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Commemorative stamp, Frankenburg Dice Game
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This year marks the 400th anniversary of the Frankenburg Dice Game, a dramatic event that took place in May 1625 during the Thirty Years’ War in the town of Frankenburg in Upper Austria.
At the time, the largely Protestant population of Frankenburg am Hausruck protested against the appointment of a Catholic priest. Bavarian governor Adam Count of Herberstorff promised clemency to the armed rebels if they laid down their weapons. However, instead of releasing them, he forced the 36 leaders to cast dice for their lives: those who lost were executed by hanging, while the winners were spared. This brutal episode became known as the Bloody Tribunal of Haushamerfeld. The name “Dice Game” (Würfelspiel) was coined much later. The incident sparked the Upper Austrian Peasants’ Revolt of 1625/26, during which local rebels rose up against Bavarian occupation and the Counter-Reformation. Ultimately, the uprising was suppressed. The stamp design features a school wall painting depicting the Frankenburg Dice Game, created around 1935 by Austrian artist Franz Jung-Ilsenheim.
In 1925, a memorial was erected at the site of the massacre. For the past 100 years, the Frankenburg Dice Game has been reenacted as Austria’s largest historical play. Every two years in summer, over 500 amateur actors bring the story back to life on an open-air stage. The elaborate performance is based on a play by Karl Itzinger, later adapted by Franz and Michael Neudorfer.
When? 15 May 2025, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., presentation at 11:00 a.m.
Where? Cultural Centre, Kellerweg 4, 4873 Frankenburg a. H. Group picture: Picture of presentation: © Marktgemeinde Frankenburg Group picture, left to right: Erwin Hofbauer (President, BSV Zwispallen), Michael Neudorfer (Director, Frankenburg Dice Game), Herbert Robisch (Deputy President, VÖPh), Patricia Liebermann, (Head of Philately at Austrian Post) Martina Prinz (Head of Philately POS at Austrian Post), Christoph Buchinger (Catholic priest of Frankenburg), Norbert Weber (Mayor of Frankenburg), Michael Altmann (Mayor of Redleiten), Hannelore Reiner (senior official of the Protestant Church)
