Freistadt Danzig Post 150th Birth Anniversary of Authur Schopenhauer - 1938

FREISTADT DANZIG POST issued on 22 February 1938  three  first day cover stamps to commemorate  the 150th birth anniversary of philosopher Authur Schopenhauer. A 10 Pf illustrated stationery postcard was issued as well. The first day cancellation postmark originated from and states Danzig Schopenhauer Gedenkfeier.

The postage stamps of 'Schopenhauer' from the Free City of Danzig (in values of 15 Pf, 25 Pf and 40 Pf) were designed by Danzig painter and graphic artist Max Buchholz.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860) was a German philosopher born in Danzig. He is best known for his 1818 work "The World as Will and Representation" (expanded in 1844), which characterises the phenomenal world as the product of a blind noumenal will. His work has been described as an exemplary manifestation of philosophical pessimism.

Although his work failed to garner substantial attention during his lifetime, Schopenhauer had a posthumous impact across various disciplines, including philosophy, literature, and science. His writing on aesthetics, morality, and psychology influenced many thinkers and artists. Those who have cited his influence include philosophers Emil Cioran, Friedrich Nietzsche and Ludwig Wittgenstein, scientists Erwin Schrödinger and Albert Einstein, psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, writers Leo Tolstoy, Herman Melville, Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Machado de Assis, Jorge Luis Borges, Marcel Proust and Samuel Beckett, and composers Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Arnold Schoenberg and Gustav Mahler.

That said, I personally do not subscribe to Schopenhauer's philosophy. My interest in these stamps is purely philatelic, as these were among the last postage stamps issued by Freistadt Danzig before it was incorporated into the Third Reich. The stamps and postcard also command a premium price among stamp collectors.