People who were depicted on a postage stamp of the German Reich during their lifetime

Original sketch by Paul Eduard Waldraff for the design of the Germania brand. The stamp shown is Michel number: 56b from 1900

This list gives an overview of those people who were depicted on a postage stamp of the German Reich during their lifetime .

Following the “tradition” of the old German states , the Reichspost and the German Reich only had postage stamps that showed the respective head of state. However, in order to facilitate the takeover of the Bavarian and Württemberg postal services , a neutral representation of the national identification was sought at the turn of the year and found in the national allegory Germania . The actress Anna Führing was the model for this; her image was present as a Germania postage stamp between 1900 and 1922.

Brand lists

German Empire until 1945

In the German Reich, only stamps of Kaiser Wilhelm II were issued during his lifetime (from 1900, partially valid until 1922). However, this was more of an accessory than the main motif of the two stamps. Only for Paul von Hindenburg was there a separate series of stamps from 1927, which was provided with a black mourning border after his death. Adolf Hitler was first depicted on a postage stamp on his 48th birthday (1937). From then on, at least one stamp appeared every year, mostly shortly before the “ Führer birthday ”. A definitive stamp series with his likeness was first issued on August 1, 1941. In the occupied territories, own stamps with the likeness of Hitler were also issued. As a state guest, Benito Mussolini was depicted next to Hitler on January 30, 1941 on a German stamp.

In addition, there were two postcards with an imprinted value stamp, the picture of which never appeared on a separate postage stamp: on the one hand, the special card from January 29, 1934, showing Hitler and Hindenburg together, and on the other hand, the special card for the Nazi Party rally published on August 25, 1939 showing Hitler in front of the swastika flag as a motif.

In addition, the so-called German occupation issues in Bohemia and Moravia and in the Generalgouvernement had their own brand motifs, which Hitler depicted between his 53rd and 55th birthday and each with a definitive series or special stamps.

image	person	Issue occasion	Issue date	Mi. -No.
	Kaiser Wilhelm II.	Part of the series: Representative representations of the German Empire Here: Kaiser Wilhelm II on horse in front of the national monument for Wilhelm I.	Inscription: Reichspost: August 2, 1900 German Empire: March 20, 1902	65, 80, 96 A + B,
	Kaiser Wilhelm II and many other personalities, such as Minister Karl Heinrich von Boetticher	Part of the series: Representative representations of the German Empire Here: Commemoration of the founding of the empire in the white hall of the Berlin Palace	Reichspost: December 14, 1900 German Empire: March 20, 1902	66, 81, 97 A + B
	Paul von Hindenburg	Reich President 80th birthday charity issue for German emergency aid	September 26, 1927	403-406
	Paul von Hindenburg	Definitive series: Reich presidents	September 1, 1928 to January 1932	411, 414, 416, 418, 420, 422, 437, 444, 445, 454, 466
	Paul von Hindenburg	Reich President definitive series: Hindenburg medallion	October 1, 1932 to 1933	467-473, 482-495, 512-528,
	Adolf Hitler	48th birthday	April 5, 1937	646 block 7
	Adolf Hitler	1st National Stamp Exhibition in Berlin	April 16, 1937	647 block 8
	Adolf Hitler	Cultural promotion	June 10, 1937	648 block 9
	Adolf Hitler	9th Nazi Party Congress 1937	September 3, 1937	650 block 11
	Adolf Hitler	49th birthday, 10th Nazi Party Congress	April 13, 1938 September 1, 1938	664 672
	Adolf Hitler	50th birthday, Hitler in Braunau am Inn	April 13, 1939	691
	Adolf Hitler	National Labor Day Nazi Party	April 28, 1939 August 25, 1939	694 701
	Adolf Hitler	51st birthday	April 10, 1940	744
	Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler	German-Italian brotherhood in arms	January 30, 1941	763
	Adolf Hitler	52nd birthday	April 17, 1941	772
	Adolf Hitler	Chancellor Adolf Hitler	August 1, 1941 to 1944	781-802, 826, 827
	Adolf Hitler	53rd birthday	April 13, 1942	813
	Adolf Hitler	54th birthday	April 13, 1943	844-849
	Adolf Hitler	11th anniversary of the seizure of power	January 29, 1944	865
	Adolf Hitler	55th birthday	April 14, 1944	887

Value stamps on postal items that were not published as separate stamps:

image	person	description	Values in pennies	Issue date	Date of Expiry	Mi. -No.
	Paul von Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler	Special card to commemorate the day the seizure of power by Hitler Hindenburg and Hitler. Design: unknown.	6th	January 29, 1934	December 31, 1935	P 250
	Adolf Hitler	Special card (fixed postcard) for " Reichsparteitag of peace" On the back of the badge of the congress is attached. Design: unknown.	6 (retail price 25 pfennigs)	August 25, 1939	December 31, 1940	P 282

Example of living people who are symbolic of events:

image	person	description	Values in pennies	Issue date	Date of Expiry	Mi. -No.
	Erich Topp	From the series Heroes' Remembrance Day : U-boat commander at the periscope	6 + 4	March 11, 1944	Surrender 1945	876

Allied postage forgeries during World War II

Allied postage forgeries :

image	person	origin	put into circulation	Mi. -No.
	Heinrich Himmler	War propaganda fake from Great Britain	1943	(based on brand 785 )
	Adolf Hitler	War propaganda fake from the USA	Autumn 1944	(based on brand 788 / 827 )
	Hans Frank	Fake Generalgouvernement postage stamp that the Allies had made to turn Hitler against Frank, as only Hitler's image was allowed on postage stamps. Valuation 20 zloty .	not known	(based on Generalgouvernement 84 brand from 1942)

Postal service in the Litzmannstadt ghetto

Own postal service within the Litzmannstadt ghetto :

image	person	Issue occasion	Issue date	Mi. -No.
[1]	Chaim Rumkowski	see article: Judenpost . These stamps were soon banned by the German authorities and most likely destroyed. From a philatelic point of view, the few remaining stamps can be attributed to German postal history, since Litzmannstadt was considered a city in Germany at the time of issue. This is also shown by the value, as it is given in pfennigs and not in złoty, as used in the Generalgouvernement .	March 9, 1944	I. and II. 1st edition III.–V. 2nd edition

literature

Mint never hinged - Das Philatelie-Journal. March / April 2/2007, p. 33.
Michel catalog Germany special

Web links

Commons : People on German postage stamps - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ The event no longer took place

This version was included in the selection of informative lists and portals on January 24, 2010 .

[1] The event no longer took place