Magyar Posta is celebrating the city of Sopron and the centenary of the 1921 referendum by issuing a stamp. Fifty thousand copies of the numbered commemorative souvenir sheet designed by the graphic artist Barnabás Baticz were produced by ANY Security Printing Company. The issue will be released on 5 July 2021.
Under the Venice protocol, between 14 and 16 December 1921 the people of Sopron and its environs could vote in a referendum whether their area, which totalled 257 km2, should belong to Hungary instead of Austria following the post-war arrangements. This was the only real territorial revision of the Treaty of Versailles accepted by the major powers.
In 1922, Hungary’s national assembly decided to erect a memorial in Sopron to commemorate the historic importance of the plebiscite. In 1928, the door to the Fire Tower in Sopron was given an ornamental frame, which was called the Gate of Loyalty. The baroque frame was designed by Rezső Hikisch. Above it is a group of statues depicting Hungaria gathering the loyal citizens of the city around her by the sculptor Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl. In the middle of the composition is the goddess Hungaria, symbolising the nation, wearing the Holy Crown. On her right is the city’s smaller coat of arms (without the eagle) and on her left the Kossuth coat of arms. She is receiving devoted Hungarian and German-speaking citizens, gathering the committed people of the city around her. (Source: tuztorony.sopron.hu)
The main motif on the stamp of the special souvenir sheet is Sopron’s principal symbol, the building of the Fire Tower with the Gate of Loyalty commemorating the 1921 referendum. The group of statues from the gate appears in the frame of the souvenir sheet. The souvenir sheet and the postmark feature the logo of the centenary. The first day cover shows the Fountain of Loyalty, the work of the sculptor Tamás E. Soltra.
