Heinrich Köhler 383rd Auction – Day 3 Single Lots: German Empire 1872 – 1945 German Reichspost – Shield Issues – The Michael Rehme Collection (part II)

Naval Ship Mail: Correspondence Naval ship on foreign mission - CourtPost Office - Home: 1873, franking mark "BERLIN Fr. 9.12.73" in red clear on envelope with reverse cancellation "Neubert Steuermann an Bord Sr. Majestät Schiff "Elisabeth" Carthagena Spanien" via the Court Post Office in Berlin to Kiel with issue stamp. A small part of the backflap is missing on the reverse, otherwise in good overall condition. From the early days of the Imperial Navy (breast plate period), only very few letters from naval personnel on the lake to their homeland are known, a scarce occurrence in naval mail. The S.M.S. Elisabeth was built in 1868 at the Royal Dockyard in Danzig. In the second half of the year 1873, she was part of the German squadron off the Spanish coast, where she observed the naval battle off Cartagena, among other things. The postage for letters sent home by sailors in the crew rank was 1 gr. and was collected on board and later settled with the naval post office in Berlin. The letters were sent unstamped in collective envelopes (Hofpostamt envelopes) to the Naval Post Office at the Court Post Office in Berlin at the next possible mail collection point. There, the individual letters were marked as paid with the red DKr. franco cancellation and the red chalk tax "1" and forwarded to the addressees.
Provenance: Jürgen Kessing (7th Andreas Schlegel auction, 2010)