Germany: Cancellation Premium.

Rod, Vayolene and Germania, thanks very much.
The stamp is indeed inscribed Bamberg. My mistake.
Much appreciated.
Regards
DavidR

Here is a fragment of a Postal Savings Card with nine copies of the 1 DM value of the Berlin Buildings series of 1949. Michel lists 3 varieties of this stamp, depending upon the responsiveness of the ink to long wave UV light. The most common variety, Mi #57a is non-responsive. The second type, Mi #57b shows a strong response, while the third type, Mi 57c, shows a weak response. Michel gives a nice premium, 60 euros catalog value, to the 57c stamp, while the 57b (strong fluorescence) catalogs at 7 euros, and the 57a (non-responsive) catalogs at 1.50 euros.

All three types of the stamp are on this card. There are five 57a's, one 57b and three 57c's. The ambient light makes it little bit tough to see the difference between the a's and c's, but the difference is obvious 'in person'.

The heading and first paragraph of the back of the card are as follows, "Note for the Saver: The 32 preprinted fields on the inside of this Postal Savings Card are used to stick postage stamps of any value up to a total of 15 DM. Special stamps with a surcharge are only valid with the postal nominal values."

Here are two covers relating to the re-unification of Germany in 1990-1. First cover shows international usage from Jena, Thuringia, (eastern) Germany postmarked August 1, 1990 and franked with stamps of Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany, and German Democratic Republic to the USA. These stamps were all valid for postage at the date of sending.

Second cover is a domestic registered letter from Gotha, Thuringia, (eastern) Germany to Bonn, North-Rhine Westphalia, (western) Germany. Cover is postmarked October 2, 1990 and is franked with Federal Republic of Germany and German Democratic Republic stamps. The sender has applied a "Letzter TAG" (last day of postal validity) rubber stamp, because the two 35 pf DDR stamps are 1988 issues, and October 2, 1990 was the last day they could be used for postage. Franking of 200 pf appears to be 50 pf overpaid.

Michel's Deutschland -Spezial catalog explains at the end of its DDR postage stamps listing, "All (DDR) stamps issued from January 1, 1964 to June 30, 1990 were valid until October 2, 1990. Postage stamps issued by Deutsche Post from July 2, 1990 until December 31, 1991 were also valid in the Federal Republic of Germany and in West Berlin. From July 1, 1990, the issues of the Deutsche Bundespost and the Deutsche Bundespost Berlin were also valid in the German Democratic Republic."

This wartime postal card was uprated for international use from Stuttgart (12 July, 1944) to Locarno, Switzerland (14 August 1944) via Munich ('Ad' censor marking) and Zuerich (14 August 1944). So it appears that the card spent over month in Munich with the censors. The boxed '7121' is the particular censor's marking, and the light grayish blue streak appears to be a censor's chemical/copper sulfate test.

The addressee had moved on to the Hotel Fravi in Andeer, Switzerland, 104.6 km/65 miles to the southwest, also very near to the Italian border. This is a spa hotel which was built in 1828, and it is still in operation today. Perhaps this is a family of means. The sender of the card gives a return address in Ehrwald, Tirol (Austria in Germany), at the foot of the Zugspitze.

Munich was hit by allied bombs many times during that month. I couldn't seem to find a comprehensive list, but it appears they were bombed a dozen or so times during the time the letter was stuck there. Lucky it made it through at all!

Here is a December 15, 1930 letter posted aboard the SS Coblenz, a vintage 1923 steamer of the North German Lloyd Line. The cancel shows that this ship was following an East Asian Mainline route, with the letter being posted as the sender and ship were in Djibouti (see return address) and routed later that day to Port Said, Egypt. The Port Said cancel has the inscription "PORT SAID TRAFFIC". Letter was sent to Charleston, SC, USA, but lacks a receiving cancel.

The SS Coblenz was sold in 1935 to the Italia Line and re-named Sicilia. In 1941 it was converted to a hospital ship, and in 1943 it was bombed by British warplanes and sunk in Naples harbor. Photo shows the ship circa 1925-30.

From wikipedia (concerning Port Said),"Port Said is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about 30 km/19mi along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal...Port Said acted as a global city since its establishment and flourished particularly during the 19th and first half of the 20th century when it was inhabited by various nationalities and religions."

Revenue.
PREUSSISCH-HESSISCHE-STAATSEISEN BAHNEN

Double perfs, hinge remnant, using a stamp fragment from Danzig.
Typo noted.

This Post WWI cover from Hamburg to New York City has several points of interest. The Hamburg I machine cancel has been applied to a perfined stamp of Schenker & Co. of Berlin, Hamburg branch. The perfin is vertical, running down the stamp with several incomplete punctures.

The stamp itself is a Michel #149 I., meaning it is the type one 80 pf stamp printed from two plates. The common variety is Michel #149 II. (type two) printed from one printing plate. Besides the type ones almost never having the Germania portrait, numbers and country name plate perfectly centered, they can be identified by the small ornament at the top of the crown.

Cover had been expertized when I bought it years ago, and the 'fault free' ('Einwand frei") marking of Infla Berlin no doubt refers to the stamp.

Germany Telegraphic Seals.

Here is a special postcard with cinderellas and a special airmail cancellation for the 27th Germany Stamp Day. Julius Bochmann's Katalog der Deutschen Sonderstempel lists three special cancellations for 27th Stamp Day, including this airmail cancellation with the propeller design.

The card also includes two 25pf stamps, although it is strictly a souvenir with no marks indicating an addressee.

In addition there are three labels which have been postmarked. Four labels were prepared for the occasion, with three of them having values (contribution?) inscribed. The fourth one is shown in the last pic. There are at least four colors of this larger, non-valued cinderella: gray black, red, light olive and blue.

Very nice indeed.
Propellers in the CDS as a Pictormark !
You have to hand it to the Germans, they have a way about them, in design. Makes a rich and interesting catalogue.

Do we know the significance of the "DPH 1" on the CDS?

It's D.PH.T. (not I)

Deutscher Philatelisten Tag

Oops, not allowed to show clearer image

Cheers Jill
German Philatelists Day

Here is a WWII cancellation that one is not likely to run across. It is from the part of Poland which was occupied by the Soviets after their invasion of September 1939. Later, when the Germans invaded eastern Poland and the other Soviet-held lands, they annexed this territory to be a part of East Prussia, Germany. It was called 'Bezirk Bialystok' (Bialystok District).

The cancel is PRUZANA 14.10.43. By the time the letter was mailed, the name had been changed to the Germanized 'Pruschana', as the address on the return address shows. Today, this town (pop. ca. 18,500) of southwestern Belarus is called Pruzhany.

It appears that the letter was sent by a pastor to a Swedish Christian organization involved with evangelical work in Russia. I have learned from SCF that Scandinavian languages are beyond my ability to effectively use internet translation services, but Google translate says that "Norwegian is detected" with this writing.

The "Ab" transit marking indicates that this letter was handled by the examiners in Berlin.

Pruzana was a site of mass transit and murder of many Polish Jews and others, and also of the destruction of a large part of the town itself, according to internet sources.

The map shown is from Michel-Atlas zur Deutschland-Philatelie (1989). Unfortunately, the editors decided to crop the eastern part of 'Bezirk Bialystok' to fit the page. The blue area is 'expanded' Germany. The 'Ostland' area above East Prussia is Lithuania.

It would be interesting to know what the correspondence involved, but that feature is very likely gone.

Prussia
General Revenue : Prussian Eagle and Numeral.