Guinea: German and Austrian Composers

 

 

Guinea issued a mini-sheet and a sheetlet of four stamps commemorating German and Austrian composers in 2017. The sheet of four stamps includes images of Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and Schubert. The mini-sheet shows Anton Bruckner. An organ is in the background of the Bruckner stamp.

European colonizers divvied up the African continent savagely in previous centuries. Portugal, France and Spain all laid claim to areas that included the name "Guinea." The region was a major source for gold which is why it was important to the colonizers. After the various colonies gained independence they took various names: the Spanish region became Equatorial Guinea, the Portuguese region became Guinea-Bissau; French Guinea became simply Guinea. Thus these stamps are from the formerly French region, and include French on the stamps and use francs for the denominations.

Anton Bruckner is closely associated with the St Florian Church in Austria. He has been interred in the church's crypt since his death. The organ pictured on the stamp seems to be that of the St Florian church. Rather than a larger picture of Bruckner in the selvage of the sheet as is often done with this sort of stamp issue, an image of JS Bach is shown.

The organ was built in the 16th century by Franz Xavier Chrismann of Slovenia. It presently has more than 7000 pipes.