As the Austrian system was moved over to the German, everything which was not explicitly changed remained unaltered. The basic rates were calculated in German currency, while the ancillary charges for express, airmail, registered and pneumatic services remained at the Austrian rate and were expressed in Groschen. For both, either German or Austrian stamps could be used.
On 4th April, the ordinance of 26 March on the introduction of new postage for letters and postcards in Land Austria took effect. The Berlin Gazette published explanatory notes, including that, when calculating the value of the stamps on an item of mail, 1Rpf=1½Gr and conversely 1½Gr=1Rpf, but fractions of Rpf were to be ignored. Any resulting deficit was to be charged Postage Due at the rate of one-and-a-half-times the deficiency. According to the PuTVBl there was no minimum charge for inland mail, although the Commentary states 5Rpf.
In practice, the result of this calculation was rounded up, then multiplied by 1.5 to convert it into Groschen, and Austrian Postage Dues affixed for this amount. A separate regulation applied to Foreign mail where there was a minimum charge, of 5Rpf, the rest of the procedure being the same.
A further complication is that from 15th May, Austrian currency could not be used. This had no effect on the Postage Due calculations, but a considerable impact on those who had to pay them, as they had to use Reichspfennig. See the article "The demise of the Schilling in 1938". The original document gave two "worked examples":
Ex 1: A 15-gram letter from Vienna to Berlin is franked with an Austrian 8 Groschen stamp [from 4.4.1938 correct postage 12 Rpf / 18 Gr; 8 Rpf was the correct rate for the newly reintroduced local letter]; 8 Gr=5.33 Rpf, value 5 Rpf; deficit 12 - 5 = 7 Rpf; Postage Due 1½ * 7 = 10.5 Rpf; charge 11 Rpf.
Ex 2: A 30-gram letter (correct postage 24 Rpf / 36 Gr) from Innsbruck to Munich is franked with a German stamp of 5 Rpf and two Austrian stamps of 12 and 5 Groschen. Total value of the franking is 5 + 8 + 3.33 = 16.33 Rpf. Deficit 24 - 16 = 8 Rpf. Postage Due 1½ * 8 = 12 Rpf.
Notwithstanding these clear instructions, no uniform practice existed in this period. The following variants in charging can be found:
These mistakes are due to the precipitate introduction of German calculations coupled with a lack of information for the post office employees. The numerous contradictory instructions, which were introduced with no logical connection, led to confusion. So for example Section 3 of Regulation 70 (7th April) covered the surcharging of unfranked and insufficiently franked letters, which had been redirected from local to inland. Instead of the "1½ times deficiency" rule, in this situation twice the missing amount was to be charged, with an unspecified minimum. However, Section 2 of the same Regulation covered correctly-franked local mail redirected to inland: it was charged 1 times the difference between the applicable local and the inland rates!
After the Anschluß, an ordinance required the Austrian coat of arms on the various Postal forms to be overstamped or overprinted with the German national emblem. There was no such Order for Austrian Postage Dues; however such overstamping occurs. In "Die Postmarke" for 1938, page 205, is the following note: "Austrian Postage Dues overprinted by a violet hand-cancel with the national emblem of the German Reich are found occasionally in letters from the period. It seems that a Postal official in Vienna I took an erroneous view of the ordinance and also overstamped a few sheets of the 10 Groschen Dues."
Five illustrations follow, showing examples from this period.
Example 1: Local Vienna letter mailed with 8 Rpf Hindenburg on 6 May, marked with a T and a 2 in pencil meaning it was double weight. So it had 8 Rpf, but needed another 8 Rpf = 12 Gr; the surcharge of 24 Gr must have been calculated as double the deficiency using the old Austrian rules.
Example 2: Letter from Vienna to Vienna 14 June, correctly franked with 8 Rpf. Addressee moved to Pulkau, therefore required postage is 12 Rpf, not 8 Rpf. Originally franked in full, so no penalty for forwarding. Missing 4 Rpf = 6 Gr.
Example 3: PSC card (computer-enhanced) with 6 Rpf imprint sent from Erlangen on 29.6.1938, arriving in Liezen on 1.7.1938 (cancel at bottom left) and collected on 2.7.1938 (cancel over the Due). The Postlagernd fee was still 10 Groschen.
Example 4: Letter cancelled in Berlin on 11 July, sent unfranked by agency, namely German consulate in Milan! Says "Portopfl(ichtige) Dienstsache". This cost 24Rpf (double weight, no penalty as recipient would have to pay?) which is 36Gr. May have come by pouch to Berlin from Milan.
Example 5: a mystery! It was sent from Innsbruck to Holland on 2nd May 1938, and is franked with 1 + 6 + 12x0.66 + 12 ie 27 Rpf [the additional 38 Rpf on the Hitler stamp was for charity and didn't count for postage]. The rate for a foreign letter was 25 Rpf for 20 grams, 15 Rpf for each extra 20 grams. It has been marked "T4c" [by whom?] and charged Postage Due of 2½ Dutch Cents.
"T4c" will be 4 'gold centimes' which was indeed about 2½ Dutch cents. Under the regulations applied to Foreign mail, the charge should be 1½ times the deficiency with a minimum of 5 Rpf. The gold centime was about two pfenning, so a marking of T4c is a charge of 8 Rpf, which is a deficiency of 5 Rpf.
Has one stamp been disallowed? They were all valid: the 6 Rpf was introduced on 4th April and the 12+38 Rpf on 19th April. The letter can't have been one step overweight, as that would need 25 + 15 = 40 Rpf postage, making a deficiency of 40 - 27 = 13. It could have been a fourth-step (61 to 80 gram) letter with the charity surcharge of 38 counted as franking: 27 + 38 = 65; fourth step cost 25 + 3x15 = 70; 70 - 65 = 5! But counting the charity surcharge as postage is unknown; and there is no weight indication, nor does the envelope look as though it had contained 60+ grams. Maybe the stamp values were simply added, then deemed to be Groschen: 1 + 6 + 12 + 12 = 31 Gr = 20.66 ie 20 Rpf, a deficiency of 5 Rpf??? Anyone got a better idea?
On 1st August the ordinance of 9 July 1938 came into effect; amongst the consequences was the withdrawal of Postage Due stamps. Postage due and similar fees on letters had to be paid in cash. The German tariffs were now in force, not only for the basic rates, but also for all incidental charges. The withdrawal of Postage Due stamps had been expected earlier: since they bore a large Austrian eagle as well as "ÖSTERREICH" and "GROSCHEN", they were decidedly politically incorrect! The German system had always been to write the amount due on the envelope; they did not have Postage Dues. So the simplest solution was to abolish them. The surcharges were paid in cash according to the [standard German] red surcharge marking. No usage of Austrian Postage Dues after 31st July 1938 is known.
26 August, after the end of Postage Dues on 1st August. Letter from Graz to Maria Enzersdorf with 12 Gr = 8 Rpf + 3 Rpf making 11 Rpf in total. Rate was 12 Rpf, deficiency therefore 1 Rpf, charge "1½ times the deficiency" but rounded up, so Nachgebühr of 2 Rpf, as shown by the large handwritten 2.
24 August, from Vienna to Semmering. Franking is a 24+6 Groschen Winterhelp stamp, an 8 Groschen costume, and a 3+5 Rpf Breslau sport stamp. There is a blue partial box around the Winterhelp stamp, and a blue crayon 24 next to a boxed Nachgebuehr marking. Intended franking: 24 + 8 = 32 Gr = 21 Rpf plus 3 Rpf, ie 24 Rpf for a double weight letter. However, the Winterhelp stamp was not accepted, as it had become invalid on 1st July 1938. [Pedantically speaking, it should not have been cancelled either.] This left 3 Rpf + 8 Gr = 3 Rpf + 5 Rpf = 8 Rpf as valid postage, so 16 Rpf was missing. The "1½ times the deficiency" German rule was applied (correctly so), so that 24 Rpf had to be collected.
©Andy Taylor. Last updated 11 June 2013