The car maintains the 2.5-liter Audi TFSI 20-valve I5 from the GTX, now producing 493 hp (368 kW; 500 PS) and 429 lb⋅ft (582 N⋅m) of torque, with power delivered through a 7-speed DSG gearbox. The GT-XR also contains a 95-liter fuel tank. As a result of the car’s more refined construction in comparison with the shorter wheelbase X-Bow models, it is the heaviest car in the lineup, with a dry weight of 1,250 kg (2,756 lb) with a 44:56 ratio for weight distribution. Its 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) factory time is 3.4 seconds and has a top speed of 174 mph (280 km/h). It costs €284,900.
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 15 February 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | One (1) gummed stamp |
| Denomination: | €2.50 |
| Designers: | David Gruber |
| Printer and Process: | Royal Joh. Enschedé, Brussels, Belgium by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 42mm x 35mm |
| Sheet Layout: | 50 stamps |
| Perforations: | comb 14¼ x 13¾ |
| Quantity Printed: | 160,000 |
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Information Sheet
KTM (Kronreif & Trunkenpolz Mattighofen) is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and sports car manufacturer. It was founded in 1934 when Austrian engineer Johann (Hans) Trunkenpolz set up a fitter’s and car repair shop in Mattighofen. In 1937, he started selling DKW motorcycles, and Opel cars the following year. His shop was known as Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, but the name was unregistered. During the Second World War, his wife took care of the business which was thriving mainly on account of diesel engine repairs.
After the war, demand for repair works fell sharply and Trunkenpolz started thinking about producing his own motorcycles. The prototype of his first motorcycle, the R100, was built in 1951. The components of the motorcycle were produced in house, except for the Rotax engines which were made by Fichtel & Sachs. Serial production of the R100 started in 1953. With just 20 employees, motorcycles were built at a rate of three per day.
The R100 was a 98cc 2-stroke lightweight motorcycle that performed surprisingly well in racing events. Trunkenpolz and his team presented the R100 during the 5th Gaisberg Hillclimb competition in 1953. Within a year of its production, the R100 performed beyond expectation and won the first three places in KTM’s first racing activity.
In 1953, businessman Ernst Kronreif became a major shareholder of the company, which was renamed and registered as Kronreif & Trunkenpolz Mattighofen.
A year after KTM’s first racing victory, the R100 debuted at the Austrian National Championship, and the 1000th KTM motorcycle won the 125cc category for the first time. The success from this race brought forth the 125cc KTM Tourist model, which Egon Dornauer straddled to win gold at KTM’s debut in the International Six Days race. Unknown to many, this string of successes is what formed KTM’s thick backbone in racing.
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 15 February 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | One (1) gummed stamp |
| Denomination: | €2.50 |
| Designers: | David Gruber |
| Printer and Process: | Royal Joh. Enschedé, Brussels, Belgium by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 42mm x 35mm |
| Sheet Layout: | 50 stamps |
| Perforations: | comb 14¼ x 13¾ |
| Quantity Printed: | 160,000 |
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Information Sheet
Special occasions also deserve stamps matching the respective event, which is why Austrian Post has now issued two special stamps for congratulatory and mourning mail.
The imprint “Congratulations” or “In silent remembrance” already carries the respective message in itself. The colorful, cheerful floral motif fits as a stamp for many congratulatory letters: for birthday wishes, weddings, passed exams and much more. Flowers are not only a popular gift, but also a decorative franking for a postcard or a billet, with which one congratulates on a beautiful event.
A black feather is depicted on the mourning stamp. Feathers symbolically connect heaven and earth, the earthly and the divine. The black feather is a sign of mourning, but also of strength – a simple but dignified motif for an obituary or a letter of condolence.
Austria Forum
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 22 February 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | Two (2) gummed stamps |
| Denomination: | 2 x €1.00 |
| Designers: | Theresa Radlingmaier |
| Printer and Process: | Cartor Security Printing, Meaucé, France by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 34.5mm x 42mm |
| Sheet Layout: | 50 stamps each design |
| Perforations: | comb 13½ |
| Quantity Printed: | 360,000 each design |
First Day Covers
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Information Sheets
Peter Anich (born on 7 February 1723 in Oberperfuss) was a Tyrolean geodesist and cartographer. His works, especially the Atlas Tyrolensis, published in 1774, are among the most accurate maps of their time. Anich, who is often referred to as a “peasant cartographer” because of his peasant origins, was also known as an astronomer and designer of sundials and globes.
Anich began to observe the sky during his work as a shepherd and became interested in astronomy. On a nearby pear tree he set up an observation site and found the celestial pole without any help by repeatedly aiming at many stars, until he came to the (almost motionless) Pole Star. As early as 1745, he constructed his first vertical sundial on a house wall in Oberperfuss. This was already a complicated construction, the calculation of which required trigonometric knowledge. How Anich acquired the corresponding skills is unknown.
In 1751 Anich went to Innsbruck and approached the Jesuit and mathematics professor Ignaz Weinhart, whom he asked to teach astronomy and mathematics. After a short examination, Weinhart was convinced of Anich’s talent, offered him private lessons and became Anich’s most important patron until the end of his life. In the following years, Anich travelled to Innsbruck on Sundays and public holidays to take lessons from Weinhart and to produce globes and scientific instruments for him.
Around 1756 Anich also began to deal with cartography. In 1759, Weinhart proposed that he be commissioned to create a new map of Tyrol, which later became known as Atlas Tyrolensis. From 1760 Anich then had the task of completing the map of Tyrol by Joseph Freiherr von Spergs, on which he could not continue working because of his recall to Vienna. After he had surveyed and mapped the “northern Tyrol” (Tyrol with the exception of the Welschtirol already mapped by Spergs) in the following years, he was also entrusted with the recording of the southern part from 1764. From 1765 he was assisted by Blasius Hueber, who later completed the Atlas Tyrolensis.
While working in the swamps of the Adige River, Anich, throughout his life of a rather weak constitution and almost deaf for several years, fell ill with “gall fever”, from which he never recovered. In the last months of his life, already impoverished due to his lack of ability to work, he was awarded a gold medal of honor by Empress Maria Theresa. In addition, he was portrayed for the collection of the university and received a pension of 200 guilders annually. After his death on 1 September 1766, his sister Lucia received it.
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 25 February 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | One (1) gummed stamp |
| Denomination: | €2.30 |
| Designers: | Theresa Radlingmaier |
| Printer and Process: | Cartor Security Printing, Meaucé, France by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 34.5mm x 42mm |
| Sheet Layout: | 50 stamps |
| Perforations: | comb 13¼ |
| Quantity Printed: | 120,000 |
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Information Sheet
€1.00 Devil’s Violin
The Teufelsgeige or Devil’s violin was a folk instrument used throughout Europe and in the Americas and is known by various names including Devil’s stick, bladder fiddle, stamp fiddle, bumbass, saubass, and many more. The original instrument in the 17th century was a simple musical bow, between whose curved wooden stick and the string at one end there was an pig’s bladder resonator filled with air as a soundbox. It was bowed with either a notched stick or a horsehair bow.
Today, the devil’s violin consists of a wooden stick, which should not exceed the height of the player and is strung with one to three strings. Attached to it are various idiophones such as bells, bell ring, cymbals and tonewoods. A tambourine is often used as the body. In the past, discarded household items made of sheet metal were fixed to the wooden stick. Often the devil’s violin is decorated by a devil’s head or Kasperkopf at the tip of the staff. The instruments are beaten with a mallet, with sawtooth-like incisions on it the strings can be plucked. If the wooden stick is stamped on the floor, the typical sound of the devil’s violin sounds through the metal sound bodies and rattles.
€1.20 Mureck Ship Mill, Styria
A ship mill, more commonly known as a boat mill is a type of watermill. The milling and grinding technology and the drive (waterwheel) are built on a floating platform on this type of mill. Its first recorded use dates back to mid-6th century AD Italy. Ship mills characterized the shore landscapes of the great rivers for centuries. The Mureck Ship Mill, anchored in the Mura River, is one of the last floating ship mills in Central Europe.
The mills were built on the principle of a houseboat. The entire mill and grinding technology was located on the floating platform – including the drive, the so-called shaft wheel. Over time, more and more of the ship mills disappeared. In 1997, the ship mill in Mureck was rebuilt according to the original model and is thus the only floating, as well as functioning mill — in traditional construction — in the whole of Central Europe. In recent years it has sunk several times after heavy storms, but it has always been recovered. It cannot be washed away because it is anchored in the Mura River by steel cables.
€1.50 Güssing Castle, Burgenland
Güssing Castle is a castle in southern Burgenland, Austria. Wolfer, a German knight, who arrived to the Kingdom of Hungary during the reign of Géza II, founded a Benedictine monastery on the top of the mountain Güssing (or Küszén) in 1157. The establishing charter also emphasizes the mount of Küszén was an “uninhabited wasteland” before the erection of the abbey.
After a few decades of its operation, Béla III confiscated the abbey from the Benedictine friars and used the abbey’s stone buildings to erect a royal castle on top of the hill around 1180. By that time, the tense relationship between Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire emerged, as Béla supported the papacy against Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor during the Investiture Controversy. The Hungarian king also had conflicts over border disputes with the Duchy of Austria in the second half of the 1170s. Under such circumstances, the mountain of Küszén and its fortified abbey proved to be a strategic military site along the border with Austria. The castle is first mentioned by contemporary records in 1198.
On 30 June 1524, the castle was acquired by the Batthyány family, which retains ownership through a historical foundation that provides for the care and maintenance of the castle. Güssing Castle is 293 meters (961 feet) above sea level. It is the oldest castle in Burgenland.
€3.00 Dürrenstein Ancient Woodland, Lower Austria
The Dürrenstein wilderness area is home to one of the largest primeval forests in Central Europe, the so-called Rothwald in Lower Austria. In July 2017, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Dürrenstein wilderness area today borders directly on Styria. It extends around the Dürrenstein and is home to numerous rare animal and plant species. It is primarily a forest reserve, but extends beyond the tree line and is also home to alpine lawns and rocky areas as well as alpine pastures. From Alpine salamanders to Ural owls, lynxes and golden eagles, numerous alpine species live in this protected area. People only have access as part of guided themed hikes and on marked paths and hiking trails.
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 1 March 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | Four (4) self-adhesive definitive stamps |
| Denomination: | €1.00, €1.20, €1.50, €3.00 |
| Designers: | Roland Vorlaufer |
| Printer and Process: | Royal Joh. Enschedé, Brussels, Belgium by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | €1.00: 33.5mm x 42mm; others: 42mm x 33.5mm |
| Perforations: | €1.00: syncopated 13¼ x 13½; others: syncopated 13½ x 13¼ |
| Quantity Printed: | €1.00: 700,000; €1.20 and €1.50: 180,000; €3.00: 200,000 |
Every year, Austrian Post’s loyalty bonus stamps show beautiful illustrated Floral motifs, this time an iris.
Iris owe their Latin name “iris” to their variety of colours: Iris is the Greek Goddess of the rainbow. All types of iris have long narrow leaves reminiscent of a sword, hence the term “iris”.
The plants are hardy, they do not have bulbs, but rhizomes, from which they are made in spring drive out again. Irises are a species-rich genus, characterized by their magnificent colors and Variety of shapes fascinates. The outer petals of the three-part large flowers hang down.
On the loyalty bonus stamp, with which Austria Post thanks its loyal subscribers, the German iris (Iris germanica), a hybrid species with a striking yellow “beard” at the base of the purple hanging petals.
Austria Forum
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 4 March 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | One (1) gummed stamp |
| Denomination: | €1.00 |
| Designers: | Brigitte Heiden |
| Printer and Process: | Royal Joh. Enschedé, Brussels, Belgium by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 33.5mm x 42mm |
| Sheet Layout: | 50 stamps |
| Perforations: | comb 14 x 13¼ |
| Quantity Printed: | 280,000 |
| NOTE: | gift for standing order customers only |
There were fifteen pictorial definitive stamps issued by the Austrian Empire between 28 September 1916 and 1 September 1918. They are typographed (letterpress) and perforated 12½. The three common designs feature the Imperial Crown, Emperor Franz Josef I in two slightly different positions, and the Austrian Imperial Coat of Arms.
On 21 November 21 1916, Emperor Franz Josef I died, having reigned only a week shy of 68 years, the third longest reign in European history. On 30 December, 29 year old Prince Karl Franz Josef was coronated as Emperor Karl I of the Austrian Empire and as Karl IV, the Apostolic King of Hungary.
The stamps with the portrait of Emperor Franz Joseph were valid until 28 February 1918, the values 3, 6, 10 and 12 Heller until 15 January 1920 and the values 5 Heller and 40 Heller up to 1 Krone until 31 October 1920. The stamps pictured on the 2023 miniature sheet are the 10-heller dark reddish carmine (Scott #148) and the 1-krone lilac red (Scott #159) on normal paper.
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 4 March 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | One (1) gummed miniature sheet containing two (2) stamps |
| Denomination: | €2.50, €1.00 |
| Designers: | Anita Kern |
| Printer and Process: | Royal Joh. Enschedé, Brussels, Belgium by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 32mm x 40mm |
| Sheet Size: | 80mm x 60mm |
| Sheet Layout: | miniature sheet — 2 stamps |
| Perforations: | comb 13 |
| Quantity Printed: | 115,000 |
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Information Sheet
Pope Benedict XVI (born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger on 16 April 1927) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict’s election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Benedict chose to be known as “Pope emeritus” upon his resignation, and he retained this title until his death on 31 December 2022.
Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Ratzinger embarked on an academic career and established himself as a highly regarded theologian by the late 1950s. He was appointed a full professor in 1958 at the age of 31. After a long career as a professor of theology at several German universities, he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising and created a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1977, an unusual promotion for someone with little pastoral experience. In 1981, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the most important dicasteries of the Roman Curia. From 2002 until he was elected pope, he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals. Before becoming pope, he was “a major figure on the Vatican stage for a quarter of a century”; he had an influence “second to none when it came to setting church priorities and directions” as one of John Paul II’s closest confidants.
Benedict’s writings were prolific and generally defended traditional Catholic doctrine, values, and liturgy. He was originally a liberal theologian but adopted conservative views after 1968. During his papacy, Benedict advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increased secularization of many Western countries. He viewed relativism’s denial of objective truth, and the denial of moral truths in particular, as the central problem of the 21st century. Benedict also revived several traditions, including the Tridentine Mass. He strengthened the relationship between the Catholic Church and art, promoted the use of Latin, and reintroduced traditional papal vestments, for which reason he was called “the pope of aesthetics”. He was described as “the main intellectual force in the Church” since the mid-1980s.
On 11 February 2013, Benedict announced his resignation, citing a “lack of strength of mind and body” due to his advanced age. His resignation was the first by a pope since Gregory XII in 1415, and the first on a pope’s initiative since Celestine V in 1294. He was succeeded by Francis on 13 March 2013 and moved into the newly renovated Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City for his retirement. In addition to his native German language, Benedict had some level of proficiency in French, Italian, English, and Spanish. He also knew Portuguese, Latin, Biblical Hebrew, and Biblical Greek. He was a member of several social science academies, such as the French Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. He played the piano and had a preference for Mozart and Bach.
On 28 December 2022, Pope Francis said at the end of his audience that Benedict was “very sick” and asked God to “comfort him and support him in this testimony of love for the Church until the end”. The same day, Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, stated that “in the last few hours there has been an aggravation of [Benedict’s] health due to advancing age” and that he was under medical care. Bruni also stated that Francis visited Benedict at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery after the audience.
Benedict died on 31 December 2022 at 9:34 am Central European Time at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery. He was 95 years old. His long-time secretary, Georg Gänswein, reported that his last words were “Signore ti amo” (Italian for ‘Lord, I love you’).
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 4 March 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | One (1) gummed souvenir sheet |
| Denomination: | €1.90 |
| Designers: | Kirsten Lubach |
| Printer and Process: | Royal Joh. Enschedé, Brussels, Belgium by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 42mm x 33.5mm |
| Sheet Size: | 80mm x 60mm |
| Sheet Layout: | souvenir sheet — 1 stamp |
| Perforations: | comb 14¼ x 13¾ |
| Quantity Printed: | 120,000 |
First Day Cover
Black Print1
Information Sheet
The new commemorative stamp series “Pericularium – endangered insects” addresses the topical issue of insect extinction with beautiful motifs.
The first motif in the series is the eastern eggar (Eriogaster catax). The habitat of this yellow-brown moth with the conspicuous white dot is blackthorn and hawthorn bushes, clearings, and forest edges. In Tyrol, the moth, which was once widespread in central Europe, is already extinct; isolated populations still exist in Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland.
With her 2018/19 art project “Pericularium”, created in collaboration with the Natural Science Collections of the Tyrolean Regional Museums, the artist Alexandra Kontriner, a native of Tyrol, wants to draw attention to the extinction of these species. For her 29 lifelike drawings in A5 format, she used pencil and watercolour to showcase insects that are considered extinct or highly endangered in Tyrol or Austria.
Austria Post
Eriogaster catax, the eastern eggar, is a species of moth in the family Lasiocampidae. It has a wingspan of 27–35 millimeters (1.1–1.4 inches) in males, of 35–45 millimeters (1.4–1.8 in) in the females. This species shows a pronounced sexual dimorphism. The males are smaller and have feathery antennae. In males the basal part of the front wing is yellow-orange, while the outer part is pinkish-brown. In the females the front wings are browner. In both sexes, the front wings show a transversal line and a white discal spot within a dark border. Hind wings have no markings. Females are larger and at the end of the abdomen they have a tuft of dense gray-black hairs.
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 25 March 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | One (1) gummed stamp |
| Denomination: | €1.20 |
| Designers: | Theresa Radlingmaier |
| Printer and Process: | Cartor Security Printing, Meaucé, France by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 30mm x 40mm |
| Sheet Layout: | 10 stamps |
| Perforations: | comb 13¼ x 13 |
| Quantity Printed: | 340,000 each design |
In 1923, the Austrian zoologist and behavioral scientist Karl von Frisch succeeded in deciphering the “language” of bees and explained his decoding of the fascinating bee dances in 1923 as Über die Sprache der Bienen (The Language of Bees) and expanded in 1927’s Aus dem Leben der Bienen (translated into English as The Dancing Bees). His theory was disputed by other scientists and greeted with skepticism at the time. Only much later was it shown to be an accurate theoretical analysis.
Frisch discovered that bees can distinguish various blossoming plants by their scent, and that each bee is “flower constant”. Surprisingly, their sensitivity to a “sweet” taste is only slightly stronger than in humans. He thought it possible that a bee’s spatial sense of smell arises from the firm coupling of its olfactory sense with its tactile sense. Frisch was the second to demonstrate that honey bees had color vision, the first being Charles Henry Turner which he accomplished by using classical conditioning. A bee’s color perception is comparable to that of humans, but with a shift away from the red toward the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. For that reason bees cannot distinguish red from black (colorless), but they can distinguish the colors white, yellow, blue and violet.
Frisch’s investigation of a bee’s powers of orientation were significant. He discovered that bees can recognize the desired compass direction in three different ways: by the sun, by the polarization pattern of the blue sky, and by the earth’s magnetic field, whereby the sun is used as the main compass, with the alternatives reserved for the conditions arising under cloudy skies or within a dark beehive.
Frisch proved that variations in the position of the sun over the course of a day provided bees with an orientation tool. They use this capability to obtain information about the progression of the day deep inside a dark beehive comparable to what is known from the position of the sun. This makes it possible for the bees to convey always up-to-date directional information during their waggle dance, without having to make a comparison with the sun during long dance phases. This provides them not only with alternative directional information, but also with additional temporal information.
Knowledge about feeding places can be relayed from bee to bee. The means of communication is a special dance of which there are two forms — the “round dance” and the “waggle dance”, constituting what Frisch termed the Language of Bees.
The “round dance” provides the information that there is a feeding place in the vicinity of the beehive at a distance between 50 and 100 meters, without the particular direction being given. By means of close contact among the bees it also supplies information about the type of food (blossom scent).
The foraging bee … begins to perform a kind of “round dance”. On the part of the comb where she is sitting she starts whirling around in a narrow circle, constantly changing her direction, turning now right, now left, dancing clockwise and anti-clockwise, in quick succession, describing between one and two circles in each direction. This dance is performed among the thickest bustle of the hive. What makes it so particularly striking and attractive is the way it infects the surrounding bees; those sitting next to the dancer start tripping after her, always trying to keep their outstretched feelers on close contact with the tip of her abdomen. … They take part in each of her manoeuvrings so that the dancer herself, in her mad wheeling movements, appears to carry behind her a perpetual comet’s tail of bees.
The “waggle dance” is used to relay information about more distant food sources. In order to do this, the dancing bee moves forward a certain distance on the vertically hanging honeycomb in the hive, then traces a half circle to return to her starting point, whereupon the dance begins again. On the straight stretch, the bee “waggles” with her posterior. The direction of the straight stretch contains the information about the direction of the food source, the angle between the straight stretch and the vertical being precisely the angle which the direction of flight has to the position of the sun.
The distance to the food source is relayed by the time taken to traverse the straight stretch, one second indicating a distance of approximately one kilometer (so the speed of the dance is inversely related to the actual distance). The other bees take in the information by keeping in close contact with the dancing bee and reconstructing its movements. They also receive information via their sense of smell about what is to be found at the food source (type of food, pollen, propolis, water) as well as its specific characteristics. The orientation functions so well that the bees can find a food source with the help of the waggle dance even if there are hindrances they must detour around like an intervening mountain.
As to a sense of hearing, Frisch could not identify this perceptive faculty, but it was assumed that vibrations could be sensed and used for communication during the waggle dance. Confirmation was later provided by Dr. Jürgen Tautz, a bee researcher at Würzburg University’s Biocenter.
Technical Information
| Date of Issue: | 29 March 2023 |
| Number of Stamps: | One (1) gummed souvenir sheet |
| Denomination: | €3.00 |
| Designers: | Marion Füllerer |
| Printer and Process: | Cartor Security Printing, Meaucé, France by offset lithography |
| Stamp Size: | 76mm x 67mm |
| Sheet Layout: | souvenir sheet with one stamp |
| Perforations: | comb 14¼ |
| Quantity Printed: | 180,000 |
First Day Cover
Black Print1
Information Sheets
1Black prints are versions of stamps and sheets of stamps printed by Austria Post. They are not valid for postage but can be franked (cancelled) for collectors.
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