POSTAGE STAMPS
(1933)

This page was last updated
16-Mar-2023 08:43

MICHEL 479 to 481
OPENING of NEW REICHSTAG
(Potsdam)

Issued 12th April 1933 and valid for use until 31st Dec 1935. Unknown quantity printed. These 3 stamps depict Frederick the Great, King of Prussia (1712 to 1786) from a painting by Adolph von Menzel (1815 to 1905). These stamps were available on engraved sheets (10x10) and in stamp booklets. The stamps have a waffle/network watermark and are perf K14:14¼.



Mi 479: 6RpF - blackish-bluish-green - More Details
Mi 480: 12Rpf - lilac-red - More Details
Mi 481: 25Rpf - bright-lilac-ultramarine - More Details

MICHEL 482 to 495
HINDENBURG - MEDALLIONS II
(CHANGED COLOURS AND NEW VALUES)

Issued from Apr until Aug 1933: These stamps were issued in Sheets of 100 throughout 1933 and were valid until the end of the war in May 1945. The 6Rpf, and 8Rpf values were also printed in booklet form. The 3Rpf, 4Rpf, 6Rpf, 8Rpf, 10Rpf, 12Rpf, 20Rpf, 30Rpf and 50Rpf values were also issued on coils of 100 or more stamps. The stamps have a waffle/network watermark and are perf K14:14¼.


Mi 482: dark-brown-ochre - (April) - More Details
Mi 483: dark-Prussian-blue - (May) - More Details
Mi 484: blackish-opal-green - (April) - More Details
Mi 485: yellowish-red - (April) - More Details


Mi 486: dark-reddish-brown - (May) - More Details
Mi 487: blackish-pink-red - (April) - More Details
Mi 488: dark-brownish-carmine - (Aug) - More Details
Mi 489: mid-blue - (May) - More Details



Mi 490: dark-brownish-olive - (May) - More Details
Mi 491: dark-lilac-purple - (Aug) - More Details
Mi 492: blackish-green / grey-black - (July) - More Details
Mi 493: dark-carmine-lilac / grey-black - (May) - More Details


Mi 494: dark-cobalt / grey-black - (Jul) - More Details
Mi 495: blackish-yellow-orange / grey-black - (July) - More Details

There are a few minor anomalies to look out for, for example Mi482, the 3Rpf stamp has a variant 482x which was produced with yellow gum. There are also examples of the 'D' in the word Deutschland having an 'open D' compared to the more usual 'closed D'. I have an example of Mi 485 with the 'Open D' in my collection.

MICHEL 496 to 498
CHICAGO WORLD'S FAIR
(Chicagofahrt Weltausstellung 1933)

This series of three stamps features an image of The Graf Zeppelin, L.Z. 127 flying around the world. This was the fourth and final Zeppelin issue to feature this design, the differences being in the overprint. This first issue from 1928 Michel 455, 423 and 424 has no overprint, the second issue in 1930 was the South America issue Michel 438 and 439 and the third issue was the polar flight issue of 1931 Michel 456 to 458.


Mi 496: 1 Mark - black-pink - More Details
Mi 497: 2 Mark - dark-violet-ultramarine - More Details
Mi 498: 4 Mark - black-brown - More Details

BEWARE FORGERIES OF THESE STAMPS ARE COMMON

MICHEL 499 to 507
GERMAN WELFARE FUND
(DEUTSCHE NOTHILFE)
RICHARD WAGNER

Issued 1st Nov 1933 and valid for use until 30th Sep 1934: This series of 9 stamps depict various operas by Richard Wagner (1813 to 1883) and were the first stamps to feature a swastika watermark. This was one of the first steps in the Nazification of the postal system and it was a subtle sign of the Nazi's beginning to move into all aspects of German life, later this progressed to Nazi Swastika and party symbols being more overtly displayed on postal materials.



Mi 499: 3+2Pf - dark orange-brown - Tannhauser - More Details
Mi 500: 4+2Pf - dark blue - Flying Dutchman - More Details
Mi 501: 5+2Pf - emerald-green - Rhine Gold - More Details



Mi 502: 6+4Rpf - blackish-green - Mastersingers of Nuremberg - More Details
Mi 503: 8+4Rpf - orange-red - The Valkyrie - More Details
Mi 504: 12+3Rpf - carmine-red - Siegfried - More Details



Mi 505: 20+10Rpf - dark turquoise-blue - Tristan and Isolde - More Details
Mi 506: 25+15Rpf - dark-ultramarine - Lohengrin - More Details
Mi 507: 40+35Rpf - dark lilac-purple - Parsifal - More Details

In addition to the stamps above there was a souvnier/advertising sheet costing 10Rpf in circulation, that was used to encourage collectors to purchase these stamps. The colour sheet features images of all 9 stamps in two rows, one row of five stamps followed by another row of four stamps. The sheet also has text in dark brown/black ink which reads "Deutsche Nothilfe | 1923 1933 | Richard Wagner Wohlfahrtsbriefmarken 1933 | Amtliche Freimarken zur Frankierung aller Postsendungen" - 'German emergency aid | 1923 1933 | Richard Wagner Welfare Stamps 1933 | Official postage stamps for franking all postal items'. Below the stamps is an additional two lines of text.

MICHEL 508 to 511
10th ANNIVERSARY of WELFARE FUND
BLOCK 2 MINISHEET

Issued 29th Nov 1933 and valid for use until 30th Jun 1935. This Minisheet is a re-issue of the 1924 Nothilfe charity stamps now overprinted '1923-1933'. This sheet has a large watermark "10 Jahre Deutsche Nothilfe 1923-1933" and the stamps have a swastika watermark. The paper used to manufacture this sheet was handmade, so these exist in varying thickness of paper. Only 64,000 of these sheets was ever produced so they are among the most expensive Nazi era postal memorabilia and hence out of the range of many collectors.


Mi Block 2: Minisheet - More Details

Mi 508: 5+15Rpf - black bluish green
Mi 509: 10+30Rpf - dark cinnabar red
Mi 510: 20+60Rpf - dark blue
Mi 511: 50+150Rpf - bright sienna

MICHEL 512X to 528X
HINDENBURG MEDALLIONS III

Issued from 4th Dec 1933 until Feb 1936 and valid for use until the end of the war in May 1945. This was a re-issue of the Hindenburg Medallions II series from earlier in the year, but now with Swastika watermark and perf K14:14¼. The issue dates for the individual values are difficult to determine as these stamps were issued as required. The 1Rpf is an exception as it was a new value necessitated by the change in postal tariffs and was issued on 4th Dec 1933. As these stamps were produced over a long period of time, they do show significant variations in colour and shade. The 3Rpf and the 10Rpf also exist with inverted watermarks.

These Hindenburg Medallions were also issued as vending machine stamps and booklets.



Mi 512: 1Rpf - black - (4th Dec 1933) - More Details
Mi 513: 3Rpf - dark brown-ochre - (Jan 1934) - More Details
Mi 514: 4Rpf - blackish-grey-ultramarine - (Feb 1934) - More Details
Mi 515: 5Rpf - (yellow) emerald-green - (Feb 1934) - More Details



Mi 516: 6Rpf - black (grey) green to black-opal-green - (Feb 1934) - More Details
Mi 517: 8Rpf - yellowish-red to cinnabar - (Feb 1934) - More Details
Mi 518: 10Rpf - dark reddish-brown - (Feb 1934) - More Details
Mi 519: 12Rpf - blackish-pink (red) - (Feb 1934) - More Details



Mi 520: 15Rpf - dark to black-red-violet - (Apr 1934) - More Details
Mi 521: 20Rpf - (bright) cyan-blue - (Apr 1934) - More Details
Mi 522: 25Rpf - (a) mid lilac-ultramarine, (b) bright ultramarine - (Apr 1934) - More Details
Mi 523: 30Rpf - dark brownish-olive - (Feb 1934) - More Details



Mi 524: 40Rpf - dark lilac-purple - (Feb 1934) - More Details
Mi 525: 50Rpf - black-green / grey-black - (Sep 1934) - More Details
Mi 526: 60Rpf - dark carmine-lilac / grey-black - (May 1934) - More Details
Mi 527: 80Rpf - dark-cobalt / grey-black - (Feb 1936) - More Details



Mi 528: 100Rpf - blackish-yellow-orange / grey-black - (Sep 1934) - More Details


There are also examples of Mi517 where the 'D' in the word Deutschland has an 'open D' compared to the more usual 'closed D'. Mi516 exists imperforate and there are examples of Mi517 which are imperforate or imperforate on either the left or the right side.