Napoleon on French and European Stamps

The year went by so fast that I sometimes completely forgot that I have neglected this blog for so long. Actually I made plans for at least four bigger posts I wanted to write during the course of the year and some smaller ones, but like so often other things prevented me from doing so. This post however I still want to write now, as I had the idea a long while ago and really liked it. As you all probably know 2021 marks the Bicentenary of the Death of Napoleon Bonaparte. I knew I wanted to do something about this anniversary, but did not want to just plainly write down his life. Instead I came up with the idea of diving into his presentation on various stamps and this is now the result of this idea. At first I will have a look at French stamps to see how one of the most famous Frenchmen in history is depicted and afterwards I will add up this story with some other stamps from Europa. Below all the stamps I will also write a bit more about vacancies and the development of this post if that is something that interests you and if you are not only here for the stamps.

But let's get this post started and where would it be better to start than at the beginning? Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio on the island of Corsica on 15th August 1769 and Napoleon's Birth Bicentenary was honoured with a French stamp in 1969. The building on the left is the Maison Bonaparte in Ajaccio, the ancestral house of the family. It is often said that Napoleon is actually not a Frenchmen, because he was from Corsica which was supposedly not part of France at the time of his birth. That is however not true. Corsica was at the beginning of the 18th century indeed a territory of the Republic of Genoa, which lost the control of most of the island in the middle of the century. By 1768 France began the capture of the island which was concluded in May 1769. At that point various powerful Corsican families joined the French side including the Bonapartes. Napoleon later got his education in France and although he had an affection for the Corsican nationalists in his early years, he ultimately devoted himself to the French cause. The portrait on the right shows Napoleon at the age of 23 as member of the French Republican volunteers on Corsica. This first stamp thus mainly highlights Napoleon's Corsican heritage. 

Fighting for the Revolution his tactical skill soon became apparent. Three years after the stamp above two campaigns in Napoleon's early career were shown on French stamps, the Battle of Arcole during the Italian Campaign and the Egyptian Expedition. Napoleon went to Italy shortly after his marriage with Joséphine de Beauharnais in 1796. He quickly defeated the Austrian ally Piedmont and became involved in the Siege of the Austrian garrison in Mantua. The Battle of Arcole was part of an Austrian attempt to lift the siege, which however failed, and the overall campaign resulted in the Treaty of Campo Formio granting France the rule over Northern Italy and the Low Countries, which were subsequently exploited by Napoleon and his troops. During this period his influence in France increased. Plans for an invasion of Great Britain followed, but Napoleon decided that the French marine was not strong enough and so decided that at first Egypt should be captured to hamper Britain's access to India. This Egyptian Expedition began with the capture of Malta, but at the end resulted in a French catastrophe. After Horatio Nelson destroyed or captured most of the French fleet, Napoleon went on some brutal attacks on the Ottoman cities of Arish, Gaza, Jaffa and Haifa and ultimately fled back to Paris in August 1799. The focus of this second stamp is however not the French defeat, but the scientific dimension of the expedition. More than 150 scientists joined Napoleon and their discoveries included after all the Rosetta Stone, which Jean-François Champollion later used to decipher the hieroglyphs. 

The following events in Napoleon's life and career are ignored on French stamps. The next event to be honoured is the preparation of the Code Civil. The Code Civil or Code Napoleon entered into force in March 1804. This collection of written laws was a important step in the defeudalistion of Europa and is still used in France to this day. Even in parts of Germany it survived the end of Napoleon's rule and was in use until the end of the 19th century. Shown on the stamp are the Conseil d'État, Napoleon and Jean-Étienne-Marie Portalis. Portalis drew up the Code Civil together with François Denis Tronchet, Félix-Julien-Jean Bigot de Préameneu and Jacques de Maleville, but also worked on the Concordat of 1801 and later became a member of the government as Minister of Public Worship. Another stamp about the Code Civil was issued in 2004. Also there are two stamps about the creation of the Légion d'honneur in 1802 (1954 and 2002), which falls in the same period but which I unfortunately do not have.

On 2nd December 1804 Napoleon was coronated Emperor at the Notre Dame de Paris in the presence of Pope Pius VII. During the ceremony a golden laurel wreath recalling the Roman Empire and a replica of Charlemagne's crown were used. Napoleon had the laurel wreath on his head and crowned his wife with the replica. The stamp shows a detail of the painting The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David. It was created as official depiction of the event and is now kept in the Louvre. As France decided not to thematise anything that happened before the coronation, I guess it is fair to do the same.

Last year this stamp about La Roche-sur-Yon was issued. The city had been destroyed during the Vendée Revolt and was rebuilt had the behest of Napoleon. In May 1804 it officially became the seat of the Vendée. At this time it was called Napoléon-sur-Yon. Shown on the stamp is the statue of Napoleon that was erected in 1854.

Today the first French Emperor is naturally known as Napoleon, but did you know that this was not always the case? During his early career the man was known as Bonaparte or even earlier as Buonaparte. It was just when he became Emperor that the given name became synonymous with the ruler and as such he went out to gain his biggest victory at the Battle of the Three Emperors near the small Austrian/Czech town of Austerlitz (Slavkov u Brna) on the first anniversary of his coronation. Known as tactical masterpiece, Napoleon defeated the outnumbering armies of Austria and Russia. After this battle Napoleon was definitely the hegemon of Continental Europa. For the 200th anniversary of the battle France jointly issued this stamp with the Czech Republic. As you have seen so far this is one of the very few Napoleonic battles that was honoured with a French stamp, which makes this one a bit outstanding. Probably they have chosen the battle, because it was his biggest victory, but on the other hand maybe the idea for this joint issue came from the Czech Republic, which however later issued stamps about Napoleon's big defeat in Leipzig. A gorgeous, but mysterious issue! Apropos, the monument on the stamps is the Cairn of Peace Monument in Prace.

After his victory in Austerlitz installed friends and family as rulers in various European states. The only one of them who was shown on a French stamp was Joachim Murat. Murat was a military commander and married Napoleon's younger sister Caroline in 1800. He became Grand Duke of Berg (1806-1808) and King of Naples (1808-1815). The stamp however only calls him Roi de Naples, his earlier title in the small artificially created grand duchy in Germany is ignored. After the Battle of Leipzig he switched sides to save his throne, but switched back after Napoleon's return from Elba in 1815 and was killed in the end by the forces of the rightful King Ferdinand IV of Naples.

From Austerlitz and Joachim Murat we jump in time straight to 1815. You might remember that there was some sort of battle this year and you remember right. Who does not know the Battle of Huningue? Huningue is a small Alsatian town right at the border between France, Germany and Switzerland and is more or less a suburb of Basel. Due to its location the Sun King Louis XIV instructed Vauban to built a fortress there. The fortress was first besieged by the Austrians in 1796/97, later by the Bavarians in 1813/14 and once again by the Austrians in 1815. When the new French government demanded a ceasefire after Napoleon's abdication, the commander decided to bombard Basel instead. Ultimately however the fortress surrendered. 

The first French stamp about Napoleon was issued in 1951 and now 70 years later his death is acknowledged with a stunning souvenir sheet. In my opinion this is one of the most visually appealing stamp issues of the year. You really need to seek it out to see it in real life. A scan can not do it justice. It is printed in a combination of offset and intaglio printing and much gold foil is applied. Of special interest are those small bees recalling artifacts from the grave of the Frankish king Childeric I from the Merovingian dynasty, as Napoleon wanted a royal symbol that has a historic model without being connected to the Ancien Régime. The pomp of this issue however can not disguise Napoleon's fate. Beaten he was sent to exile on the island of Saint Helena. There he could either watch the sea as shown on the lower stamp or play with the rats as was often shown on contemporary caricatures. There on a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean one of the most famous and influential men in European history died on 5th May 1821.

After all those French stamps it is time to add the narrative of the First Emperor of France with some stamps from other European countries. Let's get one thing out of the way, not all of them are as flattering as this Monégasque stamp issued for Napoleon's Birth Bicentenary in 1969. 

Adding the stamps in the chronological order of the depicted events the first I have is however another victory, the Battle of Marengo. This battle was part of the War of the Second Coalition and was fought near the city of Alessandria in Northern Italy in June 1800. After all the Battle of Arcole and the Treaty of Campo Formio had not ended the Austrian involvement in Italy. Barely four years later they had to be driven out again. This battle also consolidated Napoleon's rule as First Consul. It has to be mentioned that this battle has also appeared on a French stamp. In 1968 there was a stamp about General Desaix, the French commander during the battle, which also shows a scene of the battle. Unfortunately I became aware of it too late to add it to my collection. 

Leaving Europa for a stamp, the rule of Napoleon had also an influence on the USA. In 1803 Napoleon sold the French colony of Louisiana or more precisely for most of the area the right to obtain it. Napoleon actually planned to re-establish the French rule in the territory, but after some failures decided to sell it instead. This Louisiane Purchase nearly doubled the size of the USA. Shown on this US stamp are not only the US negotiators, but also French Treasury Minister François Barbé-Marbois. After this sesquicentennial issue from 1953 a bicentennial stamp was also issued in 2003.

Everyone who has ever been to London probably knows Trafalgar Square and the Nelson's Column there, but many maybe do not know what Trafalgar was. Or was that just me when I was in London in 2011? The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval battle in the War of the Third Coalition in October 1805. Napoleon had the idea to conquer Great Britain and to accomplish that plan the French and Spanish navies were combined to take control of the English Channel. The fleet however was met off Cape Trafalgar on the southwest coast of Spain by the British navy under the command of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson and Nelson was against all odds victorious, although loosing his own life. The battle became a focal point in the history of British naval supremacy in the 19th century. As such it was already honoured on many stamps. I think for the Bicentenary in 2005 not only the United Kingdom itself, but also all overseas territories and crown dependencies issued stamps, which in the usual British tradition are not just single stamps, but always bigger sets. In my collection I have this set from Gibraltar issued on 31st January 2005. Actual timber from the original HMS Victory, Nelson's ship during the battle, is affixed to the £1.60 stamp and similar stamps have been issued in Ascension Island, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the British Indian Ocean Territory, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Kiribati, Naura, Saint Helena, Saint Lucia and Tristan da Cunha.

As philatelist you probably know that there are French and Spanish stamps issued for Andorra. The reason is that this small country is actually headed by two co-princes, one from France and one from Spain. The turbulent years of the French Revolution however brought change on the French side and in 1806 Napoleon restored the status quo ante. I could not find much about what this means in detail, but it was enough for this Bicentenary issue in 2006 by the French Post in Andorra.

About the Napoleonic era on the Iberian Peninsula I know very little, as it is never the focus for German depictions of the time. For my collection I got this Portuguese set about the Bicentenary of the Peninsular War issued in 2010, so I will focus on that period and ignore the background. Well, Portugal was that time still an ally of the United Kingdom and had no interest in joining the Continental System (the German word Kontinentalsperre or the French blocus continental somehow sound nicer). To change that Napoleon decided to attack Portugal and invade Spain on the way. That was in 1807. It is however also said that Napoleon's real motive might have been to dethrone the Spanish King to replace him with one of his brothers. The result was a big political mess and a military catastrophe, as the Spaniards did not like to be conquered and began a bloody guerrilla uprising that binded French forces which should been used in other theaters. Portugal and Spain were later supported by the United Kingdom. Shown on these stamps are the battles of Vimeiro (1808), Bussaco (1810), Grijó (1809) and Pombal (1811). In 1928 there had already been a set about the Battle of Rolica (1808). The fightings on the peninsula had actually World-historical dimension, as it enabled the independence of the South American colonies of both countries.

Inspired and scared by the events in Spain, Austria began to fear a similar fate for its monarchy and also hope for uprisings in the German territories. To help in both cases armaments and reforms were started. Napoleon thought that Austria would not do anything without allies and thus not acted at all. Austria however feared that Napoleon just waited for an ending of the fightings in Spain to do the same with the Austrian monarchy and became active with an attack on the French ally Bavaria. After some small battles Austria was defeated in Eckmühl near Regensburg in April 1809 and Vienna was captured three weeks later. Another week later the Austrians however defeated Napoleon in the Battle of Aspern and Essling (21st/22nd May 1809), before being defeated again by Napoleon in the Battle of Wagram (5th/6th July 1809). The Austrian fate was not as bad as that of Prussia or Spain, but the consequences of this hubris were not good either. Although Austria mainly fought alone, these fightings are known as War of the Fifth Coalition, as they were theoretically backed by Sardinia, Sicily and the United Kingdom. Good to see the ultimately pointless victory in Aspern and Essling on an Austrian souvenir sheet. 

Not all Austrian hopes for uprisings were baseless. In Tyrol the innkeeper Andreas Hofer started in the context of the War of the Fifth Coalition in April 1809 a rebellion against the Bavarian occupiers, who controlled the territory by Napoleon's grace since 1805. The rebellion failed, but Hofer is to this day celebrated as a Tyrolean national hero. His remains are buried in the Hofkirche in Innsbruck next to the cenotaph of Emperor Maximilian I and I know of at least three Austrian stamps about Hofer including this souvenir sheet as most recent one. As consequence of the rebellion Bavaria had to cede parts of Tyrol to direct French control. 

From the events in Austria we jump straight to Russia. Checking the timetable in the small monography by Johannes Willms I had read about Napoleon this seems to be justified, as he also does not include any events between 1809 and 1812. Russia was at this time the probably most independent European great power. The relations with Napoleon had been for a while amicably and on eye level. When the Russian Emperor however decided in December 1810 to leave the Continental System, which had more disadvantages than advantages for Russia, the conflicts began anew. In June 1812 Napoleon began his Campagne de Russie. He thought that the war would be over the faster the more troops he would send there, but in the end this idea just meant that more soldiers died in the harsh Russian winter. This Soviet souvenir sheet honours the 175th anniversary of the bloody Battle of Borodino, which ended with a French victory used to capture Moscow where Napoleon waited too long. The invasion ended in a desaster, but Napoleon was not yet defeated. The other European states however hesitated to seize the moment. 

The governments might have hesitated, but in the population it began to seethe. Especially in Prussia the people demanded to join the fight and the king had to grant their wish. Together Prussia and Russia were now fighting against Napoleon, but after some French victories, Austria negotiated a ceasefire between the three and afterwards Austria, Prussia and Russia signed a modest proposal which would have saved Napoleon's rule in France and big parts of Europa against the loss of former territories of the three powers and some of their allies. Napoleon denied and the for the being final war began. He soon lost the big Battle of the Nations at Leipzig, his Confederation of the Rhine crumbled, the allies were on their way to a war-weary France and due to his hubris Napoleon was eventually dethroned and send to Elba. This War of the Sixth Coalition is in Germany usually known as Befreiungskrieg(e) (War(s) of Liberation) and is connected with an idea of national identity. Although they played a big part in the conception of a united German history, they were rarely featured on German stamps. A Berlin stamp showed the Prussian National Monument for the Liberation Wars, the "anti-imperialist" German Democratic Republic (East Germany) showed some nice Prussian militaries on a set for the 150th anniversary and here in West Germany only the participants Blücher (shown below), Clausewitz, Körner and Stein were shown on some incoherent stamps. For the Bicentenary of the Battle of Leipzig the Czech Republic and Russia issued souvenir sheets, but here in Germany only a stamp for the Centenary of the Monument to the Battle of the Nations was issued. The focus is thus not the victory over France, but the technical feat of constructing Germany's biggest monument. 

Napoleon might have been defeated and in exile, but it was not long until he returned. He quickly gathered an army and created a new rule which soon ended with the War of the Seventh Coalition and the Battle of Waterloo. This battle in modern day Belgium is unlike the Battle of Huningue probably one of the most famous battles in European history. It occured while the European powers were already discussing the political future of the continent in Vienna and led to Napoleon's final exile on Saint Helena. For the Bicentenary Belgium issued a stunnng souvenir sheet with five stamps about leaders during the battle. I have those two about Napoleon (on a Waterloo card) and the Prince of Orange and the other three are Blücher, Ney and Wellington. The Isle of Man and the United Kingdom also issued some stamps and in Germany we got a special postmark. 

I had written about it earlier this year and will hopefully do so again soon, but unlike the last years 2021 does not have one big jubilee. The Death Bicentenary is however a jubilee that spawned at least a resonable number of stamps. Beside the obligatory catch penny issues to my knowledge there were only stamps from Andorra (French Post), Italy, Malta and Saint Helena. In my collection I only have the one from Italy. It shows a detail of Andrea Appiani's painting Ritratto di Napoleone (1805) and includes the opening phrase of Alessandro Manzoni's ode Il cinque maggio (1821) written in response to the news of Napoleon's death, Ei fu (He was). Unlike the French sheet this stamp was issued on Napoleon's actual death day the 5th May. 

Both the French and the European stamps only offer a desideratum of Napoleonic history. While France is more focused on the domestic politics of Napoleon (Code Civil, Légion d'honneur, Coronation, reconstruction of La Roche-sur-Yon), much of his way to power is generously ignored. Interestingly all the foreign affairs are either connected to Austria or Italy (Arcole, Marengo, Austerlitz, Joachim Murat as King of Naples), but never to for example the Netherlands, Prussia/Germany or Spain. The other European countries on the other hand are mainly issuing stamps about Napoleon's defeat and do not care about how pointless those defeats might have been in the end (Aspern and Essling). The good sides of Napoleon's rule are never touched. The two exceptions are the Czech stamp for the Battle of Austerlitz and the Italian stamp for the Battle of Marengo. Both stamps are a bit mysterious to me. The Czech Republic can laud itself to be the only country to honour both a Napoleonic victory (Austerlitz) and defeat (Leipzig). The Italian connection to Napoleon is something I would be interested to know more about. As an outsider I do not really understand why there is a reason to celebrate the switch from Austrian supremacy to French supremacy and whether the Italian situation was better afterwards. Biased on the other hand by German historical education, which is of course focused on the Napoleonic era in Germany and Prussia in particular, I think it is strange that no country seems to care about it. My assumptions would be that either the German and the French spared each other due to the post-World War II friendship (the Élysée Treaty was after all signed in the year of the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Nations in 1963) or that in the German case the era is not much shown on stamps, as there were not only those German states that suffered during the time (e.g. Brunswick, Hanover, Prussia), but also strong Napoleonic allies (e.g. Baden, Bavaria, Württemberg). In conclusion I can say that there are many interesting stamps to collect about this theme, but that there are also many vacancies that I would wish to see on stamps.

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Shown here are by far not all stamps about Napoleon. First and formost I have limited myself to European stamps with the single US stamp as exception. There are many thematic stamps from African and Arabic countries and territories which in most cases however are cheap catch penny wallpaper issues. Also I have not added any stamps about contemporaries of Napoleon which might have had some sort of connection to the ruler. This also includes some of his generals. The only exception here is Joachim Murat, as he was no simple contemporary, but a relative of Napoleon. Furthermore these are some stamps which I would have liked to add to this post, but which I was not able to get on time:

• From France I have already mentioned the stamps about the Battle of Marengo and the Légion d'honneur. In 2004 there was also a very interesting set showing Napoleonic soldiers and the Emperor himself as some sort of small toy figures
• The Free State of Danzig in the Interwar Period issued a stamp about the city's return to Prussia in 1814 in a set about historic events.
• From Germany I have already mentioned the stamps about Clausewitz, Körner and Stein. Of interest might be also a stamp about Prussian Queen Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who met Napoleon in Tilsit in 1807.
• As part of sets about the Battle of Trafalgar Gibraltar and the Isle of Man also included stamps about the Battle of the Nile, the latter also included the Battle of Copenhagen. 
• During the Napoleonic era the French colony Haiti became independent and of course there are some stamps of that event from the country.
• For the Bicentenary of the French Revolution Italy issued a stamp showing a Bicorne, the hat famously worn by Napoleon. In 2014 there was a stamp about the New City of Bari, which was constructed at the behest of Joachim Murat.
• Malta issued a set of four about the Bicentenary of Napoleon's French capture in 1998. One of the stamps shows Napoleon himself.
• Apart from the stamp above Monaco issued some more stamps about the Emperor. A set of four about the Bicentenary of his Coronation also includes a stamp about his wife Stéphanie de Beauharnais. In 2011 for some reason even a stamp about the Bicentenary of the Birth of his son Napoleon II was issued.
• With the grace of Napoleon Poland was reborn as (semi-)independent state after it was divided between Austria, Prussia and Russia at the end of the 18th century. As I have learned too late, there are a few Polish stamps about this time of the Duchy of Warsaw.
• In 2002 Russia issued a set about Emperor Alexander I. One of them shows him entering Paris after Napoleon was defeated.
• Saint Helena of course issued many stamps about its most famous inhabitant. The most interesting in my opinion is the souvenir sheet issued for the Bicentenary of Napoleon's Arrival in 2016. Unfortunately I was not able to get it.
• Napoleon liked San Marino and offered the state an enlargement at the cost of its neighbours. The offer was denied, but nonetheless was honoured with stamps.
• The Czech Republic issued a stamp for the Battle of Austerlitz and Slovakia followed with a stamp for the Peace of Pressburg/Bratislava signed as result of the Austrian defeat. The stamp shows a small portrait of Napoleon and the Primate's Palace in Bratislava where the treaty was signed.
• As I have written above, my knowledge of the Napoleonic era on the Iberian Peninsula is rudimentary and due to that I was not sure which Spanish events and stamps I had to include. I know now however that there are at least stamps about Agustina de Aragón, artworks by Francisco Goya, the Spanish flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar and the Constitution of 1812. In a series about Spanish history in caricatures issued in 2002 there is also one stamp about Napoleon. 

Napoleon influenced the whole of Europa and due to that it is virtually impossible to write a complete history about his rule. Especially in Germany and Italy which were not united countries at the time as they are today there are so many different stories that you can never expect to know them all or see all of them on stamps (I am living rather close to the site of the Battle of Ölper where the local Black Duke Fredrick William of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel fought against the troops of the Napoleonic puppet Kingdom of Westphalia). Nonetheless these are some things that I somehow regret that they have never been on European stamps:

• As I had mentioned before, it would be nice to see a bit more of Napoleon's early life and way to power on stamps. Things and events I might imagine are the military academy at Brienne, the École Militaire in Paris, the Siege of Toulon and Napoleon together with the other Consuls.
• The War of the Fourth Coalition is not honoured on any European stamp. This war followed the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine and saw the Prussian defeat at Jena and Auerstedt, the Russian defeats in Eylau and Friedland and the Treaties of Tilsit. For the Bicentenary of the Battle of Jena and Auerstedt there were two special postmarks used in Jena and Auerstedt respectively, but so far I have never seen them for sale anywhere. There were however some catch penny issues about the battle from territories like Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Sharjah.
• Above I have already mentioned the Battle of Wagram from the War of the Fifth Coalition. That one was also never shown on a European stamp (there is however a rather nice one from Ascension Island). Generally I would have wished that all the big Napoleonic victories had got the "Austerlitz treatment" for their Bicentenaries.
• Additionally it would be nice as well to see more relatives of Napoleon on French stamps like the one about Joachim Murat. Those might include King Joseph of Spain, Grand Duchess Elisa of Tuscany, King Louis of Holland, King Jérôme of Westphalia, Eugène de Beauharnais, Napoleon II and his wives Joséphine de Beauharnais (shown on a stamp from Monaco) and Marie Louise of Austria.
• I am not aware that there were any stamps about the Napoleonic time in Belgium (apart from Waterloo), Denmark, Central Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden or Switzerland. Generally a stamp about the map of the Napoleonic Empire would be very interesting.
• No stamp has ever shown Napoleon on Elba. Stamps about the Villa Mulini and the Villa San Martino would be nice.

Sources:

The French philatelic website, Phil-Ouest, that I often look at has a site about Napoleon on French stamps (click here), which was a good start to create this post. Later I also found the great blog Napoléon Art et Philatélie. Although it is in French, it is easy to navigate and includes a complete(?) list with stamps about the Napoleonic era. The texts here like usual rely on Wikipedia, but I also used a short monography simply called Napoleon written by Johannes Willms and published by C.H. Beck in Munich in 2019.

Review and Overview of the Beethoven 2020 Stamps

EDIT: Information gathered after I published this post is included in orange.

Like I had promised earlier here is a small overview of the Beethoven stamps that were issued last year.

• Beethoven stamps were issued in Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Post Mostar), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serb Post), Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Faroe Islands, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hungary, Israel, Jersey, Kazakhstan, KEP, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Macau, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vatican and Vietnam.
• So in total 38+2 postal administrations issued stamps about Beethoven for his 250th birth anniversary. 25+1 of them are from Europa, 9 from Asia and 4+1 from the Americas. Also there were a few agency-produced catch penny issues from Africa, but these can be ignored without loss. 
• There might be more stamps out there. About the issue from Mongolia for example I just learned in February 2021.
• I am not sure if the stamp from Mexico was issued. The Mexican Post announced it on Instagram, but as of now it is still not included in the Colnect catalogue. Nonetheless for everything written below I have included it. The stamp is still (8th April 2021) not included in the Colnect catalogue, but on Mon Blog Timbré you can see a used version on a cover, so it was definitely issued.
• Latvia and Slovakia originally also announced Beethoven stamps, but they were apparently cancelled in the course of the year. 
• The first country with the Beethoven stamp was Germany, where the stamp became available already on 2nd January. As Beethoven was just baptised in December 1770, this stamp was issued nearly a year before the actual anniversary. Apart from the normal gummed stamp there have been also a gummed souvenir sheet and self-adhesive stamps from the coil and a booklet. All however use the same design.

• Counting all the "different" stamps (so counting Germany as one, but for example a souvenir sheet of four different stamps as four) there are 84+3 of them. 
• So on average there are two stamps from every country, but in fact just eight+1 of the 38+2 countries issued more than one stamp. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Romania and Vietnam issued two stamps, Guernsey and Uruguay issued four, Jersey issued seven and Lebanon issued a sheet with 20(!) different stamps.
• Most countries issued sets or single stamps solely dedicated to Beethoven, but Gibraltar, KEP and Moldova all issued one stamp in a bigger set about anniversaries. 
• Unfortunately many of the stamps are not very creative. 20+1 of the 38+2 postal administrations used the famous portrait of Joseph Karl Stieler on at least one of their stamps. Some countries like the Faroe Islands, Germany and Israel reimagined the portrait, but others like Brazil, Hungary and Portugal just used the plain portrait and added country name, face value and a few other words. Many countries however used completely different images and especially in bigger sets like those from Guernsey and Jersey multiple portraits are used. 
• 16+1 of the 38+2 postal administrations used the official logo of the jubilee year on their stamps: BTHVN 2020. 

• As I had already written, Guernsey issued four stamps, but they were not issued at once, but on different dates in the course of the year. This issue format was apparently quite popular, as they are doing the same now of the Royal British Legion this year. When the last stamp was issued, all four became however also available in a combined souvenir sheet. 
• The stamps from Jersey are advertised as "Award-Winning Stamp Issue", as they "were a winning entry in Communication Arts magazine's 61st annual design competition, a prestigious international competition showcasing the best in visual communications."
• The issue from Spain takes the form of a vinyl disc and can actually be listened to. It reproduces Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 performed by the Madrid Festival Orchestra.
• You can read a very nice review of the Israeli stamp on the Israel Stamp Review blog (click here).
• Since the Reformation Jubilee in 2017 I have not tried to collect all the international stamps about any of Big Jubilees, but only got a few selected issues. In my collection for Beethoven I only have the stamps from Austria, France, Germany, Israel, Macau and Portugal, but I still hope to get the ones from Poland and the Vatican later on.
• Of all the Beethoven stamps issued in 2020 my favourite comes from France. It might not be the best designed issue, but I think it is nicely straight forward and decent and on the other hand also much more creative than others and has a great golden touch. 

This was definitely not the deepest dive into history or philately, but I had fun writing this small article. Although it is already March, I still have not seen anything that hints at a Big Jubilee in 2021. Themes for which I have seen at least two announced stamp issues include Dürer, Insulin, Kepler and Stanislaw Lem. Napoleon will get stamps from France, Italy and Saint Helena and both for Napoleon and Dante some more might be announced later on. However I think that there might be something bigger that I have not yet spotted. 

A Mystery about Charles V in 2019

Charles V (1500-1558) was the ruler of an empire on which the sun never sets. Apart from being Holy Roman Emperor he was also Archduke of Austria, King of Spain (Castile and Aragon) and Duke of Burgundy. As King of Spain he was also ruler of the southern Italian kingdoms of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia and the Spanish colonies in the Americas. He was a proponent of the idea of an universal monarchy and tried to unify the European princes against the Ottoman enemy. His plans however were undermined by both the Reformation and the opposition of France. In 1557 Charles retired to the Monastery of Yuste in Extremadura. His Empire was divided between his son (Spanish Habsburgs) and brother (Austrian Habsburgs). 

500 years ago Charles V became Archduke of Austria. To commemorate this jubilee and the Multilaterale stamp exhibition both Austria and Luxembourg issued a beautiful miniature sheet on 8th November 2019. The sheet shows a painting of Emperor Charles V by Jakob Seisenegger shown in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Beside the years of his reign and life the sheet also include the quote "Quot linguas calles, tot homines vales" ("How many languages you speak, that many people you are worth") and the flags of the countries, which took part in the Multilaterale stamp exhibition. The text is printed with gold plating. 

Luckily I was able to get the Austrian sheet on a matching postcard. While looking at both back and front side of this card, I noticed an interesting difference between the original painting as shown on the card and the sheet. Do you see it?

In the blank space at the upper right corner of the original painting the sheet shows a map. Since I saw it I was wondering where this map comes from. At first I thought that the sheet might show a different version of the painting, but all versions I found on the Internet lacked the map as well. A closer look at the map reveals that it is probably not from the 16th century as the painting. At the end I finally found the map that was used on the sheet on Wikimedia Commons (here). It originates from the Historischer Schulatlas (historic atlas for schools) from the late 19th century. With this question answered there is now actually another one: Why was this map chosen? Especially as this part of the map does not show Luxembourg? The answer probably only knows the designer of the sheet, but I guess they just did not wanted to keep the blank space on the sheet.

The Bauhaus Connection (Germany, Israel, Japan, Netherlands)

2019 marks the centenary of the foundation of the Bauhaus. Although the Bauhaus was just a small part of the modern architecture movement in Europa, it is still interested to see how many famous examples of modern architecture have a connection to the Bauhaus or one of its architects. Therefore the modern architecture is here captioned with The Bauhaus Connection. As architectural history is not one of my main themes, I mainly oriented myself by the UNESCO World Heritage List. If you think that I have missed any important example of European pre-war modern architecture in this post please tell me in a comment.

While preparing this post I realised that I still miss things about some famous example of modern architecture in my collection. If anybody could help me with stamps or postcards about these things I would love to swap: Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut de Ronchamp, Complexe du Capitole in Chandigarh, Musterhaus am Horn in Weimar, Neues Frankfurt, Tugendhat Villa in Brno, Unité d’habitation in Marseille.

Walter Gropius, who later founded the Bauhaus, was born in 1883 in Berlin. His great-uncle was the architect Martin Gropius, who is famous for his representative buildings in the style of the Historism. At the age of twenty, in 1903, Walter Gropius began his studies of architecture in Berlin, which he continued in Munich in 1906, but which he terminated without graduation in 1908. His biggest problem was the drawing of blueprints.

Nonetheless Gropius was able to begin working at the architect's office of Peter Behrens in the same year. Peter Behrens was known for his industrial buildings and is today considered as the first industrial designer in history, as he designed the entire corporate identity for the Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG). His most famous building is the AEG Turbine Factory in Berlin. Beside this, Behrens' importance for the modern architecture is also justified by his architect's office, which became a working place for many now World-famous young architects. These architects include beside Walter Gropius also Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Adolf Meyer.

After working for Peter Behrens for two years, Walter Gropius went into business for himself in 1910. The most famous building of this early independent period is the Fagus Factory, a shoe last factory in the small town of Alfeld in modern day Lower Saxony. It was commissioned by its owner Carl Benscheidt and was designed by Walter Gropius together with Adolf Meyer between 1911 and 1925. It is considered to be a landmark in the development of modern architecture and industrial design and still today it is used for the production of shoe lasts, although also a museum was established in a part of the complex and although it is on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2011.

In 1917 a movement of artists and architects emerged in the Dutch of Leiden, which would later have an important influence on the architecture of the Bauhaus - De Stijl. Proponents of De Stijl advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour. Theo van Doesburg, one of the movement's most important members, later even moved to Weimar. Without a permanent position at the Bauhaus he still held architectural lectures and influenced the students and professors.

The most famous example of the De Stijl architecture is the Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht. It was commissioned by Ms Truus Schröder-Schräder as family house and was designed by the architect Gerrit Thomas Rietveld. It was built in 1924.

UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000

In 1919 the Weimar Saxon Grand Ducal Art School and the Weimar Academy of Fine Art were merged to form a new school. The school became known as Bauhaus and Walter Gropius became its first director. The Bauhaus soon gathered outstanding architects, artists, craftsman and designers. Its aim was to unite art and craft and shape and function for the creation of a functional total artwork for the mankind in the industrial age. Based on the fundamental courses (Josef Albers, Johannes Itten, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy) the Bauhaus offered for example courses in printing (Lyonel Feininger), pottery making (Gerhard Marcks), weaving (Georg Muche), mural art (Wassily Wandinsky), glass painting (Paul Klee) and sculpting (Oskar Schlemmer). The students, which included many foreigners and women, were encouraged to become both artists and craftsmen.

Due to the pressure of conservative parts in the Thuringian government the Bauhaus had to present its first exhibition in 1923. Although the professors thought it would be too early, the exhibition became a success. The main product of the exhibition was the Musterhaus am Horn, the first real Bauhaus-style building which was created as collaboration of the different courses.

Also after the exhibition the pressure of the Thuringian government did not decrease, in fact they even reduced the funding in 1924 and terminated the professors' contracts for 1925, which forced the Bauhaus to find a new home. This new home was found in Dessau, which had a liberal city council and where the aircraft manufacturer Hugo Junkers offered financial help. In Dessau the Bauhaus had its heyday. There many new pieces of furniture were designed and the cooperation with the industry began. Also the most famous Bauhaus-style buildings, the Bauhaus Building and the Masters' Houses, were built in Dessau.

In 1927 Walter Gropius designed two houses for the Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart. The Weissenhof Estate was built for the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition and was an international showcase of modern architecture. All together it included 21 houses, which were designed by 17 European architects. The estate in Stuttgart became the first in a series of six, which are currently trying to get the European Heritage Label (EDIT: They got the label in 2019!).

Another famous architect who was involved in the Weissenhof Estate was Le Corbusier. In 2016 17 projects by Le Corbusier in seven countries were inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List as The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement.

One of Le Corbusier's two houses at the Weissenhof Estate

Le Corbusier's National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo

In 1928 Walter Gropius resigned as director of the Bauhaus. The new director became the Swiss architect Hannes Meyer. Meyer intensified the cooperation with the industry and focused more on architecture. One of the most famous buildings designed by Hannes Meyer is the ADGB Trade Union School in Bernau bei Berlin.

One of the big problems of the Weimar Republic was the acute shortage of affordable housing. During Hannes Meyer's time as director the Bauhaus took part in a project in Dessau, which tried to produce relief - the Dessau-Törten Housing Estate. It was conceived as a solution for cost-effective mass housing.

Another important modern housing estate of that time was the Großsiedlung Siemensstadt, which was built with the participation of Walter Gropius in Berlin between 1929 and 1931. Unlike the other significant public housing projects of the time, which were produced under government sponsorship, the Siemensstadt was constructed by a private housing cooperative as worker housing for Siemens' nearby electrical factory. The Siemensstadt is the youngest of the six Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2008.

After Hannes Meyer had become the new director, he shifted the orientation of the school further to the left than it had been under Gropius, which resulted in conflicts with Dessau's city council. In 1930 Meyer was fired by the city's mayor. His successor became Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, but at this time the days of the Bauhaus were already numbered. In 1932 the NSDAP gained control in the city council and proceeded to close the Bauhaus. Rohe tried to save the school by moving it to Berlin and privatising it, but after the Nazi seizure of power the school was forced to voluntarily shut down.

New National Gallery in Berlin (built after the war)

But the closure of the school did not bring an end to its ideas. In fact it even helped to spread them, as in the following time many members of the school emigrated. Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for example went to the USA, where they continued their teachings, and Hannes Meyer went to the Soviet Union. As many of the students were Jews, many of them later also went to Israel, where they created the White City of Tel Aviv. Still until today the Bauhaus influences architecture, art and design and during a jubilee year like 2019 this becomes even clearer again.