Introducing… The Austrian Philatelic Society
In the beginning
Eminent historians have proclaimed The End Of History; philatelic pundits have stated that There Is Nothing Left To Publish. Yet we’re still here, and have every intention of continuing. Indeed, the records of organised Austrian Philately in Great Britain go back to 1948, as is recorded in the first-ever Bulletin of the ASCGB.
Feb 2nd 1948. Dear Members, for some years I have toyed with the idea of starting an Austrian Stamp Club which would cater fully for the wants of collectors … On Jan 1st 1948 the Austrian stamp club was formed … in time we shall have a club of which we shall be proud. … (signed) Major C Cowie
The Austrian Philatelic Society [APS] started life as the “Austrian Stamp Club of Great Britain” [ASCGB] and has become through a series of advances and setbacks the leading international organisation for English-speaking collectors of Austrian stamps and postal history (having many members in Austria itself!). The APS welcomes anyone who is, or wishes to become, a specialist collector of Austrian philatelic material, and anyone who wishes to deepen their knowledge of the political and cultural conditions from which it came.
The ASCGB was founded by Major Cowie and a small group of enthusiasts on 1st January 1948, with the objective of “serving the interests of collectors of postage stamps of Austria, and fostering good fellowship between collectors in Great Britain and in Austria”. Regular meetings were held in London. Until he retired in 1950, Major Cowie single-handedly ran the ASCGB, issued a monthly newsletter, circulated a packet and ran a new issue service! Later, Mr E. Lewy & then Mr K. Tranmer carried the load. The subscription in this period was 25 (old) pence per year.
Growth and change
The changing needs of the membership led to the formation of a new society “The Association of Austrian Philatelists” [AAP] to hold meetings in London; ASCGB meetings there ceased. As part of Mr. Tranmer’s plan to extend the activities of the ASCGB outside London, an Austrian Philatelic Exhibition was held in Manchester in September 1961; this was a great success and many new members joined the ASCGB. Soon, monthly meetings in Manchester were held, the interests of the whole membership being met by the Bulletin and by a regular circulating packet. A Manchester-based Committee emerged and took over the running of the ASCGB.
On its tenth anniversary, in 1958, the ASCGB visited Vienna and was affiliated to the VOePh (the Association of Austrian Philatelic Societies). This brought considerable benefits to the ASCGB; but later a change in Austrian law made it impossible for VOePh to support a British society that couldn’t comply with the Austrian Legal Regulations for Societies.
The Bulletin continued until 1965, and was then relaunched as the present journal “Austria” under the editorship of John Giblin, continuing the features which had proved popular in the previous issues with the aim that “the accumulated issues would eventually be a handbook in English to cover the entire scope of Austrian Philately”. We now have our fourth editor; and issue 228 was published in Autumn 2024. The format has grown over the years, from black/white quarto to black/white A4 (“it’s difficult to read on a bus”) to the occasional page in full colour to full colour throughout with a front cover designed by Professor Hannes Margreiter (“it looks like ‘Hello’!”).
On 14th December 1967, the ASCGB gave an invited display of Austrian Philately to the Royal Philatelic Society London, a leaflet being made available by the ASCGB giving information about the various stamps in the frames. The display was a great success and the ASCGB was presented with the R.P.S.L.’s plaquette as a souvenir of the occasion
The British Postal Strike at the beginning of 1971 had a calamitous effect on the ASCGB. Literally hundreds of letters to the Secretary piled up in the post office from all over the world so that, when the strike ended, Mr. Syddall was quite overwhelmed by the volume of mail. In addition, his own engineering business was making increasing demands upon his time, so that he had to resign his offices.
The programme of monthly meetings in Manchester (and occasionally elsewhere in the north of England) ran successfully for many years. An exhibition was mounted in Manchester on 1975. An annual weekend meeting for members and partners was held in 1991, and proved so enjoyable that it has been repeated every year since (pandemics permitting): see “Fests” below.
Meanwhile, the AAP organised an Anglo-Austrian Stamp Exhibition in London on 13 October 1979.
Zusammenfassung
Friendly relationships had been re-established during 1998 between the AAP, who had continued to hold monthly meetings in London, and the ASCGB. The passage of time and the departure of some older members (along with the happenstance that Dr John Beech was Hon Secretary of both societies) made it possible to address the oddity of there being two Societies in Great Britain with basically identical objectives. After lengthy discussions, the final negotiations being held on the neutral ground of Baden bei Wien during WIPA 2000, the re-united Austrian Philatelic Society was created. Its structure explicitly encourages Local Groups (not necessarily confined to GB!). The old ASCGB north-of-England activists became the Northern Group and the AAP became the London Group.
A visit to Vienna was arranged in 1998, the excuse (should one be required) being the ASCGB’s 50th anniversary, and repeat trips were held in 2000 (for WIPA), and annually (again, pandemics permitting) from 2001 for the December Numiphil. That has now ceased, but a few hardy perennials still visit Vienna each December.
Attempts were made to found sub-groups in the Midlands and in the South-West, but not enough support was given so they foundered.
2004 saw us back at the Royal, showing 52 frames each containing 9 sheets. A photographic record of each sheet was made, and a CD produced to make it permanent. A second plaquette was added to the Society’s collection! [This should be on line, apart from a few sheets whose owners declined any publicity.]
In 2008 we provided the “Village Green” display at Spring Stampex, as part of our 60th anniversary celebrations. In total, 3200 sheets from 32 people were displayed, arranged in 100 double-sided frames. The erection (and subsequent dismantling) of the display was masterminded by the late Colin Tobitt, and several passers-by commented on the quiet efficiency of our team and were they available for hire? The contents for several frames were brought by members of Philatelisten Klub Merkur Innsbruck. The display was opened by the Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum. See it here:
Fests
What’s a Fest? For the APS, it’s a weekend residential get-together, from a Friday evening to the following Sunday lunchtime. There could be displays on a wide range of topics, an auction, probably a ‘bourse’ when members try to offload their unwanted material, perhaps a guest speaker, and the AGM. The first was instigated by Nick Harty and held in 1991 at The Berghof perched on top of a very steep hill overlooking Todmorden (the landlord came from Linz). This was called the Berghof Event; the nickname ‘Fest’ derives from festival, festschrift etc and somehow the name stuck.
There were Fests in 1991 – 1994 Berghof; 1995 – 1996 Bath; 1997 – 1998 Cambridge; 1999 – 2000 York; 2001 – 2002 Canterbury; 2003 Coventry; 2004 – 2005 Honily; 2006 – 2007 Leeds; 2008 Winchester; 2009 Croydon; 2010 – 2011 Harrogate; 2012 – 2013 Croydon; 2014 York; 2015 – 2017 Peterborough; 2018 – 2019 Derby. [2020 and 2021 would have been at Derby, but Covid); 2022-2023 Peterborough; 2024 York jointly with the CPSGB. The 2003 Fest was arranged at Leamington Spa, but the hotel’s boiler blew up shortly before our booking and we were sent to Coventry instead! Only photographs have survived of what took place there.
Gongs and medals
Over its life, the APS has been awarded several medals at various exhibitions for the then-current issues of Austria. These include Silver bronze at WIPA 1975; Vermeil at ABPS Chester 2002; Silver at PKMI Innsbruck 2003; Silver at ABPS Torquay 2006; Silver gold at National Philatelic Literature Exhibition, New Zealand 2007; ABPS Specialist Society Journal of the Year for 2008; Large Silver at Praga2008; and Vermeil at London International 2015. It was entered at London 2020, which became 2022, and received 83 points and another Vermeil. We also have an RPSL Plaquette awarded to the ASCGB on 14 Dec 1967 and another awarded to the APS on 8 Jan 2004.