European History in a Small Village (Luxembourg)

Schengen is a small village near the meeting place of the French, German and Luxembourgian border. In 1985 representatives from Belgium, France, West Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands came together in Schengen to sign the Schengen Agreement, which led to the creation of Europe's borderless Schengen Area. 

The European Museum in Schengen was opened in 2010 and shows exhibitions about the Schengen Agreement. In 2017 the Village of Schengen got the European Heritage Label. 

Maxicard with a Personalised Stamp about the 30th anniversary
of the Schengen Agreement

Thanks to the Schengen Agreement there are today no borders anymore between

Austria

Belgium

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Italy

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

19.05.2016

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam)

The time after World War II changed the political map of Southeast Asia permanently. Indonesia declared its independence from the Netherlands in 1945, which they accepted just in 1949 after the War of Indonesian Independence. The Philippines became independent from the USA in 1946. The Federation of Malaya became independent from the United Kingdom in 1957 and in 1963 Malaysia was founded when Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore were added to the Federation. Indonesia did not accepted its new neighbour and started the Konfrontasi and also the Philippines raised a claim to Sabah. Singapore was expelled from the Federation in 1965 due to ideological differences and became an independent state. But despite all these conflicts representatives of the four states and of Thailand came together in Bangkok in August 1967 and founded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with the Bangkok Declaration. Its main aims were and still are economic growth, social progress, sociocultural evolution and the protection of regional stability, but it was also founded as reaction against the Vietnam War and the Communism. In 1984 Brunei joined the ASEAN barely a week after gaining independence from the United Kingdom. Myanmar and Laos joined in 1997. In the same year the ASEAN was also hit hard by the Asian financial crisis. Cambodia joined the community as last new member in 1999. In 2007 the ASEAN- Charter was signed, which turned the ASEAN into a legal entity and aimed to create a single free-trade area with the purpose of moving closer to an EU-style community. Today the ASEAN is an active global partner and works together with other parts of the World to promote World peace and stability.

To commemorate the 48th and 50th anniversary of the ASEAN its member states issued joint stamps in 2015 and 2017 (without Brunei). I have all stamps from 2015, but still miss some stamps from 2017. If anybody can help me to get the stamps from Cambodia, Myanmar or Laos please write it in the comments. 

Johann Joachim Winckelmann, from Stendal to Rome (Germany, Vatican)

Johann Joachim Winckelmann was born in Stendal on 9th December 1717 as son of a poor cobbler. Due to bursaries he was able to receive a good education. For a while he studied theology in Halle and medicine in Jena and worked as private tutor. At the same time he also pursued philologic, philosophic and historic studies. In 1748 he became a librarian at Count Heinrich von Bünau's famous library near Dresden. There he met Cardinal Alberico Archinto, who offered him an employment as librarian in Rome on condition that Winckelmann converts to the Catholicism. Also during that time King Augustus III of Poland became his patron. In 1754 he quitted his employment in von Bünau's library and moved to Dresden for a short time to learn how to draw. In 1755 he moved to Rome. Also in 1755 he published his famous Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture. During his time in Italy he visited many important ancient sites and art collections. He visited for example Florence, Neapel and Pompeii. In 1763 he became Commissario delle Antichità, the most important curator of monuments in the Papal States. Winckelmann's masterpiece The History of Art in Antiquity was published in 1764. In 1768 he wanted to visit his old friends in Germany, but had to terminate the journey before he reached his destination. On his way back to Rome he was killed in Trieste on 8th June 1768 by a robber. Johann Joachim Winckelmann is today considered to be the father of the modern archaeology and the discipline of art history and a pioneer of the Classicism in Germany.

Thanks to Winckelmann the Apollo Belvedere became one of the World's most celebrated art works when he championed it as the best example of the perfection of the Greek aesthetic ideal. It became one of the leading lights of Classicism and an icon of the Enlightenment.

In Stendal there are today a Winckelmann Statue and the only Winckelmann Museum in the World, which was opened in 1955.

Theodor Storm and Theodor Mommsen (Germany)

Theodor Storm and Theodor Mommsen were both born in the Duchy of Schleswig in 1817. After their first meeting in 1839 the two authors were connected by a life long friendship. 

Theodor Storm was born on 14th September in Husum. He published his first poems at the age of 15. In 1837 he started to study law at the University of Kiel. In Kiel he also met Theodor Mommsen and his brother Tycho. Together they published a collection of songs, myths and fairy tales. After his studies he moved back to Husum and opened a lawyer's office. There he also married and together with his wife he had seven children. Between 1848 and 1851 he took part in the First Schleswig War. He later lived in Potsdam (1853-1856) and Heiligenstadt (1856-1864). After the Second Schleswig War he moved back to Husum in 1864 and became bailiff. In 1880 he retired and moved to Hademarschen, where he wrote some novellas. Theodor Storm died on 4th July 1888. He is considered to have been one of the most important authors of the Literary Realism. His most famous works include the novella The Rider on the White Horse and the poem The Town.

Theodor Mommsen was born on 30th November in Garding. His father awakened his interest for ancient literature early. In 1838 he started to study law at the University of Kiel. Although he was actually a lawyer, he devoted himself to ancient history after his studies of Roman law. In 1844 he started a journey to France and Italy, where he planned a collection of Roman epigraphs. After his return to Germany he worked as teacher and later journalist, before he became extraordinary professor in Leipzig in 1848. Due to his participation in the May Uprising in Dresden in 1849, he was dismissed and became professor in Zurich in 1852 and in 1854 in Breslau. In 1858 he moved to Berlin and in 1861 he became professor at the Frederick William University, where he lectured until 1885. In Berlin he was also a member of the Reichstag. For his History of Rome he got the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1902. Theodor Mommsen died on 1st November 1903. He is considered to have been one of the most important historians of the 19th century.

Franz Joseph and Sisi (Austria, Hungary)

Franz Joseph was born on 18th August 1830. He was the nephew of the impotent heir apparent Ferdinand of Austria (Emperor since 1835) and the son of Archduke Franz Karl Joseph of Austria, who was considered to be to weak to rule. Thus his mother disciplined him as possible Emperor from the beginning. In 1848 Franz Joseph became the Emperor of Austria at the age of 18 after his uncle had abdicated in the course of the Revolutions in the Austrian Empire and his father had renounced. In 1854 he married Elisabeth "Sisi", the Duchess in Bavaria. His reign was coined by the increasing conflict with Russia on the Balkans, the approaching to the German Empire and the nationality conflict in his Empire. During his life he had to suffer many strokes of fate. His first child Sophie died in 1857, his brother Maximilian was executed in Mexico in 1867, his only son Rudolf committed suicide in 1889, Sisi was killed in 1898 and his nephew and the heir apparent Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 in Sarajevo. Although he did not want a war because of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, he wanted to demonstrate power against the Kingdom of Serbia and agreed to an ultimatum, which lead to World War I. After 68 years on the throne Franz Joseph I died on the 21st November 1916 in Schönbrunn Palace. The death of the Emperor, the defeats in the war and the nationality conflicts initiated the dissolution of the Habsburg Empire.

After the defeat in the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 the Habsburg Empire was on the verge of collapse and to save the Empire Franz Joseph I was forced to come to a compromise with the Hungarians. The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 partially re-established the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hungary and created the dual monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a real union between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Austrian and Hungarian regions were governed by separate parliaments and prime ministers, but the unity was maintained by the rule of a single head of state, reigning as both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. The resulting system was maintained until the dissolution of the dual monarchy after World War I.

Duchess Elisabeth "Sisi" in Bavaria was born in 1837 and had a happy childhood. In 1853 she travelled with her mother and sister to Bad Ischl to meet Franz Joseph. Franz Joseph's mother planned the marriage of her son with one of the duchesses and surprisingly Franz Joseph chose Elisabeth. In 1854 they married and together they had four children. The youngest daughter, Marie Valerie, was her favourite. Elisabeth never liked the court life and from 1860 onwards she was often on journeys far away from Vienna. To mitigate the loneliness of the Emperor Elisabeth arranged the acquaintance of her husband with the actress Katharina Schratt. Elisabeth and Franz Joseph were lifelong friendly connected and often exhanged letters. One of the few political activities of Elisabeth was the mediation of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise. In 1867 she became Queen of Hungary. On a journey to Geneva in 1898 Elisabeth was stabbed by the Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni.

The Kaiserville in Bad Ischl was bought in 1853 by Franz Joseph's mother as wedding gift for the couple. In the following years it was renovated in the Neoclassicist style and became the summer residence of the Emperor. Nearly every year he celebrated his birthday in Bad Ischl. In 1914 Franz Joseph signed the declaration of war against Serbia in the Kaiservilla.

Gödöllő Palace was built from 1735 onwards by Antal Grassalkovich I in the Baroque style. In 1866 Empress Elisabeth of Austria visited the palace for the first time, when it was used as sickbay for the wounded of the Austro-Prussian War, and breathed a wish to obtain it, which was declined by her husband. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise the Hungarian State bought the palace and gave it as coronation gift to Franz Joseph and Elisabeth. In the following time it was restored and rebuilt. The palace became a favourite residence of Elisabeth and she spent around 2000 days there. After Elisabeth's death it was rarely used and started to decay, until it was once again restored from 1996 onwards. Today it houses a museum and is a popular tourist destination.