Luxembourg Ephemera—Much to Collect but not Much is Collected!

 

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ephemera as “paper items (as posters, broadsides, and tickets) that were originally meant to be discarded after use but have since become collectibles.”  So the address sticker shown above, which I found on the back of a rather boring 10-centime GD Adolphe postal card, falls well within the definition.  And the implication is obvious.  As philatelists, our study of covers and cards should extend not only to what governments and their postal services put on or did to the covers and cards but also to what non-governmental users added to the covers and cards.  Collectors of air mail labels have already recognized the philatelic significance of ephemera.  Likewise, the forward-looking FSPL has published a monograph on government-printed labels that we find on covers.

Every philatelist should have an album reserved for these beyond-the-back-of-the-book treasures.  Many are one-of-a-kind, and often the artistry is exquisite, giving us a glimpse into the cultural tastes of a long-gone era.  Don’t neglect this fascinating but little appreciated area.

 

 

Esch-sur-Alzette
28 Nov 1899

to nearby

Longwy-Bas, France

 

 

Lowen-Apotheke, Esch a/Alzette

Green & Black Circular Label

”St. Welschbillig”

Postal Stationery with Printed Backs—Luxembourg’s Notaries

Common postal stationery from the 1900s becomes anything but “common” if you collect printed backs.  And a fertile source of printed-back stationery is the correspondence of the early notaries.  Unfortunately, stamp show judges criticize exhibitors who include printed backs in their exhibits saying that only government-printed text is relevant.  This short-sighted view fails to take into account the relevance of understanding how postal stationery was used and who used it.  Stamp dealers are a lot smarter than the show judges—most of them charge a premium for any card that has anything printed on the back.

Consider Dalheim.  These were Dalheim’s early notaries:

1842-1881  Louis Eugene Majerus

1880-1913  Francois Edouard Velter

1914-1920  Adolf Gantenbein

1920-1929  Paul Cravat

And here is an example of Adolf Gantenbein’s printed-back postal stationery:

Dalheim,

1 Aug 1918

Peppange [post: Bettembourg II],

1 Aug 1918

Domestic Postal Card Rate = 7 1/2c

1 Jul 1918—12 Apr 1920

The complete list of Luxembourg’s notaries is here:  http://wiltgen.roots.lu/Notaires.pdf

You can put together a “topical” collection of printed backs by choosing those from a particular category of professionals or merchants.  This is a much overlooked aspect of Luxembourg postal stationery collecting.

German Leibgarde Soldatenbrief cachet used in 1914 as a canceler

 

S.B.
L/Lg. …

With help from Lars Böttger, author of the groundbreaking  Handbuch zur Besetzung von Luxemburg im 1. Weltkrieg 1914-1918 und der alliierten Besetzung, I’ve begun to better appreciate Luxembourgian WW1 postal history.

Here a German soldier from Leibgarde 115—an elite unit of the German army—has used his soldier’s brief cachet to cancel the 5c Arms postal card imprint, while the Bettborn post office has applied its bridge-and-bar cancel dated 18 August 1914 to the card.  The card is addressed to Darmstadt, Germany, with the writer also showing Bettborn as his location on the message side of the card. 

Böttger comments that the card shows the close cooperation between the Luxembourg Post and the German Army.  The card is also unusual in this respect.  The soldier could have written his message on a stampless fieldpost card or inscribed this card as fieldpost; instead, he chose to send the card canceled with his soldier’s brief cachet without fieldpost inscription.

The long, colorful history of the German Leibgarde itself is an interesting story.  Relevant here is the German Wikipedia Leibgarde entry, which notes that at the beginning of World War 1 in August 1914

[d]as Regiment bestand aus drei Bataillone mit je vier Kompanien, dazu ab 1913 je Bataillon eine Maschinengewehr-Kompanie. Nachdem am 1. August 1914 der Mobilmachungsbefehl eingegangen war, stand das Regiment am fünften Mobilmachungstag in einer Stärke von 83 Offizieren, 3305 Unteroffizieren und Mannschaften sowie 240 Pferden abmarschbereit.

At page 93 of the Böttger handbook, two other S.B. cachets are shown, both in violet, with dates of 26 August and 31 August, 1914. 

There is, as another Luxembourg postal historian Hans-Ulrich Doose wrote a couple years ago in Le Moniteur, “still plenty to be discovered."  So true!

German WW1 Occupation of Esch-sur-Alzette—a Newly Discovered Military Cachet

 

 

K.D. Feldpost Station * Nr 1 * with violet eagle cachet 
to Virton, Belgium, 11 Aug 1916:

II. Landst. Inf. Batl. Siegburg (VIII. 32)

Ortskommandantur

Esch, Alz.

Lars Böttger, respected Luxembourg proofer and author of the outstanding Handbuch zur Besetzung von Luxemburg im 1. Weltkrieg 1914-1918 und der alliierten Besetzung, says that this is the first reported example of this cachet and “a good indication that Esch/Alzette was … occupied by the German Landsturm.”

 

Also, Lars kindly shares with us the earliest reported K.D. Feldpost Station Nr. 1 use:

 

K.D. Feldpoststation No. 1

28 Aug 1914!

10c 1877 Arms Misperforated on Two Sides

 

 

Occasionally a stamp or cover turns up that doesn’t fit traditional classifications—some writers such as Christiane Mayer-Tyes use the term “curiosity” for these strangers.  This curiosity—a 10c 1877 Arms definitive postmarked Luxemburg 4/11 1877—appears to almost have mini-gutters at the bottom and on the right!

50.-F Esch-sur-Alzette Communal Used on a Police Certificate in 1994

50.-F Iron Miner
Rouletted
Ville d'Esch-sur-Alzette

Police Certificate
1 Jun 1994

Enjoy viewing Luxembourg communal revenues from 140 communes, past and present, at my blog devoted entirely to the communal revenues:

www.luxcommunalrevenuestamps.blogspot.com

Help me by sending scans of communal revenues, particularly those from these former communes:  Asselborn, Bastendorf, Boevange, Eich, Fouhren, Hachiville, Hamm, Harlange, Hollerich, Kautenbach, Mecher, Oberwampach, Rodenbourg, Rollingergrund and Wilwerwiltz.  My email is:  arsdorf@gmail.com

A Philatelic Marriage (but updated below!)

Philatelic "Matrimony" Defined

A perfect philatelic marriage unites what stamp dealers refer to as a “better item” with what we collectors refer to as a “desirable” cancel.

 

1 Fr on 37½c Armoiries
Oetringen
5 Sep 1881

The 1-franc surcharge on the Local Print 37½c Arms appeared in August 1879. Like its color-rouletted predecessor, the stamp served the need for a denomination higher than the existing 40-centime stamp, especially for use on money letters, which were now permitted under the 1872 post-Franco-Prussian War postal convention with the German Empire. For that reason, Bruck printed the old (now obsolete) 37½c denomination solely for the purpose of it being overprinted Un Franc, thus saving the expense of creating a new die and plate.

The stamp brings to the marriage better-than-usual perforations but evidences the typical Local Print poor centering and small margins. But these are minor deficiencies, which are more than compensated for by the desirable cancel—the single-circle Oetringen with readable date and all nine letters of the village name present. Even though this single-circle cancel continued to be used until 1920, we can safely say that it is scarce, especially on the 1-franc denominations, thus making the cancel a desirable “bride” for this otherwise rather drab looking bistre-shade stamp.

In this age of postal history, we should not forget that philately is the study of stamps, first and foremost. Share with me some of the philatelic marriages in your collections!

Update

A correspondent in Luxembourg advises that a stamp dealer is reputed to have forged the Oetringen cancel to “upgrade” mint stamps that were of little value. And I notice that Lars Boettger advises that “Die gewöhnliche Stempelfarbe ab 1875 war blau, schwarze Abschläge mit markantem Stempelbruch unten im Kreis sind rückdatiert” (Fälschungen und Manipulationen Luxemburger Briefmarken, p. 50). Unfortunately the bottom of the cancel on this Un franc is not visible. I have the cancel in both blue and black on the 10-centime Armoiries, adding to the uncertainty. The stamp dealer probably had access to the actual canceler (but not to the blue ink pad!).

Maybe this “marriage” will/should end in a divorce!

Newly discovered official postal seal used in 1952

 

 

Esch-sur-Alzette, local letter posted 5 Apr 1952, officially resealed and returned to sender on 7 Apr 1952 with the postal clerk’s explanation in French on the back.

 

Use of Luxembourg’s official postal seals after World War 2 remains undocumented.  This recently discovered example shows that by 1952 seals were no longer transparent and that the centered text now reads LUXEMBOURG (at top), TÉLÉGRAPHES (at bottom), et TÉLÉPHONES (at right), and POSTES, (at left).  Moreover, there is a new corner ornament:

 

 

For more information on worldwide postal seals, see Todd Hirn’s website:  www.poseal.com .  I previously blogged on Luxembourg postal seals here.  Also useful is James N. Drummond’s Official Seals of the World (1st ed. 2007, 610 pages).

Mail from Schloss-Hohenburg in the early 1900s

Schloss Hohenburg is located on Hohenburgstrasse just to the south of the town of Lenggries in the village of Hohenburg. The castle was bought in 1870 by then-Duke Adolph of Nassau (later, of course, Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg). For many years, it was the summer residence of Luxembourg royalty.  Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg sold the castle in 1950. Today it houses two Catholic girls' schools.

 

Schloss-Hohenburg 15 Oct 1901 to Baden Baden On the flap in manuscript: Grossherzog Luxemburg In the Grand Duke’s hand?

 

Schloss-Hohenburg 10 Sep 1909 to Munich Reverse seal:: Grossherzoglich Luxemburgisches Hof Marschallamt

 

Schloss-Hohenburg 31 Oct 1903 to Wiesbaden View of Lenggries 1903. Aufnahme u. Verlag v. Hermans Just, Munchen No. 12

 

Schloss-Hohenburg 3 Aug 1905 to Königstein (Taunus) Views: Partien aus dem Schlosspark in Hohenburg bein Lenggries Aufnahmen und Verlag von C. Weiss, Lenggries No.5 4

Arsdorf circa 1901

 

 

Arsdorf
8 Nov 1901
to Paris, France

 

Rix & Frank, Photos, Bettborn.
Verlag von Bisénius-Ley, Arsdorf.

 

Bonne année—Arsdorf in 1908

 

 

 

Arsdorf

1 January 1908
to
Wahl

In 1894, did the UPU printed-matter rate apply to mimeographed text? Maybe not! (But updated below.)

The mimeograph machine or stencil duplicater dates back to the mid-1880s.  These devices, which I remember from my high school days producing the school paper, worked by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper.  No typesetting or skilled labor was necessary.  In the late 1960s, mimeographs were gradually supplanted by photocopying and offset printing.

1889 Advertisement
for the Edison Mimeograph

And since we occasionally see postal cards with mimeographed text, a postal historian might wonder whether such text qualified as “printed matter” under the UPU definitions fixing the special printed-matter rates.  At least in the case below, it either did not or was not recognized as mimeographed printing:

Mähr. Ostrau-Moravská Ostrava,
Austria
15 Nov 1894
to
Rumelange, Luxembourg
17 Nov 1894

The 2-Kreuzer Bohemian-language Kaiser Franz Joseph postal card was taxed 15 centimes, apparently because the mimeographed text was not recognized as printed matter.

Updated!

A kind correspondent writes that “[t]he key to printed matter is the definition:  anything can go as printed matter as long as it is not in the nature of ‘true correspondence’.  From the image you present, it would easily be taken for ‘correspondence’ by its layout as not everyone would be familiar with ‘modern’ technology in the period.”  

The writer also reminds me that another requirement for a card to go as printed matter was that any reference to “Postcard” or “Postal Card” had to be crossed out and the word “Imprimé” substituted.  This card failed that criterion.

A little bit of Belgium in Luxembourg—another geographically-challenged postal card

 

Last month’s geography lesson was “Luxembourg, France.”
Today’s lesson is “Arlon, Luxemburg”

 

Monastyriska, Austria
[today part of the Ukraine],
21 Feb 1895, to “Arlon, Luxemburg.”

Luxembourg-Gare, 24 Feb 1895, 11:00 a.m.-Noon.

Arlon [Belgium!], 24 Feb 1895, 10:00 p.m.

Improperly sent at the printed matter rate,
so the 2-kretzer Polish-text card was taxed 15 centimes.

Well, until 1839 Arlon was part of the Grand Duchy!

United States APO-BPO 30c Airmail to Rodenbourg in 1946

 

U.S. Army Postal Service
11th BPO
29 August 1946
to
Rodenbourg

The 30c/½ oz. European airmail rate remained
in effect from 28 Apr 1939 to 1 Nov 1946.

 

BPO [Base Post Office] 11 was located in Paris, France, from 22 Oct 1944 to 1 Apr 1947. APO 513 (shown here as the sender’s return address) was also located in Paris during 1946.

The 6c Monoplane air envelope only paid United States military concession airmail service to addresses in the United States. Mail to other addresses had to be paid at the standard United States rates. Thus, this air mail cover was marked “Postage Due __ cents” with ms 24, after which a pair of the 12c Taylor Prexie was added uprating the cover to the 30c airmail rate, and the postage due auxiliary mark was then crossed out.

APO and BPO mail to non-domestic addresses is uncommon.  A more direct and less expensive alternative would have been to post the letter through the French postal service.  The result, however, is an especially attractive and unusual use of the 12c Prexie!

 

Incoming mail in 1920 from where? Yes, Cilicia!

 

 

 

20 para

 

1 piaster

 

 

Cilicia comprises the south coastal region of Asia Minor, as seen on the map. From December 1918 to October 1921, after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the French controlled Cilicia. Although Cilician Armenians sought to create an independent Cilician state under French authority, the French relinquished Cilicia to Turkey on October 21, 1921, under the Treaty of Ankara.

During this 23-month period, the French administration in Cilicia used stamps of Turkey, France, and the French Offices in Turkey overprinted T.E.O. Cilicie [Territoires Ennemis Occupés] or O.M.F. Cilicie [Occupation Militaire Francaise].

Surely mail between this short-lived political entity and Luxembourg must be uncommon as little connects the two countries. An example—the only one I’ve encountered—is the view card shown here, which was posted from Adana, Cilicia, on January 25, 1920, as part of a postcard exchange with a correspondent in Esch-sur-Alzette.

Two Cilicia overprints are tied to the view side by the Adana cancel: a 1916 Turkish 20-para commemorative showing the old general post office in Constantinople overprinted in black T.E.O. Cilicie and a 1-piaster Turkish pictorial from the 1913 issue showing the Mosque of Selim at Adrianople also overprinted T.E.O. Cilicie, but in red. On the reverse is the French Control Postal censor mark.

Quite a nice item if you enjoy unusual incoming mail to Luxembourg!

“Luxemburg, France”

In the small Minnesota village in which I grew up, the postal clerks often referred to Luxembourg as part of Germany.  And they were not alone in this misconception.  We occasionally find cards and covers addressed to “Luxemburg, Germany” from all parts of the world.  You could form a comical exhibit of such cards!

But here is the first example I’ve encountered in which the sender misconceives of Luxembourg as part of France—specifically, “Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxemburg, France.”   Esch, of course, is located just a few kilometers north of the French border.

 

Biddeford, Maine USA 
19 August 1922

View of the Biddeford, Maine
Post Office

So keep an eye out for incoming mail.  Somewhere, I think I also have a card to Luxemburg, Belgium.