Liechtenstein: The 200th Anniversary of the K.K.Briefsammelstelle Balzers

The history of Liechtenstein’s postal service began 200 years ago with a mail collection station in Balzers. On 1 September 1817, the k.k. österreichische Post (Imperial and Royal Austrian Post) opened a mail collection station in Balzers, followed in 1845 by a second collection station in Vaduz.  By 1912, there were a total of five Austrian-run post offices in Liechtenstein. That same year Liechtenstein also began to issue its own stamps. After the First World War, Liechtenstein left its 100-year relationship with the Austrian post and joined the Swiss PTT, concluding a postal contract with Switzerland in 1920. The move was regarded as necessary requirement to adopting the Swiss franc and customs treaty with Switzerland. In September 2017 the Post of Liechtenstein celebrated this Anniversary with several events and also by issuing this nice sheet you can see on the following cover cancelled by Balzers Post Office.

Stamp:
The 200th Anniversary of the K.K.Briefsammelstelle Balzers (m/s) - Issued: 04-09-2017