New Michel German Empire Catalogue

Received notice today re publication of new Michel English-language catalogue specific to the German Empire 1871 -1945.

180 pages. Color. 1200 images. 29 euros.

"180 pages" may be a misprint, unless this version has been drastically changed.

Photo which accompanied the notice showed a rather slim book.

Shown here:
https://www.briefmarken.de/michelsh...german-reich
The Specialized Germany catalog has approximately 270 pages for German Reich compared to 112 pages (per advert) for the English language. I'm guessing it is not Specialized, just the basic listings.

I would recommend getting the German version and using the Michel Introduction for English-speaking readers:
https://www.briefmarken.de/images/P...Englisch.pdf

Thanks for adding that! I have 2004 and 2005 Michels Band 1 and 2 and haven't got much use out of them.

Another option is the 2016 2-volume English version of the Germany Specialized, that's what I use. Covers to 1948, occupations, colonies, but not States. Still pretty easy to find for sale.

Michel is publishing several new English-language Germany catalogs this year.

German Reich 1872-1945 -- 16 April 2021
West Berlin -- July 2021
Federal Republic of Germany (BRD) -- 6 August 2021
German Democratic Republic (DDR) and Soviet Zone -- December 2021

I believe all are the basic Michel, not the Specialized.

I'm hoping they'll publish a new Specialized in English within the next couple years. It's not on the schedule for 2021, but it's been 5+ years since the last ones, and they're clearly making an effort to get the remaining parts of the German Specialized translated (mainly the States, BRD, Berlin, and DDR).

In the meantime, they just dropped the price of the 2015/2016 English-language Specialized to €29.80 for the pair, so it's not a bad time to grab copies if you're interested in this area.

I received my copy earlier this week, mailed directly from Germany. I had preordered through Nordfrim earlier.

It is a slim value of 120 pages, and covers only Germany from 1872-1945, and includes only regular issues, officials, and (I think oddly), stamp booklets. Images are tiny but adequate for basic identification. It is mostly in English, abbreviations remain the German structure. The Abbreviations and Symbols page gives you the meaning of them in English (such as K =comb perforation).

The front of the book information is detailed and definitely worth the read as it is in any catalog.

The volume is perfect for me as it aligns with what I collect and can afford to collect. I do have an older Michel Germany Volume 1 that is have available if I have to did deeper, but that's not where I am at. And a lightweight catalog is a treat!

It is an attractive catalog, and if Michel is planning on versions for later years I will definitely consider.

PP

Closely related, Michel is releasing a new Austrian Specialized in early June. Looks very comprehensive.

I received my copy yesterday, so here's a little more detail.

The catalog is indeed thin. Here it is compared to a new copy of Vol. 1 of the 2021 German-language Specialized that came in the same package.

In keeping with Michel's standard format, it's hardcover with the little bookmark tassel attached.

The first 20 pages or so contain Michel's standard introduction to its English-language catalogs, so new users can understand Michel's cataloging system.

The catalog contains the basic, non-specialized listings for Germany 1872 to 1945, as well as officials and booklets/booklet panes/booklet se-tenants.

Page counts are roughly as follows:

German Reich -- 63 pages
Officials -- 9 pages
Booklets -- 17 pages

By comparison, these page counts in the English-language Specialized version are:

German Reich -- 150 pages
Officials -- 18 pages
Booklets -- 84 pages

The listings appear to be verbatim translations of the non-Specialized German catalog (Michel Deutschland 2021/2022). The colors are significantly simplified from the Specialized, though this is in keeping with the basic nature of the listings and the same practice in the equivalent German version.

One thing that is new is the inclusion of color references in the listings. Note in the pages shown immediately above, the color reference next to each listing -- ex., for MiNr. 651, (11,13,8). This is a reference to the basic color (11), admixture (13), and saturation degree (8), and it serves as a cross-reference to the Michel Color Guide.

At the moment, this is of somewhat limited value, as the catalog listing is more detailed than the Michel Color Guide. IOW, many of the colors listed in the catalog aren't in the color guide, though a very closely-related color likely is. I think there's a new Color Guide coming soon, so we'll see if this is an indication of what to expect. These color listings in the catalog are NOT included in the German-language catalogs, either Basic or Specialized (even the just-arrived German-language Spezial 2021), and aren't in the previous English-language Specialized either -- this is the first Michel catalog I've seen them in.

There are a few formatting issues in places. Michel notes in the Intro that, due to a new production process, there are minor formatting inconsistencies that couldn't be corrected by the production date -- not really sure what they mean by that. They further state that the issues will be fixed with the next volume in this series, the English-language West Berlin 2021 catalog.

The main one I noticed is in the inflation issues of 1923. In its previous catalogs, Michel has used a two-column format for some pages, and a one-column format for others. This allowed them more room to work with when the listing called for it. In this catalog, they went two-column throughout, and it just doesn't work for some listings. Compare these listings from the basic German (left) and new, basic English (right) catalogs.

Overall, though, it's a good catalog for what it is -- a basic Germany catalog for English-speaking collectors. If you don't want to fight through the language barrier and aren't interested in a Specialized level of detail, it's the best option out there.

I wish they would translate the German States sections into English. I ploddingly look up every other word. I am too stubborn to just collect the areas where I have more linguistic competence.

Saar is, at least, within the scope of the French specialized literature. And using Saar as my philatelic Rosetta stone, I learn to look at French material with German eyes, and vice versa.

Considering their recent efforts to broaden their English options, one can hope that that's on the list for next year. IIRC, with the publications slated for later this year, the only remaining sections of their Germany catalogs that won't have been translated in some form are the German States, Plebiscite Territories, and the WWI Occupations.

Hmmm . . . not sure why Michel doesn't just get its entire Germany catalogue translated into English and sell that version instead of this little version? Once translated, it wouldn't have to be done again for the most part. Changing stamp values plus whatever few corrections are needed for the next English edition wouldn't be so difficult. And translating itself isn't very costly. In fact, many Germans speak English very well. What's the reason for making the English language version a minimal catalogue that only goes to 1945 while leaving all the details and all the years after 1945 only in German? To me, this seems very strange.

On a different catalogue, I notice the English version of Michel's Italian area catalogue will be (or already is) called "Apennine". How strange when San Marino, Vatican City, Fiume, and Italy are nearly always referred by the much clearer name of "Italy". Does Michel just not want to use that name anymore?

No idea. I can only assume they did some form of market research.


The post-1945 English-language basic catalogs (East Germany, West Germany, and Berlin, so far) are coming later this year, again in the smaller parts instead of as 1 volume. The last English-language Specialized catalog (2015-2016) was still organized into only 2 volumes, though it was also missing a few areas compared to the German version.