POSTAGE STAMPS
(1937)

This page was last updated
28-Apr-2023 10:28

TAG DER BRIEFMARKE
THE DAY OF THE STAMP

In 1935 the F.I.P. (Fédération Internationale de Philatélie") officially agreed to sanction a "Day of the Stamp" and on 7th Jan 1936 Germany issued the first special postmark to mark the event. Germany continued to issue special postmarks annually thereafter, but it was not until 1941 that Germany would issue its first commemorative stamp. However, an advertising label was used in Jan 1937. The "Ka-Be" printers bought 3,000 sheets of 3Rpf Hindenburg Medallion stamps and these were 'modified' by overprinting every other stamp with white ink in the form of one of two inscriptions. The modified text read "Tag der Briefmarke 10.1.1937" or "Ka-Be Briefmarken Alben allen voran".



"Ka-Be" Tag der Briefmarken sheet - More Details

MICHEL 643 to 645
4th ANNIV of the LUFTSCHUTZ
Civil Defence Union

These stamps (Michel 643 to Michel 645) were issued in sheets of 100 on 3rd Mar 1937 and were valid for use until 31st Dec 1938. The stamps depict an air raid warden of the Reichs Luftschutz Bund (National Air Defence League) holding a protective shield which symbolises protecting the community.

These engraved stamps were based on a poster by Prof. Hohlwein and were produced on sheets (10x10) on unwatermarked paper and were Perf K14.


Mi 643: 3Rpf - black ochre brown - More Details
Mi 644: 6Rpf - dark grey green - More Details
Mi 645: 12Rpf - dark to blackish pink - More Details

There was no special postmark or official postcard issued to mark this event in 1937, however in 1938 a special handstamp and slogan postmarks were used to mark the 5th Anniversary.

MICHEL BLOCK 7
ADOLF HITLER'S 48th BIRTHDAY

Issued on the 5th of Apr 1937 this Minisheet (Michel Block 7) was used to commemorate the 48th Birthday of Adolf Hitler. The inscription is taken from one of Hitler's speeches and translates as "Whoever wants to save a people must think heroically". This is the first time Hitler appears alone on an official stamp and the first time a stamp was issued to commemorate his birthday, a tradition that was observed every year up to and including 1944.

The design is by Prof. Richard Klein and has a swastika watermark that covers the entire reverse side of the Minisheet. The sheets were initially printed 147mm x 105mm but there are many available that have been trimmed. The stamps, Michel 646, are Perf K14.



Block 7: (Michel 646): blackish bluish green - More Details

In addition to the regular city/date cancellations there were 4 special postmarks used in Berlin, Berchtesgaden, München and Nürnberg.

MICHEL BLOCK 8
DIE DEUTSCHE BRIEFMARKE
FIRST NATIONAL PHILATELIC EXHIBITION

Issued: 16th Apr 1937. This Minisheet was issued just over a week after Block 7 and is of the same design except with this issue the stamp is imperforate. As with Block 7 the watermark is a swastika watermark that covers the entire reverse side of the sheet. This sheet was issued at the 1st National Stamp Exposition entitled "The German Postage Stamp" in Berlin.



Block 8: (Michel Mi647): blackish bluish green - More Details

The exhibition was staged from 16th to 18th Apr 1937 in Berlin and a special postmark was issued to coincide with the event. During the first few hours of the event opening there was a mix-up, and the organisers mistakenly cancelled these sheet "1936" instead of "1937", however they soon realised the mistake and all further cancellations were correctly dated.

The same Minisheet was again used from the 17th to 20th April at another exhibition, "The Life and Work of the Führer", held in Hamburg. This event also has a special postmark depicting the Edelweiss flower.

MICHEL BLOCK 9
HITLER'S CULTURE FUND

Minisheet Block 9 was issued on 10th Jun 1937 and like the two previous Minisheets it has a swastika watermark that covers the entire reverse side of the sheet. This Minisheet differs from the earlier design in that it has an additional inscription in green text to the left and to the right of the four stamps that reads "25Rpf inclusive of Culture Fund donation".



Block 9: (Mi648) - blackish bluish green - More Details

These sheets were initially issued to coincide with the 2nd National Socialist Party Rally in Hamburg from 10th to 13th Jun 1937 and there was a special postmark used at the same time. After the event these sheets were made more widely available, even as far as Austria.

MICHEL BLOCK 10
DAS BRAUNE BAND von DEUTSCHLAND
BROWN RIBBON OF GERMANY

Issued on 1st Aug 1937 - This Minisheet, Michel block 10, features the same design as Minisheet Michel Block 4, used in 1936 for the previous year's race. It appears that this version used up unsold examples of the 1936 Minisheet as it still retains the 1936 watermark. However, this issue has a red overprint "1 August - 1937 - München - Riem" across the stamp and the Minisheet itself has a watermark inscribed "MÜNCHEN - RIEM - 1936". There are known forgeries of this sheet where the overprint is inverted, and these are much cheaper than the real Minisheet.



Block 10: (Michel 649) - 42Rpf+108Rpf - dark brown - More Details

A special postmark identical to the previous year's was also used on 1st Aug 1937, race day.

MICHEL BLOCK 11
9th REICHSPARTEITAG NÜRNBERG
(NAZI PARTY RALLY)

Issued on 3rd Sep 1937 for the Nazi Party Rally held in Nürnberg. It is almost identical to the Culture Fund Minisheet (Block 9) but with the addition of extra text running vertically on the stamps to the left and right of Hitler's head. The left side reads "Reichsparteitag", and the right-side reads "Nürnberg 1937".



Block 11: (Michel 650) - 6Rpf - black bluish green - More Details.

These Minisheet were first made available at the "Collecting in your leisure time" Exhibition in Berlin from the 3rd to 5th Sep 1937. A special postmark and an P245 official postcard were also released. In addition to this postcard there was also a series of P264 8 official postcards, with 6Rpf Hitler Head indicia stamps issued to coincide with the rally.

MICHEL 651 to 659
WINTERHILFSWERK
(WINTER RELIEF FUND)

Michel 651 Through Michel 639 were issued on 4th Nov 1937 to mark the Winter relief Fundraising event of 1937. This series of 9 stamps were designed by von Axster-Heüdtlass and were engraved by the state printing works in Berlin. Each stamp features a ship, and they were issued on sheets of 100 (10x10) or in some cases booklets. The stamps are Perf K14.



Mi 651: 3Rpf+2Rpf - blackish orange brown - Bremen (lifeboat) 1931 - More Details
Mi 652: 4Rpf+3Rpf - blue black - Burgemeister Oswald (lightship) - More Details
Mi 653: 5Rpf+3Rpf - dark emerald green - Fishing Smacks - More Details



Mi 654: 6Rpf+4Rpf - darkish grey green - Wilhelm Gustaff (liner) - More Details
Mi 655: 8Rpf+4Rpf - blackish yellow red - Padua (barque) - More Details
Mi 656: 12Rpf+6Rpf - blackish brownish red - Tannenberg (liner) - More Details



Mi 657: 15Rpf+10Rpf - blackish carmine brown - Schwerin (train ferry) - More Details
Mi 658: 25Rpf+15Rpf - black ultramarine - Hamburg (liner) - More Details
Mi 659: 40Rpf+35Rpf - blackish red lilac - Europa (liner) - More Details

There was a special postmark used by a "touring post office" that visited 12 towns to advertise the fundraising event. In addition to the postmark there was also a P266 official postcard made available.

In addition to the special stamps above there was also a special commemorative card issued in Jan 1938 to commemorate the 'Day of the Stamp', which featured these nine stamps (the example below, from my collection, features these stamps as well as the special 'Day of the Stamp' cancellation used in BERLIN).