50 years - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2004 - 55 Euro Cent

On 15.5.1955 the State Treaty in the Vienna Belvedere was signed. Thus Austria was free after 10 years of occupation by the Allied Powers and again had the right to its own army. In September 1955, the Wehrgesetz was adopted as the basis for the Armed Forces of the 2nd Republic and declared permanent neutrality in October. On 15.7.1956 Ferdinand Graf was appointed as the first Federal Minister of Defense, on 3.2.1956 the first ensigns and lieutenants in the Fasangartenkaserne retired in Vienna. The first test was the new army in October 1956 with the use at the Hungarian border. In 1957 the first military attachés were sent abroad, in 1958 the first major association exercise took place and in 1960 a sanitary contingent was sent to the first foreign mission to the Congo within the framework of the UNO.These and other details on the eventful history of the army are described in the project "50 years of Austrian Armed Forces "in word, image and sound brought to the public's attention in 2005. As the winner in a major competition for the special stamp" 50 Years of the Austrian Armed Forces "the Tyrolean Markus Kapferer emerged from hundreds of submissions. He has a picture of Vzlt. Horst Konrad (MilKdo Tirol), the state coat of arms and the national flag with graphic means to the draft rewarded by the jury with place 1 compiled. He wanted to represent the tradition and patriotism of young, motivated soldiers. The brand artist deliberately painted the soldier's face neutrally in order to document that in the Austrian Armed Forces since 1998 men and women have been given equal rights.