OFFICIAL POSTCARDS
(1933)

This page was last updated
02-Nov-2024 08:12

MICHEL P226
OFFICIAL POSTCARD
6Rpf HINDENBURG MEDALLION

The Hindenburg postcards were re-issued later in 1933 with some changes from the earlier design. The text on the bottom right of the card has been changed from two lines of text to a single line of text, and the five lines of sender's text has now been reduced to three lines. In addition, the three vertical dividing lines have been changed to a single line.

There are two versions of this card: P226(I) has straight edges and P226(II) has a serrated edge.

a large number of privately printed versions of this card were produced.

MICHEL P226 UNUSED
(6Pf HINDENBURG MEDALLION)

ABOVE: P226 I

VARIANTS TO COLLECT

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

1. As a domestic long-distance card without any special features
2. As a foreign used card with 10 Rpf to CSR
3. As a foreign used card with 10Rpf to Hungary
4. As a foreign used card with 15 Rpf
5. As a Registered card
6. As a local delivery Express card
7. As a Rohrpost card in Berlin
8. Domestic Armail usage
9. European Airmail usage
10. Airmail usage to the USA from Bodensee (Lake Constance)
11. Postally unused
12. Domestic Bahnpost usage
13. Invalid Usage - either after expiration date or with incorrect postage applied
14. With additional private printing
15. Special slogan cancels

EXAMPLES FROM MY COLLECTION

POSTALLY UNUSED

DOMESTIC LONG DISTANCE WITH NO ADDITIONAL MARKINGS

1. This P226-I was cancelled in NORENHAM on 27th Jan 1933 and was destined for OLDENBURG. This card has a simple CDS cancellation.

FOREIGN USE 10 Rpf TO CSR

1. This P226-I was cancelled in BERLIN-CHARLOTTENBURG on 19th Aug 1936 and was destined for MARIENBAD in the C.S.A.




2. Below is another example of a P226-I card being sent to the C.S.R. In this case the card originated in LEIPZIG on 28th Jan 1937 and was destined for the town of KARLSBAD.

FOREIGN USE 10 Rpf TO HUNGARY

1. Posted in POSEN on 31st Oct 1940 this card was sent to BUDAPEST, HUNGARY and has several censor cancels.

FOREIGN USE WITH 15 Rpf

FRANCE

1. This next card was sent from JENA to an address in PARIS, FRANCE on 30th Jun 1939.




Another P226-I sent to FRANCE, this time the correspondance is between two collectors, the destination was STRASBOURG and the card was sent from WORMS on 16th Mar 1939. Although a self adhesive airmail stamp was used the card itself was not transported by plane. Airmail stamps were perfectly valid for use as regular stamps.

GREAT BRITAIN

1. The following card was sent from BERLIN-CHARLOTTENBURG to EASTBOURNE, ENGLAND on 6th Aug 1934




2.

LICHTENSTEIN

1. The following P226-I postcard was sent from WIESBADEN-BIEBRICH to VALDUZ, LICHTENSTEIN on 26th Oct 1938. Two self-adhesive stamps have been added to uprate the card to 15Rpf.

The NETHERLNDS

1. The P226-I postcard below was sent from BAD WILDUNGEN to AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND on 13th Aug 1937. Two self-adhesive stamps have been added to uprate the card to the required 15Rpf.

SWEDEN

1. The following card was sent from BERLIN-CHARLOTTENBURG to an address in SWEDEN on 23rd Feb 1940. The card was passed by the censor.

SWITZERLAND

1. Destined for Bulle in Switzerland this card was posted in STRAHLAU POSEN on 22nd Aug 1940 and was cancelled on he LEIPZIG-FRANKFURT Train. As with the card above it has been passed by the censor.




2. The next example was sent to a town near ZURICH, SWITZERLAND on 5th Feb 1936 from RIEDLINGEN in BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG. The card was correctly franked with 15 Rpf of stamps.

UNITED STATES of AMERICA

1. Posted in REUTLINGEN on 6th Oct 1935 this card was destined for an address in NEW YORK, USA on the corner of Broadway and 32nd Street.

REGISTERED CARD

EXPRESS DELIVERY CARD

The way that Express Mail worked was that the sender had to either write "Durch Eilboten" (By Courier) or "Sofort zu bestellen" (To be ordered immediately), or apply a label, and in the case of writing, underline it. The item would then be sent through the regular mail system, e.g. by tain, and upon arrival at its destination, it would be picked up by a courier and delivered immediately. Should there be a need for delivery outside of the regular hours (i.e. from 9pm to 7am) an additional note of "Auch Nachts" (Even at Night) was required.

From 1st Apr 1926 the post office would also mark each Express Delivery item with a horizontal red cross, as can be seen on the examples below. A further note is that the fee was not always paid in advance "Bote bezahlt" (Courier or messenger paid). It was not unusual for the recipient to pay the extra fee. In general if paying in advance, the fee was fixed, however if it was paid upon receipt the price could be signifcantly higher.

Express mail delivery costs remained the same through out the Nazi era from 1933 until 1945 as follows:

Domestic local delivery (Ortsbestellbesirk) = 40Rpf
Domestic local delivery (Landbestellbesirk) = 80Rpf
International delivery = 50Rpf.

1. The Express mail P226-I postcard below sent from HAGEM to DUISBERG (a distance of about 45 Km), on 27th Sep 1938. Posted at 2pm it arrived 7 hours later at 9pm. This example has a variation of the "Durch Eilboten" label which reads "Eilbote Exprès".




2. Another Express Mail, this time from BRAUNSWEIG to MÖNCHENGLADBACH, posted at 5pm on the 31st Oct 1939 and arriving at 7am the following day. This card is interesting because the postal clerk in MÖNCHENGLADBACH adjusted his date stamp incorrectly. Whilst he did advance the day slug from 31 to 1, he neglected to advance the month slug from 10 to 11 and so it looks like the card was delivered 30 days before it was mailed.




3. Posted in DRESDEN at 5pm on 28th Jan 1941 it arrived ULMERFELD on 1st Feb at 10am. This particular example has a variation of the "Durch Eilboten" label which reads "Eilbote Exprès".




4. This Express Delivery card was a local delivery in ULM on 31st Dec 1937. It was posted on New Years eve between 3pm and 4pm and arrived no more than an hour later.




5. The next Express Delivery card was posted in BERLIN on 21st Oct 1938.




6. Correctly franked at 46 Rpf the following EXPRESS DELIVERY was sent from STOCKERAU to RAD V ESLAU on 23rd Dec 1938. This card has a different "Durch Eilboten. Exprès" label to previous examples.




7. The next example was cancelled in GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN on 10th Oct 1939 and was an express delivery to LANDAU / PFALZ.




8. The following example was correctly franked with 46 Rpf of postage and was cancelled in WIEN (VIENNA) on 26.06.1938 (approx 2 months after the Anschluss) and was sent to STUTTGART where it arrived the following day.

ROHRPOST in BERLIN

DOMESTIC AIRMAIL

This P226 card has is an example of airmail usage. The card was posted in FRANKFURT a.MAIN on 1st Dec 1938 and bears the special cachet used on the GRAF ZEPPELIN SUDETENLAND special flight. The destination was the town of MARIENBAD (modern day Czech Republic name: Mariánské Lázně). After the occupation of the Sudetenland in Oct 1938 Germany moved swiftly to rename all towns in the occupied areas with German sounding names.

The reverse side of the card bears a REICHENBERG (modern Czech name: Liberec) CDS with accompanying "Am 4. Dezember | Dein Ya | dem Führer" slogan "On the 4th of December give the führer your 'yes' vote".

EUROPEAN AIRMAIL

AIRMAIL TO USE FROM LAKE CONSTANCE

GERMAN BAHNPOST

1. The following P226-I bears a 'BERLIN-WARNEMÜNDE' bahnpost cancellation dated 12th Mar 1935 on Train No.15 on the way to HAMBURG. In addition, there is a second rectangular, violet cancellation, inscribed 'Sietow | über Waren Müritz'

INVALID USAGE

SPECIAL SLOGAN CANCELS

1. Below is another domestically used P226-I, this one cancelled in FALLINGPOSTEL on 10th Oct 1939 and features a special cancel inscribed "FALLINGPOSTEL | Luftkurort | der Lüneburger Heide | Siebensteinhäuser" - 'FALLING POSTEL | Air spa | the Lüneburg Heath | Seven stone houses' and was used every year from 1931 to 1937.




2. The following P226-I card was posted in STUTTGART on 17th Mar 1940 and in addition to the STUTTGART CDS there is an airmail slogan cancellation inscribed "Luftpost | bringt zeitgewinn" - 'Airmail saves time'. This slogan cancel was used every year from 1936 until 1944 in 18 towns and cities.




3. The next P226-I card was posted in GRAZ, AUSTRIA on 17th Sep 1941 and bears a special cancellation inscribed "GRAZ | STADT DER VOLKSERHEBUNG" - 'GRAZ | CITY OF THE UPRISING'. This cancellation was used every year from 1938 until 1944 and at counters 'p', 'r' to 'x', 'aa' to 'ae', 'ag', 'an', 'as' and '2a'.

In addition to the GRAZ CDS is a rectangular slogan cancel inscribed 'Eigene Vorsicht | bester Unfallschutz' which was part of a public safety campaign. This slogan was used every year from 24th Nov 1937 until 1952 and again in 1954 and 1955.




4. Another P226-I card below was posted in BRESLAU on 7th Mar 1935 and was destined for HALLE. In addition to the CDS cancellation is a slogan cancel inscribed 'Im Geschäft und | auch privat schreib | auf papier im din format' - 'In business and in private write in din format'. This slogan was used every year from 16th Oct 1934 until 1938 and again after the war from 1947 to 1950 and again in 1953.




5. The next P226-I postcard features a special cancel dated 24th Jun 1938 in the city of FREIBERG. The special cancel is inscribed "FREIBERG (SACHS) | Stadtfest 19.VI.38 | 750 Jahre Deutscher | Erzbergbau | Jubilaumsschau 19 Juni-15.August". This cancel was used at counters 1 and 2 (below was from counter 2) and only in 1938.

There is an additional violet rubber stamp on the front of the card from a company named 'C.G Modes', a Grocer, delicatessen and specialty cigar seller from Freiberg. In addition, the reverse of the card has a green 'Ablegen!' rubber stamp.




6. The P226-I card below was cancelled with a CDS cancel in HIDELSHEIM on 10th May 1935 with GOSLAR as the destination. There is also a very common slogan cancel inscribed "Benutzt die Luftpost!" - "Use Airmail!". This slogan was used continually from 1927 until 1944.

At the bottom right-hand side, on the reverse of the card, is the common greeting "Heil Hitler", just above the sender's signature.




7. This next P226-I postcard was cancelled in NÜRNBERG on 19th Dec 1939 and also has a very fine example of the "STADT DER REICHSPARTEITAG NÜRNBERG" slogan cancel, which was used every year from 1937 until 1940 even though there was no Nazi Party Rally in 1939 and 1940.




8. The following P226-I postcard was cancelled in BERLIN on 11th Aug 1939 and also has a special slogan cancel inscribed "Vorsicht | mit feuer in Wald und Heiden" - 'Caution | with fire in the woods and heaths'




9. The next P226-I card was sent from FURTH on 29th Jun 1938 and bears a special handstamp inscribed "FÜRTH i. WALD | MITTELPUNKT | DER OSTMARKPOST" - 'Fürth the centre of the ostmark post'.




10. The card below was posted in HEIDELBERG on 20th Jul 1934 and destined for GÖTTINGEN.




REFERENCES:
1. MICHEL GANZSACHEN DEUTSCHLAND 2021/2022. 23 Auflage ISBN 978-95402-374-5 2. KATALOG der DEUTSCHEN GELEGENHEITSSTEMPEL by JULIUS BOCHMANN.