Postal history and postage stamps of Oldenburg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Map of the principality of Birkenfeld

The state of Oldenburg already had its own post office at the time of the Holy Roman Empire and later kept it in the provinces of Oldenburg and Lübeck . In the Oldenburg principality of Birkenfeld , the Thurn und Taxis house was entrusted with the postal service on the basis of a contract dated August 4, 1817 . With the cession of the Principality of Lichtenberg to Prussia and the Taxis Post Office St. Wendel, the Principality of Birkenfeld was surrounded by Prussian territory and, after the contract with Thurn and Taxis expired, was supplied with mail from Prussia on November 1, 1837 . On January 1, 1852, the Oldenburg postal administration joined the German Postal Union . It covered 114 square miles, had 49 post offices, including 21 post office owners and 93 civil servants. From 1868 Oldenburg belonged to the North German postal district .

Postage stamps

Oldenburg postage stamp images

Stamps were first issued in Oldenburg on January 5, 1852. The print, black on a colored background, shows the Oldenburg coat of arms. The value is given in grote or in fractions of a thaler . A thaler had 72 grotes. The second stamp issue is larger. In the middle you can read the Oldenburg coat of arms and above it the name Oldenburg . Since January 1, 1858, the thaler has been reckoned at 30 groschen. The stamps issued again in 1859 were only changed in color. From 1862 the brand image shows the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy, the legend Oldenburg and the value in an oval medallion . The same picture shows the spent postal stationery envelopes .

The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg in northern Germany had had its own post office since the beginning of the 17th century, but initially operated it privately and only took it over into government management on May 1, 1800. After joining the German-Austrian Postal Union on January 1, 1852, the first postage stamps were issued only a few days later, on January 5 .

However, these were not valid in the entire national territory, because the Principality of Birkenfeld, which is far away in the Hunsrück and has seven postal locations, was postally administered by Prussia on the basis of a contract concluded in 1837. The stamps were produced by the Oldenburg company Gerhard Stalling using the stone printing process. Today they belong to the editions of the old German states, which place the highest demands on the collector.

Of the already low editions (between 15,000 and 800,000 pieces), many copies, especially of the lower denominations, were destroyed and so no Oldenburg stamp is common, some even belong to the great Old Germany rarities.

The stamps of the first issue show the grand ducal house coat of arms in a careful design above a striking shield with the value in Oldenburg and Bremen currency. The next series from July 10, 1859 was inspired by the editions of the Kingdom of Saxony from 1851; the last set issued (1862) was based on the Prussian postal stationery from 1851 and was produced using combined letterpress and embossing. The portrait of the ruler was abandoned in favor of a drawing of a coat of arms.

In the course of its own 17-year history of postage stamps , the country issued a total of 19 stamps, including 12 postal stationery, almost all of which are also rare and are of great importance today.

On January 1, 1868, the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg joined the North German Confederation and gave up its own mail shelf.

Postage stamps of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg 1852–1868

  • 1/30 thaler, 1852

  • 1/10 thaler, 1852

  • 1/30 thaler, 1854

  • A dime, 1859

  • A dime

  • 2 groschen, 1859

  • Three groschen, 1862–1867

literature

  • BE Crole: History of the Deutsche Post . II edition. Verlag W. Malende, Leipzig 1889. The author is Bruno Emil König from Berlin.
  • K. Schwarz (Postrat): Timeline of German postal history . RV Deckers Verlag, Berlin 1935, Volume 22 Post and Telegraphy in Science and Practice.
  • expertise Publisher: Deutsche Post AG, issue 2/2012, pp. 4–7
  • Collection area old Germany: Oldenburg (continuation article) In: Deutsche Briefmarken-Revue from issue no. 7/2003

Web links

Commons : Stamps of Oldenburg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files