World of Stamps: Four Princes: A Century of Liechtenstein Stamps (Part 2) By Geir Sør-Reime In 1940, a set of six stamps com- memorating the birth centenary of Prince John II was issued. It showed portraits of the Prince from different periods of his life, and a commemora- tive plaque set up in his memory. 1940 birth centenary of In 1941, stamps Prince John II (Sc.163) were issued to promote domestic food produc- 1941 Food Production, 1941, Madonna & 1941, Prince John gathering corn (Sc. 166) Child (Sc. 171) Adam (Sc. 172) tion, and there also was a stamp featuring a Madonna statue and the first four stamps of a series portraying the Princes of Liechtenstein (this series featured Prince John Adam, ruled 1699-1712, Prince Wenzel, 1712-18 and 1748-72, Prince Anton Florian, 1718- 21 and Prince Joseph, 1721-1732). Two 1942-43 series portrayed the remain- ing Princes (John Charles, 1732-48, Francis Joseph I, 1772-81, Alois I, 1781-1805, John I, 1805-36; and the second series: Alois II, 1836-58, John II, 1858-1929, Francis I, 1929-38 and 1942, Prince Francis Francis Joseph II, from 1938). Joseph (Sc. 191( In 1942, the 600th anniversary of the division of the territory between the Counts of Montfort- Werdenberg and of Sargans was commemorated with a Issue 25 - January 4, 2013 - StampNewsOnline.net 21 If you enjoy this article, and are not already a subscriber, for $12 a year you can enjoy 60+ pages a month. To subscribe, email [email protected] set of five stamps, and in 1943, the wedding of Prince Francis Joseph II and Countess Gina of Witczek was celebrated with three stamps. In 1943, stamps were also issued for the completion of an irrigation canal, as 1942 commemorating well as two scenic definitives. 600th anniversary of A new scenery creation of Liechten- definitive series ap- stein as a separate entity (Sc.180) p e a r e d in 1944, w h e n t w o 1 9 4 4 , B e n d e r n stamps scene Sc. 199) portray- ing the Princely couple were also issued. 1944, Prince Francis Joseph II and The birth of Crown Prince Princess Gina John Adam (the current Prince) was marked with three 1945 stamps, a stamp featuring the Princely arms and Vaduz Castle was also issued, as well as three semi-post- als for the Red Cross. Left to right: 1945 birth of Prince John Adam (Sc.212); 1945 coat of arms and Vaduz Castle (Sc.217); 1945 “Protect the Child” (Sc. B15) St. Lucius, the patron of Liechtenstein, appeared on the first 1946 stamp. Later that year, a souvenir sheet (page 23) marked the 4th Liechtenstein stamp exhibition and the 1946. St. Lucius, (Sc. 218) Issue 25 - January 4, 2013 - StampNewsOnline.net 22 1946, Post Coach on semi-postal (Sc. B18) 25th anniversary of the postal convention with Switzerland. The first series featuring game ani- mals also was released in 1946. The 1946 Animals, Red second series appeared 1947, and the Deer (Sc. 219) third in 1952. An air mail series portraying aviation pioneers appeared 1948-50, and start- ing in 1949, stamps showing paintings 1948, Icarus Aviation from the Princely col- Pioneer (Sc. C33) lections, the largest 1949 Portrait of private art collection in the world, started Ginevra dei Benci to appear. by Leonardo da The lowest value of this series showed Vinci, previously Da Vinci’s “Ginevra de Benci”, which the in the Princely col- Prince sold to the National Gallery in lections (Sc.227) Washington in 1967. Additional stamps featuring paint- ings from the Princely collections ap- peared 1951, 1952, 1953, and again in 1985. Most of the older paintings of the Princely collections are in fact housed in the Liechtenstein Palace in Vienna, and from 2005 onwards, joint Liech- tenstein-Austria stamps were issued 2010, Ceiling fresco in showing some of the masterpieces of Liechtenstein Palace the collection. in Vienna (Sc. 1487) Issue 25 - January 4, 2013 - StampNewsOnline.net 23 Left, 1949, UPU 75th An- niversary (Sc. 237); right, 5th Philatelic Exhibition souvenir sheet (Sc. 238) The centenary of the Universal Post- al Union was celebrated with a single 1949 stamp, and a souvenir sheet was issued for the 5th Liechtenstein stamp exhibition, containing stamps from the paintings series. 1949 250th anniver- An important 1949 issue was also sary of the Liechten- stein family’s pur- the three stamps commemorating the chase of the Lord- 250th anniversary of the Liechtenstein ship of Schellenberg, family’s acquisition of the Lordship of showing church at Schellenberg. Bendern (Sc.241) I n 1956, two s t a m p s m a r k e d the 150th anniver- sary of the full s o v e r - Left, 1956, 159th Anniversary of independence (Sc. 302); eignty of center, 1987, 275th anniversary of County of Vaduz L i e c h - purchase (Sc. 871); right, 1992, 650th anniversary of tenstein. County of Vaduz (Sc. 990) In 1987, two stamps commemorated the 275th anni- versary of the acquisition of the County of Vaduz by the Liechtenstein family. A 1992 single marked the 650th an- niversary of the County of Vaduz. The 275th anniversary of the elevation of Liechtenstein to a principality again was marked with a 1994 stamp. In 1999, the 300th anniver- sary of the acquisition of Schellenberg, or Unterland (‘lower Issue 25 - January 4, 2013 - StampNewsOnline.net 24 land’) was commemorated with a souvenir sheet of five stamps (Part 1, page 3). Similarly, the 300th anniversary of the acquisition of Vaduz, or Oberland (upper land) was commemorated with a souvenir sheet of three stamps in 2012. The bicentenary of full sovereignty was celebrated 2006 with four stamps (Part 1, p. 3). A 2008 souvenir sheet marked the 400th anniversary of the Princely House of Liechtenstein. Prince Charles I (1569-1627) was depicted on the stamp (Part 1, page 2). A definitive series featuring working people appeared in 1951, and in 1952, a definitive high-value stamp showing Vaduz Castle was issued. In 1953, stamps were issued for the 14th International Scouting Conference and the opening of the National Museum in Vaduz. Stamps fea- turing various sports appeared 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958. Left to right: 1953, Scouting (Sc. 273); 1956, sports (Sc. 297); 1951, tractor with potatos (Sc. 258) The 6th Liechtenstein stamp exhibition in 1956 was commemorated with a single stamp (issued in sheetlets of six) showing a portrait of Crown Prince John Adam. 1956, single 1955 Prince John He and his two brothers from sheetlet of Adam (as crown and sister were also por- six (Sc. 307) prince) (Sc.293) trayed on a series of semi-postals issued 1955 for the Red Cross. The first Liechtenstein Christmas stamps were issued 1957 (see page 26), and from then on, annual Christmas stamps were issued. Issue 25 - January 4, 2013 - StampNewsOnline.net 25 Left to right: 1957 Christmas, Sc. 318; 1960 Europa (Sc.356); 1964 Europa (Sc. 390) Liechtenstein issued its first Europa stamp in 1960, and because of the great interest in Europa stamps and the low printing, this is one of the most difficult Europa stamps ever issued. The 1964 Europa stamp showed a reconstruction model of the Roman castle in Schaan. In 1962, a souve- nir sheet was issued for the 50th anniver- sary of Liechtenstein stamps. It contained three semi-postals portraying the three 1962 50th anniversary of Liechtenstein stamps, stamps featuring portraits of 1963 25th accession an- the three princes reigning during these niversary of Prince Francis 50 years (Sc.369) Joseph II (Sc.375) Princes reigning over Liechtenstein during those 50 years. The 25th ac- cession anniversary of Prince Francis Joseph II was marked with a 1963 single, and his 60th birthday with a 1974 Prince Francis Joseph II and Princess Gina (Sc.557) Issue 25 - January 4, 2013 - StampNewsOnline.net 26 1966 single. The silver wedding anniversary of the Princely couple was marked with a 1968 single. They were also por- trayed on a 1974 definitive (page 26), and individually on 1983 definitives. For the 70th birthday of the Prince, a souvenir sheet was issued 1976, with stamps reproducing a com- memorative coin. His 40th accession 1977, stamps from souvenir sheet for 70th birth- anniversary was day of Prince Francis Joseph II (Sc. 621-23 c o m m e m o r a t e d 1978 with four stamps showing Vaduz Castle, exteriors and interiors. His 75th birthday was marked with a souvenir sheet containing three stamps showing him with his par- ents, his father and a more recent portrait. Princess Gina in 1985 appeared on three stamps marking her 40th an- niversary as President of the Red Cross of Liechtenstein. Left to right: 1978 40th accession anniversary of Prince Francis Joseph II (Sc.651) showing inner court of Vaduz Castle; 1985, Princess Gina with child refugee (Sc. 815); 1981 75th birthday of Prince Francis Joseph II, here with his parents, Prince Alois and Princess Elisabeth (his father transferred his right to the throne to his son) (from S/S Sc.710) In 1986, the 80th birthday of the Prince was marked with a single stamp. His 50th accession anniversary in 1988 was marked with a souvenir sheet containing stamps 1986 80th birthday of Prince Francis Joseph II (Sc.848) Issue 25 - January 4, 2013 - StampNewsOnline.net 27 portraying him, Crown Prince Hans Adam and his son, Prince Al- ois, the current Crown Prince. Both Prince Francis Joseph II and Princess Gina died in 1989 and they were both honored with 1990 stamps.