GERMAN POST OFFICES ABROAD
POST OFFICES IN TURKEY

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The first German post office in Turkey was opened in 1870 in Constantinopel (now called Instanbul). Post offices existed in Beirut, Constantinopel, Jaffa, Jersusalem and Smyrna. In the first period the stamps of the North German Confederation and the German Empire were used, examples:

(Reduced size)

I've also seen postal stationary from Germany (without any overprint), being used in Constantinopel (10 p red 1884 design of Germany, inscription 'Postkarte - Carte postale Weltpostverein - Union postale universelle').

Forged cancel on genuine German stamp "KAISERL DEUTSCH P.A. CONSTANTINOPEL 8 5/11 73 2N"

1884 Stamps of the German Empire of 1880, overprinted in 'PARA' or 'PIASTER'

  '10 PARA 10' on 5 p lilac
  '20 PARA 20' on 10 p red
  '1 PIASTER 1' on 20 p blue
  '1 1/4 PIASTER 1 1/4' on 25 p brown
  '2 1/2 PIASTER 2 1/2' on 50 p grey

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

The reprints were made in 1891. I've been told that they have a more 'shining' overprint than the genuine overprints. Example of a reprint:

(Reprint of the 2 1/2 Pi on 50 p)

Reprints with forged cancels exist.

A 'reprint' of the 1 Pi on 20 p light blue stamp was made by the forger Fouré (not to be confused with the forger Fournier!). Fournier also made forged overprints:

Fournier forgery: these forged overprints were taken from a 'Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries'

This might be a forged overprint, the letters of the overprint are slightly different from the genuine stamps. Also, the stamp has a "DORTMUND" train cancel?

Forged 1 1/4 Pi overprint in a totally different type.

1889 Stamps of the German Empire of 1889, overprinted in 'PARA' or 'PIASTER'

 '10 PARA 10' on 5 p green
 '20 PARA 20' on 10 p red
 '1 PIASTER 1' on 20 p blue
 '1 1/4 PIASTER 1 1/4' on 25 p orange
 '2 1/2 PIASTER 2 1/2' on 50 p brown\

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Typical 'CONSTANTINOPEL DEUTSCHE POST' cancel

Fournier forgery: these forged overprints were taken from a 'Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries'.

Postal stationary: I've seen a 'Postkarte' in the 20 pa on 10 p red design. The inscription is 'Postkarte - Weltpostverein Carte postale - Union postale universelle'.
I've also seen a postcard (20 pa on 10 p red) with inscription 'Postkarte mit Antwort - Weltpostverein Carte postale avec reponse payee - Union postale universelle'.
Another envelope exists with no inscription: 20 pa on 10 p red.

1900 Stamps of the German Empire of 1900, overprinted in 'PARA' or 'PIASTER'

'PARA' or 'PIASTER' on 'REICHSPOST' issue

  '10 PARA 10' on 5 p green
  '20 PARA 20' on 10 p red
  '1 PIASTER 1' on 20 p blue
  '1 1/4 PIASTER 1 1/4' on 25 p orange and black on yellow
  '1 1/2 PIASTER 1 1/2' on 30 p orange and black
  '2 PIASTER 2' on 40 p red and black
  '2 1/2 PIASTER 2 1/2' on 50 p violet and black
  '4 PIASTER 4' on 80 p red and black on red

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Larger size

  '5 PIASTER 5' on 1 M red
  '10 PIASTER 10' on 2 M blue
  '15 PIASTER 15' on 3 M violet
  '25 PIASTER 25' on 5 M red an black

There are two types of this overprint, easily distinguishable by the 'A' of 'PIASTER' or 'PARA', this letter has no top stroke in type I, it has a top stroke in type II.

(Two types of the overprint, left for the 1 M stamps and right for 5 p stamps; on top type I and below type II)

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

'PARA' or 'PIASTER' (in gothic) on 'DEUTSCHES REICH' issue of 1903

  '10 PARA 10' on 5 p green
  '20 PARA 20' on 10 p red
  '1 PIASTER 1' on 20 p blue
  '1 1/4 PIASTER 1 1/4' on 25 p orange and black on yellow
  '1 1/2 PIASTER 1 1/2' on 30 p orange and black
  '2 PIASTER 2' on 40 p red and black
  '2 1/2 PIASTER 2 1/2' on 50 p violet and black
  '4 PIASTER 4' on 80 p red and black on red

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Larger size

  '5 PIASTER 5' on 1 M red
  '10 PIASTER 10' on 2 M blue
  '15 PIASTER 15' on 3 M violet
  '25 PIASTER 25' on 5 M red an black

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

Cancels, examples:

(stamp cancelled in Smyrna, reduced size)

(Stamps used in Jerusalem, Beirut and Smyrna)

Postal stationary: I've seen envelopes with a 10 pa on 5 p green design similar to the stamps (I've seen both 'REICHSPOST' and 'DEUTSCHES REICH') with no additional inscription.
I've also seen a 'Postkarte' in the 20 pa on 10 p red design ('REICHSPOST'), the inscription is 'Postkarte mit Antwort - Weltpostverein Carte postale avec reponse payee - Union postale universelle' (text in two lines).
Another 20 pa on 10 p red ('DEUTSCHES REICH' also exist with inscription Postkarte mit Antwort - Weltpostverein Carte postale avec reponse payee - Union postale universelle' (text in four lines).
Again another 'Postkarte' in the 20 pa on 10 p red design ('REICHSPOST') has the inscription 'Postkarte - Weltpostverein Carte postale - Union postale universelle'.
In the 'DEUTSCHES REICH' design also exists a 20 pa on 10 p red with inscription 'Postkarte' only.
Some private postal stationary also exists: 'Deutsche Palastina-Bank' ('DEUTSCHES REICH'): 1 Pi on 20 p and 2 Pi on 40 p.

Fournier forged overprints:

forged Fournier overprints, taken from a Fournier Album.

1908 Stamps of the German Empire of 1903, overprinted in 'Centimes'

  '5 Centimes' on 5 p green
  '10 Centimes' on 10 p red
  '25 Centimes' on 20 p blue
  '50 Centimes' on 40 p red and black
  '100 Centimes' on 80 p red and black on red

These stamps have watermark 'Lozenges'.

vc = very common
c  = common
*  = not so common
** = uncommon

*** = very uncommon
R   = rare
RR  = very rare
RRR = extremely rare

I've seen postal stationery in this design in the value 5 c on 5 p and 10 c on 10 p ('Postkarte'):

In 1914 all German post offices in Turkey ceased to exist.

Forgeries

In the Fournier Album of Philatelic Forgeries the following cancel can be found: 'CONTANTINOPEL 2 10/1 85 1-2N DEUTSCHE POST':

The cancel reads "CONSTANTINOPEL 2 16/1 85 1-2 N DEUTSCHE POST" in a single circle. In another Fournier Album I have seen a similar cancel, but with date '15/1 86' (the 5 and 6 are inverted).

If anybody has seen this forged cancel used on stamps, please contact me!

Copyright by Evert Klaseboer