Pictorial Austria stamps continued to appear during 1947 and 1948. These included a wide range of events, from honoring famous people, promoting national events, to raising money for reconstruction projects. It would take a few more years for Austria to emerge as the prosperous nation that we know today, but they were working very hard on that goal throughout the end of the 1940's and into the early 1950's.
The two 18 G. denomination Austria stamps shown above (Mi. #802, #A802, Sc. #489-90) were issued on February 10, 1947 and on June 14, 1947 to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Death of Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872), the famous Austrian dramatic writer and poet.
There are two distinctly different types of this commemorative stamp.
Type I, in February 1947, was engraved. Type II, in June 1947, was photogravure. They are both shown in the images above.
There were also two different printings of the photogravure stamp. The earlier printings are printed in lilac brown, the outer frames are indistinct, and the lettering has very poor contour. The later printings are in violet brown, the outer frames are even, and the lettering shows very good contour. The later photogravure printing is shown above.
The printing of commemorative stamps by the photogravure process was obviously not very successful, and luckily for stamp collectors, Austria continued to print almost all of their future commemorative and special event stamps by the line engraved process.
The eight surtaxed pictorial Austria stamps shown above (Mi. #803-10, Sc. #B199-06) were issued on March 23, 1947 to publicize the Vienna International Sample Fair.
Their designs are as follows:
The ten surtaxed pictorial Austria stamps shown above (Mi. #812-21, Sc. #B208-17) were issued on June 1, 1947 to publicize the Greater Austria Art Exhibition.
Their designs are as follows:
The six surtaxed pictorial Austria stamps shown above (Mi. #819-34, Sc. #B218-23) were issued on August 30, 1947 to honor Prisoners of War.
Their designs are as follows:
The 20 G. denomination stamp shown above, at the left (Mi. #855, Sc. #516), was issued on January 26, 1948 to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Death of Karl M. Ziehrer.
The 40 G. denomination stamp shown above, at center (Mi. #856, Sc. #517), was issued on September 6, 1948 to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Death of Adalbert Stifter.
The 60 G. denomination stamp shown above, at the right (Mi. #857, Sc. #519), was issued on January 26, 1948 to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Death of Friedrich Amerling.
The ten surtaxed pictorial Austria stamps shown above (Mi. #858-67, Sc. #B225-34) were issued on February 18, 1948 to benefit post-war Reconstruction Efforts.
Their designs are as follows:
The ten surtaxed pictorial Austria stamps shown above (Mi. #868-77, Sc. #B235-44) were issued on May 14, 1948 to benefit Anti-Tuberculosis Work.
Their designs feature Austrian flowers, as follows:
The seven surtaxed pictorial Austria stamps shown above (Mi. #878-84, Sc. #B245-51) were issued on June 15, 1948 to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Künstlerhaus, the home of the Austrian Artists Association.
Their designs are as follows:
The eight surtaxed pictorial Austria stamps shown above (Mi. #885-92, Sc. #B252-59) were issued on August 6, 1948 to raise money for the Reconstruction of Salzburg Cathedral.
Their designs are as follows:
The following links feature category-focused affiliated seller listings on various eBay sites worldwide. They may enable visitors to shop
for and to buy specific items for the
particular collecting subject they've just read about.
The
affiliated eBay seller auction lots provided by eBay,
Inc. are not the responsibility of the management of this
website. On high priced material, make sure the lots you are buying are properly authenticated.
Remember
that the lots on European eBay sites are priced in EUROS. Shipping
charges may be more, and the lots may take longer to arrive. Also, make
sure the foreign seller ships to your country, before bidding on or
buying his lot.
Return to Austria Stamps - Second Republic
from Commemorative Stamps of 1947-1948
The 12 G. denomination commemorative stamp shown above (Mi. #801, Sc. #491) was issued on March 31, 1947 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Franz Schubert (1797-1828).
During his short, 31 year, lifetime, this World-renowned Austrian composer created over 600 musical works, and today, he is ranked as one of the greatest composers of the Classical Era.
The 60 G. + 20 G. denomination stamp shown above (Mi. #811, Sc. #B207) was issued on June 29, 1947 to publicize the Austria Prize Horse Race in Vienna.
The stamp was printed on pink tinted paper and the design features a jockey on a race horse.
The 40 G. commemorative stamp shown above (Mi. #495, Sc. #837) was issued on November 5, 1947 to commemorative the 100th Anniversary of the Telegraph in Austria.
The design features a Morse Code apparatus and a globe, symbols of global telegraphic communications.
The 1 S. + 50 G. denomination stamp shown above (Mi. #854, Sc. #B224) was issued on January 16, 1948 to publicize the 1948 World Olympic Games in London.
The simple but majestic design features the Olympic Flame and the Olympic Emblem.
The surtax was used to pay part of the expenses for Austria's 1948 Olympic team.
The 1 S. denomination commemorative stamp shown above (Mi. #927, Sc. #557) was issued on November 12, 1948 to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the First Republic of Austria.
The design features the portrait of Karl Renner.
The 60 G. denomination commemorative stamp shown above (Mi. #928, Sc. #558) was issued on December 18, 1948 to commemorate the 130th Anniversary of the Christmas Song, "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" -- "Silent Night, Holy Night", one of the World's most popular Christmas seasonal songs.
The design features portraits of Josef Mohr (1792-1848), the writer of the song, and Franz Gruber (1787-1863), the composer of the song.