Austria

The name Ostarrîchi (Austria) has been in use since 996 when it was a margravate of the Duchy of Bavaria and from 1156 an independent duchy (later archduchy) of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (Heiliges Römisches Reich 962–1806). Austria was dominated by the House of Habsburg and House of Habsburg-Lorraine (Haus Österreich) from 1273 to 1918. In 1808, when Emperor Francis II of Austria dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, Austria became the Austrian Empire, and was also part of the German Confederation until the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. In 1867, Austria formed a dual monarchy with Hungary: the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918). When this empire collapsed after the end of World War I in 1918, Austria was reduced to the main, mostly German-speaking areas of the empire (its current frontiers), and adopted the name The Republic of German-Austria. However the union and name were forbidden by the Allies at the Treaty of Versailles. This led to the creation of the First Austrian Republic (1918-1933).

Following the First Republic, Austrofascism tried to keep Austria independent from the German Reich. Engelbert Dollfuss accepted that most Austrians were German and Austrian, but wanted Austria to remain independent from Germany. In 1938, Austrian-born Adolf Hitler annexed Austria to the German Reich with the Anschluss, which was supported by a large majority of the Austrian people. After the Second World War Austria again became an independent republic as the Second Republic in 1955 and joined the European Union in 1995.

During the Briefmarken-Messe in Essen in May 2017 I left stamped envelopes at almost every foreign postal administration hoping they would send them back when they arrived home. The stamp was issued on 8 February 2017 commemorates Margherita Spiluttini, a photographer specializing in architecture. In 2015 she donated her archive with 120.000 negatives and slides to the Architekturzentrum Wien. The stamp was postmarked with the datestamp of Bergheim bei Salzburg, a town just north of Salzburg. Why the cover ended up there, I really don’t know.

This and other stamps can be found on the website of Post AG, the Austrian Post: onlineshop.post.at.

Date sent: 11 May 2017

Date postmark: 22 May 2017

Date received: 24 May 2017

Number of days: 13

Envelope in collection: 109