Wilhelm Dachauer (1881 - 1951) was not only a stamp and banknote designer but also a well known Austrian painter. He was not an engraver even though some engravers do work with their own designs.
His first stamp designs were issued in 1921/22 in the style what in German was called the Jugendstil (Art Nouveau)
Express stamp
Newspaper stamp
Regular definitives
His 1926 8+2 groschen stamp from the Niebelungen set was chosen as the most beautiful stamp at the Philatelic Exhibition in Cincinnati.
The rest of the set
He continued designing stamps until the Annexation and during the war worked on stamps for the Third Reich and the Generalgouvernement .
After WWII he was shunned because his art was favoured by the Nazis. He was finally allowed to work again in 1948 and produced a few more designs until he died in 1951.
Dachauer's final stamp. (exept for one issued posthumous in 1962)
Austria issued a stamp in 1981 for his 100th Birthday, below is the stamp which shows one of his unaccepted drawings for the Niebelungen set and the FDC which has his self portrait on the cachet.
English version on the back of the FDC
Stamp announcement sheet.
Posted 11/08/2010 7:53 pm
