PROPAGANDA POSTCARDS
(1938)

This page was last updated
23-Feb-2025 04:19

KARL MAY SPIELE
PP122-C-94
(8th Jul/18th Aug 1938)

BACKGROUND: Karl May was a well-known German author (25th Feb 1842 to 30th Mar 1912) famed for his novels featuring the American wild west among other subjects. The postcards below feature two of his main characters, 'Winnetou', the wise chief of the Apache Indians and 'Old Shatterhand' his white blood-brother. They appeared in May's stories from 1887 until 1897 in the 'Der Gute Kamerad' magazine. Both Albert Einstein and Adolf Hitler are believed to have been admirers of his works. The Karl May Games are open-air performances and dramatisations of the works of Karl May.

There were two versions of this card in 1938:

PP122-C-94/01: inscribed 'Karl-May-Spiele'
PP122-C-94/02: inscribed 'Karl=May=Spiele'.

This card was re-issued in 1939. The new card is exactly the same design as above except for the addition of a self-adhesive label below the image which reads "27. Mai bis 30. August | Mittwoch, Sonnabend und Sonntag 15 Uhr" - 'May 27th to August 30th | Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday 3 p.m.'.

SONDERSTEMPEL: In addition to the postcards there were four different special cancels available, two in 1938 and another two in 1939.

Cancel 1 (1938): Inscribed "*Karl May - Spiele* | 28.Mai - 31.Aug.1938".

Cancel 2 (1938): Inscribed "Karl May-Spiele | 28.Mai-31.Aug.1938 | RATHEN | SÄCHS.SCHWEIZ". See PP122-C-94/02 below.

Cancel 3 (1939): Inscribed "*Karl May-Speile* | 28.Mai-31.Aug.1939"

Cancel 4 (1939): Inscribed "*Karl May - Speile* | Sonderpostamt der K.d.F.Sammlergruppe Gau Sachsen"

1938 ISSUE
PP122-C-94/01
3Rpf HINDENBURG MEDALLION

There were two identical postcards published in 1938 to commemorate the Karl May Games held from May to Aug 1938. The only difference between the cards is that for PP122-C-94/01 the first line of text below the image reads "Karl~May~Spiele" instead of "Karl=May=Spiele". Other than this small difference the cards are identical.




ABOVE: PP122-C-94/01 - Inscribed "Karl~May~Spiele"

1938 ISSUE
PP122-C-94/02
3Rpf HINDENBURG MEDALLION

For the second version of this postcard the first line of text reads "Karl=May=Spiele" instead of "Karl~May~Spiele", other than this small difference the cards are identical.




ABOVE: PP122-C-94/02 - inscribed "Karl=May=Spiele"

1939 ISSUE
PP122-C-94/01

The basic design of PP122-C-94/01 was reused to commemorate the games the following year in 1939. This time however the 'MAI-AUG | 1938' text has been replaced by 'MAI-AUG | 1939'. In addition the last 4 lines of the 6 line inscription below the image, have been covered by an adhesive label that reads "27. Mai bis 30. August | Mittwoch, Sonnabend und Sonntag 15 Uhr".




ABOVE: PP122-C-94/01 OVERLAID WITH ADHESIVE LABEL

1939 ISSUE
NO PRE-PRINTED STAMP

The basic design of PP122-C-94/02 was reused to commemorate the games the following year in 1939. This time however the 'MAI-AUG | 1938' text has been replaced by 'MAI-AUG | 1939'. In addition the last 4 lines of the 6 line inscription below the image, have been covered by an adhesive label that reads "27. Mai bis 30. August | Mittwoch, Sonnabend und Sonntag 15 Uhr".




ABOVE: PP122-C-94/02 OVERLAID WITH ADHESIVE LABEL

DUPLICATE CARDS FROM MY COLLECTION

PP122-C-94/01

Another PP122-C-94/01 from my collection. Like the first one above it also has a special cancel.




ABOVE: PP122-C-94/01 - "Karl~May~Spiele"

REFERENCES:
1. PRIVATPOSTKARTEN KATALOG BAND 1 by HANSPETER FRECH 2003 Edition