Prague in Austria?
In 1867, the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was established. It encompassed the territory of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. However, the territory was much larger. It further consisted of the present-day territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, and parts of Italy, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine. But also the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
When I came across a postcard bearing an Austrian 2 Kreuzer stamp and an impression of a Prague postmark (Prag Praha 1), my curiosity was piqued. The card was sent on April 15, 1899, to the town of Hals in Bohemia. The name Hals was the German name for Halže. And the addressee was staying at Schloss Hals, situated on the road to Stiebenreith, the present-day Šcibor. The card arrived in Hals on April 17, 1899. I decided to take another look at my Austrian stamp collection. And sure enough, many stamps appeared with impressions of the Prag postmark.
Some examples from the series issued on September 1, 1890. The stamp impressions are striking, with a lot of oil in the stamp ink.
Also a few cancellations that are recognizable as having been cancelled in Prague on stamps from the same series.
Other Czech places also appear, such as Gablonz. Much neater prints. Gablonz is situated on the River Neisse and is now called Jablonec nad Nisou. All the way in the north of the Czech Republic. Quite a few names of places located in the Czech Republic can be found in this way. The difficulty is, however, that the German name was included in the stamps. But with the help of Wikipedia, one can get very far.
Many examples can also be cited of other stamps of the Kaiserliche Königliche Österreichische Post featuring impressions of the Prague stamp. Such as the series issued on January 1, 1913, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph's reign.
And on the stamps issued on September 28, 1916. The Dual Monarchy was dissolved on October 31, 1918, following the military defeat on the Italian front after the First World War. Cancelled stamps of Austria from the Dual Monarchy period are still widely available. Perhaps it would be a good idea to also look for postmarks of other place names in other countries on these stamps? 
The Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy continues to have an impact for a long time to come. For instance, a stamp dedicated to Bertha von Suttner was issued today in the Czech Republic. Von Suttner is best known as Alfred Nobel's "secretary."
Bertha von Suttner was indeed born in Prague. And she is also depicted on a coin and an old 1000-shilling banknote from Austria.
Read more about this remarkable woman at
http://filavaria.punt.nl/content/2013/02/Bertha-von-Suttner
'@ Toon: “Spam in the form of and messages with links will not be posted” is displayed above the comments.
You must be in a privileged position, because your link did get past the censorship :). How did you manage that?
My messages are still not getting through with this email address. Maybe the following contribution
about Napoleon. Well, if one doesn't take the trouble to read about the how and why, then naturally that's the end of it. If Cees, as a stamp dealer, dares to promote the hobby in Den Helder—yes, read that right, Den Helder—that can do no wrong in my eyes; a piece of top-notch entrepreneurship. Oh, and Lars, clearly didn't read Cees's contribution a few items back either. It is a sad state of affairs; only negative commentary. Come on, contribute something positive about the hobby yourself for a change. Stamp collecting starts with the pictures and ends with the Waterloo called PostNL. But don't let the negatives get you down, said the optimist in a gloomy mood, and grabbed his catalog where he gave our friend Napoleon a spot next to Gerard Dou and the Pilgrim Fathers that already adorned his collection.
Willem, this is actually not spam, but simply extra (educational) information regarding the topic at hand. So, nothing wrong with that.
'@I have now submitted 3 or 4 times without result, please lift the block on both email address ab-collect@hotmail.com and aadbeglinger729@hotmail.com
'@ 2 lines are being posted the rest has to wait I don't understand anything anymore .
'@Aadb,
You must be getting a lot of spam like this…
So-called 'spambots' will find your email addresses here and send all kinds of spam to them.
Spambot explanation: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spambot
Lars never had any trouble with that nonsense.
Because I absolutely disagree with this state of affairs, I have decided to delete this site from my system. I would say, everyone follow this decision, and the blog will soon be finished. Too bad.
We would like to know exactly what the problem is.
Feel free to contact us, because these conspiracy theories are truly based on nothing.
0235272136 of info@postzegelblog.nl
It looks like a Prague Spring….
conspiracies everywhere….
Rob,
There were no problems during Lia's time! Occasionally a Chinese guy who wanted to spout some English nonsense, but that was quickly cleaned up.
Now we have a warning at the top, after we were initially put on hold and didn't know whether our message would be posted or not. In short, censorship! Intervene beforehand!
We aren't little children, and should we really make a mess of things, you can always throw our contributions out. That's how it goes with Michel, and if it happens, we know perfectly well what went wrong...
I myself now also have – just like L. Reiz – a strong urge to stop here!
Heated discussions, such as those about the Saskias in 2006 or the postal fraud a year ago, were certainly not handled gently!
But there was no one with cold feet who disrupted the discussion on the blog by immediately deleting contributions or blocking them a priori. Sorry AB for this Vatican-like language!
L.Reiz, are you a frequent blogger??? Or am I missing all the comments you submit due to the alleged censorship? I understand that there were or are some technical problems and that it is certainly not the intention to silence anyone; that is what I heard in a personal conversation. I don't think a line at the top is necessary either; as Rein writes, we are not little children. That others misuse the blog to express their displeasure—à la—the choice of words isn't always mine either; in that regard, I am always very mild in my comments (lol).
'@AADB, I am not a dedicated blogger, but more of a reader. That is allowed, surely. But if rules are constantly being added at the top now, to me it is not a blog but a kindergarten class. That is what I don't like.
Is this blog still about philately/stamps?
L. Reiz
Exactly, that kindergarten class can go do some crafting as far as I'm concerned!
And waiting to see if she gets a pencil from the postal picture teacher….
See also my Napoleon XIV commentary!
L.Reiz, perhaps it would be better to leave out the rules; if something doesn't come across well, you can always intervene. I must say, however, that in the discussion regarding the so-called declaration of invalidity of the guilder, some bloggers went a bit too far. I have no problem with that and certainly won't let myself be driven away by people who just want to have their say. A call to leave the blog makes absolutely no sense. I always see myself as a catalyst for the discussion, and there is nothing wrong with that; I always try to give things a positive spin that provides food for thought. Some catch on to this quickly, others realize it a bit later. And let's be honest, not wanting to read it because of the kindergarten level will be hard, because knowing human nature, people remain curious about what is written, and that applies to the (old) fox as well!