The Third Reich, is the common name for Germany, under
the leadership of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party, from 1933 to 1945. Dritte
Reich, German for "Third Empire", relates the Nazi state as the
successor to the medieval Holy Roman Empire (962-1806) and the modern
German Empire (1871-1918). The often used term "Thousand Year Reich" refers to the sum of the years of all three empires indicated above.
Adolph Hitler was appointed the Chancellor (prime
minister) of Germany on January 30, 1933, by President Paul von
Hindenburg. Hindenburg died in August of 1934, and afterward, Hitler
secured the support of the army, abolished the office of the Presidency,
and proclaimed himself Führer (Supreme Leader) of the German people. At this
point, Adolph Hitler was the absolute ruler of the "Deutsches Reich", interpreted as the "State of Germany".
Philatelically, the first postage stamps officially
issued under the Third Reich were the surtaxed (charity or semi-postal) commemorative stamps showing scenes from
Wagner's Operas, issued on November 1, 1933. They are all shown above.
Beginning with the Richard Wagner issue, paper with a swastika watermark
was used. The swastika watermark was continued for all stamp issues,
through April 1945. The watermark is shown in the scan above. Certain stamps of this period also show the swastika watermark sideways and / or inverted.
Beginning in 1933, the paper used to print the existing Hindenburg definitive postage stamps was also changed to having a swastika watermark. These 1933 Hindenburg definitive stamp issues are considered as being issued under the new Reich, whereas the previous network watermarked Hindenburg issues are considered as being issued under the Weimar Republic.
The surtaxed commemorative stamps the Scott Catalog refers to as charity or semi-postal stamps are included in the Commemorative Issues link pages at the right. They are commemorative stamps in every respect, but they were sold at a premium over the usual postage rate denominations. The historical, definitive, commemorative, airmail, and back-of-the-book category links at the right have been separated into groups to make them easier to follow.
A
set of three airmail stamps was issued during September 1933 for the
flight of the Graf Zeppelin to the Chicago World's Fair. All of the Graf
Zeppelin issues generally belong within the Weimar Republic category, however this
particular set will be included in this section, as well as in the
Weimar Republic category of this website.
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The Dark Side
Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD)
Definitive Issues 1934-1936
Definitive Issues 1941-1944
Commemorative Issues 1933
Commemorative Issues 1934
Commemorative Issues 1935
OSTROPA Exhibition 1935
Commemorative Issues 1936
World Olympic Games 1936
Commemorative Issues 1937
Commemorative Issues 1938
Commemorative Issues 1939
Commemorative Issues 1940
Commemorative Issues 1941
Commemorative Issues 1942
Commemorative Issues 1943
Commemorative Issues 1944
Commemorative Issues 1945
Horse Racing Stamp Issues
Graf Zeppelin Chicago Flight
Airmail Issues 1934
Official Issues 1934-1944
Feldpost Issues 1942-1944