Day of issue of the commemorative stamps and 2023 loyalty bonus stamp Amaryllis – Pericularium – endangered insects “Beetle – Carabus nodulosus”, Cars "AUSTRO TATRA 57A" and Native Birds “Corn bunting”
Austro Tatra 57A
Mobility made in Austria
For our "Cars" series, we are pleased to present the Austro Tatra 57A from the 1930s, a successful car of Austrian manufacture.
The Nesselsdorf Wagon-Building Company in Moravia, then still part of the Habsburg Monarchy, had been successfully producing automobiles and trucks since 1898. After the end of World War I, the company merged with a competitor in Prague to form Ringhoffer-Tatra AG; the vehicles bore the Tatra name. In Austria, now a foreign state, there was initially only one workshop, but later cars were also assembled here. In July 1936, Austro Tatra was established as a new company, separated from the Czech parent company, and the production of Austro Tatras took place entirely in Vienna-Simmering. After World War II, the Vienna plant, renamed Ringhoffer GmbH in 1963, produced spare parts and bodies and traded in cars until it finally closed in 1980.
Corn bunting
Endangered songbird
The corn bunting, Austria's Bird of the Year 2024, is the first theme of the new series "Native birds," in which Austrian Post, in collaboration with BirdLife Austria, presents endangered birds.
The corn bunting, threatened with extinction, is the largest, but due to its inconspicuous plumage, also the most unassuming native bunting. It requires open cultural landscapes with flower-rich fallows, small woods, and individual bushes for hiding, as well as solitary taller trees as song perches. These habitat requirements make the corn bunting a highly endangered species, as suitable habitats like fallow and ruderal areas become increasingly rare due to the intensification of agricultural use.
Beetle – Carabus nodulosus
Water-loving beetle
The second stamp of the series "Pericularium – endangered insects," launched last year, features the black pit beetle in a drawing by Alexandra Kontriner.
The artist drew 29 insects in 2018/19 as part of the series "Pericularium," created in collaboration with the Natural Science Collections of the Tyrolean Regional Museums, which are considered extinct or critically endangered in Austria – including the black pit beetle (Carabus nodulosus). It grows up to 33 millimeters, with its wing covers and thorax shield marked by irregular deep pits that give it its name. Very moist areas in deciduous and wet forests, bogs, spring swamps, and swampy forest stream banks are its habitat; it needs dead wood for protection and hibernation. To hunt underwater for snails, small crustaceans, and insects, it stores air under its wing covers. There are significant native populations of the beetle in Carinthia, among others.
2023 loyalty bonus stamp – Amaryllis
A blooming token of appreciation
Every year, Austrian Post thanks its subscribers with a beautiful flower stamp for their loyalty. This year, the motif features an Amaryllis.
Amaryllis is the common name used for several species in the Amaryllidaceae family. The actual genus Amaryllis, with the belladonna lily as its typical species, is native to South Africa, while the plants commonly sold under the name Amaryllis during the pre-Christmas season here are mostly hybrids of the genus Hippeastrum, which originates from South America. However, both belong to the same botanical family and look very similar. Unlike the pink-flowering belladonna lily – also known as true Amaryllis – the Hippeastrum has a hollow stem and typically flowers at Christmas time, in various shades of pink, white, and red, or even multicoloured. Both the true Amaryllis and the Hippeastrum contain the alkaloid lycorine, especially in the bulb, which is highly toxic and can even lead to death.
What?
Day of issue of commemorative stamps and presentation
When?
2 March 2024, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Where?
Stadtwerke-Hartberg-Halle, Wiesengasse 43, 8230 Hartberg
Pictures: © Österreichische Post AG
Group picture, left to right:
Lukas Schnitzer (deputy mayor), Martina Prinz (Head of Philately POS, Austrian Post), Helmut Kogler (President, Federation of Austrian Philately Associations), Lisa Filzi (stamp designer), Bernhard Schwarz (President, ABSV Hartberg), Brigitte Heiden (stamp designer), Marcus Martschitsch (mayor),
