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German Empire

Offices in China - Postmarks

Tschifu

The German Empire established post offices in foreign countries to provide mail service where the local services were deemed unsafe or unreliable.  They were usually set up in cities which had some sort of German political or commercial interest.

Shanghai  (Forerunner)

The post offices in China began operation in 1886. Initially, contemporary German Empire definitive postage stamps were used. These are called "forerunners". Many of these are not expensive, and collecting these forerunner issues is very popular with German postmark collectors.

Post offices existed in the towns noted in the following table. In many cases, there are also variations in the German spelling of the town name.  Some of them are noted in the table below.  There were also variations in the style of hand cancels used in some of the postal facilities, as well.

Here are some town cancel examples.

Canton

Hankau

Peking

Shanghai

Schanghai

Tientsin

Tschifu

Tsintau
(Kiauchau)

Stamps canceled with "Tsintau" or "Tsingtau" were used in the German colony of Kiauchau (Kiautschou).  One is shown in the image directly above.


The following table lists the major Railway postmarks.

Tsingtau-Kaumi / Bahnpost / Zug ...
Tsingtau-Weihsien / Bahnpost / Zug ...
Tsingtau-Tsinanfu / Bahnpost / Zug ...

Tsingtau-Weihsien / Bahnpost / Zug 2

Of course, each of the trains for a particular railroad route had it's own number, which appeared in the cancel.  In the example above, it is "Zug 2" or "Train 2".  Each of the major railway postmarks has multiple train numbers, which can vary in value, according to their scarcity.

The following table lists the major Maritime (Sea Post) postmarks.

Deutsche Seepost / Ost-Asiatische Hauptlinie
Deutsche Seepost / Ost-Asiatische Zweiglinie
Deutsche Seepost / Ost-Asiatische Linie
Deutsche Seepost / Shanghai-Tientsin
Deutsche Seepost / Schanghai-Tientsin
Deutsche Seepost / Yangtse-Linie

Deutsche Seepost / Shanghai- / Tientsin / *

There are multiple variations in the hand cancels for each of the major maritime cancel types noted in the table.  There are actually six different types of the Shanghai-Tientsin postmark shown directly above.

During the Boxer Rebellion, the Germans established numerous military (Feldpost) post offices.  In the "Deutsche Kolonien und Auslandspostämter Stempelkatalog" book, there are SEVEN PAGES devoted solely to Feldpost postmarks. 

In the same book, following the Feldpost section, there are another two pages of "ship" postmarks.

One could truly spend a lifetime, just collecting the postmarks of the German Empire - Post Offices in China.  True, some of the postmarks are very expensive, but if you know where to look, there are great bargains to be found in the philatelic marketplace.

I haven't spent much time or money on German Empire - Post Offices in China postmarks at all!  The Seepost postmark shown above catalogs €60 ... and I believe I originally found it in a stamp circuit book for less than US $1.00.  The most costly item on this page, as of the time of writing this article, is the partial envelope with the railway cancel, which is shown above.  I bought it from a Germany eBay site seller for €11, against a catalog value of €35.

Copies of the book described above can be a bit difficult to locate.  The 2003 and 2009 editions are the ones most frequently encountered.  Here are some links to sites that currently have them for sale.

PHILATHEK - Seller in Germany.
Phila Promotion Gmbh. - Seller in Germany
eBay - Germany Site - Lot Search
eBay - US Site - Lot Search

All of the products above, even on the US eBay site, are located in Germany.  Depending on the exchange rate with the EURO, the book will cost the buyer up to about $50.00 US, plus airmail shipping from Germany.  This is a MOST WORTHWHILE INVESTMENT though.

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Offices in China - Postmarks

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