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Airmail freight (including, according to contemporary newspaper reports, greetings to Kaiser Wilhelm II and Crown Prince Heinrich of Prussia, the Minister of Post and Transport, the district administrator and the Imperial Oberpostdirektion) was stamped by Hans Grade with the inscription: "Flugpost Bork and surroundings by Gradeflieger".
The entrepreneur, who founded Grade-Motoren-Werke GmbH in Magdeburg in 1905 and moved to Borg in 1909, also had an airmail stamp printed and distributed it free of charge, but without the approval of the Imperial Postal Service.
On May 19, 1912, the first official mail flight of the Deutsche Reichspost between Mannheim and Heidelberg took place (however, most of the mail was not transported by airship, as planned, but in the conventional way).
With the approval of the Reich Post Office on June 1, 1912, airmail transport with zeppelin and airplane and semi-official airmail stamps, the so-called airmail on the Rhine and Main, was then approved from June 10th to 23rd, 1912 as part of a charity event.
Before that, there were several private mail deliveries in Germany by air without the approval of the post office. The first event of this kind was held in Berlin on November 13, 1911.
At the flight around Berlin, postcards for collectors were taken on the flight.
The second event of this kind was a flight of eight kilometers between the places Bork and Brück.
Air tickets were issued for the first time at this flight event.
They were used exclusively to finance the event and had no postal value.
The initiators of the campaign were the Berlin dentist and chairman of the Borkheide tourist association, Kurt Schaefer, and his friend Hans Grade, who was an entrepreneur who produced the first aircraft at the time.
A Grade aircraft took off on February 18, 1912 and thus carried out the first airmail transport with flight stamps in Germany from Bork to Brück.
Opening of the air mail on the Rhine and Main, June 10, 1912
The officer Ferdinand von Hiddessen (1887–1971) completed one of the world's first official postal flights from Frankfurt am Main to Darmstadt and Worms (Rheinhessen).
The means of transport used by the Darmstadt-based aviation pioneer and motorized aircraft manufacturer August Heinrich Euler (1868–1957) is the "Flying Machine No. 33 "Gelber Hund",
an open biplane made of steel, wood and canvas, which gets its name from the yellow color scheme (including the yellow-covered wings).
The "Gelber Hund" is powered by a 70 hp Gnome 7-cylinder engine, which gives the approximately 9 meter long and 262 kg heavy aircraft a speed of around 70 km / h (in calm conditions).
The wingspan of the machine is 10.5 meters on the upper wing.
Von Hiddessen, lieutenant in Darmstadt's Leib-Dragoon Regiment No. 24, starts at 7:04 p.m. from Frankfurt-Niederrad to Darmstadt.
His cargo: 40 kilograms of mail, which are transported as part of a charity campaign for the benefit of the (grand-ducal) “State Center for Mother and Baby Care”.
On July 25, 1912, Ernst Schlegel flew the first airmail in Thuringia, on the Gotha - Erfurt route.
Flugpost Gotha issued a semi-official flight stamp for this flight, which was marked with a stamp with the name “E. Schlegel "canceled.
The postage stamp to be stuck next to it was used normally.
The first regular state air mail connections under German direction were established towards the end of the First World War on the Eastern Front in Russia and the Baltic States.
The history of civil airmail in Germany began on February 6, 1919.
The occasion was the opening of the constitution of the National Assembly in Weimar.
From that day on, planes of the Deutsche Luft-Reederei took off twice a day in Berlin-Johannisthal to transport mail - especially newspapers - from the capital to the conference location in Weimar.
For the time being, this airmail connection could only be used by the members of the National Assembly, which had moved to the then Thuringian capital because of the revolutionary situation in Berlin.
A few months later, this air mail line was also opened to the public.
In March 1919, the Junkers aircraft works in Dessau then set up regular flight service to Weimar.
In the same year regular mail flights were also set up in Bavaria.
In the following years there was a rapid expansion of airmail connections in Germany as well as throughout Western Europe and the USA.
On August 11, 1920, the first airmail flights from Germany to other countries were carried out.
The destination that was flown to was the Swedish port city of Malmö.
From 1921, the Deutsche Reichspost introduced special flight mail confirmation stamps and flight mail stickers.
In 1922 there were already 13 different airmail routes.
In May 1923 the first airmail mailboxes in Germany were set up in Berlin.
These special, blue-painted mailboxes were only used for dropping airmail items and were intended to enable airmail items to be processed and forwarded more quickly.
In 1924 the first night air mail between Berlin, Copenhagen and Stockholm took place.
On January 6, 1926, Deutsche Luft Hansa Aktiengesellschaft (Deutsche Lufthansa since 1934) was founded.
Until then, Aero Hansa AG, Deutsche Aero Lloyd AG and Junkers Luftverkehr AG were responsible for airmail transport.
2 GM Junkers-Stamp from 1924
10 jahre lufthansa
However, since the Reich, the federal states and the municipalities threatened to cancel the subsidies for the companies that were facing ruinous competition, they joined forces to form the new airline under pressure from the banks and the state.
Luft Hansa had to undertake to keep enough space free for the transport of mail on every flight.
The constant expansion of the global flight network and the constant further developments in aircraft led to a rapid expansion of airmail.
Before the beginning of the Second World War, the majority of international shipments were already carried by airplanes.
Nevertheless, the airmail transport over long distances was extremely expensive due to the comparatively short range of the aircraft.
The Second World War and the temporary end of the German Airmail
During the Second World War, air field mail became one of the most important means of communication between the front and home.
In almost all countries involved, the airmail network has been significantly expanded and airmail has been further developed.
In the German Reich, the airfield mail was used to deliver letters primarily to fronts that were far from home.
Between April 17 and May 9, 1942, the first starting point for German airfield mail was set up in Bia?a Podlaska near Brest-Litowsk.
The destinations flown to were based on the respective front line.
The Junkers Ju 52 was mostly used as a transport aircraft.
In May 1944 the starting point was moved to Litzmannstadt (?ód?).
A few months later, on July 6, 1944, the German airfield mail service was finally completely discontinued.
luftfeldpost
From April 18, 1942, the German Reich issued its own approval stamps for airfield mail letters.
Every German soldier received four such postage stamps per month, after a postage increase in May 1943 eight registration stamps.
This enabled him to post a total of four letters or postcards home.
The stamps were issued to soldiers on sections of the front in the east, in the Balkans and in Scandinavia, provided they were connected to the airfield mail network.
In addition to the German Reich, other countries also issued their own air field mail stamps during the Second World War.
In June 1943, the allied Italy even issued its own express air mail stamps.
After the defeat and surrender of the German Wehrmacht on May 8, 1945, airmail traffic in the now occupied German-speaking areas of Austria and Germany was taken over by foreign companies.
In Austria there was a regular airmail service already two years after the end of the war; in Germany, all residents of the Federal Republic of Germany could not post airmail until October 20, 1948.
In 1954, Deutsche Lufthansa was re-established in the Federal Republic of Germany and had ceased flight operations after the end of the war.
From April 1, 1955, there were regular German airmail flights again.
A short time later, on May 17, 1955, international destinations were once again connected to one another by post through the West German Lufthansa.
In the GDR there was also an airline called Lufthansa, which was also responsible for airmail.
The airlift to Berlin
The airlift to Berlin is a special chapter in the history of airmail.
1949 Berliner Bauten
Here, for the first time, airmail could not be supported or replaced by any other type of mail.
The airlift to Berlin was built by the Western Allies with airplanes to supply the largest German city with essential goods.
This could only be done by air, since the Soviet occupying power set up a complete blockade of West Berlin from June 24, 1948.
Although the airlift was initially only intended for the transport of essential goods, mail was soon also carried in both directions.
No additional fees were charged by the Allies for this.
The West Berlin Post used two specially created postmarks for these special items of mail.
These machine stamps bore the inscription Luftbrücke Berlin or Kauft vom Blockierte Berlin.
In addition to these two official postmarks, however, numerous private confirmation stamps were still in use.
After the Berlin Airlift had existed for almost a year, the Soviet Union finally had to admit that it guaranteed supplies to Berlin and could continue indefinitely.
They therefore decided to lift the blockade of West Berlin on May 12, 1949 at 0.01 a.m.
SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA
(supplemented with photos of the relevant stamps)
Other stamps :
During the Leipziger Magareten-Volksfest on May 18, 1912 there was a semi-official stamp introduced (50 Pfg) which could be used on picture postcards.
Hessische 25 Pfg Segelflugpost
Airport Liegnitz operated as a hub for Zeppelins. There were 2 stamps issued
During the Regensburger GrossFlugTag on August 17, 1930 there were these stamps issued :
During D.E.L.A. Deutsche Luftfahrt Ausstellung on August 12 - August 27, 1933 in the ZOO of Hamburg there were these stamps issued :
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@HockeyNut
Thank you very much for this detailed information on die Deutsche Luftpost. I appreciate it very much.
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Youpiao,
Thank you for the complements.
I have written more stories in this GERMANY section.
Maybe interesting for you too or are you interested in Airmail only?
The germans had RAKETTEN-POST too, maybe an idea for a next story........
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The first (not officially approved) transport of airmail by plane in Germany took place on February 14, 1912, when the pilot Hermann Pentz took off in a "Libelle" plane from Hans Grade at around 4 pm in Bork, Brandenburg, for the town of Brück (district of Zauch-Belzig) eight kilometers away.
Airmail freight (including, according to contemporary newspaper reports, greetings to Kaiser Wilhelm II and Crown Prince Heinrich of Prussia, the Minister of Post and Transport, the district administrator and the Imperial Oberpostdirektion) was stamped by Hans Grade with the inscription: "Flugpost Bork and surroundings by Gradeflieger".
The entrepreneur, who founded Grade-Motoren-Werke GmbH in Magdeburg in 1905 and moved to Borg in 1909, also had an airmail stamp printed and distributed it free of charge, but without the approval of the Imperial Postal Service.
On May 19, 1912, the first official mail flight of the Deutsche Reichspost between Mannheim and Heidelberg took place (however, most of the mail was not transported by airship, as planned, but in the conventional way).
With the approval of the Reich Post Office on June 1, 1912, airmail transport with zeppelin and airplane and semi-official airmail stamps, the so-called airmail on the Rhine and Main, was then approved from June 10th to 23rd, 1912 as part of a charity event.
Before that, there were several private mail deliveries in Germany by air without the approval of the post office. The first event of this kind was held in Berlin on November 13, 1911.
At the flight around Berlin, postcards for collectors were taken on the flight.
The second event of this kind was a flight of eight kilometers between the places Bork and Brück.
Air tickets were issued for the first time at this flight event.
They were used exclusively to finance the event and had no postal value.
The initiators of the campaign were the Berlin dentist and chairman of the Borkheide tourist association, Kurt Schaefer, and his friend Hans Grade, who was an entrepreneur who produced the first aircraft at the time.
A Grade aircraft took off on February 18, 1912 and thus carried out the first airmail transport with flight stamps in Germany from Bork to Brück.
Opening of the air mail on the Rhine and Main, June 10, 1912
The officer Ferdinand von Hiddessen (1887–1971) completed one of the world's first official postal flights from Frankfurt am Main to Darmstadt and Worms (Rheinhessen).
The means of transport used by the Darmstadt-based aviation pioneer and motorized aircraft manufacturer August Heinrich Euler (1868–1957) is the "Flying Machine No. 33 "Gelber Hund",
an open biplane made of steel, wood and canvas, which gets its name from the yellow color scheme (including the yellow-covered wings).
The "Gelber Hund" is powered by a 70 hp Gnome 7-cylinder engine, which gives the approximately 9 meter long and 262 kg heavy aircraft a speed of around 70 km / h (in calm conditions).
The wingspan of the machine is 10.5 meters on the upper wing.
Von Hiddessen, lieutenant in Darmstadt's Leib-Dragoon Regiment No. 24, starts at 7:04 p.m. from Frankfurt-Niederrad to Darmstadt.
His cargo: 40 kilograms of mail, which are transported as part of a charity campaign for the benefit of the (grand-ducal) “State Center for Mother and Baby Care”.
On July 25, 1912, Ernst Schlegel flew the first airmail in Thuringia, on the Gotha - Erfurt route.
Flugpost Gotha issued a semi-official flight stamp for this flight, which was marked with a stamp with the name “E. Schlegel "canceled.
The postage stamp to be stuck next to it was used normally.
The first regular state air mail connections under German direction were established towards the end of the First World War on the Eastern Front in Russia and the Baltic States.
The history of civil airmail in Germany began on February 6, 1919.
The occasion was the opening of the constitution of the National Assembly in Weimar.
From that day on, planes of the Deutsche Luft-Reederei took off twice a day in Berlin-Johannisthal to transport mail - especially newspapers - from the capital to the conference location in Weimar.
For the time being, this airmail connection could only be used by the members of the National Assembly, which had moved to the then Thuringian capital because of the revolutionary situation in Berlin.
A few months later, this air mail line was also opened to the public.
In March 1919, the Junkers aircraft works in Dessau then set up regular flight service to Weimar.
In the same year regular mail flights were also set up in Bavaria.
In the following years there was a rapid expansion of airmail connections in Germany as well as throughout Western Europe and the USA.
On August 11, 1920, the first airmail flights from Germany to other countries were carried out.
The destination that was flown to was the Swedish port city of Malmö.
From 1921, the Deutsche Reichspost introduced special flight mail confirmation stamps and flight mail stickers.
In 1922 there were already 13 different airmail routes.
In May 1923 the first airmail mailboxes in Germany were set up in Berlin.
These special, blue-painted mailboxes were only used for dropping airmail items and were intended to enable airmail items to be processed and forwarded more quickly.
In 1924 the first night air mail between Berlin, Copenhagen and Stockholm took place.
On January 6, 1926, Deutsche Luft Hansa Aktiengesellschaft (Deutsche Lufthansa since 1934) was founded.
Until then, Aero Hansa AG, Deutsche Aero Lloyd AG and Junkers Luftverkehr AG were responsible for airmail transport.
2 GM Junkers-Stamp from 1924
10 jahre lufthansa
However, since the Reich, the federal states and the municipalities threatened to cancel the subsidies for the companies that were facing ruinous competition, they joined forces to form the new airline under pressure from the banks and the state.
Luft Hansa had to undertake to keep enough space free for the transport of mail on every flight.
The constant expansion of the global flight network and the constant further developments in aircraft led to a rapid expansion of airmail.
Before the beginning of the Second World War, the majority of international shipments were already carried by airplanes.
Nevertheless, the airmail transport over long distances was extremely expensive due to the comparatively short range of the aircraft.
The Second World War and the temporary end of the German Airmail
During the Second World War, air field mail became one of the most important means of communication between the front and home.
In almost all countries involved, the airmail network has been significantly expanded and airmail has been further developed.
In the German Reich, the airfield mail was used to deliver letters primarily to fronts that were far from home.
Between April 17 and May 9, 1942, the first starting point for German airfield mail was set up in Bia?a Podlaska near Brest-Litowsk.
The destinations flown to were based on the respective front line.
The Junkers Ju 52 was mostly used as a transport aircraft.
In May 1944 the starting point was moved to Litzmannstadt (?ód?).
A few months later, on July 6, 1944, the German airfield mail service was finally completely discontinued.
luftfeldpost
From April 18, 1942, the German Reich issued its own approval stamps for airfield mail letters.
Every German soldier received four such postage stamps per month, after a postage increase in May 1943 eight registration stamps.
This enabled him to post a total of four letters or postcards home.
The stamps were issued to soldiers on sections of the front in the east, in the Balkans and in Scandinavia, provided they were connected to the airfield mail network.
In addition to the German Reich, other countries also issued their own air field mail stamps during the Second World War.
In June 1943, the allied Italy even issued its own express air mail stamps.
After the defeat and surrender of the German Wehrmacht on May 8, 1945, airmail traffic in the now occupied German-speaking areas of Austria and Germany was taken over by foreign companies.
In Austria there was a regular airmail service already two years after the end of the war; in Germany, all residents of the Federal Republic of Germany could not post airmail until October 20, 1948.
In 1954, Deutsche Lufthansa was re-established in the Federal Republic of Germany and had ceased flight operations after the end of the war.
From April 1, 1955, there were regular German airmail flights again.
A short time later, on May 17, 1955, international destinations were once again connected to one another by post through the West German Lufthansa.
In the GDR there was also an airline called Lufthansa, which was also responsible for airmail.
The airlift to Berlin
The airlift to Berlin is a special chapter in the history of airmail.
1949 Berliner Bauten
Here, for the first time, airmail could not be supported or replaced by any other type of mail.
The airlift to Berlin was built by the Western Allies with airplanes to supply the largest German city with essential goods.
This could only be done by air, since the Soviet occupying power set up a complete blockade of West Berlin from June 24, 1948.
Although the airlift was initially only intended for the transport of essential goods, mail was soon also carried in both directions.
No additional fees were charged by the Allies for this.
The West Berlin Post used two specially created postmarks for these special items of mail.
These machine stamps bore the inscription Luftbrücke Berlin or Kauft vom Blockierte Berlin.
In addition to these two official postmarks, however, numerous private confirmation stamps were still in use.
After the Berlin Airlift had existed for almost a year, the Soviet Union finally had to admit that it guaranteed supplies to Berlin and could continue indefinitely.
They therefore decided to lift the blockade of West Berlin on May 12, 1949 at 0.01 a.m.
SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA
(supplemented with photos of the relevant stamps)
Other stamps :
During the Leipziger Magareten-Volksfest on May 18, 1912 there was a semi-official stamp introduced (50 Pfg) which could be used on picture postcards.
Hessische 25 Pfg Segelflugpost
Airport Liegnitz operated as a hub for Zeppelins. There were 2 stamps issued
During the Regensburger GrossFlugTag on August 17, 1930 there were these stamps issued :
During D.E.L.A. Deutsche Luftfahrt Ausstellung on August 12 - August 27, 1933 in the ZOO of Hamburg there were these stamps issued :
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re: Die Deutsche luftpost / The German Airmail
@HockeyNut
Thank you very much for this detailed information on die Deutsche Luftpost. I appreciate it very much.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Die Deutsche luftpost / The German Airmail
Youpiao,
Thank you for the complements.
I have written more stories in this GERMANY section.
Maybe interesting for you too or are you interested in Airmail only?
The germans had RAKETTEN-POST too, maybe an idea for a next story........
Login to Like
this post