It is hard to catch Domingos Oliveira off guard. As a seasoned photojournalist, he is used to capturing events on Luxembourg’s roads, often in the aftermath of accidents and emergencies.
Yet, it was not a dramatic shot from a roadside incident that surprised him, but rather a vibrant autumn scene in the capital, taken on a sunny day, that would eventually earn him a unique place in Luxembourg’s history.
"I never imagined this photo would one day end up on a stamp", Oliveira says, his words carrying the hint of a Portuguese accent familiar to everyone at RTL. He explains that someone working at POST Luxembourg spotted his image in a piece published by RTL Today about the country’s finances.
When he was contacted through Instagram, he initially suspected a scam, but soon realised it was genuine. After some discussion, an agreement was reached, and today, he proudly holds the first printed stamps, displayed under glass. His wife, equally proud, jokes that they will hang it in their office.
She made sure not to miss the official stamp presentation, held on Monday on the eighth floor of POST’s headquarters, opposite Luxembourg-Gare. On Tuesday, 15 September, POST Luxembourg is releasing a set of five special stamps: two commemorate the 50th edition of the Vollekslaf Walfer and the Kleinbettingen Stamp Day, while three others showcase recent landmarks, including the new National Archives building in Esch-Belval, the Wäinhaus in Ehnen, and the Adolphe Bridge, immortalised by Oliveira’s lens.
Oliveira recalls taking the photo in October 2024, during a walk around the city and the Pétrusse valley to capture the colours of autumn, which he particularly loves. He remembers that he started in Paffenthal, went up to Ville-Haute, and when he reached Place de la Constitution, he saw the Adolphe Bridge. Just as he arrived, the tram passed by and he took the shot. The image was first published in a photo reportage by RTL.
The stamp’s design is split diagonally, cleverly combining a historical black-and-white archive image of the Adolphe Bridge from the Luxembourg City Photothèque with Oliveira’s contemporary photograph featuring the tram. During its construction between 1900 and 1903 it was considered a technical marvel. It underwent extensive renovation between 2014 and 2017 to allow the tram to cross. Claude Balthasar, Head of POST Philately, summarises that the idea was to show how the bridge has met the challenges of its time.
Produced in a limited run of 20,000 and sold for €1.70 – enough to send a letter to Portugal, for example – the new stamp forms part of the SEPAC (Small European Postal Administration Cooperation) issue.
SEPAC includes Luxembourg and 12 other small European postal administrations, such as Monaco, Malta, and Liechtenstein. With this year’s theme focused on emblematic landmarks, the philatelic committee naturally proposed to build the stamp around the Adolphe Bridge, which connects Ville-Haute and the Gare district.
Balthasar emphasises that the bridge is an iconic monument that represents Luxembourg well.
As Oliveira notes, the stamp does not reproduce his photograph exactly. In his original, the tram appears in the centre of the Adolphe Bridge, but on the stamp, it has been moved slightly to the right, symbolising a journey from the present to the past. Oliveira agreed to the change, conceding that while it was not his original idea, the result is beautiful.
For the photographer, seeing his work on a stamp is a source of immense pride. He explains that he has been in Luxembourg for 29 years, and now feels more Luxembourgish than Portuguese. Hence, the postal stamp represents a symbol of integration for him, underlining that you can achieve what you want if you truly set your mind to it.
As Balthasar reminds us, a stamp is "the smallest ambassador of a country". It presents a nation’s culture and traditions in a compact format and, from Luxembourg, travels the world, enduring through time.
