The Austrian Post had already chosen Edelweiss as an iconic motif for a technical innovation in 2005 and had the first Austrian postage stamp embroidered on fabric. In 2025 the Edelweiss returns as a stamp—and according to the logistics provider this even constitutes a world premiere. The 'Edelweiss reloaded' is the world's first stamp produced by a 3D printer, the
Austrian Post announced recently.
The new stamp was presented by Wolfgang Schnabl, President of the Austrian Alpine Association, and Walter Oblin, General Director of Austrian Post AG.
The new Edelweiss stamp was produced with a special 3D printer: Tiny droplets of liquid photopolymer were applied to stamp sheets by fine nozzles and cured by UV light before the next droplets
were applied. Through this process, layer by layer, the motif of the Edelweiss blossom with printed hairs in different color gradients and heights was created.
The printed blossom is, according to the Austrian Post, soft and flexible and resembles the real Edelweiss in its velvety surface. The green inscription is also applied plastically with the 3D printer. Both the embroidered
stamp from 2005 and the 'Edelweiss reloaded' were produced by the Vorarlberg-based company Hämmerle & Vogel.
The stamp, which has been available since October 18, has a face value of €6.50 (Tariff: Economy Letter International L, for all of Europe) and is issued in a limited edition of 90,000 copies. Like a conventional stamp, you can use it to prepay
