Day of the Stamp by Austria Post

The traditional “Day of the Stamp” commemorative, with a surcharge of EUR 1.30 to support organised philately in Austria, is to be launched at the largest federation exhibition of the year, ÖVEBRIA, where it will be presented to the interested public. The stamp shows in the foreground a modern Austrian Railways Railjet train and the coat of arms of Gmunden, while in the background can be seen the charming town of Gmunden, the venue for ÖVEBRIA 2010, together with the romantic Lake Castle at Ort.

The traditional “Day of the Stamp” commemorative, with a surcharge of EUR 1.30 to support organised philately in Austria, is to be launched at the largest federation exhibition of the year, ÖVEBRIA, where it will be presented to the interested public. The stamp shows in the foreground a modern Austrian Railways Railjet train and the coat of arms of Gmunden, while in the background can be seen the charming town of Gmunden, the venue for ÖVEBRIA 2010, together with the romantic Lake Castle at Ort, Lake Traunsee and the magnificent mountain landscape that forms the setting for this delightful spot within the Salzkammergut.

Talking of Gmunden: This town with its population of 13,000 is located on the north shore of Lake Traunsee at an altitude of 425 m above sea level. The first settlement of what is today the town dates back to the 5th century. We do not know when Gmunden changed from being a fortified market to a town, but it is known that the site was heavily fortified in the Middle Ages. It was not until around 1300 that Gmunden acquired its own church, but there was already a regional court (now a district court) in 1217. Today this small town is a charming summer holiday resort, with tourism still a major source of income. The tableware produced under the name Gmundner Keramik also enjoys a reputation extending far beyond the borders of Austria as being “charming and typically Austrian”. The most important sights in the town are the Land Castle and the above-mentioned Lake Castle at Ort, dating from the 10th century and hence one of the oldest buildings in the Salzkammergut.
The Railjet shown on the stamp, in contrast, is a high-speed intercity push-pull train operated by ÖBB-Personenverkehr AG and in commercial service since the start of the 2008/2009 timetable. It was first presented to the public on 15 September 2008. It is interesting that the Austrian Railways, unlike other railway systems, have chosen to use locomotive-hauled trains for high-speed operations instead of electrical multiple units. Like the former German “Metropolitan Express Train”, the Railjet trains are made up of individual coaches with airtight between-coach interconnections, but with normal screw couplings at the outer ends of the set of coaches

Release Date: 2010|08|27
Number of Copies: 440.004
Printing Style: Offset
Design: Hannes Margreiter
Printed by: Österreichische Staatsdruckerei