NAZI GERMANY
OFFICIAL POSTCARDS
1939
The 1939 postcard page has now been split into four separate pages as it was beginning to get unwieldy. All 1939 Official postcards are now on this page. Official postcards are cards that were issued by the Reich's post office, had pre-printed (indicia) stamps and were widely available throughout German towns and cities.
Secondly Printed to Private Order postcards are postcards that were generally issued by entities that were advertising an event or commemorating an anniversary, and also had pre-printed stamps, but were not widely available throughout Germany (most were only available at the event they were commemorating).
Thirdly Other postcards are postcards that fall into the same general category as printed to private order however they do not have pre-printed stamps.
Finally, Miscellaneous postcards is where you will find postcards that do not fit into the first three categories (i.e. they are not official, they do not have pre-printed stamps, and they do not commemorate an event).
Quick Links:
POSTCARDS:
P239, P240, P278, PII, P279, P280/P281, P282, P283/P284, P285 and P287
MICHEL P239/01 & /02
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
STAMP DAY
Two postcards were issued on 7th January 1939 to celebrate the Day of the Stamp (actually 3 days, 7th, 8th and 9th January). The figure on the left represents Mercury (the messenger). These postcards sold for 20Rpf. There were also a special postmark used in 28 different cities. Both cards feature a 3Rpf Hindenburg Medallion pre-printed stamp.
Click here for more information.
P239/01
FROM MY COLLECTION
P239/02
FROM MY COLLECTION
MICHEL P240
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
5th NATIONAL CONGRESS of the K.d.F
18th July 1939 - This postcard which sold for 20Rpf, has a 6Rpf indicia stamp and was issued to coincide with the 5th National Congress of the K.d.F. It shows the German ship 'Robert Ley' at anchor in Lisbon Harbour.
A special postmark was also used during the event.
Click here for examples from my collection.
P240
FROM MY COLLECTION
MICHEL P278/01 - /05
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
HITLER'S 50th BIRTHDAY
Issued 13th April 1939, one week before Hitler's 50th birthday on the 20th. This series of 5 postcards all have the same reverse which features a 6Rpf + 19Rpf Indicia stamp in Sepia. The front of each postcard shows a different portrait of Hitler. These postcards depict Hitler as a man of the common people, an image he liked to portray, and they show him invariably greeting children and supporters all designed to show him as a benign, fatherly figure.
A closer look at the images on the reverse of these postcards, below the word 'POSTKARTE', shows that there are two variations of each postcard. One variant has the word 'ANTWORT' or 'ANSWER' written inside the design below 'POSTKARTE' and the other version does not. This may indicate that the postcards came in two's, one with the 'ANTWORT' and one without, indicating that the one with the word 'ANTWORT' is a reply card to be used by the recipient of the postcard (requires additional research).
P278/01
FROM MY COLLECTION
P278/02
FROM MY COLLECTION
P278/03
FROM MY COLLECTION
P278/04
FROM MY COLLECTION
P278/05
FROM MY COLLECTION
MICHEL PII
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
70th ANNIV of AUSTRIAN POSTCARDS
1st Oct 1939 - This postcard was intended to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of postcard usage in Austria on 1st October 1939, however the outbreak of the Second World War a month earlier in September, caused the cancellation of the exhibition and the postcard was never officially issued.
PII
FROM MY COLLECTION
MICHEL P279
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
NATIONAL LABOUR DAY
1st May 1939 - This postcard was a re-issue of Michel P275 from 1938 commemorating the Sudeten Plebiscite. The only difference is that with this postcard the indicia stamp has a bar obliterating the date on the bottom of the stamp and there is an additional inscription below the word "Postkarte" that reads "zum 1. Mai Groβdeutschelands" roughly translated to 'from 1 May Greater Germany'.
P279
FROM MY COLLECTION
| 1. This is the front of the re-issued postcard (the same as P275) |
| 2. This is the reverse of the re-issued postcard. You can see the obliteration of the date on the indicia stamp as well as the addition of the words "zum 1. Mai Groβdeutschelands" just below the word "Postkarte" |
MICHEL P280 & P281
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
DEUTSCHE OSTMESSE
8th Aug 1939 - Both of these postcards were issued to celebrate the Königsberg Fair on the 8th of Aug 1939 and sold exclusively by the Königsberg Post Office. The postcards are inscribed "27. Deutsche Ostmesse Königsberg Pr. 20 bis 23.August 1939".
Click the following links to see more P280 and P281 postcards from my collection.
P280
FROM MY COLLECTION
P281
FROM MY COLLECTION
There was another version of these two postcards that had 4 additional lines of text printed on the bottom left-hand corner.
P280
Private Version
Private Version
P281
Private Version
Private Version
MICHEL P282
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
11th NÜRNBERG REICHSPARTEITAG
25th August 1939 - This official postcard has a 6Rpf indicia stamp and was issued to coincide with the 11th Nazi Party Rally in Nürnberg. The rally was due to start on September the 11th, however the German invasion of Poland on the 1st of Sep meant that the rally was cancelled, therefore no special postmark was ever used.
P282
FROM MY COLLECTION
MICHEL P283 & P284
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
DANZIG STAMP WITH OVERPRINT
28th Sep 1939 to 31st Dec 1940 - Two of these postcards, P283 and P284 were originally issued in Danzig in March of 1936 but were re-released with their indicia stamps overprinted with "Deutsches Reich" and new values in Rpf after Danzig was occupied in 1939. A special postmark was also used to commemorate the annexation of Danzig.
P283
5Rpf
5Rpf
P284
6Rpf
6Rpf
MICHEL P285/01 to -/06
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
WINTERHILFSWERK
27th October 1939 - These 6 postcards should not be confused with the 1940 version that had the K.d.F symbol and additional text printed to the right of each of the portraits.
Click here for more details.
(1)
P285/01
HEINRICH 1
P285/01
HEINRICH 1
FROM MY COLLECTION
(2)
P285/02
MARTIN LUTHER
P285/02
MARTIN LUTHER
FROM MY COLLECTION
(3)
P285/03
ULRICH V.HUTTEN
P285/03
ULRICH V.HUTTEN
FROM MY COLLECTION
(4)
P285/04
FRIEDRICH DER GROSSE
P285/04
FRIEDRICH DER GROSSE
FROM MY COLLECTION
(5)
P285/05
OTTO Von BISMARCK
P285/05
OTTO Von BISMARCK
FROM MY COLLECTION
(6)
P285/06
CARL PETERS
P285/06
CARL PETERS
FROM MY COLLECTION
MICHEL P287
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
DANZIG is GERMAN
Issued 27th Oct 1939. This postcard celebrates the return of the Free City of Danzig to German control. The city became German when the German army invaded Poland on 1st Sep 1939, the event that led directly to the start of the Second World War.
P287
FROM MY COLLECTION
