Postage stamps and postal history of the Saar
This is a survey of the
League of Nations administration
Originally a German territory of great interest to France, after
The first stamps of the Saar were contemporary German stamps
Surcharges of 20pf, 5m, and 10m on German stamps came out in early 1921, followed by the Saar's first
On 1 May 1921, the series was surcharged in centimes and francs, and in 1922 it was replaced by a new series of same designs, but redrawn, denominated in the new money, and printed in different colors.
The
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German stamp overprinted "Sarre", 1920
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German stamp overprinted "Saargebiet", 1920
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First definitive series, 1921
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Stamp overprinted "VOLKSABSTIMMUNG 1935" in 1934
French protectorate
After World War II, Saar was one of the occupied areas to come under the administration of France. On 28 July 1945 the postal service in the Saar Area was separated from that in the French zone of occupation in Allied-occupied Germany, forming the Oberpostdirektion Saar (High Postal Directorate of the Saar) in Saarbrücken. Postal services were provided again starting in August 1945 for official purposes, and private mail, at the beginning to a restricted extent only, was resumed in September.
On 17 November 1947 the Oberpostdirektion Saar was transformed into the Post-, Telegraphen- und Telephonverwaltung des Saarlandes (abbreviated like the French correspondent entity as P.T.T. Saarland; Post, Telegraph and Telephone Administration of the Saarland), keeping the headquarters in Saarbrücken. Postal vehicles and postboxes were green (RAL 6001), like in France. The French established the
The first stamps valid only in the Saar Area were issued in 1947. A first set of definitives came out in mid-1947, and included 17 stamps using six designs, including workers of various occupations,
On 1 April 1948 the P.T.T. Saarland issued a new series inscribed "SAARPOST", followed by another in 1949 inscribed "SAAR". The P.T.T. Saarland issued a few commemoratives each year through 1956, punctuated by a definitive set showing various buildings, in 1952.
After the
German administration
On 1 January 1957 the P.T.T. Saarland was transformed into the Oberpostdirektion Saarbrücken of the Deutsche Bundespost. The return of the Saar Area to German control was commemorated on 1 January 1957 by a special stamps, then followed shortly thereafter by definitives with the then-standard profile of President Theodor Heuss, and inscribed both "SAARLAND" and "DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST". The numerals did not indicate a monetary system, but were implicitly francs; later in 1957, the stamps were reissued with a small "F" after the numeral.
Starting on 8 July 1957 mail from the Saarland to France, the French dominions, Italy and Luxembourg was not subsumed under the domestic tariff any more, but under a preferential postage granted until 30 June 1959, when the general foreign postage started to apply.
Additional commemoratives appeared regularly for several more years while the German monetary system was re-established on 6 July 1959. The last postage stamp of the Saar was a single 15-franc issue honoring
Sources
- Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues
- AskPhil – Glossary of Stamp Collecting Terms
- ISBN 0-356-10862-7
Further reading
- Emin, T. Les Timbres de la Sarre: Timbres-poste et de Service Entiers: étude historique et philatélique et catalogue complet ... 1er mars 1924. Paris: Maison Arthur Maury, 1924 103p.
- Michel Handbuch-Katalog Saar 2003. Munich: Schwaneberger Verlag, 2003 ISBN 3878583648111p.
- Schneider, Heinrich and Kurt Schubert. Druckdaten und andere Bogenkennzeichnungen der Postwertzeichen des Saargebietes und Saarlandes. Völklingen: Arge Saar, 1974 84p.