Bergedorf's postal authority issued only five stamps between 1861 and 1867. Bergedorf is the smallest field of German stamp collecting.
Historical development
Due to its good geographic location, Bergedorf and environs (the
Bi-Urban Condominium of the sovereign
city states of Lübeck and
Hamburg to be precise) had already received postal services from the
Hanseatic league
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
early on. The city's postal connections to neighbouring Hamburg were especially well developed at an early stage.
Since the 1420
Treaty of Perleberg
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...
, Bergedorf with
Geesthacht and the
Vierlande
Vierlande is the name given to a roughly 77-square kilometre region in the Hamburg district of Bergedorf which has a population of 18,419 and comprises four quarters of the city.
Its name goes back to the year 1556 and refers to the four chu ...
municipalities (
Altengamme
Altengamme () located in the Bergedorf borough of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in northern Germany, is a rural quarter on the right bank of the Elbe river. ''Altengamme'' is the most eastern part of Hamburg. In 2020 the population was 2 ...
,
Curslack,
Kirchwerder and
Neuengamme
Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in Northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, th ...
) had belonged to both of the Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and
Lübeck, therefore named ''Beiderstädtischer Besitz'' (Bi-Urban Condominium). Because the condominium belonged to both cities, the curious condition arose where the condominium's post could not be administered by either Hamburg or Lübeck. Therefore, the condominium formed its own tiny autonomous postal jurisdiction. Several other principalities also established postal departments in the condominium's capital
Bergedorf city. In 1746,
Electoral Hanover set up its own postal department in Bergedorf city, which lasted as
Royal Hanoverian post until 1846. In 1785, the dynasty of
Thurn und Taxis succeeded Hanover and established its own postal department, which was not closed until 1851. In 1839,
Prussia finally opened a postal department in Bergedorf city as well.
From 1806 to 1813, the condominium was first occupied, and as of 1811 annexed by the
First French Empire during the
Napoleonic Wars. During this time, the postal system was taken over by the
Imperial French Post.
Finally on 1 April 1847, the ''Beiderstädtisches Postamt'' (Bi-Urban Mail) or ''Lübeck-Hamburgisches Postamt'' (Postal Department of Lübeck and Hamburg) emerged from the Prussian postal department. In the following years, this arrangement was extended. In 1856, further departments opened in the condominial territory, namely in the Geesthacht exclave (since 1937 no part of the region any more) and in Kirchwerder.
From 1855 to 1856, the Bi-Urban Mail signed several postal agreements modelled on the
German-Austrian Postal Treaty, including agreements with Prussia and
Mecklenburg-Schwerin
The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting Hous ...
.
After Hamburg and Lübeck had already issued their first stamps in 1859, Bergedorf followed in 1861. However, Hamburg's stamps were officially sold beside those from the Bi-Urban Mail at the post office counters.
Stamp issues by the Bergedorf Bi-Urban Mail
On 1 November 1861, five definitive stamps with values of ½, 1, 1½, 3, and 4 ''Hamburg Shilling, Schillings'' (16 schillings made up 1 Hamburg mark) were issued in Bergedorf. These five values could satisfy the postal tariffs for all distance and weight needs of the time. At that time (1863), only 12,468 people lived in the whole postal region.
[''Statistik des Hamburgischen Staats'', Statistisches Bureau der Deputation für directe Steuern (ed.), 'Heft I. Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 3ten December 1866 - Stand der Bevölkerung', Hamburg: Kümpel, 1867]
p. 1
The postage stamp separation, imperforated definitive stamps were printed when required and were valid until 31 December 1867. The stamps are square in shape. Besides the value, the country's name and the term "''Postmarke''", the centre of each stamp depicted one half of the coat of arms of each of Hamburg and Lübeck.
The Bergedorf stamp series is often referred to as a "growing series" because each value is a little bit larger than its predecessor. Thus, the 4 ''Schilling'' value looks twice as large as the ½ ''Schilling'' value. Together with the different paper colours of the values, the sizing helped to distinguish between the various stamps.
Unification with Hamburg
Effective 1 January 1868, the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg bought Lübeck's share in the Bi-Urban Condominium which passed completely into the former's ownership. On this date, the joint entry into the North German Confederation (the predecessor of the 1871 German Reich, German Empire) took place. Since that time, the postal history of Bergedorf shares that of the North German Confederation. Bergedorf's five stamps were only valid until that day.
References
Sources
* Karl Knauer: ''Bergedorfer Postgeschichte''. 330 pages, 1961
{{PostalhistoryEurope
Bergedorf
19th century in Hamburg
History of Lübeck
Philately of Germany, Bergedorf
Postal history of Germany, Bergedorf
1861 establishments in Germany, Bergedorf
1860s disestablishments in Germany, Bergedorf