EuropeThe Europa stamps history
part I - The early years
(1956-1959)
part I - The early years
(1956-1959)
The idea of making a "join stamp emission" came up in 1952. The uniform motive for this emission had to symbolise the community of interest and objectives.
Six countries, the same six countries how signed the Treaty of Rome on the 25th of March 1957 (Belgium, France, West-Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) were also the first countries to issue Europa stamps.On the 15th of September 1956 the first Europa stamps issue was born (6 countries ; 13 stamps). The common design was made by the French artist, Daniel Gonzague, it was a tower formed by the 6 letters of the latin word for Europe: Europa.
In 1957, almost on the same day as in 1956, the 16th of September, a second issue was made and Switzerland took part on this issue as Saarland (German territory under the control of the Allies). That year a common design was not made but the general theme was Peace and Welfare. (8 countries ; 17 stamps).
On the 13th September 1958 the third issue selected again a common design, a dove flying above the letter E of Europe, designed by the Dutch artist, André Van der Vossen. Turkey replaced Switzerland that year. (8 countries ; 17 stamps).
During the summer 1959 in Montreux (Switzerland), a conference of 23 European postal administrations took place and the "Conférence des postes et télécommunications (CEPT)" was born. (note: today we still call the Europa stamps also Europa CEPT stamps !)
On the 19th September 1959 it was the 4th issue. Switzerland and Austria were associate to the 6 first countries in that issue. The common design was a key-ring designed by the German artist, Walter Brudi. (8 countries ; 15 stamps).Part II - The birth of the CEPT (1960-1973)
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Part III - The common themes (1974-1989)
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Part IV - The new Europe (1990-1999)
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Part V - The new millennium (2000-)
6 comments:
Can anyone tell me who designed the German & Saarland Europa stamps of 1957?
I've managed to find out who the designer of the 1957 Europa stamps was; it was Prof. R. Blank but I don't know his first name or nationality. Anyone any information?
Good blog, i sell europa cept at passaparolach.com plese visit my auctions,ù
good bye
frabru2
Great Blog and Thank you! Can anyone shed more light on the following: "The idea of making a 'joint stamp emission' came up in 1952. The uniform motive for this emission had to symbolise the community of interest and objectives." Is there a source or document addressing the 1952 idea? The Treaty of Rome was signed on 18 April 1951, so the idea would have come about 12-18 months later. Whose idea was it? Why was it not until September 1956 that the first Europa stamps were issued? On a related matter, why were many of the first Europa stamps issued in September? Is there anything particularly special about the dates of issues?
@ Michael : thanks for your interest and your interesting quetions. Unfortunately I don't have any answer to the many questions you are asking in your message. I don't have any official document refering to this. The Treaty of Rome wasn't signed in April '51 but on the 25th of March 1957 ! You are mixing with the Treaty of Paris which established the ECSC.
Maybe other readers of this blog may have answers ?
Hi, I have a couple of covers of the 1958 Belgian Europa stamps , signed by the stamps' designer Andre van der Vossen. Is anybody interested in buying these, or could give me any advice as to how/where to sell them? Please contact me via email to juliequiz@gmail.com.
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