NAZI GERMANY
1933
MICHEL P249
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
6Rpf
Issued on 1st Nov 1933. This postcard features the 'Festival House" in Bayreuth and has a 6Pf green indicia stamp featuring a portrait of Wagner, one of Hitler's favourite composers. The design of the card is very similar to the popular 'Get to Know Germany' postcards published in the 1930's and 40's, but is not a part of any of those series.
Above the image of the festival house is the inscription "Ehrt Eure deutschen Meister!" - 'Honour your German Masters' and below the image it reads "Das Festspielhaus in Bayreuth" - 'The festival House in Bayreuth'. This is the only official postcard to bear a 6Pf Richard Wagner pre-printed stamp.
This card is what is commonly referred to as a semi-postal, meaning part of the payment went to the post office to cover delivery expenses and part went to another organisation. In this case the cost of carrying the postcard was 6Pf, the additional '4Pf' (see inscription running vertically along the left-hand side of the stamp) was a donation to the 'Nothilfe' or Emergency Aid. During the Second World War almost all commemorative stamps had a surcharge for charity and in some cases this donation far exceeded the cost of postage.
(1)
P249 UNUSED
P249 UNUSED
FROM MY COLLECTION
(2)
P249 UNUSED
P249 UNUSED
FROM MY COLLECTION
MICHEL P249
USED
This example of a used P249 has a regular CDS cancel inscribed 'BERLIN SW | 11 21.2.34'. In addition to the CDS cancellation there is also a special slogan cancel inscribed "WOHLFAHRTS- | BRIEFMARKEN | für die | WINTERHILFE!" - 'WELFARE STAMPS | for the | WINTER HELP!'.
On the reverse fo the card, right near the bottom is the familiar greeting 'Heil Hitler' which was used extensively during the early years of the Nazi regime, however its usage dropped off significantly as the war dragged on and people became disillusioned with the Nazi government.
(3)
P249 USED
P249 USED
FROM MY COLLECTION