Sights (stamp series)

Smallest value of the series at 5 Pfennig, issued by the Deutsche Bundespost Berlin

Sights was a German definitive series that was published from November 6, 1987 to February 5, 2004 .

General

Before the reunification of Germany , this series was only valid in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin ; since 1990 it has been issued throughout Germany. It appeared in rolls , but was also printed in stamp booklets and for philatelic purposes in sheets . A total of 64 items were issued at the Bundespost , 10 of these items additionally as self-adhesive stamps (partly in rolls, partly in booklets). The Deutsche Bundespost Berlin had 15 stamps. All motifs were designed by Sibylle and Fritz Haase . They used the Gill Sans font on the stamps in the series . The only difference between the Berlin stamps and the corresponding stamps of the Bundespost was the “Berlin” logo ; Color, motif and value were the same.

The editions of the sentence survived the reunification of Germany and the introduction of the euro . Therefore, the brands can be divided into four expenditure areas:

• Issues Federal and Berlin until October 2, 1990
• Issues of the Bundespost and (from 1995) of the Deutsche Post AG for the reunified Germany until 1999 in D-Mark
• Issues of the Deutsche Post AG with dual currency, D-Mark and Euro from 2000 to 2001
• Issues of Deutsche Post AG in euros from 2002 to 2004

The Berlin stamps were valid until December 31, 1991, the Bundespost stamps in DM currency until June 30, 2002. Stamps with a double currency or only in euros have unlimited postage validity.

Issue occasion

"The permanent series 'Sights' highlights important cultural and technical achievements, but should also be an incentive to take a look at the objects in the original."

particularities

First postcard with the country name Germany

• (Wet adhesive) stamps from the stamp booklet are cut at the top or bottom, depending on whether they come from the top or the bottom row, so that they could be flush with the edge of the stamp booklet.
• There were several different forms of issuance of self-adhesive stamps:
  • Stamp booklets, with stamps cut on four sides and stamped on three sides.
  • Roles intended for corporate customers (only the value of 0.55 EUR)
  • "Business sheet" containing 100 stamps (only the value of 1.44 EUR)
• The EXPO stamp for 1.10 DM was issued on a specific occasion and is therefore actually not a definitive stamp, but a special stamp . However, it was produced in the design of the series, printed in large numbers and labeled accordingly on the post, therefore the brand is added to the set.
• The 70 Pfennig stamp with the motif “Helgoland” also had a specific reason for its background: It appeared in 1990, the year the island belonged to Germany for 100 years, and served as a replacement for a special stamp for the occasion. The fact that the Bundespost had not previously included such in its issuing program had led to criticism in philatelic circles, especially since there was no real need for such a stamp according to the fees applicable at the time.
• With 74 main numbers (the self-adhesive stamps have their own main numbers), it has long been the most extensive set in the history of the post in Germany, meanwhile there are more issues of the "flowers" . However, this was also helped by a systematic change: Previously, partially cut stamps or stamps that differed from one another regularly did not have their own numbers, but were differentiated by letters.
• There were also postcards from the series issued by the Post: three from Berlin, four from the Bundespost (including a special tier for the East traffic area - which corresponded to the area of ​​the former GDR - from December 1990 to March 31, 1991) and one with the Country name Germany.
• For sales in the former GDR - following the existing machines - stamp booklets were produced for the first time, which were much larger than usual in the West traffic area and where the booklet no longer had to be bent.
• Correspondingly specialized collectors also differentiate between two gummings, brands with and without mottled fibers that become visible in the paper under UV light, and different types of security imprints for certain issues of this series of stamps.
• In order to meet the demands of collectors regarding the quality of the perforation, a small edition was printed in sheets. These were only available from postage stamps. At the beginning of the 1990s, however, some denominations of this issue were also delivered to the general post office counter in sheet form, although it is not clear whether it was a question of remnants or targeted reprints. Horizontal pairs and marginal pieces of the stamps form a special collection area because you can use them to prove that the stamps come from sheets. In contrast to the older roll brand series, they only achieve slightly higher prices.
• To make forgeries more difficult, from July 17, 1997 (from Michel number 1932) to November 8, 2001 (Michel numbers 2224–2235), the paper was provided with mottled fibers ; The same applies to the series Women in German History .
• At CeBit, Swiss Post distributed a stamp booklet with two stamps each for 20 and 80 pfennigs (Nofrete and Zeche Zollern II) as a promotional gift, which, as usual, were cut at the top and bottom. Since the partially cut version of the 20-pfennig stamp did not previously exist and such an edition had not been announced, there were violent protests, especially from the circle of brand subscribers, which led to the post office also selling the corresponding stamp booklets who delivered postage stamps to customers.

Motifs

Each postage stamp in the series shows a German landmark , two-tone on a white background. The small portrait format of the stamps placed limits on accuracy. When depicting buildings, therefore, often only individual gates or towers were shown or the building was shown from the narrow side. When depicting church towers, on the other hand, the graphic designer was either forced to use a very slim representation in which a large part of the brand image remained empty, or only a section of the tower was shown. The output format seemed more suitable for monuments and individual works of art. There are 59 different motifs in total.

List of spending sights

All brands were available in rolls and sheets. Issues in booklets were only cut at the top or bottom or self-adhesive, so that there were only stamps in booklets that had an entry in the corresponding column.

Federal Republic and Berlin before reunification Inscription of the brands: "Deutsche Bundespost" or "Deutsche Bundespost Berlin" The values ​​Bund and Berlin appear simultaneously, but five values ​​were not issued in Berlin.
image	description	Values in pennies	Issue date	Issue date stamp booklet , cut above / below, Bund and Berlin	Mi. -No. Bund, Berlin	Date of issue , Michel no. Stamp booklet, self-adhesive, cut on four sides, only the bunch
	Lion statue Braunschweig	5	February 15, 1990	-	1448 863	-
	Frankfurt (Main) Airport	10	January 14, 1988	June 1989	1347 798	May 1991, 1531
	Nefertiti bust Berlin	20th	January 12, 1989	August 1993 (only federal)	1398 831	-
	Celle Castle	30th	November 6, 1987	-	1339 793	-
	St. Petri Cathedral Schleswig	33	January 12, 1989	-	1399 -	-
	Roland Column Bremen	38	January 12, 1989	-	1400 -	-
	Chilehaus Hamburg	40	August 11, 1988	-	1379 816	-
	Rastatt Castle	45	June 21, 1990	-	1468 -	-
	Freiburg Minster	50	November 6, 1987	June 1989	1340 794	-
	Bavaria Munich	60	November 6, 1987	June 1989	1341 795	May 1991, 1532
	Nefertiti bust Berlin Motif like 20 Pfennig	70	July 14, 1988	-	1374 814	-
	Heligoland	70	June 21, 1990	-	1469 874	-
	Zeche Zollern II Dortmund	80	November 6, 1987	June 1989	1342 796	May 1991, 1533
	Bronze jug of princess grave Reinheim	90	August 11, 1988	-	1380 -	-
	Gnadenkapelle Altötting	100	February 9, 1989	June 1989	1406 834	May 1991, 1534
	St. Petri Cathedral Schleswig Motif like 33 pfennigs	120	July 14, 1988	-	1375 815	-
	Bronze jug of princess grave Reinheim Motif like 90 pfennigs	140	January 12, 1989	-	1401 832	-
	Roland Column Bremen Motif like 38 pfennigs	280	August 11, 1988	-	1381 -	-
	Hambach Castle	300	January 14, 1988	-	1348 799	-
	Externsteine ​​Horn-Bad Meinberg	350	February 9, 1989	-	1407 835	-
Federal Republic after reunification Inscription of the brands: "Deutsche Bundespost" or "Germany"
image	description	Values in pennies	Issue date	Issue date stamp booklet , cut above / below	Mi. -No.	inscription
	Russian Church Wiesbaden	41	August 12, 1993	-	1687	German Federal Post Office
	European monument to Berus	47	July 17, 1997	-	1932	Germany
	Goethe and Schiller memorial in Weimar	100	August 28, 1997	January 22, 1998	1934 PK	Germany
	Bellevue Palace Berlin	110	August 14, 1997	August 14, 1997	1935	Germany
	Expo 2000 Hanover	110	September 10, 1998	June 10, 1999	2009	Germany
	Russian Church Wiesbaden Motif like 41 Pfennig	170	4th June 1991	-	1535	German Federal Post Office
	Magdeburg Cathedral	200	April 15, 1993	-	1665	German Federal Post Office
	Brühl Terrace Dresden	220	August 14, 1997	-	1936	Germany
	Semperoper Dresden	400	October 10, 1991	-	1562	German Federal Post Office
	Bremen town hall	440	August 14, 1997	-	1937	Germany
	New Gate (Neubrandenburg)	450	August 13, 1992	-	1623	German Federal Post Office
	State Theater Cottbus	500	17th June 1993	-	1679	German Federal Post Office
	Holsten Gate Lübeck	510	August 28, 1997	-	1938	Germany
	Suhl-Heinrichs town hall	550	August 11, 1994	-	1746	German Federal Post Office
	Speyer Cathedral	640	August 10, 1995	-	1811	Germany
	St. Michaelis Church (Hamburg)	690	June 13, 1996	-	1860	Germany
	German Theater Berlin	700	September 16, 1993	-	1691	German Federal Post Office
Issues in DM and euros Inscription of the brands: "Germany"
image	description	Values in pfennigs / euros	Issue date	Issue date stamp booklet , cut above / below	Mi. -No.	Issue date, Mi-No of the self-adhesive issues
	Town hall Wernigerode	10 € 0.05	September 28, 2000	-	2139	May 25, 2001, 2187 (cut above or below, punched on three sides)
	Böttcherstrasse Bremen	20 € 0.10	November 8, 2001	-	2224	-
	Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe Kassel	47 € 0.24	April 5, 2001	-	2176	-
	Coffered ceiling in the cedar hall of the Fugger Castle in Kirchheim	50 € 0.26	September 5, 2001	-	2210	-
	St. Reinoldi Dortmund	80 € 0.41	April 5, 2001	-	2177	-
	Schwerin Castle	100 € 0.51	January 11, 2001	-	2156	May 25, 2001, 2188 (cut above or below, punched on three sides)
	Stone Bridge Regensburg	110 € 0.56	September 28, 2000	September 28, 2000	2140	May 25, 2001, 2189 (cut above or below, punched on three sides)
	St. Nikolai Cathedral, Greifswald	220 € 1.12	January 11, 2001	-	2157	-
	Grimma town hall	300 € 1.53	September 28, 2000	-	2141	-
	Wartburg near Eisenach	400 € 2.05	September 5, 2001	-	2211	-
	Cologne cathedral	440 € 2.25	August 9, 2001	-	2206	-
	Heidelberger Castle	510 € 2.61	November 8, 2001	-	2225	-
	Hildesheim town hall	720 € 3.68	July 2, 2001	-	2197	-
Expenditures in euros Inscription of the brands: "Germany"
image	description	Values in euros	Issue date	Issue date stamp booklet , (self-adhesive editions only )	Mi. -No.	Issue date, Mi-No of the self-adhesive issues
	Erfurt Cathedral	€ 0.05	February 5, 2004	-	2381	-
	Arolsen residential palace	€ 0.25	January 8, 2004	-	2374	-
	Bach monument Leipzig	0.40 €	January 8, 2004	-	2375	-
	Berlin Philharmonic	€ 0.44	December 27, 2002	-	2298	-
	Tönninger Packhaus	€ 0.45	December 27, 2002	-	2299	December 27, 2002, 2303 from stamp booklet (cut above or below)
	Old Opera Frankfurt	€ 0.55	December 27, 2002	-	2300	December 27, 2002, 2304 from booklet (cut above or below) from rolls (punched on four sides)
	Porta Nigra Trier	1.00 €	December 27, 2002	-	2301	-
	Beethoven House Bonn	€ 1.44	January 16, 2003	-	2306	June 12, 2003, 2348 from "Business-Bogen" (punched on four sides)
	Bauhaus Dessau	1.60 €	December 27, 2002	-	2302	-
	State Gallery Stuttgart	1.80 €	February 13, 2003	-	2313	-
	Bamberg rider	€ 2.00	February 13, 2003	-	2314	-
	Fontane monument in Neuruppin	€ 2.20	January 16, 2003	-	2307	-
	Seute Deern Maritime Museum Bremerhaven	€ 2.60	March 6, 2003	-	2322	-
	Gabled houses Wismar	€ 4.10	March 6, 2003	-	2323	-

Business bow

Wet-adhesive variant: Beethoven House postage stamp

The Beethoven-Haus Bonn stamp issued on January 16, 2003 for € 1.44 (Michel number: 2306) was released on June 12, 2003 as a “business sheet” (Michel 2348), with a total of 100 self-adhesive stamps punched on four sides were. The foil sheet has a width of 19.1 centimeters and a height of 43.8 centimeters, which is folded four times. At that time, up to December 31, 2005, the value class corresponded to a large letter, after which the postage was changed to 1.45 €.

At the beginning of 2019, almost 16 years later, counterfeits appeared on the Internet on a classifieds portal to damage the post, from the business sheet.

literature

• Michel Germany catalog
• Philately (magazine)
  • Jürgen Olschimke and Bernd Hanke: The special features of the “Beethoven-Haus” business sheet ; 72nd volume, issue 514, April 2020; Pp. 26-28

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michel Germany Special Catalog 2004, p. 1073
2. ↑ Jürgen Olschimke and Bernd Hanke: The special features of the “Beethoven-Haus” business sheet ; 72nd volume, issue 514, April 2020; Pp. 26-28

Web links

Commons : Series of landmarks  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Stamp exhibition / sights / selection