Image: VOLKER WEIHBOLD
Around 35,000 Austrians – postal subscribers or registered in clubs – collect stamps in their free time. There was a particularly great outcry among the country’s philatelists when Post AG increased postage on September 1, 2023 and announced that postage stamps would only be used for eco-letters. However, the priority variant, which is delivered the next day, has no longer been franked since then.
“The labels are ugly and unnecessary,” emphasizes Helmut Kogler, who heads the Association of Austrian Philatelic Associations (VÖPh), in an interview with OÖN. With regard to the artistic design of the stamps in recent years, the top representative of 173 Austrian associations – 31 of them in Upper Austria – also notes that “there is always criticism because tastes are different.”
“New products miss the market”
The decline in stamps and their design are also causing dissatisfaction among Upper Austrian stamp collectors. “The Post’s innovations are bypassing the market and the interests of collectors,” says Paul Stöger, chairman of the Linz Philatelic Society. Christian Simmer, chairman of BSV Weltpost Linz, reports that signature campaigns were initiated at collection days, among other things. Canceling the postal subscription was also considered. “At around 100 euros for an annual subscription, thousands of cancellations add up a bit,” says Simmer.
The Austrian Post is aware of the criticism, as press spokesman Markus Leitgeb confirmed to the OÖNachrichten. “We are in close contact with this very passionate group,” says Leitgeb, adding: “There will probably be a special solution from April.” This is the result of ongoing discussions. “The issue is now off the table. Everything can be franked again,” says Christian Simmer, chairman of BSV Weltpost Linz, with satisfaction.
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Source: Nachrichten
