After World War II, the military government of the French
zone of occupation created the new state of Baden. The new state was
formed out of the Southern part of the former Duchy of Baden, with its
capital at Freiburg. This new state of Baden, in its 1947 constitution,
was declared to be the true successor of the "old" Baden. The Northern
part of the old duchy was combined with Wurttemberg, in the American
zone, and it became part of the new state of Wurttemberg-Baden.
The thirteen new French zone stamps for the state of Baden, shown above (Mi. #1-13, Sc. #5N1-13), were issued in 1947. The stamps were photogravure and
printed on unwatermarked papers of varying quality.
The
new definitive set featured six designs, which are a portrait of Johann
Peter Hebel, a girl of Constance, a portrait of Hans Baldung Grien,
Rastatt Castle, a Black Forest scene, and the Cathedral of Freiburg.
The first four designs were repeated in varying denominations and colors
within the set, as indicated in the images above.
Due to the post-war economic crisis in the German
occupation zones, the Western Allies instituted currency reform during
June of 1948. The old Reichsmark currency was replaced by a new
Deutsche Mark currency, and this would eventually become the official
currency of the soon-to-be Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)
until 2002, when it would be replaced by the Euro. The
1947 stamp designs were re-issued between June and September of 1948 to
coincide with the currency reform.
The same 1947 designs were used,
though the new stamps had changes in color and denomination. Two new
designs were added to the 1948 set, with those being a girl wearing a
festival headdress and a portrait of Grand Duchess Stephanie. They are
all shown in the images above (Mi. #14-27, Sc. #5N14-27).
Between November 1948 and May 1949, ten more definitive
stamps were issued featuring some denomination and color changes. All
of them are shown above (Mi. 28-37, Sc. #5N28-40), except for the 40 Pf. Brown with a view of
Rastatt Castle. These new definitives do not have the denomination
name, "Pf." or "D.Pf." on them.
This completes the review of the definitive issues for the French zone state of Baden.
Anyone considering specializing in these should get a copy of the Michel Deutschland-Spezial Katalog Volume II.
The specialization possibilities are tremendous. All of these stamps
come in various papers, in multiple types, and there are many plate and
printing errors in this series.
The following links feature category-focused affiliated seller listings on various eBay sites worldwide. They may enable visitors to shop
for and to buy specific items for the
particular collecting subject they've just read about.
The
affiliated eBay seller auction lots provided by eBay,
Inc. are not the responsibility of the management of this
website. On high priced material, make sure the lots you are buying are properly authenticated.
Remember
that the lots on European eBay sites are priced in EUROS. Shipping
charges may be more, and the lots may take longer to arrive. Also, make
sure the foreign seller ships to your country, before bidding on or
buying his lot.
Return to Allied Occupation Stamps from
French Zone - Baden - 1947-1948