To glue or moisten: Grand Duke Henri as a stamp motif

40 years of Schengen Agreement, the Luga and the Roman villa in sheer: As in the past, the recently launched postage stamps from Post Luxembourg were given motifs that refer to current topics, events and cultural monuments. There are currently four other postal signs dedicated to them to a person who is at the center of public interest this year: Grand Duke Henri.

The head of the state of Luxembourg celebrates its silver throne anniversary in 2025, but in October, a few days before the actual key date, will clear the way for his eldest son Guillaume.

Post Luxembourg honors the monarch, who celebrated his 70th birthday in April, before the big event with an exhibition entitled « Grand-Duc Henri: Un Règne, Une Époque. Chronique Philatélique d’un Jubilé d’Argent », which takes a look at a very special representation of the jubilee.

A queen and a young prince

Already the first stamp in the world, the « One Penny Black » from 1840, wore the portrait of a monarch as a motive. Or rather: a monarch. She adorned the portrait of the British Queen Victoria.

However, Grand Duke Henri was not immortalized as a crowned head of state on a stamp and thus made known all over the world. The first brand to which its side portrait was transferred to the paper by so -called heliogravure was published in 1957 and had a value of CHF 2. It was a real premiere in a double sense, as Aurélie Genin (Responsable Patrimoine Culturel et Archives near Post Luxembourg) reported on a short tour of the exhibition: « It was the first time that a stamp was implemented with the portrait of a later hereditary die so young.

This was followed by motifs of the then prince in the baptismal robe, in shorts and in noble twirn. A brand launched in 1967 in favor of Caritas shows the young Henri, at that time already in the role of the hereditary duke, in typical scout clothing. In 1976 it was well styled and depicted in military uniform. The colors: bright, colorful, lively. In this regard and of course also in terms of motif, the post never decide alone, says Aurélie Genin. « The final selection is always made in consultation with the Grand Ducal Family. »

At the beginning of the 1980s it finally got a little tighter on the brands. Henri suddenly had to share the square with a woman, but probably with great joy. He married Maria Teresa Mestre on February 14, 1981. Appropriately, the brand for the « Prince wedding », as in German, Luxembourg, French and also English on the bow with twelve postal signs can be read. « It was rather unusual at the time that the hereditary granddaughter at that time and the later wife of the Grand Duke was also on the brand was rather unusual, » said Aurélie Genin. « But this underlined the importance of women in the monarchy. »

A golden thread continues to lead visitors to various stamps in the course of the exhibition, which summarize a little for the past decades at the court and also stage the various forms of representation. They were brought into circulation on the occasion of enthronement, throne anniversaries or the silver wedding of the Grand Ducal Couple.

A little out of line falls a bow that appeared on the occasion of the exposure of Philatélique Internationale de Jeunes Philatélistes in 1988: it contains three brands. One shows the three prince Guillaume, Félix and Louis, another the then hereditary granddaughter and the third to the then hereditary grand duke Henri, who can hardly be recognized as such on this recording.

The gem were printed, which made their way through the entire Grand Duchy, in Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and even Sweden.

Embroidered treasures

The end of the exhibition on the ground floor of the Helix building on Place de la Gare forms three or four current brands in the mail range, which have been launched in honor of the throne anniversary. On the one hand, it is a brand that is available in two versions and is divided into two: the Grand Ducal Pair can be seen in black and white below-a recording from 2022-a color field in blue or orange, the colors of the family, with the initials of the couple.

However, special attention is paid to two other stamps, which differ significantly from the approximately 30 previous copies and at first glance cannot be recognized as postal signs: they are embroidery work that not only have an artistic but even a real nominal value.

The brand launched with a circulation of 20,000 with a value of 5.50 euros shows a large H on a two -part reason in orange and blue. There is a crown on top that is taken from the coat of arms of the Grand Duke. In addition, the state name and the value are attached as embroidery.

A second stamp – as made by the Austrian company Hämmerle & Vogel GmbH & Co KG – shows the new, modernized coat of arms of the Grand Duke with four lions and crown. The nominal value of the brand can also be seen: 55 euros. This specimen, which was made with a gold thread, among other things and was occupied with crystals, has a circulation of 1,000 copies and officially appears on June 20. The brand’s sales price is 150 euros … including wooden storage box.

The idea for the two special brands, which can also be used normally to frank letters and packages using a sticker on the back, came into being at an international meeting of postal companies, where company owner Markus Hämmerle on Isabelle Faber (Membre du Comité Exécuttif de Post Luxembourg) and her colleague Claude Balthasar (Chef de Service Patrimoine & Post Philately) met at a one subsequent company visit was able to inspire a cooperation.

« At the time, with regard to the silver anniversary of the throne of Grand Duke Henri, we wondered: What can we do to honor him to exercise his duties? What can we do to show him our loyalty? » Explains Isabelle Faber. « He was there at all major events in the history of the post office, of course also at the inauguration of this building. And after the end of the Corona pandemic he came to the distribution center and thanked the employees for their work. »

The two brands are the first two models from Post Luxembourg that were not made in paper form. For this reason, a photo exhibition and a video can be seen on the third floor of the Helix building that deal more precisely on the production process of these small works of art.

A big thank you

In addition to the special postal signs in embroidered form, the exhibition is also a big thank you to Grand Duke Henri, as Isabelle Faber reveals. « It not only summarizes the life of the monarch to date, but also the history of the Grand Duchy, at least a few eras of it, is told by this show. » Stamps are witnesses to the past. « Every major event in the country can be found on a stamp. History can also be told. »

The exhibition can also be visited on the national holiday, June 23. If you didn’t have the opportunity to take a look at the Henri with the festival parade, you will definitely be lucky in the post building at the train station. The head of state shines towards the visitors here in many ways … in black and white and of course also in the most colorful colors.

Exhibition « Grand-Duc Henri: Un Règne, Une Époque. Chronique Philatélique d’un Jubilé d’Argent »; until July 5, 2025; Opening times: Monday to Friday (except June 9) from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays and June 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.