OFFICIAL POSTCARDS
(1936)

This page was last updated
27-Jul-2024 06:56

MICHEL P259
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

Valid from 15th Jun 1936 until 30th Jun 1937

These two official postcards, designed by Georg Fritz and featuring the Marathon Gate inside the Olympic Stadium, were issued to generate interest among the population in the upcoming Summer Olympic Games to be held in Berlin from 1st to 16th Aug 1936. Both cards have the same design (a view of the inside of the Olympic Stadium) but P259 has a 6 Rpf + 4Rpf pre-printed stamp and P260 has a 15 Rpf + 10 Rpf pre-printed stamp. There were a number of special cancelations used at the various venues around the Olympic sites.

As well as the official card there were several official cards with additional private printing.

VARIANTS TO COLLECT

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

1. Used before the official issue date [ie used on 14th Jun 1936]
2. Cancelled on first day of issue 15th Jun 1936
3. With special handstamp "BERLIN ...... XI. Olympiade 1936"
4. With hand roller stamp "BERLIN ...... XI. Olympiade 1936"
5. With machine stamp "Olympische Spiele Berlin"
6. As a domestic long-distance card without any special features
7. As a foreign used card with 10 Rpf to CSR
8. As a foreign used card with 10 Rpf to Hungary
9. As a foreign used card with 15 Rpf
10. As a Registered card
11. As a local delivery Express card
12. Posted at the Hamburg tram post office
13. Used as a Rohrpost (pneumatic) card in BERLIN
14. Domestic Armail usage
15. European Airmail usage
16. Zeppelinkartre Olympiafahrt


I would also add the following items:
1. Postally unused
2. Domestic Bahnpost usage
3. Invalid Usage - either after expiration date or with incorrect postage applied
4. With additional private printing
5. Other Special slogan cancels

EXAMPLES FROM MY COLLECTION

POSTALLY UNUSED

The following card was favour cancelled in BUTTSTÄDT on 23.9.36 with a special handstamp that was used in 1936, 1937 and 1938. An almost identical stamp was used every year from 1925 until 1936 so there are two slightly different versions of this handstamp available this year.

USED BEFORE 15th Jun 1936

Used before the official issue date [ie on 14th Jun 1936]

CANCELLED on FIRST DAY of ISSUE

Cancelled on the official issue date 15th Jun 1936

WITH HANDSTAMP "BERLIN ...... XI. Olympiade 1936" SST

With special handstamp "BERLIN ...... XI. Olympiade 1936"

1. This example of a domestically used P259 postcard was cancelled at counter 'c' of the "DEUTSCHLANDHALLE" - German Hall, at the 1936 Olympic games in BERLIN. The card was sent to the village of Beuditz in Saxony-Anhalt.




2. This second domestically used example was sent to LEIPZIG on the first day of the XI Olympic Games held in BERLIN. The sonderstempel used was from the 'a' counter at the GRÜNAU REGATTABAHN.




3. This third card, also cancelled at the games, has an OLYMPIA-STADION counter 'k' cancel. In total there were are 38 different counters with the commonly found "OLYMPIA-STADION" inscription.




4. This next card was also cancelled at the games, this time with an OLYMPIA-STADION counter 'ap' cancel. This card was sent to WEIMAR and the reverse side has an advertising label affixed.




5. The following card was sent to Spandau-Sternfeld and has the special cancel used at the OLYMPIA-STADION counter that was without a letter. The reverse side of this card has a message from the German Trade Review.




6.

WITH HANDROLLER SST
"BERLIN ...... XI. Olympiade 1936"

With machine stamp "Olympic Games Berlin" as a domestic card

WITH MACHINE STAMP SST
"Olympische Spiele Berlin"

With machine stamp "Olympische Spiele Berlin"

DOMESTIC LONG DISTANCE WITHOUT SPECIAL MARKINGS

1. The following card was sent from HALBERSTADT to WERNIGERODE on 24th Jun 1936.




2. This card was posted in BERLIN-REINICKENDORF on 15.8.1936. I don't know the destination.




3. The next card requires more research as it has an unusual destination of 4/AR59, I have no idea what that refers to.




4.

FOREIGN USE WITH 10 Rpf TO CSR

1. The following P259 was sent from the Olympic Stadium on the penultimate day of the games, 15th Aug 1936. The special handstamp was used at counter 'k'. The destination was the town of Znaim in Czechoslovakia.

FOREIGN USE WITH 10 Rpf TO HUNGARY

2. The next example was cancelled at the Olympic Stadium in BERLIN on the final day of the games (16th Aug). An additional 6 Rpf Olympic Games issue stamp has been added for a total of 12 Rpf, and the card was sent to BUDAPEST, HUNGARY.

FOREIGN USE WITH 15 Rpf

CHILE

1. The example below was posted in BERLIN on 11th Aug 1936 during the games, and has a special Olympic Games slogan cancellation. The card was destined for the city of SANTIAGO, CHILE where it received an arrival stamp on 12th Sep 1938, a month later. The absence of any Airmail labels, and the 1 month journey, suggests the card was carried on board a ship.

GREAT BRITAIN

1. The following postcard was sent after the Olympic Games had finished from the the town of REMSCHEID to EALING, LONDON, ENGLAND on 10th Aug 1936.

HOLLAND

1. In the following example the card was sent from SONTHOFEN (the most southerly town in Germany) to TILBURG in Holland on 26.7.1936. To cover the additional postage two self-adhesive, Summer Olympic special issue commemorative stamps have been added, for a total of 16 Rpf (the actual cost should have been 15 Rpf).

SOUTH AFRICA

1. The following example was an AIRMAIL item sent from HAMBURG to JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA on 4th Aug 1936.

SWITZERLAND

1. The next example was cancelled on the penultimate day of the 1936 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium. It was sent to an address in BADEN, SWITZERLAND. The postage was overpaid by 1 Rpf for a total of 16 Rpf.

SWEDEN

1. The example below was cancelled during the Olypic Games but not with any of the special handstamps. Instead it has a regular CDS used at BERLIN NW dated 10th Aug 1936. It was sent to an address in GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN. This example was correctly franked with 15 Rpf.

REGISTERED CARD

EXPRESS DELIVERY CARD

HAMBURG TRAM POST OFFICE

Posted at the Hamburg tram post office

POSTED AS ROHRPOST IN BERLIN

DOMESTIC AIRMAIL

1. Posted at the Olympic games venue on 5th Aug 1936 this card has an additional 10 Rpf of stamps added for a total of 16 Rpf. This is the correct amount at the time for an internal Airmail postcard (domestic rate of 6 Rpf plus an additional 10 Rpf).

EUROPEAN AIRMAIL

ZEPPELIN MAIL 'OLYMPIAFAHRT'

1. The following card was cancelled with the special OLYMPIAFAHRT cancellation used during the official Zeppelin Olympic Games flight on 1st Aug 1936. The card is correctly franked at 50 Rpf. Cancelled in FRANKFURT (MAIN) Flug und Luftschiffhafen the card was destined for an address in PASEWALK

GERMAN BAHNPOST

1. The following postally used P259 card was cancelled on train number 46 on the journey from BERLIN to FRANKFURT on 17th Aug 1936.

INVALID USAGE

SPECIAL SLOGAN CANCELS

1. The card below was sent from BERLIN-CHARLOTTENBURG to BERLIN-STEGLITZ on 30th Jul 1936. This card also has a special slogan cancel inscribed:

"BERLIN 1936 | Ausstellung | DEUTCHLAND | 18.7.-16.8 | Am Kaiserdamm"




2. The card below was cancelled in STUTTGART on 16th Jul 1936 and features a special slogan cancellation that describes STUTTGART as "THE BEAUTIFUL CAPITAL OF SWABIA':

"STUTTGART | DIE WUNDERSCHÖNE | HAUPTSTADT DES | SCHWABENLANDES"




3. The next card was also cancelled in STUTTGART, this time on 2nd nov 1936 and it has a road safety slogan cancellation inscribed:

"Radfahrer! | Kraftfahrer | Keine kurve Schneiden!" - 'Cyclists! | Drivers | No curve cutting!'




4. The following card was sent from MITTWEIDA to BAD SULZA in Thuringia on 6th Aug 1936. A very rough translation of the slogan reads 'Into the old technical town center of Mittweida, at the Zschopau dam to attachments fixed. 22-23 August 1936'. The special slogan on this example in German reads:

"Hinein in Die alte Technikumstadt | Mittweida | an der Zschopau- | Talsperre zum | Anlagenfest | 22.-23. August 1936"

MAIN REFERENCE SOURCES

1. MICHEL GANZSACHEN DEUTSCHLAND 2018. ISBN: 978-3-95402-225-0
2. BOREK GANZSACHEN-SPEZIAL-KATALOG DEUTSCHLAND ab 1933. ISBN: 3-87091-060-7
3. MICHEL BILDPOSTKARTEN- UND MOTIVGANSACHEN KATALOG DEUTSCHLAND 1997. ISBN: 3-87858-631-0
4. GANZSACHEN-HANDBUCH DES "DITTEN REICHES" 1933-1945 by FRECH. ISBN: UNKNOWN