OFFICIAL POSTCARDS
(1941)

This page was last updated
31-Jul-2024 07:27

OFFICIAL POSTCARD
HITLER's BIRTHDAY
P243 / 7

VALIDITY: 20th Apr 1941 until the end of the war.

As in previous years Hitler's birthday was commemorated by a large number of private postcard issues. One of the more significant official sets published in 1941 was the one below designed by Axster-Heudtlass which consisted of 8 cards published on the day itself, 20th Apr 1941.

Each card has a pre-printed 6 Rpf brown Hindenburg Medallion stamp. The eight different designs are:

P243-1: 1. Paratroopers
P243-2: 2. Anti-aircraft guns
P243-3: 3. Motor Cyclists
P243-4: 4. Coastal defence Artillery
P243-5: 5. Troops advancing under cover of smoke
P243-6: 6. Engineers in rubber boats
P243-7: 7. Torpedo Boat
P243-8: 8. A Ju 87b Stuka dive-bomber.

Each card is inscribed 'MIT UNSEREN FAHNENIST DER SIEGE' - 'Victory with our flags', along the bottom edge of the card and 'K.d.F Sammlergruppen, Abgabepries 20 Rpf', vertically along the centre divider.



P243/7 - Torpedo Boat. The lag on this card is the Reichskriegsflagge. The Reichskriegsflagge, which was introduced on 7th Nov 1935, was widely used in the Wehrmacht. Thus, it also served the Kriegsmarine as the naval ensign, which was hoisted on flag days regardless of the location of the ship. These were 1st Jan (New Year), 18th Jan (founding day of the German Empire in 1871), 30th Jan ("Day of National Survey"), 20th Apr (Adolf Hitler's birthday), 1st May ("Labour Day") and 31st May (anniversary of the Battle of Jutland in World War I).

In addition, ships in home waters had to hoist the Reichskriegsflagge on 1st Mar (commemorating the 1935 reintegration of the Territory of the Saar Basin into Germany), 29th Aug (the day of the founding of the Prussian Navy in 1859), the first Sunday after Michaelmas and the day of the harvest festival. Regardless of these days, all warships that received a head of state were obliged to show the Reichskriegsflagge. (Wikipedia)

VARIANTS TO COLLECT

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

1. Cancelled on first day of issue 20th Apr 1941
2. Cancelled with "Werbeschau der K.d.F-Sammlergruppe" handstamp
3. Cancelled with "Geburtstag des Führers" handstamp
4. As a domestic long-distance card without any special features
5. Rejected as an international card due to image
6. As a Registered Delivery card
7. As a local delivery Express Delivery card
8. Cancelled as a Hamburg Straβenbahnpost
9. Used as a Rohrpost (pneumatic) card in BERLIN
10. Domestic Airmail usage
11. Postally unused
12. Domestic Bahnpost usage
13. Invalid Usage - either after expiration date or with incorrect postage applied
14. With Special slogan cancels

POSTALLY UNUSED

CANCELLED on FIRST DAY of ISSUE

Cancelled on the official issue date 20th Apr 1941

CANCELLED WITH "Werbeschau der K.d.F-Sammlergruppe"
HANDSTAMP

1. The following examples were cancelled with the special handstamp used in KASSEL and ERFURT on Hitler's birthday 20th Apr 1941

CANCELLED WITH "Geburtstag des Führers"
HANDSTAMP

DOMESTIC LONG DISTANCE WITHOUT SPECIAL MARKINGS

REJECTED AS AN INTERNATIONAL CARD DUE TO IMAGE

REGISTERED DELIVERY CARD

EXPRESS DELIVERY CARD

HAMBURG STRAβENBAHNPOST

Cancelled as a Hamburg Straβenbahnpost

POSTED AS ROHRPOST IN BERLIN

DOMESTIC AIRMAIL

GERMAN BAHNPOST

INVALID USAGE

SPECIAL SLOGAN CANCELS

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