Hammer mark

Additional value stamp is the name for a special stamp , in addition to the normal post-pay another supplement ( donation ) for a "good cause" has. The surcharge is often half of the postage, and it is often just below that. The surcharge stamps can regularly be recognized by the fact that the surcharge is stated in addition to the postage value. "55 + 25" means 55 euro cents for mail delivery and + 25 euro cents are donated to the respective purpose. Surcharge stamps must not be confused with tax stamps such as the Notopfer Berlin .

Historical development

The first surcharge stamps existed in Germany after the First World War , but regular issues only occurred during the Third Reich . After the Second World War , there were a number of editions with surcharges initially at the local level. In what was later to become the Federal Republic of Germany , welfare stamps were introduced from 1949 , later other regular surcharge stamps, especially the youth stamps, as well as individual issues for special occasions were added.

In the GDR, on the other hand, there were surcharge stamps, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, to honor anti-fascist resistance fighters and for the construction of concentration camp memorials. Otherwise, such brands only appeared on special occasions.

The Switzerland also spent decades regularly supplement brands, especially "For the Youth" Foundation Pro Juventute .

Surcharges over 50% of the postage value are regularly aimed at philatelists , because they cannot do without those issues to complete their collections that are rarely used in normal mail. Especially between 1933 and 1945, stamps with very high surcharges such as "12 + 38" were issued in Germany. As a consequence of the collectors' policy of issuing excessive surcharges, brand new issues with a surcharge of more than 50% of the nominal value were banned from philatelic exhibitions.

Despite adherence to the 50% limit, the amount of the surcharge has been the subject of sometimes violent disputes between the organized philatelists and the surcharge recipients since the postage increases in the 1980s in the Federal Republic of Germany, which ultimately led to the compromise that the collection was customary up until then a surcharge of 50% on the postage value has been softened.

Today's spending practice

Germany

The Federal Ministry of Finance today regularly issues the following types of mark-up stamps:

For welfare ( welfare and Christmas stamps in favor of the Federal Association of Independent Welfare Care ) - annually
For sport (for the benefit of the German Sports Aid Foundation ) - annually

A representation of the Berlin motifs can be found under Sporthilfe of the Deutsche Bundespost Berlin .

For the youth (in favor of the German Youth Brand Foundation ) - annually
For environmental protection (in favor of the Federal Environment Ministry ) - every two years
For philately (in favor of the Foundation for the Promotion of Philately and Postal History ) - every four years

In addition, there are - albeit rarely - expenses for special occasions such as the flood disaster on the Oder in Brandenburg.

In addition, the Landespostdirektion Berlin issued surcharge stamps between 1949 and 1990, see surcharge stamp (Berlin) . The award was in favor of various purposes such as reconstruction .

Austria

The Austrian Post issues a supplementary postage annually on the day of the postage stamp . In Austria there is the special feature that every overhead stamp has to be approved by parliament, which is why relatively few overhead stamps appear in Austria.

Switzerland

The surcharge brand in Switzerland is called charity brand.

The Swiss Post spends two award stamp series out:

in spring Pro Patria (“for the fatherland”) in favor of the cultural foundation of the same name
in autumn Pro Juventute (“for the youth”) in favor of the charity of the same name