Christmas Sberatel fair Prague commemorates Winnetou and Tatra 603

Visitors will have the opportunity to purchase postage stamps, coins, medals, banknotes, postcards, as well as antiques and other collectibles at bargain prices. For collectors, this will be the last chance to add to their collections before the winter break, which will end in March with the spring Sberatel fair.

A trip with the Tatra 603

This year, the famous Czechoslovakian Tatra 603 car celebrates two anniversaries – 70 years since the start of production and 50 years since the end of production. At the fair, visitors will be able to purchase a stamp with a coupon issued by the Czech Post and a popular 0 euro souvenir banknote. The motif is the painting “Trip with Tatra 603” by artist Roman Sedlák. He will arrive at the fair on Friday for an afternoon autograph session.

The Tatra 603 is one of the most distinctive cars in Czechoslovak history. It was manufactured in Kopřivnice from 1955 to 1975 as a representative car intended primarily for the needs of the state administration and foreign delegations. The design with its aerodynamic body continued the tradition of Tatra streamlined cars from the 1930s. It was powered by a rear-mounted, air-cooled 2.5-liter V8 engine, which ensured an exceptionally smooth and quiet ride.

The Tatra 603 underwent several modernizations during production, with the versions featuring three headlights and the later four-headlight modification being particularly well known. A total of approximately 20,000 units were produced, many of which are now sought-after collector’s items. To this day, the Tatra 603 symbolizes technical courage, elegance, and unique design.

Winnetou at the Christmas Sberatel Fair

This year marks the anniversary of the film Winnetou – Part 3, “the saddest part of the entire series,” which was filmed in 1965. An interesting exhibition on the phenomenon of May films will be on display at the fair. A Czech collector from Germany has managed to acquire an interesting collection of letters, postcards, and magazines from the 1960s dedicated to the films featuring Winnetou and Old Shatterhand and their actors, Pierre Brice and Lex Barker.

The exhibition will be complemented by autographs of the main and supporting stars who appeared in the films, from the collections of Martin Pros, chairman of the Autograph Collectors Club. “I will bring both positive and negative characters, so visitors can look forward to original autographs from Pierre Brice and Lex Barker, or Rik Battaglia, who played the leader of Rollins’ gang in the film Winnetou – The Last Shot and fatally wounded the Apache chief (the signed photograph comes directly from this film).

As a curiosity, I will also bring a signed photograph of Horst Buchholz, whom we know as one of the Magnificent Seven, but few people know that he was initially considered for the role of Winnetou,” says Martin Pros, enticing visitors to the fair.

Paradoxically, however, the most valuable item at the exhibition will be the autograph of actor Terence Hill, who signed with his real name, “Mario Girotti.” His signature with his birth name does not appear very often; Martin Pros has only seen it three times in the last thirty years.

Sberatel fair in Prague three times a year

If you miss the Sberatel Christmas fair, you will have another opportunity in March – the spring Sberatel will take place on March 20–21, again at the Olympik Hotel in Prague. The autumn Sberatel fair, which is the largest, will then take place on September 4–5 at the PVA Expo Prague exhibition center. 

• banknotes
• coins
• Sberatel fair
• stamps

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