German Post Agency Lamu

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The German Post Agency Lamu was the first foreign post office of the German Empire on East African soil. It existed from 1888 to 1891. The closure was in connection with the lifting of German patronage in the nearby Sultanate of Witu .

history

Map of the Witu area as well as the island and the place Lamu (top right) - Map by Rochus Schmidt , around 1888

The place Lamu is located on the island of the same name in the Lamu Archipelago off the coast of today 's Kenya . In May 1885 the German government declared protectorate over an area near Witu on the opposite mainland. The request went back to the Denhardt brothers , who had signed a contract with the local sultan in April 1885. However, the Lamu archipelago did not belong to the German protected area and was also from the point of view of the Germans abroad . Although the protection of the Reich against the regional power Zanzibar was politically enforced, the German government held back with investments in Lamu and Witu. In the spring of 1885, the Reichstag initially rejected the promotion of imperial mail steamer lines to Africa suggested by General Post Director Heinrich von Stephan .

In the following years, complaints from German citizens about insufficient mail traffic between Lamu and Germany increased. Foreign ships caused delays and the post was considered unprotected against attacks by foreign countries. British India Line ships regularly carried mail, but there was no organized mail service. Incoming mail was mostly handed over to Indian customs officers. According to contemporary reports, the customs officers simply dumped the letters from the mailbags on the floor due to a lack of language skills. The recipients were now left to search for their broadcasts themselves. There was therefore a wooden box with two compartments for outgoing mail. The senders put the mail to the north ( Aden and Europe) in one compartment and the mail to the south ( Mombasa and Zanzibar ) in the other .

These conditions triggered requests for help from colonial circles to the Reichspost . The requests were finally met through the establishment of an imperial post office on Lamu. The opening took place on November 22, 1888 in two rooms of the house of the German Witu Society. Not only should communication between Germans on Lamu be easier, but the connection to the Witu area should also be better. The management of the agency was transferred to a representative of the Deutsche Witu-Gesellschaft and subordinated to the Oberpostdirektion in Hamburg . However, the agency did not belong to the Universal Postal Union , although its tariffs were applied. The agency was authorized to accept and dispense ordinary and registered letters. This also included postcards, printed matter and samples . However, parcels were not sent and there was no delivery . The mail was carried by the British India Line or with coastal ships to Zanzibar. The island was connected to Marseille by a French shipping line, from where the post continued to Germany. The journey from Berlin to Lamu took about 20 days. In addition, after repeated efforts, the German mail steamer lines were supplemented by African destinations. However, this hardly had any effect, because only a few mail steamers of the newly founded DOAL called Lamu before the agency closed: in August and December 1890 the Reichstag and in October 1890 the Bundesrath .

The postal agency's operation was short-lived. As a result of the so-called Helgoland-Sansibar Treaty of 1890, the German Empire dropped all claims regarding Witus in favor of the United Kingdom . Therefore, a German administration of the Witu area was no longer necessary, which also reduced the importance of mail transport to and from Lamu. After political tensions and the establishment of a British post office in July 1890, the German post office was closed on March 31, 1891.

Agency staff

Uniform of an employee of the Lamu Post Agency (in the German Post Office Museum there , photo from 2009)

No specialist officials were employed in the agency. It was managed part-time by the following employees of the Deutsche Witu-Gesellschaft:

  • Kurt Toeppen (from November 22, 1888 to June 30, 1890)
  • Carl Weiß (from July 1, 1890 to March 31, 1891)

Local servants who wore a simple, short-sleeved uniform in ocher with a red post horn and the German colors of black, white and red at the time, were subordinate to the leaders .

memory

The main entrance of the former post office is on what is now Kenyatta Avenue - the name Usita wa pwani ("beach street") is in local use. The small German Post Office Museum in the old town of Lamu has been a reminder of the agency since December 1996 .

Cancellation stamp of the German postal agency Lamu

The postal agency is particularly known among philatelists for its cancellation stamp, which was used for the entire duration of its existence. In a round frame, the stamp bears the designation LAMU OSTAFRIKA and a date below it. Only postage stamps from the German Reich were used as postage stamps . At the opening of the agency brands were Reichspost issue 1875 / 80 ( penny edition ) put to use. They remained valid for postage until they were used up or until the agency was closed . Stamps from the 1889 edition valid from February 1, 1891 ( Krone / Adler edition ) were used at most in the last five weeks before the closure. The brands are traded among collectors as so-called German colonial forerunners , even if Lamu never became a German colony and the term is therefore factually inaccurate. In addition to 8,700 stamps, 250 registered slips were available from the agency’s initial equipment, which was sufficient until the day before the agency closed. These official R-labels are labeled Lamu (East Africa). Registered. and a consecutive number. Only on March 31, 1891, the last day of operation, were there additional provisional handwritten R notes in red pencil or red ink due to collector's requests.

literature

  • Anne Brüggemann: The broken wire. The Deutsche Post in East Africa - historical photographs. Published by the Deutsche Postmuseum Frankfurt am Main , R. v. Decker's Verlag, G. Schenck, Heidelberg 1989, ISBN 3-8114-3889-3 .
  • Albert Friedemann (Hrsg.): The postage stamps and cancellations of the German post offices in the protected areas and abroad. Edited and edited as a manual with the participation of important collectors by Albert Friedemann. 2nd ext. Edition. Leipzig 1921 ( online at archive.org ).
  • Frank Grieshaber, Hansjürgen Kiepe: German East Africa (I). In: Deutsche Briefmarken-Revue. Edition 12/2017, pp. 25–26 ( online at kolonialmarken.de ).
  • Herbert Schrey: The first German postal facilities on the east coast of Africa. Press print, Kassel 1961.
  • Friedrich F. Steuer, Ronald F. Steuer: manual and catalog of the German colonial forerunners. 4th edition. Schwaneberger, Unterschleißheim 2006, ISBN 3-87858-398-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Brüggemann: The broken wire. Decker's, Heidelberg 1989, p. 16 f., 20.
  2. ↑ a b c Tax & Tax: Manual and catalog of the German colonial forerunners. Schwaneberger, Unterschleißheim 2006, p. 206.
  3. ↑ a b Brüggemann: The broken wire. Decker's, Heidelberg 1989, p. 16.
  4. ↑ Grieshaber & Kiepe: German East Africa (I), in: Deutsche Briefmarken-Revue. Edition 12/2017, p. 25.
  5. ^ A b Friedemann: The postage stamps and cancellations of the German post offices in the protected areas and abroad. FA, Leipzig 1921, p. 205.
  6. ↑ a b c Tax & Tax: Manual and catalog of the German colonial forerunners. Schwaneberger, Unterschleißheim 2006, p. 207.
  7. ↑ Tax & Tax: Handbook and catalog of the German colonial predecessors. Schwaneberger, Unterschleißheim 2006, p. 208.
  8. ^ Brüggemann: The broken wire. Decker's, Heidelberg 1989, p. 20.
  9. ^ Brüggemann: The broken wire. Decker's, Heidelberg 1989, pp. 65, 162.
  10. ↑ a b Brüggemann: The broken wire. Decker's, Heidelberg 1989, p. 43.
  11. ↑ Tax & Tax: Handbook and catalog of the German colonial predecessors. Schwaneberger, Unterschleißheim 2006, p. 209.