Postage stamps and postal history of the North German Confederation

Last updated

North German Confederation Noord-Duitse Bond.png
North German Confederation

One of the functions of the North German Confederation was to handle the mail and issue postage stamps, which it began doing, by means of the North German Postal Union (Norddeutscher Postbezirk), on 1 January 1868.

Contents

To accommodate the different monetary systems in use by the various states, it issued a series valued in groschen for the Northern District, and another using kreuzer for the Southern District, distinguishing them by framing the value number in a circle for the groschen stamps, and in an oval for the kreuzers. All of these stamps were inscribed "NORDDEUTSCHER POSTBEZIRK".

In addition, there was a special quarter-schilling stamp for Hamburg, with the additional inscription "STADTPOSTBRIEF HAMBURG".

Early in 1869 the stamps were issued with perforations, the previous issues having been rouletted. On 1 March, 10 gr and 30 gr values were issued, notable for being printed on goldbeater's skin, a scheme to prevent reuse of these high-value stamps.

Confederation stamps were superseded on 1 January 1872 by the first issues of the German Empire.

Coverage

The coverage of the North German Postal Union was described as follows:

The federal territories comprise Anhalt, Bremen, Brunswick, Hamburg, Lippe, Lübeck, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg, Prussia together with Lauenburg, Reuss senior line, Reuss junior line, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen, Grand Duchy of Saxony, Kingdom of Saxony, Schaumburg-Lippe, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Upper Hesse (part of Hesse north of the Main), and Waldeck.

Upper Hesse was administered as part of the postal union even though the Grand Duchy of Hesse was not a member of the North German Confederation.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">States of the German Confederation</span> Listing of the states of the German Confederation

The states of the German Confederation were member states of the German Confederation, from 20 June 1815 until 24 August 1866.

<i>Lot</i> (weight)

The Lot was a unit of measurement of mass, which was mainly used in German-speaking states of the Holy Roman Empire and in Scandinavia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">States of the German Empire</span> Federated states of the German Empire

The German Empire consisted of 25 constituent states and an imperial territory, the largest of which was Prussia. These states, or Staaten each had votes in the Bundesrat, which gave them representation at a federal level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thurn-und-Taxis Post</span> Successor to the Imperial Reichspost of the Holy Roman Empire

The Thurn-und-Taxis Post was a private postal service and the successor to the Imperial Reichspost of the Holy Roman Empire. The Thurn-und-Taxis Post was operated by the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis between 1806 and 1867. The company was headquartered in Regensburg from its creation in 1806 until 1810 when it relocated to Frankfurt am Main where it remained until 1867.

Events from the year 1873 in Germany.

Events from the year 1871 in Germany.

Events in the year 1910 in Germany.

Events in the year 1876 in Germany.

Events in the year 1916 in Germany.

Events in the year 1906 in Germany.

Events in the year 1909 in Germany.

Events from the year 1872 in Germany.

The North German Confederation Treaty was the treaty between the Kingdom of Prussia and other northern and central German states that initially created the North German Confederation, which was the forerunner to the German Empire. This treaty, and others that followed in September and October, are often described as the August treaties, although not all of them were concluded in August 1866.

Events from the year 1870 in Germany.

References

    Bibliography

    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.