Postage stamps and postal history of Hamburg

This article has the postal history and stamps of Hamburg from the medieval nature messengers to the transition of the Hamburg Post Office in the North German Confederation in 1868 to the content.

Historical development

After the founding of the German Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages, so-called regulated messenger trains, the messages from Hamburg via Lübeck, Rostock, Stettin, Danzig and Konigsberg to Riga, as well as Bremen to Amsterdam and Celle and Braunschweig were transported to Nuremberg.

In 1649 a Danish post office is opened in Hamburg. In the 17th century, the taxi secure postal settled in Hamburg, it was the imperial privileged mail and freight carriage between Hamburg and Nuremberg.

Napoleon annexed the three Hanseatic cities and the north-western Germany in 1810 as part of the Continental Blockade against Britain.

After the end of the French occupation possibilities posts established again in the city of Hamburg, which then became a sovereign state. On January 1, 1822 until then private mail prerogatives were nationalized and founded the Hamburg State Post as Hamburg city post office. The Hanseatic town had its own post offices in Hamburg and Ritzebüttel. In the Hamburg City Post Office ( Mengstraße No. 43) was housed the Swedish-Norwegian ( Swedish from 1858 ), the taxissche ( Mengstraße No. 48) and the Hanoverian post. The Prussian Upper Post Office, the Mecklenburg and the Danish post office working in their own buildings. Until 1835 there was also a Braunschweigisches and from April 1848 to 18 February 1852 in Schleswig-Holstein (or from April 26, 1851 mare with Holstein ) post office.

In a directory could see one where you had to deliver his mail in the different directions. Post to England and overseas worried the city post office. For France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland, the Post taxissche was responsible. After Russia, Poland and Turkey via Austria Prussia got the mail. Scandinavia supplied the Danish or Swedish-Norwegian Post.

As early as 1796, the post office was concerned the then Danish Helgoland by a hamburger mail agent. On Helgoland was a Hamburg postal agency.

Hamburg became effective on January 1, 1852 at the German - Austrian Postal Union. Since 1866, Hamburg belonged to the North German Confederation, who took over the postal service in the North German Confederation on January 1, 1868.

Stamps

Stamps of the Hamburg city post

The first stamps of Hamburg's post office were introduced on 1 January 1859. They were rectangular and contributed in the middle of the coat of arms of the city, superimposed on the value of the brand as a number. Underneath is the word " postage stamp " about "Hamburg". Value and currency ( shillings ) stamped on the outer sides as text. It appeared to values ​​½, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 9 shillings. In 1864 supplement values ​​were spent in a modified frame drawing to 1.25 and 2.5 shillings. These early issues were indeed already gummed, but not yet perforated. Only the following nine values ​​that reappeared in the drawing of the first issues of 1864 and 1867, reported for the first time to a perforation. 1866 published two more values ​​again changed, now octagonal frame drawing and on May 5, 1867 once again one of the design of the first editions of the following brand. The Hamburg Stamps lost at the end of 1867 to be valid from January 1, 1868 only were the marks of the North German Postal District.

Stamps of the Institute of Hamburg messenger

The Institute of the Hamburg messengers released a brand ½ shillings. The privately held company turned to only letters and newspapers in the city of Hamburg and asked for the sixpence. The stamps were printed in black on colored paper.