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Schülke & Mayr Lake Post Issues

 
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Pillar Of The Community
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2941 Posts
Posted 05/15/2011   09:26 am  Show Profile Bookmark this topic Add PostmasterGS to your friends list Get a Link to this Message
In the late 1880s, the German East Africa Company was facing a persistent threat from Arab tribes who opposed the presence of Europeans in their territories. In an effort to quell the insurrections, the Company reached out to the German government for assistance. In response, Germany sent forces under Imperial Commissioner Hauptmann Hermann von Wissmann to not only quell the uprising, but to establish a full-fledged German colony in East Africa. By 1891, he had done just that.


Hermann von Wissmann

Upon establishment of the colony, the Imperial Government faced the question of how to institute mail service. The colony was vast, sparsely populated, and still hostile.


German post office in Dar-es-Salaam

So, the government resorted to private measures and contracted with Schülke & Mayr, a German firm with commercial interests in the colony, to provide mail service. Under the terms of the contract, Schülke & Mayr would provide, for a period of one year, monthly service from Dar-es-Salaam to the military stations of Muansa and Bukoba on Lake Victoria, via Kilossa-Mpapua-Tabora.


Link to Google Map of German Post Offices in Deutsch-Ostafrika
(Daressalaam-Kilossa-Mpapua-Tabora-Muansa-Bukoba shown in red)

Five stamps were printed in 1892 for use with the Schülke & Mayr service. They are inscribed "Schülke & Mayr's Afrikanische-Seeenpost unter Contract mit dem Kaiserl. Gouvernement in Deutsch-Ost-Afrika" (Schülke & Mayr's African Lake Post under contract with the Imperial Government in German East Africa). They were printed by Giesecke & Devrient in Leipzig in sheets of 25. Each features a colored burelage and line 11 1/2 perf.




Before the stamps could be introduced into service, however, the one-year contract ran its term. The Imperial Government declined to renew the contract, citing unreliable service and frequent losses of mail caused by the difficulties of the route. Reliable mail service to the interior would have to wait a few years...

In 1939, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Schülke & Mayr company, private reprints of the Schülke & Mayr Issues were produced. The 3,000 sets of reprints were printed by the same firm, Giesecke & Devrient, with the original plates [see correction below], in the original colors. They can be differentiated from the originals by the lack of burelage, line 10 3/4 perf, and copper-plate printing as opposed to lithography.




And BTW, Schülke & Mayr is still in business today. They're a chemical company specializing in preservation and industrial hygiene.

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Edited by PostmasterGS - 05/15/2011 5:17 pm

Pillar Of The Community
United States
2941 Posts
Posted 04/08/2023   10:32 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add PostmasterGS to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
I recently picked up a neat addition to this small part of my collection -- a copy of the original contract between the Imperial German Government and Schülke & Mayr.

The copy was printed using the hectograph method, and is an original copy from the period.

It's really large. Here are small shots, with links to hi-res versions.

The text is written in Sütterlin, and though difficult at first, I got the hang of it after a while and managed to decipher the whole thing. Here's the translated text:

Quote:
Certified Copy

Contract


Between the Imperial Governor of German East Africa, represented by the Chief Legation Councilor Sönnenschein
and
the Schülke and Mayr Company, represented by Mr. Blümke at Zanzibar

§1.

From January 1892, the Schülke and Mayr Company makes a provisional commitment to set up a monthly postal service from Dar-es-Salaam to Victoria-Nyanza (Muanza or Bukoba station) for a period of one year.

§2.

On the 6th of each month, beginning on 6 January 1892, the mail is to leave Dar-es-Salaam and arrive in Muanza or Bukoba via Condoa, Mpapua, Tabora, within 50 days at the latest.

§3.

The Schülke and Mayr Company will send, with each monthly post, up to 50 kg of mail of the Imperial government destined for the interior. Likewise, the Company may transport postal items exceededing this weight, but then a special remuneration must be granted in accordance with §6.

§4.

At the latest on the 1st of each month, for the first time on 1 March 1892, the postmen must start the return march from Bukoba to Dar-es-Salaam and arrive there, again in 50 days at the most, via the same places as those mentioned in §2.

§5.

The Company undertakes to send government mail, whenever possible, at a special cost and to keep it separate from mail destined for other persons, thereby avoiding any damage to the mail.

§6.

The Imperial Government undertakes to pay the Schülke and Mayr Company a fee of 400 Rupien per month as compensation for setting up the postal service, payable after receipt on the 1st of each calendar month, initially on 1 April 1892. If the Government has more than 50 kg transported, the Company is to be paid 40 Rupien for each additional 10 kg or part thereof.

§7.

The Schülke and Mayr Company is responsible for the timely and correct delivery of the postal items. In the case of late departures and late arrival of monthly postal loads, the Company will be deducted 50 Rupien for each individual case, 75 Rupien in the case of loss of a postal item and a full monthly compensation in the case of loss of the entire shipment, unless the Company can provide proof that the delay or the loss of the shipment was caused by force majeure. The above paragraph only comes into effect with the second trip.

§8.

The Imperial Government will issue letters of safe conduct to the individual postmen and commend them to the protection and support of the station masters and will see to it that the mail carriers are in no way diverted from their duties by other assignments and uses during their stay in the stations.

§9.

The Schülke and Mayr Company will identify the postmen as such with an eye-catching badge.

§10.

The Schülke and Mayr Company will provide the postmen with logbooks, which the Imperial officials at the individual stations must inspect and note the time of each arrival and departure.

§11.

Amendments to this contract, namely the stations to be transited and the deadlines to be observed, are reserved for a special later agreement.

§12.

This contract is provisionally valid for a period of one year, the last postal item to be sent on 6 December 1892, from Dar-es-Salaam, or from Bukoba on 1 February 1893.

Executed at Zanzibar, 22 December 1891.

signed Sönnenschein, Imperial Legation Counselor

signed Schülke and Mayr, by power of attorney, signed Blümke

For correct transcript

<signature>

Bureau Chief
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Presenting the GermanStamps.net Collection - Germany, Colonies, & Occupied Territories, 1872-1945
Edited by PostmasterGS - 04/08/2023 10:32 pm
Pillar Of The Community
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Posted 04/08/2023   10:35 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add Cjd to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
That's pretty neat.
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Bedrock Of The Community
Australia
38679 Posts
Posted 04/09/2023   12:31 am  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add rod222 to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
Great thread (as usual) from the Postmaster.

I would question:

Quote:
Each features a colored burelage


I have always understood Burele or Burelage , to be a network pattern
printed across the face of the Postage Stamp, otherwise be understood as just
engine turning background hatching, or litho print.

What say you?
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
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Posted 04/09/2023   08:57 am  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add PostmasterGS to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
To me, it's just a pattern in the background.
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Presenting the GermanStamps.net Collection - Germany, Colonies, & Occupied Territories, 1872-1945
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1017 Posts
Posted 04/10/2023   8:42 pm  Show Profile Bookmark this reply Add billsey to your friends list  Get a Link to this Reply
Typically a burelage is printed as a separate process from the stamp printing and makes it tough to duplicate the stamp by forgers. I can't make out on the images above what it looks like on this issue.
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