OFFICIAL POSTCARDS
(1936)

This page was last updated
20-Aug-2024 05:25

MICHEL P260
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 + 4 Rpf 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 domestically used without any special features
7. As a foreign used card with 15 Rpf
8. As a Registered card
9. As a local delivery Express card
10. Posted at the Hamburg tram post office
11. 15 Rpf Rohrpost (pneumatic) card in BERLIN without express delivery
12. 15 Rpf Rohrpost (pneumatic) card in BERLIN with express delivery
13. Domestic Armail usage
14. European Airmail usage
15. Oversees Luftpostkarte to the US
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

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 next card, also cancelled at the games, has a BERLIN-GRÜNAU REGATTBAHN counter 'm' cancel.



2. The P260 card below was posted at the Olympic Games venue on 9th Aug 1936 and was destined for the city of HAMBURG.




3. The following P260 postcard was cancelled at the Olympic Stadium counter 'x' on 3rd Aug 1936 and was sent to Alzey.




4. This next P260 postcard was sent to a Herrn Senator a. Lindemann in HANNOVER on the first day of the Olympic Games and was cancelled at the Olympic Camp Heerstrasse.

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"

1. The following card was domestically used in GÖTTINGEN, and addressed to BERLIN-STEGLITZ on 21st Jul 1936. This particular example has a special Olympic slogan cancel inscribed "Olympische Spiele | Berlin 16.August | 1936".

DOMESTICALLY USED

1. The following example of domestic usage is a card sent from ZWICKAU to GEISSEN on 18th Aug 1936 just after the games had finished.




2. The following domestically used card was cancelled at the OLYMPIA-STADION counter 'n' and was sent to MAGDEBURG on 7th Aug 1936.




3. The next domestically used P260 seems to have been sent by a Dietmar Schweitzer to his own address in STUTTGART, from the Olympic Stadium on 9th Aug 1936. The card in its original form was already over franked for a domestic postcard and the additional 28 Rpf in Olympic Games commemorative stamps serves no real purpose.

FOREIGN USE WITH 15 Rpf

BRAZIL

1. Posted at the Olympic Village on the 8th Aug 1936, the following card was sent to Rio de Janeiro in Brasil.

CAMEROON

1. Another card posted at the Olympic Stadium, this one on the 6th Aug 1936 counter 'd'. The card was sent to a Mr. Klaus Peters in DUALA, CAMEROON, WEST AFRICA.

C.S.R - CZECHOSLOVAKIA

1. The following card was cancelled at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and was sent to RUMBURG in the C.S.R on the first day of the games on 1st Aug 1936.

DENMARK

1. Another card posted at the Olympic Stadium, this one at the Olympic Village with counter 'o' on 18th Jun 1936 about 6 weeks before the games began. The destination was SONDERBURG in DENMARK




2. The next card was cancelled at the Olympic Games German Exhibition Hall on 26th Jul 1936, counter 'c', five days before the start of the games, and was delivered to COPENHAGEN in DENMARK.

GREAT BRITAIN

1. Postally used in NÜRNBURG on 28th Jun 1936 this card has the special slogan cancel used to commemorate the 1936 Nazi Party Rally (Reichsparteitag). The destination was LONDON, ENGLAND.

SIERRA LEONE

1. Posted in BONN on the 2nd Jun 1936, the following card was sent to Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa.

SWITZERLAND

1. Postally used in MANNHEIM on 5th Jul 1936 this card has a special slogan cancel and was sent to BASEL in SWITZERLAND.

UNITED STATES of AMERICA

1. This first example of a P260 postcard with a foreign usage was sent from the Olympic Games "BERLIN OLYMPIA-PRESSHAUPTQUARTIER" Counter i, and again at counter 'k' on the third day of the games. The destination was BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, USA.




2. The next foreign used card was posted in BERLIN on 30th Jun 1936 and was sent to PHILADELPHIA, USA.




3. Below is another P260 postcard sent to the USA. This card was sent to New York City, from the city of BREMEN a couple of weeks after the games had finished on 4th Sep 1936.

YUGOSLAVIA - BELGRADE

1. The next P260 was posted about a month before the games began, in the town of ZECHIN, on 27th Jun 1936, and was sent to the Yugoslavian Capital of BELGRADE.

REGISTERED CARD

EXPRESS DELIVERY CARD

HAMBURG TRAM POST OFFICE

Posted at the Hamburg tram post office

ROHRPOST (PNEUMATIC) CARD in BERLIN
WITHOUT EXPRESS DELIVERY

ROHRPOST (PNEUMATIC) CARD in BERLIN
WITH EXPRESS DELIVERY

DOMESTIC AIRMAIL

1. This P260 example was correctly franked at 16Rpf for an internal airmail delivery (6 Rpf for the standard intercity postcard rate plus an additional 10 Rpf for the internal airmail rate). It was posted at the KIEL Olympic venue on 14th Aug 1936 and was sent to an address in HAMBURG.




2. Another Airmail usage P260 postcard this time sent from BREMEN to WITTENBURG on 16th Jun 1936.

EUROPEAN AIRMAIL

OVERSEES LUFTPOSTKARTE TO THE US

ZEPPELIN MAIL 'OLYMPIAFAHRT'

GERMAN BAHNPOST

1. The P260 postcard below has been cancelled on the TUBINGEN-STUTTGART train on 19th Jun 1936, train number Z2714. The destination was in BERLIN NW87.

INVALID USAGE

SPECIAL SLOGAN CANCELS

1. The domestically used card below was cancelled in HALLE (SAALE) on 21st Dec 1936




2. The next domestically used P260 postcard was sent from BERLIN-CHARLOTTENBURG to BERLIN-STEGLITZ on 30th Jul 1936. The card features a slogan cancel used to advertise the GERMAN EXHIBITION which was held in BERLIN from 18th Jul to 16th Aug 1936.




3. The following card was a domestic delivery in CHEMNITZ on 27th Mar 1937. The special handstamp is inscribed:

"CHEMNITZ-SÜDKAMPFBAHN | GORDON-BENNETT | AUSSCHEIDUNGS-FAHRT" - 'CHEMNITZ-SÜDKAMPFBAHN | GORDON BENNETT | ELIMINATION RIDE'

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