French Zone
Wurttemberg-Hohenzollern
1947-1948
The French zone state of Wurttemberg-Hohenzollern was created in 1945. It consisted of the southern half of the former state of Wurttemberg and the Prussian administrative region of Hohenzollern. Its capital was Tubingen.
The northern half of the former state of Wurttemberg became the American zone state of Wurttemberg-Baden. This division was set so that the Autobahn connecting Karlsruhe and Munich was completely contained within the American occupation zone.
A
poll was held in September 1950 in Wurttemberg-Hohenzollern,
Wurttemberg-Baden, and Baden, regarding a merger of the three states. A
public referendum was held on December 16, 1951, and on April 25, 1952,
all three states were merged into the modern German state of
Baden-Wurttemberg.
The new French zone state of Wurttemberg-Hohenzollern,
notated as just "Wurttemberg" on its postage stamps, issued their first
definitive postage stamps between June 1947 and February 1948. The
stamps were photogravure and printed on unwatermarked papers of varying
quality.
The new definitive set, shown above (Mi. #1-13, Sc. #8N1-13), featured
six designs, which are: Friedrich von Schiller, the Castle of
Bebenhausen, Friedrich Holderlin, the Town Gate of Wangen, Lichtenstein
Castle, and Zwiefalten Church. 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 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 August of 1948 to
coincide with the currency reform. The same 1947 designs were used,
though the new stamps had changes in color and in some of the
denominations. Two new designs were added to the 1948 set, with those
being depictions of Waldsee and Ludwig Uhland. They are all shown in the
images above (Mi. #14--27, Sc. #8N14-27).
Between November 1948 and July 1949, more definitive
stamps were issued featuring some denomination and color changes. All of
them are shown above (Mi. 28-37, Sc. #8N28-37). These new definitives do not have the
denomination name, "Pf." or "D.Pf." on them.
Many
of the denominations of the three definitive sets shown on this page
exist imperforate. They are all valued at about $37.50 each.
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 also many plate
and printing errors throughout this series.
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Germany - Allied Occupation
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Return to Allied Occupation Stamps from
French Zone - Wurttemberg-Hohenzollern - 1947-1948
