|
1984 Austria
200th Anniversary of Ballooning in Austria
This stamp was the first one in Austrian postal history displaying a balloon subject. It shows the first manned balloon ascent by Johann Georg Stuwer. Stuwer, whose real name was Johannes Stubenrauch, was born at Oberliezheim, Germany, on August 2, 1732.On January 17, 1784, a public, but unmanned balloon ascent took place at Wieden in Vienna. However, it was only Stuwer who succeeded in carrying out the first manned balloon trip in Austria. He moved to Vienna and was granted the privilege to perform fireworks by Empress Maria Theresa. In his fireworks, Stuwer wanted to tell stories to the delight of his audience. Soon, he was well known due to the clever selection of the topics of his fireworks. By constructing his own balloon, he wanted to benefit from the novelty of this invention by introducing a new attraction at his shows. Thus, the first manned balloon ascent, in a balloon developed by Stuwer, was witnessed by around 15,000 spectators in Austria on July 6, 1784. Johann Georg Stuwer died in Vienna on January 4, 1804.  | |