German States

2 Responses to German States

1. Mike Warre

   29 June 2015 at 06:32

   Hi Gerben, Great job on this flow chart!
   You may consider some adjustments/realignments!

   1) Bergedorf was ceded by Lauenburg to both Hamburg & Lubeck in 1420 forming a condominium over Bergedorf which lasted, but was interrupted by the Napoleonic Wars, until January 1, 1868 when Hamburg purchased the rights over the city and as a condominium Bergedorf was allowed to issue their own stamps for postage, then were superseded by those of the North German Confederation, also on January 1, 1868.
   2) Schleswig-Holstein have been united in personal union since the 15th century, dates vary, under Denmark with varying levels of autonomy over the years. Then Lauenburg would be joined in personal union with Holstein in 1806. This fact and growing German nationalism would eventually develop into future wars. The Congress of Vienna established the German Confederation in 1815 and would include Holstein with Lauenburg as members even while they were under Danish rule. The ethnic Germans were clearly in control, culturally, in Holstein/Lauenburg while in Schleswig it was largely mixed with nobles & church clerics being of German ethnicity and the lower classes being Danish. Many ethnic Danes were actually speaking German over Danish. Then finally on January 28, 1848, King Christian VIII established a new Constitution for Denmark including Schleswig-Holstein which be rejected by the duchies and who would choose to join the North German Confederation. King Frederick VII would replace his father before the end of January also reaffirming the new constitution. By March 24th a pro-German provisional government was established in Kiel in opposition. A Pro-German force would seize the fortress at Rendsburg and the 1st Schleswig War begins. During this period of autonomy Schleswig-Holstein’s Scott 1 & 2 were issued on November 15, 1850. Ultimately Denmark would prevail in this war and under the “London Protocol of 1852” and reincorporate the duchies back into the Kingdom. Those issued stamps were superseded by those of Denmark.
   In 1863 King Frederick VII would pass on after writing “the November Constitution” which his successor Christian IX would sign into law on November 18. The German Confederation called for the occupation of Holstein/Lauenburg and Denmark responded by pulling out of Holstein into Schleswig hoping to avoid all out war. The Confederation forces on December 24, would march into Holstein and a new government was established. On January 14, 1864 Austria & Prussia agreed to further actions against Denmark without regard for decisions of the Confederation. The German Confederation was the occupier of Holstein from December 24 until December 7, 1864 when Austria & Prussia
   up-certed the Confederation. This action weakens the Confederation while Austria & Prussia eventually duel for final German supremacy. The Holstein issues in Scott, #15-18 on March 1, 1864 and so issued under Confederation occupation. Austria & Prussia would enter Schleswig in a coordinated strike against Denmark by February 22 all of Schleswig was captured. This leads to the Schleswig issues, Scott #8 & 9, also on March 1 and thus were issued under Austro-Prussian administration which ran until September 15, 1865. It would be the signing of the Treaty of Vienna officially turning over Schleswig-Holstein/Lauenburg over in condominium with Austria & Prussia. This leaves to the 2nd Schleswig-Holstein in February 1865 which includes Scott’s #3-7 under joint control of Austria & Prussia. On September 15, 1865 it was arranged the Austria would administer Holstein while Prussia administers Schleswig and would issue Scott’s 10-14 beginning on October 18. Holstein, while under Austria, would issue Scott’s #19-25 following by Prussian invasion June 12 at the beginnings of the Austro-Prussian War. Prussia would annex Holstein outright on January 24, 1867. This also implies the Holstein issues were superseded by Prussian stamps. Take note that the last Schleswig issue was in October 1867 and it is likely those were replaced by the North German Confederation.
   3) Thurn & Taxis was a private postal service that handled mail for centuries in central Europe. It should be clear that there was never a single unified issue since it cross political lines it issued stamps in 2 different currencies, Thaler in the north & Gulden in the south.
   4) The North German Confederation also never had a united issue as it also had to deal with different currencies as did Thurn & Taxis. Once more the Thaler was in the north & the Gulden was in the south, Hamburg used the Mark. North used Scott’s #1-6 & 13-18; South used Scott’s #7-11 & 19-23; while Hamburg used 12 & 24.

   Reply
   • Gerben

     29 June 2015 at 12:03

     Mike

     What a great reply – again! Your expose on Schleswig-Holstein is outstanding. What a tough entity that is to deal with! In addition to the political history your reference to the catalog numbers is of great help to understand the complex postal history. I guess the catalogs only leave one in confusion at this point – this goes for Michel as well as Scott. Please check out the new country diagram I developed to reflect both the political and the postal history.

     A reply to your point 1-4 in more detail:

     @1) Absolutely correct of course. I made an adjustment to the German States diagram accordingly.
     @2) As said: please refer to the new country diagram on Schleswig-Holstein. Please let me know what you think. You will see I added information on the stamps used in Holstein under Prussian occupation – the source is Michel. Other than that I should think we seem to agree on both the political and postal developments. I have a draft profile on Schleswig-Holstein ready – your expose will certainly help to improve that before I publish it on StampWorldHistory some time in the future.
     @3&4) Absolutely so. I have not made that part of the diagram to prevent the diagram from becoming to complex. It will definitely be part of the profiles. Also please refer to the map of the German states where I have included a line indicating the borders of the Thaler and Gulden areas in Germany.

     I you have any more of this great stuff, please keep it coming. As you can see it is not only appreciated very much, but also translated into concrete changes/additions to the site.

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