Back in 1836, an Austrian tax officer called Laurenz Koschier submitted proposals for the introduction of stamps. But the Empire was not ready for such an innovation. Despite its size, the Hapsburg Empire was still extraordinarily backward. Many rural workers were serfs, the Emperor and his ministers ruled by decrees, news was censored and Latin was still used for official purposes.
All this changed from 1848 – Europe’s year of revolutions. By 1849, most had been suppressed but in Austria, the process of reform and modernisation had begun, spurred on by the accession of a new, 18-year-old emperor: Franz Joseph 1.
At its height, the Empire covered 269,800 square miles and included Germans, Czechs, Poles, Romanians, Hungarians, Italians, Ukrainians, Serbs and Croats, Slovaks and Slovenes among its peoples.
Its effective administration required a fully functional postal service. In Austria, this was handled by private concessions until 1722, when Emperor Charles VI made it a state monopoly. Mail was routed via Vienna, where the Emperor’s censors could keep an eye on who was saying what.
In 1849, the Post Office was reformed, with a simplified rate structure and adhesive stamps. And as with other European Countries, a postal official was sent abroad to see how it was done, In Austria’s case, a Dr Herz visited Bavaria, Belgium and Great Britain and Austria went ahead with letterpress printing (typography) as in Bavaria.
The first set of five stamps had a simple design
