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The History of Philately in Croatia
Before 1850
The Philatelic Collection includes numerous pre-philatelic letters with seals enabling the control of postal services payment. At the same time, they are documents of the postal service organization and historical situation in Croatia in the 18th and 19th c. Croatia and Slavonia were parts of the Austrian empire since the 16th c., and Istria and Dalmatia since the end of the 18th, so that postal services were also under Austrian jurisdiction.
During Napoleon's rule over the Illyrian provinces (1809-1813), postal orders and tariffs were subject to French regulations. It was then that postal seals with the addition of "Illyrie" were introduced. On the territory of Croatia, 18 post offices had such seals.
Through the Vienna Congress in 1815, all the lands that Austria had lost during Napoleonic Wars were returned to it, including Illyria, that was slowly disintegrating all the way until 1849. That is why on the Austrian seals from the area, we may also find the mark "Illyrie" all the way until 1849.
The Croatian Military Border seals constitute a special group of
pre-philatelic seals, from the end of the 18th c. to its abolishment
in 1874 (formally, in 1881), when the postal services of the area
came under the jurisdiction of the Postal Management in Zagreb.
1850 - 1918
The postal services reform conducted in England
in 1840 introduced stamps as means of paying for postal services.
Through a decree by the Austrian Ministry of Commerce, it was ordered
that the stamps must be introduced by 1 June, 1850. It was then
that Austrian stamps were introduced into the Triune Kingdom as
well.
After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the Croato-Hungarian Compromise of 1868 were signed, Austrian stamps and seals were used in Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, and Istria, while, as of 1871, the mail sent from Croatia and Slavonia had Hungarian stamps on it.
Since Croatia was not an independent state, it could not print its own stamps, which is why we refer to the period until 1918 as the period of Croatian pre-philately. All mail packages (including those with Austrian and Hungarian stamps) sent from a post office on the territory of Croatia are considered as pertaining to this period.
The Croatian Philatelic Society (orig. abbrev. HFD) was established in 1896. In 1907, it organized The First Croatian Philatelic Exhibition, while, in 1919, it started pubishing the first Croatian philatelic journal, The Philatelist.
1918
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was
established in 1918. Most state affairs were not centralized. The
management of postal services, being public, was also decentralized.
That is when the first Croatian stamps called provisory appeared,
made by reprinting two Hungarian stamps, with the following text:
"SHS/Croatia".
The first true Croatian stamp appeared on 29 November, 1918. The second edition - a series of regular stamps - in use as of 1919, had the following text on: "The Croatian National Postal Service".
Of significance from the period is also the album given as present to Mr. Cezar Akacic, the first Croatian Mail & Wireless Official in the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs.
1941 - 1945
In the 1941-1945 period, the Independent State of Croatia (orig. abbrev. NDH) was issuing its own stamps. Two days after the proclamation of Croatia's independence, on 12 April, 1941, the first stamps appeared, being the first official franco provisory editions of the Independent State of Croatia.
As regards stamps with reprints - the so called provisory stamps, there were seven editions of franco stamps and one edition of "porto" stamps. Other editions were printed as "final". Stamps were often issued on various occasions, such as the Outstanding Croatian Men - The Zrinski and the Frankopani edition, as well as several official stamps intended for the postal traffic among state institutions i.e. among institutions and their parties.
By the end of May, 1945, the NDH postal administration issued 46 different stamp editions.
From 1991 Until the Present
In the September of 1991, the first stamp of the Republic of Croatia was put in use. It was followed by numerous regular, occasional, and additional stamps.
The Museum holdings include all stamps of the Republic of Croatia issued by the end of December, 1997. The development of the series of Croatian stamps issued until 1996 constitutes a unit apart.
copyright (c) , HT & MDC
design: NOVENA d.o.o., Zagreb |
