World War II: the rare 20-Rpf. rate to Slovakia

 

At page 63 of the Basien-Hoffkamp rate book, we see several obscure special Luxembourg postal rates that were in effect during the 1940 to 1944 World War II occupation.  And thanks to the work of Dieter and Fernand, we know that these include a 20-Rpf., 20-g letter rate to Hungary and Slovakia.  But when I was last in Luxembourg, one of the local collectors remarked:  "We never see uses of any of those rates."  Well, wow!  Here's one.  It documents the 20-Rpf. letter rate to Slovakia.

This remarkable 50-Rpf. registered cover emanated from Differdange, September 1, 1941 [Differdingen [b] cds, transit tourist cancel Luxemburg [e]].  It is addressed to 'Poste restante, Kasihan (Slovakei)' and was censored in Vienna [censor tape 'g'].  Apparently unclaimed, it was returned to Luxembourg endorsed  Zurück, unzulässig!  The Differdingen [c] backstamp dated September 8, 1941 documents its return.

The 50-Rpf. sole franking correctly pays the 20-Rpf. letter rate and the 30-Rpf. registry fee.  Absolutely precious!

Are there any Luxembourg post-World War II first day covers to really love?

 

 

In my days as a philatelic novice in the 1950s, I used to service my own first day covers for Luxembourg new issues. Later, I subscribed to a service in Peoria, Illinois, that sent me the new issues on first day covers with primitive cachets. Eventually, I discovered the better quality first day covers that Raymond Thill in Rumelange prepared. Thereafter for many years, I acquired the new issues on Thill first day covers, and after Thill retired, those that the FSPL prepared.

All of them, along with others acquired in general postal history collections I’ve bought, repose in a filing box. I seldom open the box as they seem to have little postal history significance. They are really just philatelic souvenirs, much like the medals and certificates we receive as exhibitors at stamp shows — nice to receive, and pleasant to look at once or twice, after which they are put away and forgotten.

So I shocked my philatelic friends recently when I purchased the 1945 Octave semi-postal issue first day cover shown above. And by (some) first day cover standards, it is nothing special. The overall condition is only average, there is no cachet or special cancel, and it was addressed with a rubber stamp. Why would a Luxembourg postal historian care enough to acquire it at considerable expense?

Well, the answer is quite simple — rarity. In over 50 years of scrutinizing the Luxembourg cover market, this is the first time I’ve seen this elusive first day cover offered for sale. The semi-postal stamps themselves are seldom seen used on covers of any sort. They catalog $165.20 as used singles, off cover, in Scott 2008. Moreover, most often used examples have been cancelled to order in Luxembourg-Ville. But here we have the set used on the first day of issue — June 4, 1945 — from a small spa town on the French border, postmarked with the uncommon Mondorf-les-Bains [a] Type 52 Belgian- style cancel. It is also the first day of use for this cancel, which the FSPL handbook lists as having been used only from June 4, 1945 to April 17, 1947.

I can only surmise that at the time, the Ungeheuers, who were still operating their stamp store from Mondorf, prepared only a small number of first day covers for this issue. Surely they must have thought that in the immediate aftermath of World War II, very few collectors would be able to afford this high face value set of stamps. After all, the country was just starting to recover from over four years of harsh German occupation and the recent devastation wrought by the Battle of the Bulge. Moreover, in 1945 first day covers were just beginning to attain the popularity that they would enjoy from the 1950s onward.

Certainly there is enough history associated with this first day cover to love it a lot! And for those who cannot find it in their philatelic heart to love any first day cover, the € 475 valuation in the current Prifix catalog should provide some consolation. Indeed, in my opinion this is the scarcest post-World War II Luxembourg first day cover. I love it -- a lot!

Luxembourg’s Pre-World War II Occupation Cancellers Used After October 1, 1940, on the Hindenburg Médaillon Definitives Pending Issuance of Reich-Style Cancellers

 

Echternach-Ettelbruck railway cancel, October 19, 1940

As of October 1, 1940, the Reich mandated use of the 16 Hindenburg Médaillon definitives surcharged ‘Luxemburg.’ And from that date forward, the Reich also began replacing Luxembourg’s
pre-occupation cancellers with Reich-style cancellers having German-language spellings for the town names. As this process was not completed for several months, an interesting collection can be put together of Luxembourg’s pre-occupation cancels used on or after October 1, 1940, on Hindenburg covers and loose stamps.

During this transitional period from October 1, 1940 into the early months of 1941, you can find many examples of continued use of the pre-occupation bridge cancels (FSPL Types T33 & T34). However other possibilities also exist. For example, when the occupation began, Clemency was still using its single circle canceller (FSPL Type 31). Similarly, villages which had never been issued a bridge canceller, such as Arsdorf, continued to use their Type 32 double circle cancellers. And, although seldom seen, the rectangular railroad cancels in use at the time of the occupation also were used for a short period after October 1, 1940, before being replaced by Reich-style oval railroad cancellers.

The cover at the top shows a sole use of the 25-Rpf. Hindenburg paying the postage on a very fine censored UPU-rate cover to Berne in neutral Switzerland, posted on October 19, 1940. What makes this cover even more compelling is the post-October 1, 1940 use of the pre-occupation Echternach-Ettelbruck railway cancel. Certainly this must be among the last uses of this cancel before it was replaced with a Reich-style oval railway canceller.  Additional examples appear below.

T33 Bettembourg Oct 15 1940	T33 Dommeldange Oct 30 1940	T34 Walferdange Nov 7 1940

 

 

T33 - Eschdorf, October 16, 1940

 

T33 - Weiswampach, October 15, 1940

 

T33 - Rambrouch, October 16, 1940

Marie-Adélaïde ‘Aux longs Cheveux’

 

 

Card No. 509 (2^o Livre D'Or)

The Chocolat Guérin-Boutron company published this striking picture of the teenage Marie-Adélaïde with long flowing hair on one of its many delightful advertising cards.  And then on June 14,  1908 Luxembourg 'issued' these four poster stamps with a similar portrait of the future Grand Duchess.  Prifix somewhat cryptically refers to these as "précurseurs de caritas sans valeur d’affranchissement." 

While they had no franking value, we find them adorning covers and cards, as shown below:

Echternach, March 15, 1909 to Antwerp, Belgium

 

Dommeldange, June 15, 1908, to Brabant, Belgium
(Second day cover)

But, alas!  When the next Caritas precursors appeared in 1914  showing the six princesses (the 'Colonies de Vacances' set), Marie's long hair had been shorn.  (That's Marie second from the right.)

German Censorship of Luxembourg mail before the May 10, 1940 Occupation

 

 

German censor cachet

Mersch, April 10, 1940, to Neurath [post: Neuerburg], Germany

The Reich officially established its mail surveillance system by directive issued on April 2, 1940 and published on June 8, 1940.  As a consequence, incoming mail to the Reich from Luxembourg was already subject to censorship when the Grand Duchy was occupied on May 10, 1940.  Here is an example of such censorship during the twenty-day period between April 2nd and May10th. 

Some writers state that German censorship began even earlier.  What is the earliest date that incoming mail to the Reich from Luxembourg was censored?

Life before the advent of e-mail --- a 1961 visiting card penalized for including a handwritten message exceeding 5 words!

 

Visiting (or calling) cards were sent unsealed, often at the end of the year, in accordance with the prevailing social norms.   And in Luxembourg up until 1991, three different postal rates applied to these cards, depending on the whether (or how much) handwriting was included with the card. 

When this visiting card was posted from Petange to Septfontanes [Simmern] on December 7, 1961, the rates were:

30c - no handwritten message

1.00 F -  handwritten message of not more than 5 words

2.50 F - handwritten message of more than 5 words

It appears that the sender paid only the 30c rate for a business card without a handwritten message, using the 30c+10c 1961 Caritas semi-postal as the sole franking.   The 4.50 F postage due charged the next day at Septfontaines suggests that the card contained a handwritten message exceeding five words.  Based on this assumption, the penalty would have been double the 2.20 F deficiency or 4.40 F (which amount was apparently rounded up to 4.50 F). 

Let's be glad postal clerks are no longer inspecting visiting cards to count any handwritten words that the sender may have added to the printed card! 

 

Special Delivery to Monaco in 1955

 

Commercial covers franked with Luxembourg's annual Caritas stamps are attractive and often elusive.  Here four denominations of the 1955 Caritas Folklore (3rd series) semi-postals are used on December 8, 1955, just three days after issuance, in combination with the 8 F denomination of the 1952 Helsinki Olympics commemorative set to exactly pay the 16 F concession rate to France & Monaco for a 20-g registered, special delivery letter, thus:

3 F postage (as of 5/1/53)

5 F registry fee (as of 5/1/53)

8 F special delivery fee (as of 7/53)

 

Monte Carlo b/s, December 10, 1955

Gavilán Argentinian Cigarrillos

 

In Spanish, "cigarrillo" means "little cigar."  And like cigars (and unlike cigarettes), cigarillos are wrapped in whole-leaf tobacco, as seen in the photo above.

I recently added to my Cinderella collection the Gavilán cigarrillos 20 cts 'coupon' shown above.  It features a quaint reproduction  of Luxembourg's 1921 five-franc Adolphe Bridge commemorative (an "Estampilla de LUXEMBURGO").  The tiny card measures just 52 mm. x 72 mm. with the 'stamp' printed in violet like the issued stamp.

The Spanish text reads:

ESTE CUPÓN ES SÓLO DE CONTROL PARA ESTA MANUFACTURA Y NO TIENE NINGÚN OTRO VALOR [in English:  THIS COUPON IS ONLY FOR THE CONTROL OF MANUFACTURING AND DOES NOT HAVE ANY VALUE].

And at the lower left:  MÁQUINA 22 [MACHINE 22] and V. F. GREGO, MANUFACTURA DE TABACOS 'PARTICULAR.'

Here's the real stamp:

Did Gavilán print other coupons with stamp reproductions?  I don't recall seeing their coupons before, and I'm still unclear about how to translate the quotation at the top of the coupon:  "Para que no emigre tanto oro Argentino."  Surely some readers can help! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Postes Relais No. 11 as a CDS on incoming mail!

 

 

There was a time back in the 1950s when you could still find Postes Relais cancels on postal cards in dealers' dollar cover boxes.  Of course, a dollar still had some value way back then and most collectors were looking for stamps rather than covers. 

Relais No. 11 (Walferdange) was one of my more common finds in those dollar boxes.   But when I saw the Relais No. 11 cancel on the Bavarian postal card shown here (Michel P12(I)), it seemed unusual.  Why?  Well, I don't recall having seen it before as a receiving mark on incoming mail.  But here it is announcing the arrival on September 25, 1886, of a 10 pf. postal card from Bavaria posted the previous day at Neustadt an der Aisch in what was then Bavaria, addressed to Dr. Muller-Weyman in Walferdingen b/Luxemburg.

With the World Wide Web at my fingertips, there's something new almost every day.

Neustadt an der Aisch in the 1830s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Eponymously Cancelled Viewcard

 

An eponymous cancel ... well, sort of.  The well struck Arsdorf double circle cancel takes its name from the village (the eponym) shown on the view side. 

This viewcard  was printed by Ed. Hansen, Mersch, 'Manufacture de Cartes-Vues,' was posted June 13, 1933, to Thionville, France, and is franked with a 75c Charlotte (2nd series) definitive paying the treaty rate to France.

Wouldn't it be nice to put together a collection of Luxembourg viewcards posted from the place shown on the view side!  Maybe some of you already have?

 

 

 

Luxembourgensia: 1878 Cover from Luxembourg's New York 'Consulat Général'

 

Coincident with collecting Luxembourg postal history, I've also acquired many other interesting items related to Luxembourg history and culture.  These fall within the rubric referred to as 'Luxembourgensia.'

The cover shown here is one of those interesting items.  Bearing the cachet of the Grand Duché de Luxembourg Consulat Général New York on the front and back, the cover was sent from the Hotel Brunswick in New York in September 1878 to John Hyde, Judge of Probate, in Bay City, Michigan, where it was docketed on
September 13, 1878, by the jurist.  (It has been repaired on the right side, viewed from the front.)

Much more Luxembourgensia can be found on the website of the Luxembourg American Cultural Society, Inc. of Belgium, Wisconsin.  And today the Luxembourg Consulate in New York is at 17 Beekman Place and also has a presence on the web.

Valeur (insured) UPU mail from Grevenmacher in 1932

 

We occasionally see insured ('money'  or 'valeur') letters from Luxembourg-Ville , but we very seldom find them from the smaller towns and villages.  Thus, this example, posted from Grevenmacher, June 17, 1932, to St. Gallen, Switzerland, where it was received the next day, finds it way to this blog.  The gaudy red wax seals of B. Wolf Cahen/Auguste Wolf Succ./Grevenmacher Luxembourg add to the cover's appeal.

Here is the rate explicated:

• 2.75 F 20-40 g UPU letter [here 25 g]
• 1.75 F registry fee
• 1.75 F insurance fee (up to 300 gFr [here 257 gFr])

[Total:  6.25 F exactly paid]

 

Perfection!

 

5 F Allégorie
p. 13.25

Grevenmacher cds, June 30, 1884

The marriage of a near-perfect cancel to a near-perfect stamp is philatelic pulchritude plus!   And finding any of the 5-franc high- denomination Allégorie, GD Adolphe, GD Guillaume IV, or  GD Marie-Adélaïde definitives in this condition is especially satisfying.

Philately undeterred by a world war!

 

During World War II, Luxembourg stamp dealer Karl Bormes, at 22 Philippgasse in Luxembourg-Ville, continued to supply the needs of collectors throughout the Reich.  This is documented by his beautifully franked COD-shipment covers, many of which collectors saved.  Here are a few such covers from my collection:

August 25, 1944, to Berlin

(just 3 weeks before the liberation of Luxembourg)

Within a week of the posting of this shipment, the Nazi administration in Luxembourg collapsed.  Nonetheless, Mr. Bormes sent this 18.20 RM COD shipment to a philatelist in war torn Berlin, where it was received a couple days later on August 27, 1944. 

Perhaps collecting stamps provided a welcome diversion from the bleakness of living in the capital of the Reich, which was subject to frequent aerial bombing by British from November 1943 to March 1944 (the so-called 'Battle of Berlin').  In my mind is the image of a devoted stamp collector huddled in a bomb shelter with a favorite album.

The poor quality of the envelope  is emblematic of the paper shortages at the end of the occupation notwithstanding the lavish franking:  (i) the 54-Rpf + 96-Rpf Hitler's 55th birthday semi-postal; (ii) the 12-Rpf + 8-Rpf Innsbruck marksmanship contest semi-postal; and (iii) an 8-Rpf Hitler head pay the 74-Rpf postage and fees.  Here is the explication of the rate:

                                      24-Rpf  20-250-g letter to the Reich
                                                        30-Rpf  registry fee
                                                        20-Rpf  COD fee

April 26, 1944, to Innsbruck

A similar 74-rpf COD shipment to Innsbruck in annexed Austria, received April 28, 1944.  In addition to the 50-Rpf. Hitler head, the franking includes the 12-Rpf + 38 Rpf. Robert Koch centenary semi-postal and the 12-Rpf + 38 Rpf. 1200th anniversary of Fulda semi-postal.

October 10, 1943, to Nürnberg

 

A third 74-rpf COD shipment, this time to Nürnberg in the Reich.  The franking is the 50-Rpf + 50-Rpf high value of the 12-stamp Army Day semi-postal set showing a speed boat and a 24-Rpf. Hitler head.

Could anyone provide a photo of Mr. Bormes and more information about what became of him after the war?  I'd be grateful for your help.

WWI German Fieldpost from Turkey

 

Turkey and the German Empire entered into a secret Ottoman-German Alliance  on August 2, 1914 -- one day after Germany had declared war on Russia.  This alliance  ultimately led the Ottoman Empire to enter the First World War on the side of the Central Powers.

An important postal history ramification of the Alliance was the presence of German soldiers in Turkey who maintained their own fieldpost.  The picture postcard shown here is an especially interesting example of that fieldpost because it  was sent to Luxembourg.

The bilingual German fieldpost cancel reads 'FELDPOST MIL. MISS. KONSTANTINOPEL, 19-2-1916.'  The card is endorsed "Feldpost"  in manuscript at the top. 

Upon receipt in Germany, the card was censored at Trier [purple cds] before being delivered to Differdange Usines, where the 5-centime domestic postcard rate was paid as postage due on March 1, 1916.  The card view is shown at the top of this blog entry.

'Perlie' & Ike

 

Perle Skirvin Mesta (1889-1975) was the first fully accredited United States ambassador to Luxembourg.  An early supporter and favorite of President Truman, he rewarded her with the ambassadorial appointment -- at the time, she was only the third women to hold an ambassadorship.  She served from 1949 to 1953.

Perle Mesta to Dwight Eisenhower

United States Legation
Luxembourg

February 3, 1951

4 F  UPU letter rate + 6 F (5-10 g) airmail supplement

During Perle Mesta's tenure as ambassador to Luxembourg, then-General Dwight Eisenhower was a frequent visitor to the Grand Duchy.  Ike liked to affectionately refer to Ambassador Mesta as "Perlie."  In her autobiography Perle -- My Story published in 1960, she writes at pp. 170-171:

When I heard in December, 1950, that General Eisenhower was going back on actie duty to lead the organization of NATO military forces, the news was doubly welcome.  Not only was this wonderful for Luxembourg and all of Europe, which had such confidence in its wartime hero, but I personally was glad because it meant I would be seeing more of Ike and Mamie. 

Their first trip to Luxembourg was early in January, 1951, when Ike made a formal call on the Grand Duchess.  I went with him to the palace, as did General Alfred Gruenther ...

Two weeks later, Ike and Mamie returned for a weekend and I gave a small party for them at the legation.  We were honored by the attendance of the Royal Consort, Prince Felix, who made on of his rare appearances at a party outside the palace.  Prime Minister Dupong, Foreign Minister and Madame Bech, Grand Marshal of the Court and Madame Loesch, General Gruenther, Anthony Drexel Biddle, and Douglas MacArthur II were among the other guests at the dinner.

....

Ike and Mamie came to Luxembourg frequently.  Much as I'd like to think it was just to see me, I'm certain there were two other important considerations -- the kitchen at the legation, where Ike could concoct his culinary specialities, and the Luxembourg golf course, one of the best in Europe.

The cover shown here was posted shortly after the Eisenhower visits Mesta describes in the quoted text from her autobiography.  It was sent to '60 Morningside Drive, New York,' which was President Eisenhower's New York residence while he was president of Columbia University.  The Legation's albino embossed corner card appears at the upper left, with the return address on the envelope flap that of 'Mrs. Perle Mesta/American Minister to Luxembourg/American Legation/Luxembourg.'

Perle Mesta with then-General Eisenhower and Luxembourg Foreign Minister Bech inspecting the World War I war memorial in Luxembourg City