OFFICIAL POSTCARDS
(1931)

This page was last updated
01-Jun-2024 03:28

P190
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
8 Rpf

BACKGROUND: Issued 1931. Commemorative postcard for the 10th anniversary of the referendum in Upper Silesia on 20th Mar 1921. Left with multi-colored coat of arms in an oval frame with inscription.

VALID from 20th Mar 1931 until 30th Jun 1934

In addition to the regular offical cards shown below there were several with additional private printing.

SPECIAL CANCEL:

VARIANTS TO COLLECT

The following are suggested variants that might make good additions to a collection:

1. Cancelled on first day of issue 20th Mar 1931
2. As a domestic long-distance card without any special features
3. As a Rural or LAND usage
4. As a foreign used card with 10 Rpf to CSR
5. As a foreign used card with 10 Rpf to Hungary
6. As a foreign used card with 15 Rpf
7. As a Registered Delivery card
8. As a local delivery Express Delivery card
9. Posted at the Hamburg tram post office
10. Used as a Rohrpost (pneumatic) card in BERLIN
11. Domestic Armail usage
12. European Airmail usage
13. Airmail usage to the USA from Bodensee (Lake Constance)
14. Postally unused
15. Domestic Bahnpost usage
16. Invalid Usage - either after expiration date or with incorrect postage applied
17. With additional private printing
17. With Special slogan cancels

EXAMPLES FROM MY COLLECTION

POSTALLY UNUSED

CANCELLED on FIRST DAY of ISSUE
20th Mar 1931

Cancelled on the official issue date 20th Mar 1931

DOMESTIC LONG DISTANCE WITHOUT SPECIAL MARKINGS

1. The P190 below was cancelled in the town of KIRCHENBOLANDE on 17th Apr 1931 and was destined for the district town of Erbach in Odenwald.




2. The next domestically used card was sent from RHONDORF (RHEIN) to HANNOVER on 16th Apr 1931. The recipient was a company named H. Bahlsens Keksfabrik, a biscuit factory.




3. The following rather plain example was sent from BAD SCHANDAU, a small town and heath resort in Saxony, to SPANDAÜ (Berlin) on 22nd Mar 1931.




4. The following card was posted in ENKHEIM (Northeast FRANKFURT) on 25th Mar 1931 and was sent to DARMSTADT in the south of HESSE.




5. Posted in MUNICH on 30th Apr 1931, this example was destined for LANGENSALZA




6. The next example was posted in NOBITZ, THURINGIA on 11th Apr 1931 and was also sent to LANDENSALZA




7. The P190 card below was cancelled in ALTHAUSEN in WÜRTTEMBURG on 15th May 1931 and was sent to LORCH.




8. The next example was a local delivery on 31st Oct 1932 in the town of LORCH. It was sent by a Philatelic trader, HERMANN E. SIEGER to a customer named Herrn Hübsch.




9. The folowing card was cancelled in OPELN on 25th Mar 1931 and was detined for an unknown address.

POSTED AT A LAND OR RURAL POST OFFICE

1. The following card was posted at a rural post office in the town of SAASA, near EISENBERG in THÜRINGIA. The card was cancelled on 4th May 1931 and was sent to ZEITZ.

FOREIGN USE WITH 10 Rpf to CSR

FOREIGN USE WITH 10 Rpf to HUNGARY

FOREIGN USE WITH 15 Rpf

ITALY

1. The next card is correctly franked for its journey from ZITTAU to MILAN in ITALY on 16th Apr 1931.

ROMANIA

1. The P190 postcard below was sent from CROSSEN(?) to ORADEA in ROMANIA on 8th Apr 1931.

SWITZERLAND

1. The following card was send to the Hotel Habis, ZURICH in SWITZERLAND from STUTTGART on 21st Apr 1931.

UNITED STATES of AMERICA

1. The following card is addressed to someone in New York but there is nowhere near enough postage to cover the fee. The card was sent from BRESLAU and would have needed an additional 7 Rpf to cover the 15 Rpf tariff. Surprisingly there is no mention of the under payment on the card, so I doubt this card ever made it to New York.

REGISTERED DELIVERY CARD

EXPRESS DELIVERY CARD

HAMBURG TRAM POST OFFICE

Posted at the Hamburg tram post office

POSTED AS ROHRPOST IN BERLIN

DOMESTIC AIRMAIL

1. The attractive Airmail example below was carried aboard the "Graf Zeppelin" from FRIEDRICHSHAVEN on Lake Constance, to HANNOVER on 14th Jun 1931. This example has the red oval "MIT LUFTSCHIFF GRAF ZEPPELIN BEFÖRDERT" - 'TRANSPORTED BY GRAF ZEPPELIN AIRSHIP' stamp. In addition this card has a single 1923 issue, Michel 343, 100 Rpf self-adhesive stamp applied to cover the Airmail cost. This stamp was valid for use until 30th Jun 1934.




2. Another Airmail usage below, this time sent from KIEL to HAMBURG on 24th Apr 1931. This example was not carried on the Graf Zeppelin so only required a regular 5 Rpf surcharge, not the 100 Rpf additional fee as seen on the example above. There is an additonal red stamp inscribed "Mit Luftpost befördert Hamburg 1" - 'Transported by airmail Hamburg 1'.

EUROPEAN AIRMAIL

AIRMAIL TO USE FROM LAKE CONSTANCE

GERMAN BAHNPOST

1. The BAHNPOST used card below was posted on the BRESLAU-MITTELWALDE train, number 532, on 25th May 1931 and was destined for the town of SPANDAU-HAKENFELDE.




2. Another Bahnpost use can be seen below. This example was cancelled on the BRESLAU-DITTE-GÖRLITZ train, number 748, on 23rd Jul 1931.




3. The following P190 postcard was cancelled on the FRANKFURT-BASEL train (No: 902) on 13th Apr 1931. The final destination was BADEN-BADEN.

INVALID USAGE

1. The following P190 postcard was sent from HAMBURG to HANNOVER on 7th Jun 1935. The post office has drawn a line around the pre-printed stamp and applied a red rectangular "NACHGEBÜHR" (additional fee) stamp to indicate that insufficient postage was applied. The correct rate was indeed 6 Rpf, however the pre-printed stamp expired on 30th Jun 1934 so was invalid on the date of posting. The large blue '9' indicates that the recipient had to pay 9 Rpf to receive the card, since the 'fine' was 1.5 times the required postage.

SPECIAL SLOGAN CANCELS

1. This first example of a domestically used P190 features the only special cancellation used in EPPENDORF before 1945. It bears the inscription "EPPENDORF (SACHSEN) | Weltbekannte Puppenmöbel- u. Holzspielwaren - Industrie" - 'EPPENDORF (SAXONY) | World-famous doll furniture and wooden toys industry'. According to BOCHMANN book No.6 Page 257 this special cancellation was used in 1922, and every year from 1924 until 1932. Thes destination for this card was MITTWEIDA in Saxony where it would have arrived on 14th Apr 1931.




2. Cancelled in FRANKFURT (MAIN) on 23rd Aug 1933 the next example features a commonly seen special slogan cancellation inscribed "Luftschutz | ist nationale Pflicht. | Werdet Mitglied im | Reichsluftschutzbund" - ' Air raid protection is a national duty. Become a member of the Reich Air Defense Association'




3. Below is another example of a P190 with a commonly seen special slogan cancellation this one inscribed "Benutzt die luftpost" - 'Use Airmail'. This card was cancelled in DUISBURG on 22nd Mar 1931 and was sent to ERFURT in Thuringia.




4. The following example was cancelled in MUNICH on 28th Apr 1931 and was destined for the town of Langensalza. This card has a special slogan cancellation inscribed "Rechtzeitig | POST | REISESCHECK | besopgen!" - 'Save time by using post traveler's checks'.




5. The example below has a special slogan cancellation inscribed "ALTENBURG | die | Skatstadt" - 'ALTENBURG | the | Skat city'. Skat, historically Scat, is a three-player card game devised around 1810 in the city of Altenburg in the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. It is the national game of Germany. This example was sent from ALTENBURG on 13th Apr 1931