The stamps were part of a series showcasing Japanese traditional performing arts, specifically Kabuki theatre.
Kabuki puppets are typically half-life size and manipulated by three visible puppeteers working in harmony with a narrator and musician.
It depicted early mail delivery in the Meiji era, showing a postal worker on horseback and a horse-drawn carriage, which began in 1871, contrasting past and present postal transport methods (within the card modern transport like rail and shipping is shown).
HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
The first modern postal service connected Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka in 1871. Baron Maejima Hisoka, who proposed the system and coined the Japanese word for postage stamp (kitte), is featured in an inset photo on the original card.
It was the first flight of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Spacelab module. Ulf Merbold was the first non-US citizen and West German to fly on a NASA space mission.
The USPS 13c stamp of the US Flag over Independence Hall on this postcard was from the Bicentennial Series, first issued on 12 April 1976. It featured the 13-star Betsy Ross flag above a depiction of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
- Three 10-kopeck stamps from a 1970 series commemorating the Luna 16 robotic probe, the first mission to return lunar soil samples automatically to Earth. The stamps depict the probe's soft landing on the Moon, the return capsule launch, and its parachute landing back on Earth.
- A 4-kopeck stamp (date 1965) and a 10-kopeck stamp (date 1978/79) appear to be related to other Soviet space achievements or general postal use.
- A stamp with cosmonauts V.V. Kovalyonok and A.S. Ivanchenkov who spent 140 days in space as part of the Soyuz-29/Salyut-6/Soyuz-31 mission.
Jähn, an East German Air Force pilot, flew aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 31 to the Salyut 6 space station on 26 August 1978. He was accompanied by Soviet cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky. The mission was part of the Soviet Intercosmos programme and lasted for nearly eight days.
During his time in space, Jähn performed various scientific experiments. These included technical experiments with the MKF-6 multispectral camera for remote sensing of the Earth's surface, material science experiments on crystallization, like the formation, recrystallization, and the cultivation of a monocrystal. He also conducted medical experiments on how weightlessness affects speech, occupational psychological studies, testing the hearing sensitivity of regular crew members, biological experiments on cellular growth under weightlessness, and the connection between microorganisms with organic polymers and inorganic substances.
As of 2024, twelve German astronauts have travelled to space and conducted scientific research. Dr. Ulf Merbold was the first West German in space and the only German to have made the journey the most often -- three times
Bavaria maintained its own postal administration as a kingdom within the German Empire until 1920.
Prince Regent Luitpold was the de facto ruler of Bavaria from 1886 to 1912, acting as regent for his nephews, King Ludwig II and King Otto, due to their mental incapacity.
The orange 1-kopeck stamp features Czar Peter I; the green 2-kopeck stamp features Czar Alexander II; and the red 4-kopeck stamp features Czar Peter I.
The circular postmarks are dated "14. 11. 13" (14 November 1913) and appear to indicate the city of origin as "ГОРОД ТЮМЕНЬ" (Gorod Tyumen). They were used in Finland, which was a Grand Duchy under Russian rule at the time.
The postcard is addressed to Mr. H. Paanu in Turku, Finland.
The address is listed as Läntinenkatu 1a.
The stamps featured portraits of individuals recognised as fighters against fascism and images of the Ravensbrück National Memorial.
Notable Persons and Denominations included:
- Kathe Niederkirchner 10Pf+5 stamp
- Charlotte Eisenblätter - 15Pf+5 stamp
- Olga Bernario Prestes - 20Pf+5 stamp
- Maria Grollmuss - 25Pf+5 stamp
A special triangular postmark represents the concentration emblem worn by internees. It was used to cancel these stamps.
Historical Background
Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, located near Fürstenberg, was established in 1939. Over the course of the war, approximately 120,000 women and children, 20,000 men, and 1,200 female adolescents from over 30 nations were registered as prisoners. Tens of thousands perished from starvation, disease, medical experiments, and systematic mass killings, including gassing in the final months of the war. The site was liberated by the Red Army on 30 April 1945.
In 1959, a mass grave was established outside the camp wall’s western section, where the remains of prisoners from various burial sites were reburied. The bronze sculpture “Burdened Woman” (“Tragende”) by Will Lammert is at the heart of the memorial’s design and is still considered the memorial’s symbol. From May 1945 until late January 1994, the grounds of the former concentration camp except for the memorial area on the banks of Lake Schwedt were used for military purposes by the Soviet and later the CIS forces.
Hans Schweitzer designed these 'steel helmets' in remembrance of the dead from the First World War. Memorial Day was previously observed on 13 November of each year, but Hitler changed the name of the day from "War Memorial Day" to "War Heroes Memorial Day" and moved the date to 16 March each year.
The stamps were produced on coated paper on sheets (10x10), with swastika watermark, Perf K 14 and are either type 'x' (with vertical gum rippling) or type 'y' (with horizontal gum rippling).
Hans Schweitzer was a prolific Nazi artist (also known as Mjölnir, after Thor's hammer) who was also responsible for many of the propaganda posters printed during the 1930's, namely those depicting crude images of SA members standing heroically alongside Heer soldiers. After the war Schweitzer worked for the West German federal press designing posters for far-right organisations.
There was no special postmark or slogan postmark associated with this issue.
Disclaimer: In displaying this stamp I must stress I DO NOT advocate, NOR wish to glorify the regime of Nazi Germany or any present day fascist organization/state. My sole intent is to illustrate the philatelic history of the period, one which I personally believe to have been evil and as such a plight in the history of Germany and their satellite allies at the time.
numerous stamps from Norway (Norge) with various denominations and designs, including flora, fauna (moose, birds), a steamship named "Skibladner," and a weather-related stamp is shown here. The stamps have values ranging from 1 krone to 600 krone.
