With the Liechtenstein stamp program for 2024 comes a hearty mea culpa to Liechtenstein collectors. For some reason I’ve spent 4 years enjoying Liechtenstein’s stamps, but I failed to post anything publicly. I have no excuse. Especially in light of the fact I’m always looking over their stamps and pottering around sites, researching them. When I realised this 2 weeks ago, I decided it was time to move Liechtenstein out of the drafts folder.
So, we are starting out fresh with the 2024 program. If you are interested in the NFTs and crypto offerings, they’ll be appearing in a separate post sometime in the next couple of weeks and I’ll push out the previous 4 years as soon as feasible. As you likely guessed, I am like a cat with a new laser pointer… I am easily distracted by new releases, so it may take longer than I think.
Occasionally I’ll post previous stamps by a designer, when it fits, or previous issues in a series. I think they add a depth to the page. Afterall, this entire site is dedicated to telling the stories stamps tell. That story includes the people who put their hearts into the designs. This is a new feature, added last year, and I love how it looks. It’s very satisfying connecting present designs with past issues.
Onward! Enjoy
Catpaw
*Note: Liechtenstein also offers an assortment of blocks, and blocks on covers that aren’t listed here.
January
Wild Animals in Liechtenstein
series: wildlife | fauna
4 stamps, 5 FDCs, cancel, 4 maxi cards, 2 postal stationary, 4 sheets of 20
offset
- fox
- squirrel
- marmot
- stag
Photographer: Roland Rick
Rick was the photographer/designer of the Europa CEPT 2018 – Bridges and the 2022 Mountain Panorama series. Wild Animals in Liechtenstein is his 3rd stamp design.
Release date: January 1, 2024
March
Provisional Stamps
overprints
series: insects | reptiles | butterflies
4 stamps, 5 FDCs, cancel, 4 maxi cards, 4 sheets of 20
offset
*note: Liechtenstein also offers an assortment of blocks, and blocks on covers.
This set used previously issued designs.
- Marbled white butterfly – originally released 2009 (Melanargia galathea) Marbled White | Butterfly Conservation (butterfly-conservation.org)
- Spotted darter dragonfly – originally released 2020 (Sympetrum depressiusculum) Sympetrum depressiusculum (Selys, 1841) – Spotted Darter – Dragonflies and Damselflies
- Alpine salamander, Samina Valley fauna – originally released 2023 (Salamandra atra ) Alpine salamander – Facts, Diet, Habitat & Pictures on Animalia.bio
- Alpine silver ant, Samina Valley fauna – originally released 2023 (formica selysi) Formica – AntWiki
Designers:
Stefan Erne – Marbled White butterfly previously issued 2009.
Erne’s first stamp design was the 2009 4 stamp Butterflies set. As well as his butterfly illustrations, Erne has designed a number of Liechtenstein’s annual Lunar New Year stamps, starting with the 2011 Year of the Dragon.
Armin Hoop – Spotted darter dragonfly previously issued 2020
It’s a busy year for Armin. He also designed this year’s SEPAC – Main Tourist Attractions for Liechtenstein, as well as the Salvador Dali set and Panorama – Natural Meadows.
Christine Böhmwalder – Alpine salamander and Alpine silver ant previously issued 2023
Böhmwalder is the current Head of Philately for Liechtenstein post, assuming the position when Stefan Erne left.
Xaver Roser – Spotted darter dragonfly previously issued 2020
Roser’s nature photography appeared on the 2016 Nature Preservation set and 2012 Panorama of Liechtenstein.
Release date: March 4, 2024
Peace
series: peace
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, maxi card, sheets of 20
offset
*note: Liechtenstein also offers an assortment of blocks, and blocks on covers.
In her design, designer Michèle Steffen-Goop has expressed the idea that peace comes from small things and from interpersonal relationships. As an individual, every person can and should always keep peace in mind and live in respectful interaction with others. Discover Liechtenstein’s wild life, a stamp for children and much more (philatelie.li)
Designer: Michèle Steffen-Goop
Release date: March 4, 2024
Children. Future. Secure.
75 Years of SOS Children’s Villages
series: children | charities
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, maxi card, sheets of 20
offset
*note: Liechtenstein also offers an assortment of blocks, and blocks on covers.
Children’s Laughter
Children’s SOS enters its 75th year works around the world helping children rebuild their lives.
In the post-World War II era when Europe was rebuilding both its physical and social infrastructure, Hermann Gmeiner, Maria Hofer, Josef Jestl, Ludwig Kögel, Herbert Pfanner, and Hedwig Weingartner recognized a problem: thousands of children had lost their families and the infrastructure of the time presented them with the prospect of an institutional childhood in large-scale orphanages.
Together, these six individuals decided to make a difference and in 1949, founded the Societas Socialis – SOS – in Innsbruck, Austria. A year later, the name was changed to SOS Children’s Villages. Under their guidance, the organization and its many volunteers pioneered an innovative model of alternative care that focused on providing children with reliable, family-like relationships that created security and a real place of belonging.
History (sos-childrensvillages.org)
Designer: Isabella Gassner
Gassner designed Liechtenstein’s 2022 and 2023 Crypto stamps.
Release date: March 4, 2024
Fine Arts from Liechtenstein
series: artists | art
2 stamps, 2 FDCs, cancel, 2 maxi cards, 2 sheets of 12
offset
*note: Liechtenstein also offers an assortment of blocks, and blocks on covers.
- Iris by Hanni Schierscher (d.o.b. 1943)
The image “Iris” by Hanni Schierscher (d.o.b. 1943) was created by means of natural self-printing using plant sap on handmade paper. Her work is characterised by the fact that she does not put a conceived motif on paper, but instead initiates processes that give form to the forces inherent in nature. She does not want to depict anything; her artistic works are part of natural processes and thus become translators between nature and the viewer. Fine Arts from Liechtenstein – Fine Arts from Liechtenstein – Philatelie Liechtenstein
Hanni Schierscher (kleio.com) - Fragile Balance by Evi Kliemand (d.o.b. 1946) This work has not been shown publicly (as of when this article was posted)
Having her art appear on a stamp resonated with Kliemand:For Evi Kliemand, the appearance of this stamp is also a small homage to her father Alfons Kliemand (1910-1978), who had been working in Vaduz since 1933 as an expert and pioneer of Liechtenstein philately, and who made the novelties known worldwide. The small brand – albeit no longer to the same extent as a security compared to the past – still acts as an ambassador and culture bearer.And in the poet’s language,
the last butterflies appear like small
damaged stamps.
Forwarded several times by wind and weather,
stamped, brittle at the perforated edges, hardly
suitable for airmail. And the addressee may
have moved away.
[Evi Kliemand]
Artists:
Hanni Schierscher
Evi Kliemand
Release date: March 4, 2024
June
EUROPA – Underwater Fauna & Flora
series: EUROPA | lakes | fish
2 stamps, mini sheet of 4 (2×2), 3 FDCs, cancel
offset
- St. Katrina Brunna Nature Reserve
Up to the 1960s, St. Katrina was a quarry and dump for construction waste. Created in 1973, it is now 171 hectares of woodlands and valleys. Within the Reserve are two ponds that are featured in this series. - pondweed – a floating water plant that serves two purposes – a hiding place for the river perch that make the ponds their home, and providing oxygen for the water.
- Egli – river perch
Photographer: Rainer Kühnis
Release date: June 1, 2024
40 Years of Women’s Suffrage in Liechtenstein
The Cross – a Powerful Symbol
series: women’s rights
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, maxi card, a handkerchief giftset is also available
embroidered on cloth (Hämmerle & Vogel, Lustenau / AT)
This special stamp was introduced at a presentation with panel discussion held at the Women’s Museum in Hittisau.
Präsentation der gestickten Jubiläums-Briefmarke — Frauenmuseum Hittisau
The cross symbolises the cross used to mark ballots.
At the presentation both Christine Böhmwalder from Philately Liechtenstein and Markus Hämmerle from the Austrian embroidery manufacturer Hämmerle & Vogel, who handled the delicate job of “printing” the stamp.
The panel explored “Who were the key players in the commitment to promoting women’s rights and equality in Liechtenstein? Where was the resistance? How did it finally become the last country in Europe to achieve access to active and passive voting rights for women?” Medieninformation_Präsentation+Sonderbriefmarke+40+Jahre+Frauenstimmrecht+Liechtenstein.pdf (squarespace.com)
Up until 1984, women in Liechtenstein were excluded from the right to vote in national elections. Their wish to vote failed at the ballot box in 1971 and 1973. Three years later, the Landtag passed a law that enabled women to vote at a local level. The voters of the capital of Vaduz introduced this in the same year and other municipalities followed suit over time.
In 1981, 24 committed women launched the “Sleeping Beauty Campaign”. Through their persistent activities such as effective public relations work, talks with the Government and parliamentarians and a campaign at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, their wish to vote finally succeeded in 1984. Two years later, women across the country were allowed to put their own crosses on the ballot paper for the first time and also stand for election themselves. One female candidate immediately made the leap into the then Landtag consisting of 15 members.
40 Years of Women’s Suffrage in FL – 40 Years of Women’s Suffrage in Liechtenstein – Philatelie Liechtenstein
Designer: Peter Vogel
Printer: Hämmerle & Vogel
They also printed Liechtenstein’s 2019 embroidered 300th Jubilee stamp which was also designed by Peter Vogel.
Release date: June 1, 2024
SEPAC – Main Tourist Attractions
series: tourism | SEPAC
1 stamp, FDC, maxi card, cancel, sheet of 9
offset
Vaduz Castle – Vaduz dates to sometime around the 12th century and first mentioned in records 1322. It has been the home of the Princely
Family since 1939.
Designer: Armin Hoop
Release date: June 1, 2024
120th Anniversary of the Birth of Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)
series: art | artists
Spanish surrealist painter, sculptor and filmmaker. If you’ve never tackled Dali and his art, start with Who Was Salvador Dalí and Why Was He So Important? (artnews.com). It’s one of the more approachable, and detailed, bios on Dali and his art. The writer, Howard Halle, manages to break down Dali’s substantial legacy and bizarreness into manageable bites.
Curious trivia: Dali created the Chupa Chups logo in 1969.
Designer: Armin Hoop
Release date: June 1, 2024
Panorama – Natural Meadows
series: nature | landscapes
4 stamps, 5 FDCs, 4 maxi cards, cancel, souvenir sheet
offset + silver
This set features Natural Meadow in Balzers and Natural Meadow in Triesen.
Designer: Armin Hoop
Release date: June 1, 2024
September
100 Years of the Swiss Franc in the Principality of Liechtenstein
1 stamp on souvenir sheet, FDC, cancel, maxi card
offset
A series of commemorative coins were issued for the anniversary.
The Swiss franc was introduced as Liechtenstein’s official currency in 1923 after the country joined Swiss customs territory. Prior to ’23, Liechtenstein’s economy was tied closely to Austria’s and used the Austrian Krone. After WW1, Austria was in a state of collapse, along with its economy. There was a spillover effect on Liechtenstein, causing economic turmoil.
Designer: Isabella Hutter
Release date: September 2, 2024
Wayside Shrines in Liechtenstein
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, maxi card, sheets of 16
Shrine to Saint Barbara, Ruggell
Designer: Armin Hoop
Release date: September 2, 2024
Crypto Fox – Crypto stamp
Forest Habitat and Business Fox
2 souvenir sheets, 1 FDC, cancel, maxicard, embossed folder
Designer: Isabella Hutter
Release date: September, 2, 2024
Princely Treasures – Palaces and Castles
3rd in series
3 stamps, 4 FDCs, 3 maxi cards, cancel
These three paintings by Ferdiand Runk, part of the Princely collection.
They are views of Mödling Castle and Adamsthal Valley in Lower Austria painted in the 19th century. The castle was first noted in the records in 1381 and was home to the House of Liechtenstein.
You can see more of Runk’s works here Search (liechtensteincollections.at)
Designer: Silvia Ruppen
Release date: September, 2, 2024
Village Views – Ruggell
2 stamps, 3 FDCs, 2 maxi cards, cancel, 2 sheets of 15
The stamps are black and white photographs that had colour added through colour gradings.
Designer: Karin Beck-Söllner
Release date: September, 2, 2024
November
Mirror of Nature – A Journey Through the Natural Sciences
The Herbarium Apulei Platonici, the first book on plants, was published between 1480-1483.
The first printed herbal with illustrations was an illustrated edition of the Herbarium Apulei by Apuleius Platonicus
or Pseudo-Apuleius, originally compiled circa 400 CE or earlier, and issued in Rome by the printer and diplomat Johannes Philippus de Lignamine
in 1481 or 1482. The earliest surviving manuscript of this text dates from the sixth century.
In his dedicatory letter Lignamine stated that he based his edition on a manuscript found in the Abbey of Monte Cassino
. In the 1930s F.W.T. Hunger identified a 9th century manuscript as Lignamine’s source (codex Casinensis 97 saec.IX). This he published in facsimile as The Herbal of Pseudo-Apuleius (1935). Regrettably the manuscript was destroyed in the bombardment of Monte Casino in 1944.
“Herbarium Apulei”, the First Printed Herbal with Illustrations and Probably the First Series of Illustrations on a Scientific Subject : History of Information
The Huntingdon library has a digitised copy of the Herbarium online Incipit Herbarium Apulei Platonici ad Marcum Agrippam. – History of Science, Technology, and Medicine – Huntington Digital Library
Release date: November 2024
Cultural Heritage – Night Watchman’s Horn
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, maxi card, sheets of 8
Maxi card uses a photo by Matthäus Schreiber (1861-1941). It depicts a watchman somewhere between 1919 and 1933. Watchmen played a number of roles, waking people if a fire broke out. He would alert both residents and firefighters with a loud metal horn. Watchmen were gradually replaced by modern clocks and the job faded into history.
Designer: Isabella Hutter
Release date: November 2024
Chinese Signs of the Zodiac – Year of the Snake
1 stamp, FDC, cancel, maxi card
Designer: Tiger Pan from the Shenzhen area
Pan designed the UN’s Year of the Dragon stamps for 2024 as well as the 2022 Year of the Tiger set and 2018 Year of the Dog (Graphis Sliver Award 2019 design)
Release date: November 2024
Christmas Wreaths
4 stamps, 5 FDCs, cancel, 4 maxi cards, 4 sheets of 20
Designer: Isabella Hutter
Release date: November 2024
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