Airship Expedition To New Guinea

Since my previous post on the Deutsche Ozean-Reederei issues was well received, here's another lesser known curiosity -- the Luftschiff Expedition fundraising stamps.

Prior to WWI, the island of New Guinea was controlled by three European powers -- Germany, Britain, and the Netherlands. Despite their claims to the entirety of the island, very little of the territory had actually been explored. The interior is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, and the colonial powers confined their settlements primarily to the coastal plains.


Link to Google Map of German Post Offices in Deutsch-Neuguinea

In 1913, the three colonial powers began planning for a joint expedition to New Guinea with the purpose of exploring and mapping the interior of the island via airship. The Dutch backed out of the project early on, but the Germans and English continued on schedule for a voyage in 1914. The airship was to be crewed by a joint crew, with scientists aboard from both countries. The man selected to lead the expedition was Lt Paul Graetz, a German officer who had famously been the first man to drive across Africa in an automobile.


Graetz crossing a wooden bridge on his drive across Africa, 1907-1909

In order to promote and help finance the Luftschiff Expedition, a pair of stamps was printed beginning in July 1913. These stamps were not valid postage, but could be purchased as collectors' items or for use with valid postage. Proofs of 2 RM and 1,000 RM values exist, but only the 2 Pfennig and 1 RM values were produced for sale.



The Luftschiff Expedition was scheduled for 1914, but was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I. The stamps therefore never made it into widespread circulation, and are considered extremely rare. Used copies are even more rare. Only three used copies of the 2 Pfennig value are known to exist.



Additionally, the Verlag der Hilfsstelle für vaterländische Arbeit (Publisher of the Aid Agency for Patriotic Work) in Berlin produced postcards advertising the Expedition.



And as an added curiosity, here's a piece of German postal stationery (Frech 106B-16/02) produced in 1934 as an advertisement for Heinrich Keimel, a stamp dealer in Munich. On the front, a photo of the 2 Pfennig issue and the statement "Diese Marke such ich zu kaufen" (I'm looking to buy this stamp).

Very Nice !! My wife one pulled a postcard from German New Guinea out of a 25 cent box and thinking it was a common card showed it to me and asked if I wanted it..i said sure...well between the card and the seepost cancel on it I sold the card for $150.00...10 years later I am still looking for a deal like that...somewhere in a postcard dealers 25 cent box !!

Postmaster, great stuff, thanks

PostmasterGS, I really enjoyed reading about this interrupted adventure over New Guinea. Thanks for posting same.
Regards
Mike

Excellent stuff - more please!

The images of the airship on the 2 pf and 1 mark labels have to be the most generic airships ever. They are just elongated ovals with no engines, compartment, fins, anything.

Wow, This is great! Thanks for posting!

Dave N.
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A fascinating topic. Thank you PostmasterGS.

Postmaster, you really should post more threads. This is excellent. Thank you!

Will do, Rileysan. Have to pace myself, though!

Been one year since this post. I'm sure you're not surprised I haven't found any of these stamps at the show today. Maybe tomorrow!

These actually come up for sale pretty often. Maybe every month or so.

In just the last month, here's the Sieger I for €180 (MH), €290 (MNH), still available for €450 (MNH), and someone got a really good deal getting the pair for €660.

I still keep track of these because I hold out hope that one day I'll find another of the three known used copies. I'd love to have a shot at the cover with both on it that was last sold at auction in Feb 2008 for €7000. Might require a second mortgage, though.

I haven't been following the big German auctions lately since I'm on a buying hiatus, but I just checked in and noticed that my dream piece, the cover shown above, resurfaced at auction in September and sold for €13,500. Guess I'll have to wait a little longer...

Here are a couple recent additions to my Luftschiffexpedition collection.



This is a really nice corner copy of the 2 Pfennig value.

And this bad boy...



This is a rare one. Prior to the issue of the stamps in 1914, postcards were printed allowing collectors or users to order copies of the 2 Pfennig, 1 Mark, and (eventually never-issued) 20 Mark values.

The details of this postcard are truly unknown -- no idea how many were printed or whether they were ever widely available. This copy was not used for its intended purpose, but appears to have been sent through the mail for philatelic purposes. Perhaps this is why it survived.

There's a possibility that other copies were available and used for their intended purpose, but as cards used for ordering purposes would have all been to the same destination (the Luftschiffexpedition Office in Berlin), they could have been destroyed en masse upon the cancellation of the program.

The end result -- this is the only copy of the order card known to exist.

As always - an excellent display!