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Local Stamps

Plauen - 1945


Plauen
From an Old Postcard


Local stamps were produced during 1945 for the Soviet occupation zone town of Plauen in Saxony. Plauen is situated near the borders with Bavaria and the Czech Republic.

A reminder:  One must realize that in the months and years following the collapse of the Third Reich, up to about 1948, there was really no civilian or commercial infrastructure, no local government, and the only national governments were those of the Allied occupation military forces.  All of the local issues of Germany from this period, especially the ones with obliterating overprints on the stamps of the former Third Reich, have been heavily counterfeited.  Authentic mint and used stamps from this period are actually very scarce.  One must assume that unauthenticated mint condition examples of some of the local issues are either forgeries or reproductions.  Likewise, one must assume that unauthenticated used condition examples from this period are either of "philatelic" in origin or have been favor-canceled.  These all have minimal philatelic value.  If one is buying unauthenticated examples of the post-war local issues, please keep this in mind and DON'T spend too much money on them.

In the late 19th Century, Plauen was a textile manufacturing center, specializing in lace, and in the early 20th Century, it became an industrial boom-town.

During the time of the German Democratic Republic, there was a Red Army garrison near Plauen, and later, the town was the site of the training school for DDR border guards. Plauen was the scene of the first mass demonstrations against the DDR in October 1989, which ultimately lead to the downfall of the DDR and the reunification of Germany in 1990.



These stamps for Plauen were issued in December 1945, with the surtax going to reconstruction projects and other charities. The stamps were printed on various paper types, and they were perforated 12 1/2. For detailed information on the paper types, gum types, and varieties of this issue, refer to the Michel Deutschland Spezial Katalog volume 2.

The designs depict: the city arms, the ruined Elster Viaduct, the rebuilt Elster Viaduct, City Hall, Monument to St. George and the Dragon, Plauen lace, and the entrance to the city theater.





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Germany - Allied Occupation

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Local Stamps - Plauen - 1945





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