U.N. stamps and stationery honor 40th anniversary of Vienna, Austria, headquarters

By Denise McCarty

The United Nations Postal Administration will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Vienna International Center and UNPA/Vienna on five €0.90 postage stamps to be issued Aug. 23 in a pane of 10 with attached labels.

On Aug. 24, UNPA will issue a postal stationery envelope featuring the Vienna International Center as part of a joint issue with Austrian Post.

The pane of 10 includes five different stamp designs featuring illustrations of the Vienna International Center in the style of Hundertwasser (the pseudonym of Friedrich Stowasser, 1928-2000). An artist and an architect, Hundertwasser also designed stamps for Austria, the United Nations and other postal administrations.

In announcing the 2017 edition of Hundertwasser by Harry Rand, the publisher Taschen said: “Across his work, Hundertwasser embraced the biomorphic, the irregular, and the irrational. Drawing inspiration from masters as varied as Gaudí and Gustav Klimt, his categorical rejection of the ‘godless and immoral’ straight line, as well as his boycott of ‘monotonous architecture,’ infused his bold, colorful works with a vitality that set him aside from most.”

The labels show photographs of the Vienna International Center taken at different angles.

Designed by Austrian architect Johann Staber, the center was constructed between 1972 and 1979, officially opening Aug. 23, 1979. Located in Vienna’s Donaustadt area across the Danube River, the complex covers approximately 45 acres and includes six Y-shaped office towers and two conference buildings.

A large photograph of the Vienna International Center is shown in the selvage of the stamp pane. The selvage also includes the logos of the United Nations and the 40th anniversary and the inscription: “Celebrating 40 Years UNPA | Vienna International Centre (1979-2019).”

The €0.90 postal stationery envelope, printed in an edition of 10,000, features an illustration of the Vienna International Center by Austrian artist Kurt Regschek (1923-2005).

Inscriptions on the preprinted stamp and below the illustration in the lower left mention “UNO-City,” another name for the Vienna International Center.

The stamps and postal stationery are for use at the U.N. post office in the complex.

For ordering information, visit the U.N. Stamps website; email unpanyinquiries@un.org; telephone 212-963-7684 or 800-234-8672; or write to UNPA, Box 5900, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-5900.

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