Magyar Posta presents Saint Stephen’s Hall on a special souvenir sheet. The souvenir sheet and the associated philatelic products were designed by the graphic artist Barnabás Baticz. The souvenir sheets were produced by Pénzjegynyomda Zrt. The new issue will be available at first day post offices and Filaposta in Hungary from 18 August 2023, but may also be ordered from Magyar Posta’s online store.
The interior of Saint Stephen’s Hall was decorated in the Neo-Romanesque style though in certain places typically Hungarian ornamentation and features of a national character were employed. The renowned architect Alajos Hauszmann gathered the best Hungarian craftsmen of the era to jointly create this masterpiece of fin-de-siècle Hungarian applied arts. Those involved in making the interior included the cabinetmaker Endre Thék, the sculptor Alajos Strobl and the wrought-iron artist Gyula Jungfer. This assembly of applied art masterpieces won the approval of the monarch Franz Joseph, who ordered its presentation at the Paris Exposition of 1900. The hall recreated in the French capital won several prizes, including the grand prix of the world’s fair. The spectacular room, inaugurated in the Buda Castle Palace in 1902, was open to the general public as well. Unfortunately, it was destroyed during the Second World War and was not restored thereafter. Eventually, the hall was reborn in its original style under the National Hauszmann Programme. Its interior layout, use of materials, ornamentation and furniture follows the original concept conceived by Hauszmann in every detail. The recreation of the hall was aided by the extant plans, sketches and photographs. The hall was opened to the public again on 20 August 2021. Source: szentistvanterem.hu
The stamp design on the numbered special souvenir sheet shows the bust of King Saint Stephen, while the frame uses the central feature of the hall, the monumental pyrogranite fireplace made in the ceramic factory of Vilmos Zsolnay. The main motif of the special first day cover is the painting from the hall showing Saint Stephen proclaiming Christianity, and the imprint of the postmark on it depicts the logo of Saint Stephen’s Hall.
In addition to the standard, black-numbered edition, a red-numbered imperforated and a green-numbered specially perforated edition of the souvenir sheet, and an exclusive stamp set are being issued. Alongside the three editions of the souvenir sheet, the stamp set also contains a monochrome version, which may only be purchased as part of the set. The souvenir sheets and the monochrome print are protected in mounts. The stamp set sold in a resealable plastic case comes with a numbered Certificate in Hungarian and English bearing an embossed postal seal verifying its authenticity. All the editions in each set of the 1,000 sets issued bear the same serial number in the number range between 1 and 1,000.
The standard edition as well as the red- and green-numbered souvenir sheets with serial numbers above the 1,000 number range are also available for sale outside the set. The monochrome print may not be used to pay for the postage of letter-mail items
