Postage stamps and postal history of the German colonies

This is a survey of postage stamps and postal history of the German colonies and part of the postage stamps and postal history of Germany, as well as those of the individual countries and territories concerned.

Overview

With the establishment of a colonial empire by the newly unified Germany after 1871 and before the issuance of specific stamps inscribed with the name of the colony, definitive stamps of Germany were used. Only postally used stamps can be identified as having been used in the colony as the cancellation mark identifies the point of origin; these stamps are known as "Vorläufer" ( forerunner) stamps. By about 1897 provisional stamps came into use in the form of German definite stamps with overprints identifying the colony. By the end of 1900 and early 1901 the yacht issue was printed in Berlin and issued for each colony with its identifying inscription, initially without watermarks, and by 1905 and thereafter as a reissue with lozenges watermarks. German colonial postal services ceased at varying times during World War I as colonies were occupied by forces of the Allies. During occupation, German yacht series stamps were used for a limited time with overprints in a number of territories. In Germany, even after the loss of the colonies, the Reichspost continued to sell yacht stamps of colonies for dealers and collectors until after World War I; such stamps, however, were not postally used.

Most German colonial stamps were denominated in German Currency (1 Mark = 100 Pfennig). However, German East Africa used its own currency on stamps of 1893 and later, the Rupie (1 Rupee = 64 Pesa and from 1905 1 Rupie = 100 Heller) and the leased Chinese territory of Kiautschou used the Chinese dollar ($1 = 100 Cents) from 1905.

German colonies have been a popular philatelic area and, as a rule of thumb, vorläufer stamps as well as used stamps of high denomination tend to be quite valuable.

Se-tenants (Zusammendrucke) were issued for Kamerun, German South-West Africa, and German East Africa and consist of stamps that were sold together with advertisement stamps.

German Colonial stamps should not be confused with foreign offices stamps that were issued in China, Morocco, and Turkey in agreement with local authorities.

German colonies

German East Africa

German postal services in German East Africa started on October 4, 1890. However, prior to the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty German postal offices were briefly in operation at Lamu (November 22, 1888, to March 31, 1891) and Zanzibar (August 27, 1890, to July 31, 1891). Initially, definite German stamps were used. By July 1, 1893, overprints were used to indicate the local currency, namely pesa, and three years later the overprint also included the name of the colony "Deutsch-Ostafrika". The yacht issue arrived on January 1, 1901, and was modified in 1905 by the switch to the Heller currency, and in 1906 and later by the use of a watermark.

During World War I stamps became scarce in the colony. In some instances stamps of the cruiser ''Königsberg'' were used in 1916. The last issues were the 2.5 heller, 7.5 heller and 1 rupie stamps that did not follow the yacht design but were locally produced at the mission printing office Wuga at Wilhelmsthal (Lushoto) in 1916. Gradually, during World War I, more and more parts of the colony were occupied by British, Belgian, and Portuguese forces who issued their own stamps. In 1915, the British authorities used the yacht stamps with overprints.

German New Guinea

In German New Guinea issues of the German Empire were denominated in Pfennigs and Marks and were first used on February 15, 1888; later at various postal offices. These issues are recognized by the cancellation mark. Starting in 1897 German definitive stamps carried the overprint "Deutsch-Neu-Guinea" allowing also for the identification of unused stamps. On January 1, 1901, the yacht issues for "Deutsch-Neu-Guinea" were introduced with values from 3 Pfennigs to 5 Marks. The 3 values of the 1914 yacht modification carry the inscription "Deutsch-Neuguinea" and have lozenge watermarks. The 3 Pfennig issue from 1919 has the inscription "Deutsch-Neu-Guinea" and watermarks and was not used postally. British-Australian occupation stamps in the form of "G.R.I." overprinted yacht stamps started to be used from October 1914.
Cancellation marks are Finschhafen, Hatzfeldhafen, Kerawara

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