Buildings and architecture

Austria’s treasures

This special block of stamps in the well-known graphic style introduces the design on the dispenser stamps into the special stamps programme for the first time.

The self-adhesive dispenser stamps are an attractive alternative to a franking label. Items handed over at the counter for posting are franked using this label in the style of a stamp. Because they are so attractive, subscriptions for dispenser stamps have become very popular, and issuing this block of stamps is thus also justified by the attractive nature of the designs. The block shows four castle designs which were issued as dispenser stamps a while ago.

Moosham Castle in Salzburg’s Lungau region had a turbulent history until it was acquired by Count Johann Nepomuk Wilczek in 1886, who then restored it and decorated it with valuable works of art. It is still owned by his family today. Burg Rappottenstein in the Waldviertel region was built in the 12^th century by Rapoto von Kuenring and is one of the best-preserved fortresses in Austria. One of the oldest castles in Carinthia and the symbol for the Möll Valley is Falkenstein Castle near Obervellach. It acquired its current appearance in 1905, and was restored in the same style following a fire in 1969. Kufstein Fortress in Tyrol was first mentioned in a document in 1205. Following some unsettled centuries during which ownership switched back and forth between Bavaria and Tyrol, the castle has belonged to the town of Kufstein since 1924.