55th AUCTION - Day 2

France - Ballon monté: 1870 (4.8) cover franked with Napoleon 20c Lauré from Par

France - Ballon monté

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1870 (4.8) cover franked with Napoleon 20c Lauré from Paris (Occupied area) cancelled by Paris star alongside departure cds "Paris 4. AOUT 70" sent to Strasbourg. The cover was blocked in SCHLETTSTADT (Selestat, Alsace Lorraine) during the siege of this city and shows on reverse the very rare two lined black handstamp in gothic script "IN SLCHETTSTADT VORGEFUNDEN" showing the spelling variety "SLCH.." instead of the correct "SCHL..". It is the only postmark specific to the siege of a city during the war of 1870. THIS SIEGE POSTMARK IS A RARITY IN ITS OWN RIGHT. THE SPELLING ERROR VERSION IS ONLY KNOWN ON 2 OTHER COVERS. A GREAT AND SPECTACULAR RARITY OF THE 1870 WAR.

The German Post Archives mentioned the origins of this rare handstamp in an 1873 article .

"Die Organisation des deutschen Postwesens in Elsass"
(The organization of the German postal service in Alsace)

While the establishment of new postal facilities continued unabated in the northeast and northwest, on October 24, 1870, the fortress of Schlettstadt surrendered. This allowed for further expansion of postal facilities to the south of Alsace. Immediately after the occupation of Schlettstadt by German troops, the German post office was opened on October 25, 1870. The German officials found significant amounts of correspondence which had accumulated there, since all letters from Switzerland and France had been left behind and couldn´t reach Strasburg during the siege which lasted almost eight weeks as well as the northern parts of Alsace. Several wagonloads of sacks with mail were immediately sent to Strasburg. The postal connection for Schlettstadt had been interrupted, as the railroad route to Strasburg was not yet passable. Initially private transport was organized to carry the mail via Barr to Strasburg.

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Condition: Cover

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Catalog number(s): Yv. 29 B