GERMAN PHILATELY
ABSENDER-FREISTEMPEL
This page was last updated
06-Sep-2026 03:37
ABSENDER-FREISTEMPEL TYPE D6
CITIES 'D'
BACKGROUND: The D-6 design was used from 1939 onwards and features a Reichs Adler (Empire Eagle) looking to its right with one wing extended along the bottom edge of the frame. Just above the eagle's wing is a hollow swastika and the stamp value is between the eagle's neck and the swasika.
DRESDEN
1. K. WILLY LAMPEL
| CAT No. | FROM | TO | DATE | VALUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D6: No. 212 | Dresden A | Ilmenau/Thür | 22nd Jul 1940 | 3 Rpf |
The example above features a bridge type CDS from DRESDEN A1 cancelled on 22nd Jul 1940.
This card was sent by K. Willy Lampel, a Briefmarken-Fachgeschäft (specialty stamp shop) at Prager Straße 10 in Dresden. Prager Straße was one of Dresden's main shopping streets at the time but would later be almost completely destroyed in the 13th/14th Feb 1945 bombing of the city.
The decorative red emblem on the left is the GvB membership mark ("Garantiezeichen des Briefmarkenhandels" - guarantee mark of the stamp trade"), with member number 118. The GvB was the German stamp dealers' professional association, and displaying its mark signaled that the dealer was bound by its rules of authenticity and fair dealing.
The card is stamped as "Drucksache" (printed matter, a cheaper postal rate for unsealed advertising) at just 3 Pfennig. The Dresden postmark is dated 22 July 1940 — about ten months into WWII, just after the fall of France. It's addressed to Hans Joachim Luehr at Schloßstraße 13 in Ilmenau, Thüringen, likely a customer or fellow collector.
The reverse is a printed circular announcing that the new 1941 Michel catalogues will be published at the end of August. Michel is still the dominant German-language stamp catalog today, so this is a familiar reference for collectors. Prices listed:
Europa: 3.75 RM
Übersee (Overseas): 3.75 RM
Ganze Welt (Whole World, 1 volume): 6.50 RM
Ganze Welt (2 volumes): 7.50 RM
Großdeutschland: 1.00 RM
He also offers a subscription to the monthly supplements (Nachträge) for 2.40 RM/year plus postage, and urges "Sofortige Bestellung sichert erste Auslieferung" — order now to be in the first batch. The stock list — "Supplements to Main Price List No. 22"
Below that are a selection of stamps Lampel had in stock, with Michel catalog numbers and their various prices.
1925 Belgium railway parcel stamps (Mi 180/84) at 1.45 RM
1940 Bohemia & Moravia Red Cross at 0.50 RM (a brand-new issue from the Nazi protectorate)
Denmark 1921 Red Cross (Mi 127/28) at 6 RM
Denmark 1929 airmail (Mi 4/5) at 12 RM - the most expensive listed Danish item
Danzig 1924 - the rare 1 and 2 Gulden values with clean parcel cancels (Mi 207/8) at 120 RM - by far the priciest item on the card, and a reminder of how prized the Free City of Danzig issues already were.
The small "o" and "*" marks before each entry are the standard philatelic notations: 'o' = used (cancelled) and '*' = mint (unused).
Lampel was a reputable mid-tier Dresden stamp dealer with a well-placed shop on the city's main shopping street, professionally credentialed (GvB #118), publishing regular numbered price lists, and active at least 1938–1940. After that the trail effectively goes cold - most likely a casualty of the war and the destruction of central Dresden in Feb 1945.
REFERENCES
1. "DIE DEUTSCHEN POST- UND ABSENDER-FREISTEMPEL" - Handbuch und Katalog by Heiner Dürst and Gerd Eich. Heft Nr. 902. Wikipedia International Postage Meter Stamp Catalog Germany Page 1
