PROPAGANDA POSTCARDS
(1902)

This page was last updated
07-Apr-2022 06:51

THE LAST USE OF WÜRTTEMBERG / BAYERN ISSUED STAMPS
(1st Apr 1902)

BACKGROUND: There were several similar postcards published to commemorate the last usage of Württemberg and Bayern stamps, and the release of the the new Germania stamps on 1st Apr 1902.

SPECIAL CANCEL:

FIRST CARD
THE LAST WÜRTTEMBERG STAMPS

Published by Juig and Müller of Göppinggen. The card is titled "Die letzten Württemberg Briefmarken 1. Apr. 1902" - 'The last Württemberg stamps April 1, 1902' and shows an empire eagle carrying off a kite upon which several Württemberg issue stamps have been tied.

Jokele, the boy running off in the distance, is telling Michele that he should have kept a tighter hold of his kite string, whilst Michele is replying that Jokele had better watch out that his train doesn't get snatched away. It would seem that not everyone was happy about the transition.

This example from my collection has a two pfennig Württemberg stamp and a 3Pf Germania stamp, representing the old and the new. The cancellation is dated 31st Mar 1902 which is interesting because the 3Pf stamp was only valid a day later on the 1st Apr 1902.

SECOND CARD
A COMMON BRAND

This second card depicts two men standing below a crossroad marker. The two men are talking but I have not been able to make a good translation. Unlike the first card which only shows the old Württemberg stamps, this one shows the new Germania 10Pf stamp in the upper right-hand corner of the card.

THIRD CARD
I DON'T LIKE IT

The character on the left is defiantly defending his Württemberg stamp from an empire eagle clutching the new Germania stamp. A skeleton on the right-hand side is busy burying the Württemberg stamps forever whilst another man sits crying over his lost stamps. The inscription along the right-hand edge reads "Dein Stundlein hat geschlagen, Drum lass dich jezt begraben" - 'Your hour has struck, so let yourself be buried now'.

This example has been cancelled in GÖPPINGEN on 23rd Apr 1902 and later that day in SOEFLINGEN.

FOURTH CARD
FAREWELL TO THE OLD BAVARIAN BRAND!

This fourth card depicts an old woman crying over the demise of the Bayern stamps. Her two baskets are full of the discontinued stamps, and her pinafore has yet another Bayern stamp image. Behind the woman is a silhouette of the city of Munich complete with the two towers of the Frauenkirche.