COVER N. 622 - AUSTRIA 

Postmark: Feldkirchen Bei Graz 8073 date illegible

Posted on ?; Received on the 5th August 2025

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Austria. The first country that I got mail from when I started this blog (note to self: come to think of it, it's high time I should send some mail to Florian...) and yet not one that I often see in my mailbox...Vielen Dank, Kurt!

The common theme for the EUROPA stamps of 2024 was "Underwater fauna and flora". Austria's issue comprised one single 1,20 stamp, illustrated with a photograph of the Grüner See (the Green Lake), which began to circulate on 04MAY2024.

I was not familiar with the Green Lake, but my voyager papillae immediately started salivating  just from looking at some photos on the internet.

The lake which is quite shallow from July to May, (1to 2 meters deep at most) but come spring and the melting of the ice from the nearby mountains, its water rises exponentially, attaining depths up to about 12 metres.

As a consequence, all the man made infrastructures around the lake, like park benches and walkways, get underwater what makes for a rather strange sight given the transparency and clarity of the emerald green water.

This is particularly highlighted in  the stamp with a coat of UV varnish on the lower 4/5 of the stamp, which imparts a rather "watery" look to the photograph. I have no access to a UV light right now, but the effect should be even greater under such a light source.

The Postmark was applied at Feldkirchen Bei Graz, a town of 7.3 thousand inhabitants in the State of Styria