The South Tirol had been transferred to Italy as one of the border changes after WWI. In North Tirol an unofficial Plebiscite was held on 24th April 1921, when 145,302 votes were cast with a majority of 90% in favour of Anschluss with Germany while 1,805 votes were against. A number of Propaganda cards were issued in favour of this plebiscite.
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| Tirol Plebiscite 24 April 1921. Celebration of the removal of the frontier barrier in Scharnitz-Mittenwald (the road from Seefeld to Partenkirchen) by Tirolean students | A Propaganda Postcard produced in Innsbruck for the Plebiscite on 24th April 1921. It represents the final stage for the joining of the Austrian Tirol and German Bavaria. |
The plebiscite committee, with the consent of the Tirolean government, instructed the Innsbruck printing works to overprint in red 10 values from the then current postage stamps with a lithographed eagle and date. The number of each overprinted ranged from 500 to 3,800 according to value. There were two issues. In the first, Type I, the eagle's tail is blunt and on the high values there is no hyphen between 'April' and '1921'. In Type II the eagle has a tail feather and the hyphen on the high values is present.
Type 1 - First issue. No point to the tail of the Eagle and no hyphen after April.
Type 2. A point to the tail of the Eagle and a hyphen after April on the Parliament issue. The top right stamp has an inverted overprint.
Examples of short-tailed and long-tailed eagles.
©APS. Last updated 6 March 2023