When Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, an action known as Anschluß or Anschluss, Austrian stamps were immediately discontinued in favor of regular German stamps. This ended, of course, in 1945 with the fall of the Nazis. The area at this time was called German Austria, or Deutschösterreich.
In the immediate aftermath of World War II, German stamps, including those featuring a likeness of Adolf Hitler himself, continued to be used in Austria, but with a new overprint reading ‘Österreich’, and sometimes with a black bar covering the ‘Deutsches Reich’ inscription. Public opinion quickly led to the development of a much larger overprint, still reading ‘Österreich’ but with several thick parallel bars completely obscuring Hitler’s face. These stamps were issued by the USSR and only used for a short time.
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Collectors today buy these blotted-out Hitler stamps, as well as Third Reich stamps used in Austria during the time of occupation, as well as later anti-Nazi issues. Check the current selection in this section.
