Soviet Zone
General Issues - 1949
The stamp shown above (Mi. #229, Sc. #10N45) was issued in the Soviet zone on
January 15, 1949 to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Deaths of
Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg.
They were national heroes in
socialist East Germany, and they would appear on many future
commemorative stamp issues of the soon-to-be German Democratic Republic.
Karl Liebknecht was born in Leipzig in 1871. Rosa Luxemburg was born in Russia in 1871, of Polish Jewish descent, and she later became a naturalized German citizen. Both of them were socialist political activists and, together with Leo Jogiches and Clara Zetkin, they were instrumental in the founding of the Spartacist League and the German Communist Party (KPD).
They
participated in the Spartacist Uprising of 1919, aimed at establishing a
socialist republic in post World War I Germany. The uprising was
crushed by forces loyal to the new Weimar Republic, and they were both
killed on January 15, 1919. They both became martyrs for the Marxist
movement.
The two stamps shown in the image above (Mi. #230-31, Sc. #10NB4-5) were issued on
March 6, 1949 to publicize the 1949 Leipzig Spring Fair. This Spring
issue was printed on paper with a multiple flowers watermark.
The two designs depict the "First Fair in Newly Built Town Hall in 1556" and the "Italians at the Fair in 1536".
The stamp shown above left (Mi. #232, Sc. #10N46) was issued on May 13, 1949
to publicize the Third German People's Congress.
The stamp was
overprinted and re-issued on May 29, the opening day of the Congress.
The overprinted stamp is shown above at the right (Mi. #233, Sc. #10N47).
The designs depict a dove of peace with a laurel branch.
The five stamps shown above (Mi. #234-38, Sc. #10NB6-10) were issued in the Soviet
zone on July 20, 1949 to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Birth
of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The designs depict various contemporary
portraits of Goethe.
The souvenir sheet
shown above (Mi. #239 (Block 6), Sc. #10NB11) was issued on August 22, 1949 to publicize "Goethe Festival
Week" in Weimar. The souvenir sheet had a franking value of 50 Pf. and a
surcharge of 4.50 Marks. The surtax aided in the reconstruction of
Weimar.
The two stamps shown in the image above (Mi. #240-41, Sc. #10NB12-13) were issued on August 30, 1949 to publicize the 1949 Leipzig Fall Fair.
The two designs depict the "Russian Merchants at the Fair in 1650" and the "Young Goethe at the Fair in 1765".
In
October 1949, the occupation postage stamp issues of the Soviet Zone
were replaced by those of the new German Democratic Republic.
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Soviet Zone - General Issues - 1949
