Saturday, June 14, 2008

4c Adolphe Perfined Official Used on a Wrapper Sent to the Grand Duke at Schloss Hohenburg

Schloss Hohenburg in 1880

Grand Duke Adolphe, Luxembourg’s fourth grand duke, reigned from November 23, 1890 until November 17, 1905. The fourteen G.D. Adolphe stamps perfined officiel diagonally for use of government mail appeared in 1899. They are listed in the European catalogs, but Scott does not assign a number to them, merely noting their existence.

The sole use of the 4-centime Adolphe perfined official here on a wrapper for printed matter is interesting for three reasons:
  • It illustrates the 4c printed matter treaty rate to Germany that was in effect from 1902 to 1916;
  • The Luxembourg Fire Department [Luxemburg Feuerwehr-Verband] is a government agency from which official mail is extremely scarce; and
  • The wrapper is addressed to Grand Duke Adolphe at the Nassau family castle, Schloss Hohenburg in Bavaria, which the Grand Duke used as his summer residence during his reign.

The Grand Duke’s name is preceded by the number “1” on the printed address strip, which might have been taken from the Fire Department’s membership list. Postmarked at Luxembourg-Ville, August 16, 190?, the wrapper is addressed with a distinctive purple rubber stamp “Schloss Hohenburg Oberbayern.”

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