This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the German territory of the Saar. As a border region contested between France and Germany, the Saar has a somewhat complicated philatelic history. (Note that although the state is now known as Saarland, English-speaking philatelists universally use "Saar".)
The first stamps of the Saar were contemporary German stamps overprinted "Sarre" (the French name) and with a heavy solid bar striking out the "DEUTSCHES REICH" at the bottom of the stamp. This overprint was applied to 17 denominations, ranging from 2 pfennig to 1 mark, and first went on sale 30 January 1920. The stamps of Bavaria were overprinted similarly, and first available on 1 March. On 26 March, more German overprints were issued, this time reading "SAARGEBIET" (the German language name for Saar Territory) and not striking out the name of the old Reich.
Surcharges of 20pf, 5m, and 10m on German stamps came out in early 1921, followed by the Saar's first definitive series. This was a set of 16 local scenes, ranging from a view of the Saar River near Mettlach to the Burbach Steelworks at Dillingen. The stamps were somewhat rudely typographed and most were printed in two colors; although bordering on the garish, they are striking nevertheless.
On 1 May 1921, the series was surcharged in centimes and francs, and in 1922 it was replaced by a new series of same designs, but redrawn, denominated in the new money, and printed in different colors.
The Madonna of Blieskastel was commemorated by a pair of stamps (45c and 10fr) in 1925, then in 1927 a new definitive series came out, still borrowing designs from the first series, but now in different shapes, and printed in a single color using photogravure. On 1 November 1934, in preparation for the plebiscite the following year, this series was overprinted "VOLKSABSTIMMUNG / 1935"; the plebiscite in January 1935 having gone in favor of rejoining Germany, Saar came under the German postal system.
German stamp overprinted "Sarre", 1920
German stamp overprinted "Saargebiet", 1920
First definitive series, 1921
Stamp overprinted "VOLKSABSTIMMUNG 1935" in 1934
French protectorate
Stamp of the Saar Protectorate, 1947Stamp of the Saar Protectorater, 1948
After World War II, Saar was one of the occupied areas to come under the administration of France. On 28 July 1945 the postal service in the Saar Area was separated from that in the French zone of occupation in Allied-occupied Germany, forming the Oberpostdirektion Saar (High Postal Directorate of the Saar) in Saarbrücken. Postal services were provided again starting in August 1945 for official purposes, and private mail, at the beginning to a restricted extent only, was resumed in September.
On 17 November 1947 the Oberpostdirektion Saar was transformed into the Post-, Telegraphen- und Telephonverwaltung des Saarlandes (abbreviated like the French correspondent entity as P.T.T. Saarland; Post, Telegraph and Telephone Administration of the Saarland), keeping the headquarters in Saarbrücken. Postal vehicles and postboxes were green (RAL 6001), like in France. The French established the Saar Protectorate in December 1947.
The first stamps valid only in the Saar Area were issued in 1947. A first set of definitives came out in mid-1947, and included 17 stamps using six designs, including workers of various occupations, Mettlach Abbey, and Marshal Ney. Three of these values were also printed on paperwatermarked with a pattern of curving lines. These first stamps were denominated in German currency, but just as before, were replaced in November by French currency denominations. The postal tariffs were adapted to the French system with mail to France at the domestic rate and mail to Allied-occupied Germany at the foreign tariff. The postal service of the Bizone subsumed mail to the Saar Protectorate under the foreign postage only as of 1 October 1948.
On 1 April 1948 the P.T.T. Saarland issued a new series inscribed "SAARPOST", followed by another in 1949 inscribed "SAAR". The P.T.T. Saarland issued a few commemoratives each year through 1956, punctuated by a definitive set showing various buildings, in 1952.
On 1 January 1957 the P.T.T. Saarland was transformed into the Oberpostdirektion Saarbrücken of the Deutsche Bundespost. The return of the Saar Area to German control was commemorated on 1 January 1957 by a special stamps, then followed shortly thereafter by definitives with the then-standard profile of President Theodor Heuss, and inscribed both "SAARLAND" and "DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST". The numerals did not indicate a monetary system, but were implicitly francs; later in 1957, the stamps were reissued with a small "F" after the numeral.
Starting on 8 July 1957 mail from the Saarland to France, the French dominions, Italy and Luxembourg was not subsumed under the domestic tariff any more, but under a preferential postage granted until 30 June 1959, when the general foreign postage started to apply.
Additional commemoratives appeared regularly for several more years while the German monetary system was re-established on 6 July 1959. The last postage stamp of the Saar was a single 15-franc issue honoring Alexander von Humboldt, which went on sale 6 May 1959. Thereafter Saarland used the regular stamps of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Emin, T. Les Timbres de la Sarre: Timbres-poste et de Service Entiers: étude historique et philatélique et catalogue complet ... 1er mars 1924. Paris: Maison Arthur Maury, 1924 103p.
Michel Handbuch-Katalog Saar 2003. Munich: Schwaneberger Verlag, 2003 ISBN3878583648 111p.
Schneider, Heinrich and Kurt Schubert. Druckdaten und andere Bogenkennzeichnungen der Postwertzeichen des Saargebietes und Saarlandes. Völklingen: Arge Saar, 1974 84p.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Indochina.
Saarlouis is a town in Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2020, the town had a population of 34,409. Saarlouis is located on the river Saar. It was built as a fortress in 1680 and was named after Louis XIV of France.
During its time as a French colony, Obock issued its own postage stamps. At first the inhabitants used the general stamps of the French Colonies, but in 1892 they were overprinted with "OBOCK", as were stamped post cards. Later in the year some of these were also surcharged with values from 1 centime to 5 francs. By the end of the year, a supply of the omnibus Navigation and Commerce issues became available, inscribed OBOCK in red or blue.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of German East Africa.
The French Congo was a French colony established in the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and the Central African Republic. It began in 1880 as a protectorate, and its borders with Cabinda, Cameroons, and the Congo Free State were established by treaties over the next decade. French Congo was temporarily divided between Gabon and Middle Congo in 1906, before being reunited as French Equatorial Africa in 1910 in an attempt to copy the relative success of French West Africa.
Originally mail from British Somaliland used postage stamps of Egypt, then India. In 1903, about 30 types of stamps of India were overprinted "BRITISH / SOMALILAND".
Gabon is a country in west central Africa sharing borders with the Gulf of Guinea to the west, Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, and Cameroon to the north, with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. Its size is almost 270,000 km2 with an estimated population of 1,500,000. The capital and largest city is Libreville.
The Saar Protectorate, officially Saarland, was a French protectorate and a disputed territory separated from Germany. On joining the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957, it became the smallest "federal state", the Saarland, not counting the "city states" of Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen. It is named after the Saar River.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Vanuatu, formerly known as the New Hebrides, an island group in the South Pacific. Between 1906 and 1980, the islands were an Anglo-French Condominium.
The Territory of the Saar Basin was a region occupied and governed by the United Kingdom and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate. It had its own flag : a blue, white, and black horizontal tricolour. The blue and white stood for Bavaria, and white and black for Prussia, out of whose lands the Saar Territory was formed. Initially, the occupation was under the auspices of the Treaty of Versailles. Its population in 1933 was 812,000, and its capital was Saarbrücken. The territory closely corresponds with the modern German state of Saarland, but was slightly smaller in area. After a plebiscite was held in 1935, it was returned to Germany.
The postal history of Morocco is complex due to the country's political development in the 20th century. Mail was sent via post offices operated by the Sherifian post created by the Sultan, and by the European powers. After Morocco was partitioned into protectorates of France and of Spain in 1912, both European administrations established postal services in their respective zones.
Postage stamps and postal history of the Canal Zone is a subject that covers the postal system, postage stamps used and mail sent to and from the Panama Canal Zone from 1904 up until October 1978, after the United States relinquished its authority of the Zone in compliance with the treaty it reached with Panama.
The story of the postage stamps and postal history of Yugoslavia officially begins with the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on 1 December 1918.
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This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Germany and philatelically related areas. The main modern providers of service were the Reichspost (1871–1945), the Deutsche Post under Allied control (1945–1949), the Deutsche Post of the GDR (1949–1990), the Deutsche Bundespost (1949–1995), along with the Deutsche Bundespost Berlin (1949–1990), and are now the Deutsche Post AG.
Germania stamps are definitive stamps that were issued by the German Empire and the Weimar Republic between 1900 and 1922, depicting Germania. They represent the longest running series in German philately and are in their many variations and derivations an essential part of German philatelic collections.
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The Saarbrücken–Trier railway, known in German as the Saarstrecke in the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It connects Saarbrücken and Trier. It was opened in 1858 and 1860 and is one of the oldest railways in Germany.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Holstein, Schleswig-Holstein, Schleswig and incidentally Lauenberg. Separate stamps were issued for Holstein (1850), Schleswig (1864-1867), Holstein (1864-1866), Schleswig-Holstein (1865) and Schleswig (1920).
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German stamp overprinted "Sarre", 1920
German stamp overprinted "Saargebiet", 1920
First definitive series, 1921
Stamp overprinted "VOLKSABSTIMMUNG 1935" in 1934
