Deutsches Reich - Stamp Auctions

The "German Empire" or "Deutsches Reich" was establishment in 1871, before unification about half of the 27 individual German states issued their own stamps. Most German States stamps at the time featured large numerical denominations; Prussia’s 1850 first issue portrayed Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Bavaria and Württemberg retained their postal authorities after the unification and continued to stamps Bavaria until 1920 and Württemberg until 1923.After unification in 1871 stamps featuring the German eagle emblem were issued to show the strength of a consolidated German Empire. In 1899, a special issue showing the actress Anna Führing wearing full battle gear in her role as Germania was introduced. During the Weimar Republic era, which began in 1919, stamps still incorporated the title “Deutsches Reich. Special issues often had high premium for the state welfare funds. The hyperinflation of German currency in 1923 required surcharging the stamps to new high values to correspond to Mark exchange value. The highest stamp value was 50 billion marks, labeled on the stamps “50 milliard”. Under the Nazis, philately was used as a means for state propaganda, finally, in 1941; the portrait of Paul von Hindenburg was replaced by Hitler. After the fall of the Third Reich in 1945, Germany’s postal system was completely wrecked, and the occupying allied forces filled the gap. Collecting German Empire stamps is very challenging and enables studies of the different issues and they bring high interest in stamp auctions and philatelic fairs.