Cover of the Month
A great cover presented by Jerry Piotrowski. An interesting piece of postal history.
German Private Posts Late 19th Century
For almost 30 years after the creation of the new German nation in 1871 the authorities tolerated a loophole in the otherwise air tight monopoly of the Reichspost (German Post Office) that permitted privately owned companies to operate mail service in a given city or town even in direct competition to the state postal service. These items of mail however had to both originate and be destined for delivery within the same city with intercity service provided only by the Reichspost. Some 250 different companies existed at various times in over 160 towns and cities. Companies would have offices and networks of drop boxes throughout the town with some larger towns having more than one Private Post operation. Company issued stamps were used on items of mail and many companies also issued their own postal stationary.
Among the companies operating in Breslau (present day Wroclaw in Poland) towards the end of this period was Hansa, established in March 1893.
With the Reichspost taking over all mail operations on April 1 1900 Hansa prepared a “Farewell Card” (Abschieds Karte) for use on March 31 1900 the last day of Private Post operations.
An interesting piece of postal history.
To take a look at past Cover's hit the links below. You will find more interesting items.
2004 Covers of the Month