NAZI GERMANY
My COVERS
1936
COVER from BAYREUTH
20th Jan 1936
This Registered domestic cover was sent from the Bayerische Staatsbank in BAYREUTH on the 20th of Jan 1936 to PLAUEN. The stamps are all official 'Dienstmarke' stamps and include two 1927 issue Michel 118 15Pf stamps and a single 1934 issue Michel 138 12Pf stamp for a total of 42Pf.
Front
Reverse
COVER to U.S.A.
23rd Jan 1936
This international cover was sent from ERFURT to Toledo, Ohio in the US on 23rd Jan 1936. The stamp is a 1933 issue Michel 522, 25Pf Hindenburg Medallion and it is cancelled with a regular CDS cancel. There is also a special slogan cancel inscribed "Erfurt | Die Deutsche | Blumenstadt" - 'Erfurt | The German | Flower city'.
REGISTERED COVER from SCHWEINFURT
19th Feb 1936
Here is another domestic registered cover from the Bayerische Staatsbank, this time from the SCHWEINFURT branch and cancelled 19th Feb 1936. It features two official 'Dienstmarke' stamps, the first is a 1927 issue Michel 120 and the other is a 1934 issue Michel 138 12Pf stamp for a total of 42Pf. The reverse of the cover has the arrival cancel for the following day in PLAUEN.
COVER from LEIPZIG
19th Feb 1936
This standard domestic cover was sent from KASSEL to HAMBURG on 19th Feb 1936 and has a regular KASSEL CDS cancel. There is also a special slogan cancel inscribed "Internationale | Leipziger Messe | vom 1. bis 9. Marz" - 'International | Leipzig Fair | from March 1st to 9th'. The stamps are both 1933 issue, the first a Michel 517 8Pf and the second a Michel 514 4Pf Hindenburg Medallion.
COVER to LUDWIGSHAFEN
Mar 1936
AIRMAIL to BATAVIA
16th Mar 1936
This International cover was sent from GOSLAR to BATAVIA, Indonesia on 16th Mar 1936 with delivery 8 days later on 24th Mar. The stamps are cancelled with a regular CDS cancel. The stamps consist of three 1934 issue Michel 532 20Pf Airmail stamps and a single 1934 issue Michel 529 5Pf Airmail stamp for a total of 65Pf.
REGISTERED COVER from LORCH
9th Apr 1936
This rather busy registered cover was sent by Hermann Sieger, a stamp dealer from LORCH, to GROSSENGOTTERN on 9th Apr 1936. The company founded by Herr Sieger is still in existence and can be found Here. The four stamps consist of an interesting blend of two stamps from the 1935 Winterhilfswerk series Michel 590 and Michel 591, 5Pf and 6Pf respectively.
The two other stamps are a a 1936 issue Lufthansa 10th Anniversary Michel 603 40Pf stamp and a 1933 issue Michel 513 3Pf Hindenburg Medallion.
The reverse of the cover has several ink stamps and a paper seal of the Sieger company, as well as the arrival cancel for GROSSENGOTTERN.
NACHNAHME to LUDWIGSHAVEN
17th Apr 1936
This 'Cash on Delivery' card, valued at 1RM.16Pf, was destined for Ludwigshafen and has been cancelled 17.4.36. The two stamps are a 1933 issue, 1Pf Michel 512 Hindenburg Medallion and a 1935 issue, 25Pf Michel 575 from the composer's set of 3 stamps.
ZEPPELIN MAIL
EUROPA-NORDAMERIKA
(6th May 1936)
This flight was operated by the Hindenburg Airship (LZ129) from Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst, USA, departing on 6th Aug and arriving three days later. Approximately 1059 Kg of mail was carried on board, so it is relatively easy to find postal items from this flight.
All mail with a Michel 606 and a Michel 607 stamp should have a red circular cancel featuring a zeppelin appearing from behind a cloud, and a smaller aircraft in the foreground.
Mail with just one of Michel 606 or Michel 607 as well as another Luftpost stamp will have the circular "DEUTSCHE LUFTPOST | LUFTSCHIFF | HINDENBURG | 1. FAHRT | EUROPA-NORDAMERIKA" cancel in black or violet-blue ink.
Known fakes are:
(1) On-board mail 8.5.36 with arrival mark New York and arrival mark Frankfurt: All stamps are forgeries!
(2) On-board mail 9.5.36 as FDC Olympic stamps; all stamps are forgeries!
This first cover is another Sieger cover, this time a registered cover from STUTTGART to New York. The stamps are the two 1936 issue commemorative stamps Michel 606 and Michel 607 issued to celebrate the Hindenburg's (LZ129) first flight across the Atlantic. The red circular cancel is the one used to cancel mail that was transported on this route. The departure cancellation is dated 6th May and the arrival stamps on the reverse are dated 9th May and 11th May 1936.
The address '354 Fourth Avenue, New York' is the address of the Zeppelin office based in the city. Mr K.H. Royter is believed to have been the assistant in the office to Mr. F.W von Meister (see later covers). The twenty-storey building where the office was located is still there, although the street has been renamed Lexington Avenue. The building is on the corner of 26th Street and Lexington Avenue. [More Research required].
Similar to the cover above, this registered Sieger cover was sent from LORCH to New York. The stamps are the same two 1936 issue Michel 606 and Michel 607. This Cover has an additional "Mit Luftschiff | HINDENBURG | Erste Nordamerikafahrt | 6. Mai 1936" red slogan stamp applied during this first voyage. The departure cancellation is dated 6th May and the arrival stamps on the reverse are dated 9th May and 11th May 1936.
The following two covers were also aboard this same flight and are addressed to Herr F.R von Meister at 354 Fourth Avenue, New York. The cancellations are inscribed 'DEUTSCHE LUFTPOST | 1. FAHRT | EUROPA-NORDAMERIKA'. Although these two look to be genuine cancels, there is a forged version of this cancel which can be detected by the shape of the 'M' in 'AMERIKA'. For genuine cancels the centre of the 'M' extends to the same length as the two outside legs of the 'M'. In the forged version, the centre of the 'M' only extends about half the length of the two outside legs. This forgery is known as the 1938 Julius Bock forgery.
The two stamps on these cards are a 1936 issue Michel 606 50Pf Hindenburg stamp issued to commemorate this first flight and a regular 1934 issue Michel 531 15Pf Luftpost stamp.
LETTER to U.S.A
7th May 1936
This International cover was sent from BAD LANDECK (SCHELES) to The Chef's Dining Room at the Rockville Centre on Long Island, New York on 7th May 1936. The two stamps are 1933 Issue Michel 521 and Michel 515 20Pf and 5Pf Hindenburg Medallions respectively.
The special cancel is one of only two handstamps ever used in BAD LANDECK and is inscribed "Radiumbad | heilt | Rheuma, Gicht, Nerven, Frauen" - 'Radium bath | heals | Rheumatism, gout, nerves, women'. The other is inscribed "Radium | Schwefel. | Sommer u-. Winter- | Kur u. Sport" - 'Radium | Sulphur. | Summer and Winter | Cure and sport'.
LETTER to HAMBURG
23rd May 1936
This cover was sent from the city of Helmstedt to Hamburg, a distance of slightly more than 200Km on 23rd May 1936. It has a single 1933 issue Michel 513 Hindenburg Medallion Stamp. The special cancel inscribed "HELMSTEDT | Die Schöne Stadt am Lapprand | Alte Universität" - 'HELMSTEDT | The beautiful city on Lapprand | Old university' is one of only three special cancels used in HELMSTEDT, and features the university building.
REGISTERED COVER from BERLIN
7th Jun 1936
This philatelically inspired registered cover features the four stamps Michel 617 to 620 issued on 3rd June 1936 to commemorate the 6th International Congress held in Berlin and Munich. It's not exactly a first day cover, more likely a first week cover. The special cancels are those that were used to commemorate the Congress and are inscribed "BERLIN NW 40 | VI. Internationaler | Gemeindekongreβ | Berlin-München | 1936" - 'BERLIN NW 40 | VI. International | Congressional Assembly | Berlin-Munich | 1936'.
Cover from Berlin
BROWN RIBBON RACE
26th Jul 1936
The following series of covers all have the 1936 issue Michel Block 4 Brown Ribbon souvenir sheet, either in full or just the stamp and the surrounding area of the sheet. The value of the sheet, 42Pf was the same price as a registered letter so these covers always have the registered letter 'R' label affixed. The high price of these sheets led to a great deal of anger amongst collectors who felt they were being taken advantage of.
There was a special cancel available at the event inscribed "MÜNCHEN-RIEM | Das Braune Band | von | Deutschland | 1936".
The first example below has only the stamp and surrounding area of the souvenir sheet affixed, but it does have the 'R' label and special cancel indicating it was posted at the event. It was sent to Wittenberg and the reverse side shows the arrival stamp two days later.
26th Jul 1936
The second example has the complete souvenir sheet and also has the special cancel and 'R' label from the show. It was destined for Mr. Sieger, a stamp dealer in Lorch, where it arrived 4 days later. This was likely a special request from Mr. Sieger to someone who visited the show.
26th Jul 1936
Below is another cover sent from the show and it also has the full souvenir sheet, along with the special cancel and 'R' label. The destination was Chemnitz, and it arrived a full 6 days later on the 1st of Aug 1936.
26th Jul 1936
Sent to MISDROY from the show and bearing the full souvenir sheet, 'R' label and special cancel, this cover arrived at its destination on 28th Aug, two days after posting.
26th Jul 1936
The example below has the entire souvenir sheet, and was cancelled after the event, at KOLBERG using a regular CDS machine stamp. The reverse has the arrival stamp in BERGEN the following day 7th Aug 1936.
6th Aug 1936
Below is another full souvenir sheet cancelled after the event, this time in ELTEN on the 30th of Sep 1936. This isn't a true cover; it is a souvenir sheet pasted to a piece of cardboard.
30th Sep 1936
SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
The 1936 Summer Olympics (Olympische Sommerspiele 1936), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (Spiele der XI. Olympiade), were held from 1st to 16th Aug 1936 in Berlin. Initially the Nazi's weren't particularly interested in the games, but quickly realised what a massive propaganda event it could be. With that in mind no effort was spared in preparing German athletes for the games, with the expectation that Germany would dominate. In line with the event were countless other events, propaganda leaflets, stamps, postcards, posters, and a whole host of other publications issued to advertise the games.This first cover is a typical example of the mass of philatelically inspired material generated by the games. It has everything you could expect from a cover posted at the games. The 8 official stamps Michel 609 to 616, released before the games have been cancelled with one of the many different special cancellations used during the event.
This particular cancel is inscribed "BERLIN OLYMPISCHES DORF | XI. Olympiade 1939" and is very commonly seen on such covers ("BERLIN OLYMPIA-STADION" is also a viable cancel from the games for this flight as is "OLYMPIA-STADION - KIEL"). The violet slogan cancel inscribed "DEUTSCHE LUFTPOST | EUROPE NORDAMERIKA" and the red 'MAIL VIA AIRSHIP HINDENBURG' indicate this cover was transported aboard the Hindenburg airship on its way to New York. The arrival cancels on the reverse indicated it arrived a week later on the 8th of Aug.
1st Aug 1936
The following example is what might be considered more of a genuine mail item. It was sent at the games and has another of the various special cancels, this one the most common "BERLIN OLYMPIA-STADION | XI. Olympiade 1936" version.
The three stamps are an interesting combination of a green Michel 618, one of the four stamps issued to commemorate the 6th International Congress. The second is a regular Michel 512, 1Pf Hindenburg Medallion and the third is a 1936 Michel 608 issued to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Otto von Guericke.
1st Aug 1936
The following cover is almost an exact copy of the first Olympic cover shown above. Of note is the fact that the first cover is addressed to a Mr. K.H. Royter and this one is addressed to a Mr. F.W von Meister, both of whom worked at the Zeppelin Office at '354 Fourth Avenue, New York'.
5th Aug 1936
The cover below features the lowest 5 value stamps from the 1936 Olympic Games set Michel 609 to 616. This cover was not issued at the games, instead it originates from MORITZBURG and was sent on 9th Sep 1936, several weeks after the games had completed.
The special cancel used is inscribed "MORITZBURG | Jagdschloβ | Wildpark | Ausflugsort | Sommerfrische" - 'MORITZBURG | Hunting lodge | Wildlife Park | Excursion site | Summer retreat' and was the only special cancellation issued in MORITZBURG. The image on the cancel is that of Moritzburg Castle.
9th Sep 1936
COVER from NÜRNBERG
This cover was posted in NÜRNBERG on 22nd Oct 1936. It bears the special cancellation used to commemorate the 8th Nazi Party Rally which was held in NÜRNBURG from 8th to 14th Sep 1936, about a month before this cover was posted. The sender was from the Neumayer company which specialised in electrical cables and metal work and was destined for the city of BOCHUM.This machine cancel is a well-known cancel and can be found on many items of post originating in NÜRNBURG, as it was used for several months prior to, and after the rally. There are two versions of this cancel, one has the eagle on the left with both wings, as below, and the other has the eagle on the right with both wings.
Nurnberg Nazi Party Rally Machine Cancel
COVER BERLIN to HALLE
26th Nov 1936
REICH'S STATISTICS OFFICE
5th Dec 1936
