Germany Specialized 2025 – Volume 1 (1849–April 1945)

Contents:

New: MICHEL Mauritius Class! Discover rarities of distinction – presented by the MICHEL editorial team: pieces of which no more than 15 are known.

Old Germany, Northern German Confederation and the German Reich, local issues of 1923, foreign post offices, colonies and maritime mail abroad, occupation issues of World War One and Two, plebiscite areas, Belgian military mail in Rhineland, Eupen and Malmédy, Gdansk, the Memel Region, Bohemia and Moravia, general government, Sudetenland, field post issues, official mail, war and propaganda forgeries, international reply coupons.

Description: Drawings of numerals, depictions of coats of arms and portraits of rulers – in the era of Old German stamps, these were the three dominant motifs that were applied to the design of postage stamps. Regarding graphics, for instance the artistic realisation of the coat of arms of the City of Bremen that depicts a key, the patterned value plates of Hanover and the crowned bull’s heads of Mecklenburg-Schwerin stands out. However, the farewell issues of Bavaria and Württemberg break new ground when it comes to motifs, surprisingly featuring city panoramas, patron saints and farm hands. The first farewell stamps issued in Württemberg depict a silhouette of a stag in a moor at nighttime, an artful transition from the coat of arms depicting a stag to a nature scenario.

The new edition of the MICHEL Germany Special is particularly dedicated to the beauty and expressiveness of these and other postage stamps issued by Württemberg. All main numbers as well as all recorded plate errors are illustrated in colour for the first time – thus making it even easier than before to identify your own stamps and discovered treasures. The Memel region and occupied Albania also present numerous new colour illustrations; almost all main numbers and many other special items are depicted for the first time.

Talking of special items: New additions to the 2025 Germany Special are the telephone vouchers of Bavaria and the German Reich, large number of new plate flaws in the Saar and Zara collecting areas, newly discovered proofs from the General Government and Macedonia as well as new main numbers of occupied France – items of which, in some cases, only a few or even just one specimen are known and which therefore are as rare as such philatelic icons as the Blue and Orange Mauritius.

Dear readers, in future catalogue editions we want to tell you more about such rarities of the “Mauritius category” in our catalogue than mere cataloging can provide. Starting with this edition of the Germany Special, in addition to the catalogue entries, we will feature fascinating stories about the history of special stamps and vouchers. You have probably already noticed the “Mauritius signet” on the cover of the new Germany Special. It marks our text contributions to the Mauritius category in the catalogue.

Of course special stamps usually come with a price tag. The revision of the price assessments for 2025 has shown that the most striking fluctuations and price adjustments have occurred in the collections areas of Old Germany, the German Empire up to the Weimar Republic, stamp booklets of the colonies, occupation during World Wars I and II, including donation vignettes, plebiscite areas, the Belgian military post, Eupen and Malmédy, Port Gdansk, and the Sudetenland.

Information from Michel website – Germany.