The postage stamp issues of Austria, from their beginning to today
Introduction and overview
This web site began as articles by J F Giblin printed in issues of ‘Austria’ in the 1970s, and has been updated expanded and supplemented with material from Austrian sources plus research by APS members and illustrations from their collections. It deals chronologically with the postage, postage-due, and newspaper-post stamps issued by Austria, and will detail most of the philatelic information which has been published on these issues and to place them in their historical and political context.
Issues are presented according to the Austria Netto “Österreich Spezialkatalog” order, which is “the cast in order of appearance”; however the postage dues have been moved from Netto’s end to their chronological position. Those seeking lists of plate faults should consult a catalogue – or for an exhaustive list ALL the catalogues since their contents overlap but don’t coincide. Most of the earlier dates-of-issue are taken from Kroiss’ work “Belege der Österreichischen Inflationszeit 1918-1925”. Some are later than those in the Post Office Instructions reproduced by Karasek and others – however Kroiss may be giving “date first found actually used”.
Acknowledgements
The author thanks all those who provided assistance, examples, articles, and information; or contributed to discussions on topics both central and peripheral to the subject: including but not restricted to (in alphabetical order!) D Baron, J Boyer, K Brandon, M Brumby, R Morrell, Dr H Moser, Dr J Pitts, H Pollak, Mag. E Sinnmayer, A Turngren, Y Wheatley. The patience of Österreichische Post AG, the Austrian State Archive, and the Library of the Technical Museum in Vienna are gratefully acknowledged. However, the mistakes, misprints, ill-founded rationalisations and groundless speculations are All My Own Work™.