GERMAN PHILATELY

PROPAGANDA POSTCARDS
(1935)

This page was last updated
16-Sep-2026 05:27

29.SEEREISE MONTE OLIVIA
29th VOYAGE of the M.S. MONTE OLIVIA
(Jul 1935)

BACKGROUND: This series of postcards was issued to commemorate the 29th voyage of the M.S. MONTE OLIVIA and was sponsored by the Kraft Durch Freude organisation. The cards feature an image of the Monte Olivia during a previous voyage on the left-hand side, along with the day's menu on the right-hand side.



The Monte Olivia was a Hamburg-Süd (Hamburg-Südamerikanische Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft) liner built by Blohm & Voss, launched 28th Oct 1924, roughly 13,750 GRT, 152.6m long. After emigrant traffic to South America declined, she was chartered for cruises and entered KdF ("Kraft durch Freude", the Nazi "Strength Through Joy" leisure organization) service starting 3rd May 1934, with her first KdF voyage going to the Isle of Wight.

From 1934 she and her sister ship Sarmiento ran KdF cruises to Norway and the Baltic, typically 5-day round trips from Hamburg to the Norwegian fjords (no shore leave on the fjord legs), costing about 59.50 Reichsmark including train fare to and from Hamburg. Captain O. Schmandt commanded her on these KdF sailings.

Each numbered "Seereise" (sea voyage) had its own set of daily souvenir postcards showing the day's menu (Speisenfolge), a shipboard schedule booklet, and similar ephemera. Other voyages in the numbering sequence: the 27th Seereise ran 27th Jun to 3rd July 3 1935 (Hamburg to Norway's fjords), the 33rd on 11th Aug 1935, and the 38th on 13th Sep 1935.

You can see some examples from other K.d.F voyages, in particular The 26th Voyage of the Monte Olivia and Der Deutsche.

SONG

The inscription on this first postcard reads:

Wake up, you sleepers, big and small, the captain has been awake for a long time. He is calling you. Good morning, you sleepers, wake up from your rest!

Thursday 11th Jul 1935

Friday 12th Jul 1935

Saturday 13th Jul 1935

Sunday 14th Jul 1935

Monday 15th Jul 1935

Tuesday 16th Jul 1935

Wednesday 17th Jul 1935