This year, the common theme of the EUROPA stamps issued by the European postal operators (PostEurop) has a direct link to their services, though of a historical nature. Four main postal routes were established under Charles V in 1516 to improve postal connections. One of them, the Wiener route, also ran through Luxembourg. These new postal services were available not only to rulers but also to private citizens. At the end of 1680, Luxembourg was included as a branch in the Brussels-Vienna route, thus improving the letter traffic between Luxembourg and Brussels. In 1701 the postal routes were officially established. Thus, Luxembourg received postal connections with all its neighbouring countries.
