FDC from Austria／FDC de l'Autriche

Orient Express／Orient-Express

This stamp block is a philatelic Premiere, but is he the first joint issue of Austria and Romania. The chosen theme is "Orient Express", those legendary train connection, therefore, which once linked the two countries in a very luxurious manner. This attractive block in the background motif shows a map on which the relevant route is listed by the Paris Ostbahnhof, the Ferris Wheel and the famous Mosque Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, furthermore, the word "Orient Express" and the impressive track plate. The two brand images themselves each show historic locomotives of the Orient Express and the two drive-through cities of Salzburg and the former royal summer residence in Sinaia, Romania.
The story: In the period until the Second World War, the Orient Express was a luxury train of the "Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, of Paris and Constantinople (now Istanbul) combined. Man wrote the 5th June 1883, when he for the first time from the station Paris East in the East drove - a feudal hotel train the first class lounge, sleeping and dining cars. In the early years the journey ended in the Romanian city of Giurgiu, travelers to Constantinople had to cross the Danube by ferry, then travel with a normal train to Varna and then take from the ship. It was not until 1888, the Orient Express runs continuously over Budapest, Belgrade and Sofia to Constantinople. The travel time on the 3186 km long route was almost 70 hours, there were local dishes and various folk performances to entertain the well-heeled passengers. Known of the Orient-Express was not only by its luxury and the audience of European high-finance and nobility, but also through some spectacular incident. Sun in 1891 brought a Greek robbers the train derailed west of Constantinople, kidnapped four men and left them free only after a substantial ransom had been paid. A few years later, an envoy of the French government, was murdered in his compartment, and even 1950, the railway at that time was long a normal D-train, a U.S. military attaché of the Eastern bloc agents was attacked and robbed.
After a checkered history in recent decades wrong end only a small remnant of the legendary service between Strasbourg - Vienna in December 2009, however, this route has been canceled, which meant the end for the Orient Express. Several novels and famous movie was certainly not insignificant in this train to glory. On behalf of many others here are Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" and the James Bond film "From Russia with Love" is mentioned.

FDC from Belarus／FDC du Bélarus

Flora-Endangered plants of Belarus／
Flore-Usines mises en danger de la Bélarus



On June 8, 2009 the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus will issue 2 stamps depicting flowers “Scorzonera” and “Snowdrop anemone” from the series “Flora. Endangered plants of Belarus”.

Note: This FDC send to Taiwan via Austria, and Austrian Post has a yellow "R" tag affixed .

FDC from Austria／FDC de L'Autriche；FDC from Germany／FDC de l'Allemagne

20th anniversary of the opening of the border between Hungary and Austria／
Le 20ème anniversaire de l'ouverture de la frontière entre la Hongrie et l'Autriche／
20 Jahre Grenzöffnung Ungarn-Österreich／
A magyar-osztrák határnyitás 20. évfordulója




The present joint issue, “20th anniversary of the opening of the border between Hungary and Austria”, is the commemoration by the post offices of Hungary (Magyar Posta), Germany and Austria of one of the most important political events of recent history. The fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 after decades of separation led to permanent changes in and for Europe, not only from a political point of view but also in terms of the economy and society.

By opening its borders to the west precisely 20 years ago, Hungary made a major contribution to a new and united Europe. This historic revolution was the result of months of a process of change in which the previous political system of the East, characterised by rigid Soviet communism, was broken up. The region around Vienna, as so often in history, played a major role as the gate to a new Europe.

After the Hungarian border troops had begun as early as April 1989 to demolish the Iron Curtain at four points, initially as a trial and under strict secrecy, events followed thick and fast throughout Europe. On 27 June, near Sopron, a highly symbolic moment occurred when the foreign ministers of Hungary and Austria, Gyula Horn and Alois Mock, jointly cut through the barbed wire. In view of the whole world, the Iron Curtain fell, and the end of a divided Europe came one historic step closer.

There is no doubt that the “Pan European picnic” (an intercultural dialogue forum) had a huge inner-political influence on the Németh government in Budapest. Initially hesitating to open the border entirely to the citizens of East Germany, a few days later it nevertheless resolved to do so, and at a meeting between the Hungarian Prime Minister and the German chancellor Helmut Kohl on August 25, 1989, it was agreed that Hungary neither could nor would hold back the refugees from East Germany any longer. (One day before, the Hungarian government had approved the exit to West Germany of more than 100 GDR citizens who had taken refuge in the West German embassy in Budapest.) On September 10, 1989, Foreign Minister Gyula Horn finally announced that the border would be opened at midnight. East German tourists were thus free to leave for Germany via Austria. “This removed the first brick in the Berlin Wall,” is how Helmut Kohl later described the importance of the opening of the Hungarian border.

A few weeks later, President Mátyas Szürös proclaimed the new democratic Republic of Hungary. The Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989.

Die Briefmarke erscheint als motivgleiche Gemeinschaftsausgabe mit Ungarn und Österreich und erinnert an die Öffnung der ungarisch-österreichischen Grenze, die ein entscheidender Impuls für die revolutionären Vorgänge im Herbst 1989 war. Angefangen hatte es 1989 pragmatisch: Da den Ungarn die Renovierung des Signalzauns zu Österreich zu teuer war, begannen sie am 2. Mai 1989 mit dessen Abbau. In einem symbolischen Akt zerschnitten der ungarische Außenminister Gyula Horn und sein österreichischer Amtskollege Alois Mock am 27. Juni 1989 ein Stück Stacheldraht in der Nähe der Grenzstadt Sopron. Nun hofften viele DDR-Bürger, die in Ungarn Urlaub machten, in den Westen flüchten zu können. Die DDR aber bestand gegenüber Ungarn auf Regelungen, die die Ausreise untersagten und die Auslieferung von Flüchtlingen verlangten. Das diplomatische Problem zwischen der DDR, Ungarn und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland entwickelte sich bald zur Flüchtlingskrise, in der hunderte Menschen die grüne Grenze nach Österreich überquerten. Am 11. September 1989 öffnete Ungarn dann die Grenze zu Österreich. Die Flüchtlingskrise wurde für die DDR im Oktober zur Systemkrise. Am 3. November 1989 schließlich gestattete die DDR ihren Bürgern die direkte Ausreise aus der CSSR in die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Sechs Tage später fiel die Mauer...

1989. május 2-án megkezdődött a magyar-osztrák határon lévő, az illegális határátlépések megakadályozására épített műszaki zár lebontása. Augusztus 19-én több ezren vettek részt Sopron térségében, a határ közelében rendezett páneurópai pikniken, ahol a határok nélküli Európa megteremtését sürgették. A magyar kormány 1989. szeptember 10-i bejelentését követően, 1989. szeptember 11-től a Magyarországon tartózkodó és hazatérni nem kívánó keletnémet állampolgárok kiutazhattak olyan más országokba, amelyek hajlandóak számukra a be- vagy átutazást engedélyezni.
A határnyitásként ismert, történelemformáló esemény 20. évfordulóján Magyarország, Ausztria és Németország közös bélyeget bocsát forgalomba. A kibocsátás érdekessége, hogy a bélyeg mindhárom országban Benedek Imre, magyar bélyegtervező grafikusművész tervei alapján valósult meg. A kék színű háttérben a bélyegek főmotívuma az eseményre utaló jubileumi szám, amelynek grafikai képét – a sorsfordító határnyitásra utaló konkrét üzenettel kiegészítve – a tervezőművész a három ország nemzeti zászlóinak színeiből komponálta.
Az alkalmi boríték grafikáján térképrészlet és a három ország nemzeti zászlói láthatók, az alkalmi bélyegző a határátkelést idéző stilizált rajz. A három ország bélyegének együttes bemutatása céljával reprezentatív kivitelezésű emléklap is készült, melyen alkalmi bélyegzéssel szerepelnek az újdonságok. Az emléklap előlapját – az alkalmi boríték grafikájához illeszkedve – térképrészlet és zászlók díszítik.

FDC from Austria／FDC de L'Autriche

PRESERVE THE POLAR REGIONS AND THE GLACIERS／
PRÉSERVEZ LES RÉGIONS POLAIRES ET LES GLACIERS


"The new commemorative raises one of the most serious problems of our age, the preservation of the glaciers and Polar regions. Alongside the vital efforts aimed at saving the rain forests from further logging activities, the research of the glaciologists is no doubt one of the most important in the global race against time to secure the ecologically balanced survival of our planet."-Post.at