The Austrian Post (German: ''Österreichische Post Aktiengesellschaft'') is a company that provides

postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sy ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. It was established in 1999 after a split-off from the state-owned PTT agency ''Post und Telekom Austria AG'' and is listed on the

Vienna Stock Exchange Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

History

The first standardised postal service was set up between

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

and

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in 1490. By 1563 an extensive system of mail routes existed connecting Vienna with cities in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. In 1722 In

Emperor Charles VI Charles VI (; ; 1 October 1685 – 20 October 1740) was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully claimed the throne of Spain follow ...

made the postal service a

government monopoly In economics, a government monopoly or public monopoly is a form of coercive monopoly in which a government agency or government corporation is the sole provider of a particular good or service and competition is prohibited by law. It is a monopo ...

and by the mid-18th century passenger carrying

mail coach A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. ...

service began. During the 1800s letter boxes, money orders, cash-on-delivery services were introduced and a pneumatic mail system was set up in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1875.

The first regular international airmail route between

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

and

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

was established on March 31, 1918, and terminated on October 15. Three

definitive stamp A definitive stamp is a postage stamp that is part of the regular issue of a country's stamps, available for sale by the post office for an extended period of time and designed to serve the everyday postal needs of the country. The term is used in ...

s were

overprint An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a Postage stamp, postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or Ticket (admission), ticket after it has been Printing, printed. Post offices most often use ...

ed "FLUGPOST" for this flight and showed that a regular airmail delivery was feasible even during wartime. Many philatelists consider this regular post delivery with aeroplanes to be the actual start of airmail history.

Postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

s were introduced nationwide in 1966.

Philately

Though not in general use until 80 years later, the first postmarks were introduced in 1787 by Georg Khumer, a postmaster in

Friesach Friesach () is a historic town in the Sankt Veit an der Glan (district), Sankt Veit an der Glan district of Carinthia (state), Carinthia, Austria. First mentioned in an 860 deed, it is known as the oldest town in Carinthia. Geography Location Fri ...

identifying time and place of use, and Austria's first

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s were issued in 1850.

Services

Since 1986 the Austrian Post started Express mail services and is an EMS Cooperative contracted delivery agent within the UPU. In April 2020, the Austrian Post launched bank99, a credit institution that offers online services as well as personal customer support at around 1,800 service points throughout Austria. The Austrian Post owns 80% of the bank's shares, while a 20% stake is held by CAPITAL BANK – GRAWE GRUPPE AG. Post offices and postal service partners serve as distribution channels, which allows bank99 to potentially provide financial services for 99% percent of the Austrian population, closing supply gaps in rural areas. Bank99 offers checking accounts for private customers, services for national and international financial transactions, and credit cards. Secure international money transfers are carried out in partnership with

Ria Money transfer Ria Money Transfer is a subsidiary of Euronet Worldwide, Inc., which specializes in money remittances. Ria initiates transfers through a network of agents and company-owned stores located throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pa ...

. The company has positioned itself in opposition to direct banks, offering personal services through a network of physical locations. Austria 1910 10k Franz Josef

Controversy

In 2019, Austria's data protection authority imposed a fine of 18 million euros ($20 million) on the Austrian Post for illegally using customers’ data, such as ages and addresses, to calculate a probability of which political party they might support and sell its findings.Kirsti Knolle (October 29, 2019)
Data privacy fine to hit Austrian Post's 2019 profit
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''.

References

External links

*
Vienna Stock Exchange: Market Data Österreichische Post AG

History of Post, Telegraphs and Telephone in Vienna - 1905
(In German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Osterreichische Post Service companies of Austria