![Germania5pf1900](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Germania5pf1900.jpg)
Germania stamps are
definitive stamps that were issued by the
German Empire and the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
between 1900 and 1922, depicting
Germania. They represent the longest running series in German
philately and are in their many variations and derivations an essential part of German philatelic collections.
Design
The initial issue from January 1, 1900, replaced the standard issue depicting numbers and eagles. The image of Germania, rather than that of the ruling monarch as was customary in many other European monarchies, made it a unifying feature and did not complicate the relationship with other German
royalty
Royalty may refer to:
* Any individual monarch, such as a king, queen, emperor, empress, etc.
* Royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family
* Royalty payment for use of such things as int ...
and the coexisting German postal authorities of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
and
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
. The engraving was performed by
Paul Eduard Waldraff (1870–1917) who used the actress
Anna Führing as model.
[Background of the Germania stamps (in German)]
/ref> Wearing an octagonal imperial crown
An Imperial Crown is a crown used for the coronation of emperors.
Design
Crowns in Europe during the Middle Ages varied in design:
During the Middle Ages the crowns worn by English kings had been described as both closed (or arched) and op ...
she is holding a sword and an olive branch
The olive branch is a symbol of peace and victory associated with customs of ancient Greece and connected with supplication to gods and persons in power. It is found in most cultures of the Mediterranean basin and became associated with peace ...
. The Jugendstil
''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...
design depicting Führing was personally chosen by the emperor Wilhelm II
, house = Hohenzollern
, father = Frederick III, German Emperor
, mother = Victoria, Princess Royal
, religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United)
, signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...
.[
]
Issues inside Germany
The Germania stamp has many issues and variations. The 1900 issue is inscribed "Reichspost
''Reichspost'' (; "Imperial Mail") was the name of the postal service of Germany from 1866 to 1945.
''Deutsche Reichspost''
Upon the out break of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the break-up of the German Confederation in the Peace of ...
", all issues after April 1, 1902, carry the "Deutsches Reich
German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...
" (German Empire) inscription. All issues after 1902 have watermark
A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...
s. Within Germany Germania stamps were issued as follows:
German Empire
* 1900, January 1: Reichspost, German Empire, excluding Bavaria and Württemberg
* 1902, April 1, Deutsches Reich, including Württemberg
* 1905-13, Deutsches Reich
* 1915-17, Deutsches Reich, war printings
* 1916-19, Deutsches Reich, background without engraving lines
Weimar Republic
* 1919, May 1: Deutsches Reich, semipostal with surcharge for war veterans,
* 1919: Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
only: "Freistaat Bayern" overprint,
* 1920: Deutsches Reich, including Bavaria,
* 1921: Deutsches Reich, overprinted values,
* 1922, March: Deutsches Reich, last issue (75 Pfennig and 1 Mark).
Disputed areas
* 1920: Saargebiet, overprinted,
* 1922: Plebiscite areas of Allenstein and Marienwerder
Kwidzyn (pronounced ; german: Marienwerder; Latin: ''Quedin''; Old Prussian: ''Kwēdina'') is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa River, with 38,553 inhabitants (2018). It is the capital of Kwidzyn County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Geog ...
, overprinted,
* 1920: Memelland, overprinted.
Issues outside Germany
Overprinted Germania stamps were used outside Germany. Prior to World War I they were released by German post offices abroad
The German post offices abroad were an extraterritorial network of German post offices in foreign countries with a significant German commercial interest to provide mail service where the local services were generally deemed unsafe or unreliable, ...
in a number of foreign countries, namely China, Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
, and Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. During the First World War Germania stamps were released in occupied areas, namely in Belgium, France, "Postgebiet (des) Ob(erbefehlshabers) Ost" (eastern postal territory), "Russian Poland", "General-Gouvernement Warschau", and Romania. After the war, the stamps were also initially used with overprints in Danzig. Further, Polish postal authorities, Poczta Polska
Poczta Polska ( lit. ''Polish Post'') is the state postal administration of Poland, initially founded in 1558. It is the largest mail-handling company in the country, which additionally provides courier, banking, insurance and logistics serv ...
, also initially utilized overprinted Germania stamps.
One of the rarer German stamps is the Vineta provisional, a halved and overprinted Germania stamp that was issued by the cruiser SMS Vineta in 1901.
Germania stamps were not issued in the German colonies
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
, instead in those territories the Yacht issue
The Yacht issue was a series of postage stamps, bearing the image of German Kaiser's yacht, '' SMY Hohenzollern II'', that were used in all of Germany's overseas colonies. Millions of stamps were produced and they were the principal means of po ...
was released first in 1900 with the appropriate identifying inscriptions.
Postal stationeries
From 1900 onwards the Deutsche Reichspost
''Reichspost'' (; "Imperial Mail") was the name of the postal service of Germany from 1866 to 1945.
''Deutsche Reichspost''
Upon the out break of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the break-up of the German Confederation in the Peace of ...
issued several postal stationeries with imprinted Germania stamps. The most common one is a ‘Postkarte’ (postcard
A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...
) with an imprinted 5 Pfennig stamp. In 1916 the German government introduced a tax
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
on the postal traffic, the Reichsabgabe
The Reichsabgabe was a tax on the postal traffic, levied in the German Empire during the First World War. It was introduced to finance the war expenses. The tax was announced in the ‘Tariff Law’ (''Gebührengesetz'') of 21 June 1916 and became ...
. This involved a raising of the postal rates and the 5 Pfennig postcard was replaced by a 7½ Pfennig postcard. In 1918 the Reichsabgabe was raised. Now the 10 Pfennig postcard for international mail had to be used for domestic mail too.
Postal stationeries with imprinted Germania stamps have been overprinted for the use in a.o.:
* Allenstein (overprint ‘Plébiscite Olsztyn Allenstein’);
* Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
(overprint ‘Freistaat Bayern’);
* Occupied Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
(overprint ‘Belgien’ and value in Belgian francs);
* The Free City of Danzig (overprint ‘Danzig’);
* The Memel Territory
Memel, a name derived from the Couronian-Latvian ''memelis, mimelis, mēms'' for "mute, silent", may refer to:
*Memel, East Prussia, Germany, now Klaipėda, Lithuania
**Memelburg, ( Klaipėda Castle), the ''Ordensburg'' in Memel, a castle built in ...
(overprint ‘Memelgebiet’);
* Occupied Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
(overprints ‘Russisch Polen’ and ‘Gen.-Gouv. Warschau’);
* Occupied Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
(overprints ‘M.V.i.R.’[‘M.V.i.R.’ means ‘Militär Verwaltung in Rumänien’ (Military Government in Romania)] and ‘Rumänien’);
* Occupied Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
(overprint ‘Postgebiet Ob. Ost’);
* The Saargebiet (overprint ‘Saargebiet’).
In short, the postal stationeries with imprinted Germania stamps were almost as widely used as the stamps themselves.
See also
* Postage stamps and postal history of Germany
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Germany and philately, philatelically related areas. The main modern providers of service were the Reichspost (1871–1945), the Deutsche Post under Allied control (1945–1949), the De ...
* Michel catalog
The Michel catalog (''MICHEL-Briefmarken-Katalog'') is the largest and best-known stamp catalog in the German-speaking world. First published in 1910, it has become an important reference work for philately, with information not available in ...
* Scott catalog
The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Amos Media, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the world that its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in f ...
References
External links
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Germania-Briefmarken
{{DEFAULTSORT:Germania (Stamp)
Postage stamps
Philately of Germany