Hungary: 5 Postal Stories

Yesterday, Hungary made a democratic choice, and the so-called “electoral autocracy of Viktor Orbán” should now belong to the past. On this hopeful note, we at Ukrposhta Market decided to share five postal stories about Hungary — with a musical bonus at the end.

The Spoiled Kaiser

In 1871, the first national postage stamps appeared in Austria-Hungary. Naturally, they featured Emperor Franz Joseph I.

But something went wrong: instead of a sharp engraving, lithography was used. As a result, the first batch had blurred lines, a “grainy” texture, and gave the impression that the Emperor’s portrait (!!) was covered in spots.

The entire print run was deemed defective, and millions of copies were ordered to be destroyed.

Does this remind you of a scene from The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek? When the innkeeper Palivec took down the Kaiser’s portrait so flies wouldn’t land on it—yet was still arrested for “insulting the Emperor.” Something similar happened with the stamp.

A few copies did survive, however. Today they are highly valuable.

The Bird That Led the Way to a Kingdom

In 1900, Austria-Hungary adopted the gold standard and introduced new currencies: crowns and fillers (in Hungary) and heller (in Austria). At the same time, the Royal Hungarian Post (Magyar kir. Posta) issued new stamps featuring the mythical Turul bird soaring above the Holy Crown.

According to Hungarian myth, the Turul — a bird of prey, possibly the gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) — appeared in a dream to Princess Emese and showed the path from the Urals through the Carpathians to the Danube basin. There, the Finno-Ugric tribes united under Prince Árpád, Emese’s grandson, and — so to speak — inherited the lands of Attila the Hun.

Turul stamps were issued until 1916. Difficult times lay ahead for the Royal Post.

Provisional Stamps of the Postwar Years

1919. World War I is over, and Austria-Hungary no longer exists. Imperial stamps had lost their relevance — but the need for communication remained.

Across Hungarian territories, power was changing so rapidly that new stamps simply couldn’t be printed in time. The solution: old imperial stamps were transformed into new ones using overprints — adding the inscription MAGYAR POSTA, changing symbols, sometimes even altering meaning. These were so-called provisional stamps, which we have written about before.

From Debrecen to Banat, local provisionals appeared with different fonts, print quality, and circulation sizes — sometimes literally “field-made.” The same stamp could exist in several versions, depending on who controlled the territory at that moment.

Motorized Mail

In 1900, the Hungarian Automobile Club had only 45 members — yet the Royal Post ordered a car chassis from Peugeot, later building a cabin for it locally, and even announced a tender (!!) for 22 mail-collection tricycles.

At first, the Post used tricycles with French engines, but later switched to domestic technology designed by János Csonka, head of the workshop at the Budapest Technical University. By 1905, postal vehicles of his design also appeared — again, through tenders.

Beyond postal transport, János Csonka is best known as one of the inventors of the carburetor. Together with Donát Bánki, he developed in 1893 a device that mixes fuel with air for internal combustion engines — and also created the first Hungarian motorcycle and motorboat.

Composers on Stamps

Hungarians take pride in their culture and history — and composers frequently appear on their postage stamps.

The Romantic composer and virtuoso performer who introduced Hungary to Europe — Franz Liszt. Listen to his Послухайте його Piano Sonata in B minor, S.178, performed by Martha Argerich.

The researcher of Eastern European music and the composer who helped Hungary rediscover itself — Béla Bartók. Listen to 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs in a jazz arrangement by Modern Art Orchestra.

The composer and educator who integrated folk traditions into teaching, author of the Kodály method — Zoltán Kodály. We share his Hungarian Psalms.

The composer of historical operas, conductor, and author of the Hungarian national anthem — Ferenc Erkel.

And what are your favorite facts about Hungary?