| Added by |
 Alain Martineau
|
| General Description : | The stamp "Terrible Rosalia of Forchtenstein" appeared in the standard issue series "Tales and Legends of Austria". The stamp shows the "Ghost of Rosalia" over Forchtenstein Castle. The legend of the "terrible mistress of the castle": Rosalie, the wife of peace-loving Prince Giletus von Forchteinstein, was a terrible woman. Once when the prince was called away to war, Rosalie ("Sallah") acted as the high-handed mistress of the castle. She cruelly robbed and oppressed the peasants and many of them - either because they could not count or simply aroused the displeasure of the princess - died of starvation in the castle's black tower. Upon his return the prince pronounced judgement on his spouse. Just as those tortured by the terrible woman, she was tied to a rope and lowered down into the black tower where, suspended over the bodies of her victims, she was to starve to death. Every quarter of an hour the castle sentry stepped before a tower hatch and called below "Sallah he!". Each time a heart-rending scream penetrated up from the depths. On the eighth day there was silence in the tower. Since then Rosalia's ghost appeared at the midnight hour shining eerily around the black tower of Forchtenstein. For years, indeed centuries guards would grasp their rifle and shout at the tower in a drawling tone "Sallah he!", whereupon the ghost would disappear. Only in the 15th century when a lord of the castle built the Rosalia Chapel in atonement on a nearby hill was the ghost of the mistress released forever. Such is the legend of terrible Rosalia of Forchtenstein. A significant feature of legends themselves is their claim to truth and educational value, which determine events time and time again. In this situation the root of the legend is not aimed at one or more persons from the population who have done something wrong, but rather at a princess who in her representative reign wronged a people. The history of Forchtenstein Castle: Even in the beginning, Forchtenstein - built around the turn of the 13th/14th century as a frontier house - was very deeply bound to the Lower Austrian region (Wiener Neustadt). This mighty bastion set on a dolomite cliff served to protect and control the critical road connecting Sopron (Hungary, German name: Odenburg) and Wiener Neustadt (Lower Austria). From 1352 to 1445 it was ruled by the Earls of Mattersdorf. The status of earldom and fortress (1445) eventually came by pawn and in 1447 through it's sale to Count Albrecht VI of Austria, who eventually passed it on to his brother who later became Emperor Friedrich III. Today the castle is in the possession of the Esterhazy family. |
| Face value | 7 Schilling |
| Catalog code (Michel) | AT 2212 |
| Catalog code | Stamp Number AT 1718 Yvert et Tellier AT 2041 Stanley Gibbons AT 2455 AFA number AT 2104 ANK AT 2245 Unificato AT 2041 |
| Series | Tales and Legends |
| Stamp colour | multicolor |
| Stamp use | Definitive stamp |
| Issue date | 21/03/1997 |
| Designer | A. Tuma |
| Print technique | Photo & Engrave |
| Perforation | 14 |
| Height | 33.00 mm |
| Width | 28.00 mm |
| Catalog prices | No catalog prices set yet |
