Philately: What's New

Christmas – house in a wintry landscape

A wintry idyll

A picturesque depiction of a snow-covered cabin in a wintry landscape adorns this nostalgic Christmas stamp.

A simple but spacious wooden house stands alone in a wood. It is surrounded by a fenced, snow-covered garden, bushes and trees, and in front of the house there is a little pond. Everything is blanketed in a thick layer of snow, the tree branches bending under the weight, while snow and icicles hang down from the roof. The shutters are open, and a cosy light is shining through the windows on the ground floor. A woman and a young girl are leaving the house, perhaps heading off to church. Behind the house, the sky is tinged with orange and pink; it must be either early in the morning or already evening. Postcards with designs like this were commonly sent as Christmas cards in around 1900. They depict an idyllic, comfortable home and create a festive and peaceful atmosphere.

Still today, many people send Christmas postcards to those they are not able to see in person over the Christmas period. Nostalgic themes such as this kind of wintry landscape are very popular, because they remind us of days gone by, when Advent and Christmas were not yet associated with hustle and bustle, time-consuming preparations and expensive presents but rather with joy, peace and contemplation. This stamp, too, spreads a sense of peace and nostalgia, making any Christmas post, be it a postcard or a letter, still more festive.

Graphic design: Lisa Filzi
Value: 1.25 euros
Pre-issue day: 06.11.2026
First day of issue: 13.11.2026
First day: 1060 Vienna
Stamp size: 42.00 x 34.26 mm
Perforation measurement: 13¼ x 13½
Printing: Cartor Security Printers
Printing technique: Offset printing
Quantity: 750,000 stamps on sheets of 50
Order no: 226480

Christmas – nutcracker

A snappy chap

Nutcrackers are not just useful for cracking open nuts; they are also a traditional Christmas decoration.

During Advent a lot of nuts get cracked, since in order to bake many typical Christmas biscuits such as Vanillekipferl or Nussecken you need ground or chopped nuts. To get into your nuts, you can simply use a hammer, or other tools such as pliers or a vice work too. However, a more original tool is a nutcracker figure of the kind that you find in large numbers and various designs at Christmas markets. They are often only put out as decoration, or tiny versions are used as tree ornaments.

These wooden figures became popular in the 19th century. E. T. A Hoffmann wrote the Christmas fairy tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, which was then adapted by Alexandre Dumas in 1845. It is the story on which the famous “Nutcracker” ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was based. The Ore Mountains in Germany are a centre for toy-making, and still today the traditional wooden nutcracker figures are produced here, given their typical form by the artisan Friedrich Wilhelm Füchtner from Seiffen in around 1870. They generally take the shape of typical figures such as soldiers, policemen or – like on the stamp – a king, cracking the nuts in their large mouths when a lever on their back is pressed. Nutcrackers are thought to protect your home and symbolise luck and prosperity – perhaps that is why they are so popular as Christmas gifts or why they are so often displayed in homes.

Graphic design: Kirsten Lubach
Value: 1.25 euros
Pre-issue day: 06.11.2026
First day of issue: 13.11.2026
First day: 1060 Vienna
Stamp size: 32.00 x 39.00 mm
Perforation measurement: 13 x 13¼
Printing: Cartor Security Printers
Printing technique: Offset printing
Quantity: 400,000 stamps on rolls of 50
Order no RM50: 126711
Order no RM5: 126715

80 years of the Federation of Austrian Industries

A partner of industry

For 80 years now the Federation of Austrian Industries has been the interface between Austrian industrial companies and politics here in Austria.

Nowadays Austria is a modern industrial nation. The history of the interests of Austrian industry being represented stretches back over many decades. In 1862 the first supraregional lobby group, the “Industrialists Association”, was formed. The “Central Association of Austrian Industrialists” brought together multiple smaller organisations, while in 1897 the “Federation of Austrian Industrialists” was founded as an association for individual companies. In 1911 all three associations established their headquarters in the Haus der Industrie on Schwarzenbergplatz, built by the architect Karl König. When the monarchy fell, they merged to form one industrial association, which was dissolved during the Anschluss with the German Reich in 1938. Finally, on 18th November 1946, the “Federation of Austrian Industrialists” was founded, changing its name to the “Federation of Austrian Industries” in 1996.

The organisation, now know by the shortened form “Industry Association” or “IV” for “Industriellenvereinigung”, is an association that currently has more than 5,000 members, comprising a nationwide organisation, nine provincial groups and an office in Brussels. As a voluntary and independent lobby group not affiliated to any political party, the IV represents the interests of its members from industry and from the field of industry-related services throughout the entire value-creation chain and strives to strengthen Austria as an industrial location.

Graphic design: Anita Kern
Value: 3.10 euros
Pre-issue day: 06.11.2026
First day of issue: 06.11.2026
First day: 1030 Vienna
Stamp size: 40.00 x 32.50 mm
Perforation measurement: 13½ x 13½
Printing: Joh. Enschedé Stamps B.V.
Printing technique: Offset printing
Quantity: 160,000 stamps on sheets of 50
Order no: 226450

Christmas – Michael Powolny, ceramic crib, 1920 – Klosterneuburg Abbey

Fired art

An unusual ceramic artefact is the colourful Christmas crib made by the sculptor and ceramic designer Michael Powolny.

Michael Powolny was born in Judenburg, Styria, in 1871. He undertook an apprenticeship as a potter and attended the Technical College for the Clay Industry in Znojmo and the Art and Crafts School in Vienna, now the University of Applied Arts. In 1906 he and Bernhard Löffler founded the “Wiener Keramik” company, whose products were soon being sold by the Wiener Werkstätte. From 1909 on, Powolny taught at the Art and Crafts School. He is considered one of the most important ceramics artists of the Viennese Jugendstil movement and is best known for his putto figures. His later works are classified as art deco. However, ceramics was not the only field that Powolny worked in, also working with other materials; as well as working for the Wiener Werkstätte, he also worked for the Augarten porcelain factory and for Lobmeyr glasswares. Michael Powolny passed away in Vienna in 1954.

He created this large Christmas crib scene in 1920 as a commission for Klosterneuburg Abbey. It comprises multiple parts and can therefore simply be assembled and dismantled as needed. The glaze was applied to the raw modelled clay and only subsequently fired. It has a slightly transparent effect. A particularly striking aspect is the depiction of Mary with short hair, no veil and without her classic blue clothing, as well as her central position right in the middle of the crib. The inscription “Et verbum caro factum est” is taken from the gospel according to St. John and means “And the Word became flesh”.

Graphic design: Kirsten Lubach
Value: 1.00 euros
Pre-issue day: 06.11.2026
First day of issue: 27.11.2026
First day: 3400 Klosterneuburg
Stamp size: 40.00 x 33.00 mm
Perforation measurement: 13 x 13¼
Printing: Cartor Security Printers
Printing technique: Offset printing
Quantity: 940,000 stamps on sheets of 50
Order no: 226490
Order number maximum card: 492602

Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas!

A Christmas tree as a highly unusual philatelic work: a global first, for the first time ever traditional embroidery is embellished with a gold foil laminate.

Along with the crib, for most people a decorated Christmas tree is at the heart of their Christmas Eve celebrations. Now you can also add an original touch to your Christmas post and make it festive with an embroidered stamp in the shape of a Christmas tree.

Following on from the first embroidered stamp, the edelweiss in 2005, and other issues such as the embroidered dirndl in 2016 or last year’s dove of peace, now we are issuing an embroidered Christmas tree. The stamp was designed and produced by the embroidery company from Lustenau in Vorarlberg Hämmerle & Vogel, which is known for its innovative textile solutions. For this, the shape of the tree was embroidered by high-precision embroidery machines onto a thin stabiliser using fir-green thread, and this was then thermally fixed at a high temperature. The design also includes the perforations typical of a stamp, the name of the issuing country and the denomination also being embroidered onto it. The special gold shimmery effect is provided by the gold foil laminate that was then applied, binding exclusively with the upper layer of thread. Finally, the water-soluble stabiliser was washed out. The stamp impresses with its exciting combination of traditional delicate embroidery and the elegant gold foil laminate that gives it a particularly festive appearance. Using the loop at the top, you can also hang it as a decoration on an actual Christmas tree.

Graphic design: Hämmerle & Vogel GmbH & Co KG
Value: 4.65 euros
Pre-issue day: 05.11.2026
First day of issue: 05.11.2026
First day: 6850 Dornbirn
Stamp size: 43.00 x 50.00 mm
Printing: Hämmerle & Vogel GmbH & Co KG
Printing technique: Guipure lace embroidery + gold foil lamination
Quantity: 100,000 sheet at 1 unit each 
Order no: 226440

Christmas – the gnomes

Small but impressive!

Three cute little gnomes with long beards decorate this colourful Christmas stamp as they wish you a “Merry Christmas”.

Gnomes have their origins in Scandinavian folklore, where they are considered tiny, friendly familiar spirits who secretly help people with their work. If discovered, however, they will never return. Gnomes are also mentioned in some of Grimms’ fairy tales and in the Icelandic “Edda” saga.

Various Christmas customs have grown up out of these stories, in which the focus is on the gnomes’ willingness to help. A popular one is the tradition of “Wichteln” that is practised in school classes or friendship groups – the equivalent of our “Secret Santa”: each participant buys a Christmas present for another member of the group chosen by drawing names out of a hat. A very modern custom is inviting a Christmas gnome into your home by attaching a drawing of or a home-made gnome door to a wall. In this way, children are able to enter the magical world of the gnomes, making them tiny furniture or leaving cookies in front of the door for them. In return they receive little presents from the gnomes or are given simple tasks to do. These are communicated via letters – after all, you cannot see a gnome. It helps children to learn to consider other people’s needs, because if the gnome is not well cared for, it will play a few tricks. In any case, in addition to a Christmas tree, a present and a lantern, the three gnomes with the colourful pointed hats on the stamp are sure to bring plenty of Christmas spirit!

Graphic design: Lisa Filzi
Value: 1.00 euros
Pre-issue day: 06.11.2026
First day of issue: 27.11.2026
First day: 3400 Klosterneuburg
Stamp size: 39.00 x 32.00 mm
Perforation measurement: 13¼ x 13
Printing: Cartor Security Printers
Printing technique: Offset printing
Quantity: 750,000 stamps on rolls of 50 
Order no RM50: 126721
Order no RM5: 126725