Type III - Single-circle sanserif cancel

Back to main narrative Back to main 'cancels' page On to Type IV - Date-time cancel with ornaments

In 1883, all the offices then open were given a standard canceller - a 29mm circle with WIEN in the upper half and the office name in the lower half (except for the Fünfhaus-Schönbrunnerstraße and Lazarethgasse offices, which had no room for the WIEN!) In the middle is the year, month, day and hour; this detail being needed as the pneumatic letter boxes were emptied every 20 minutes. This cancel type remained in service till 1892.

TypeTextK/SON
III-02WIEN TELEGRAFEN-CENTRALEK7787b(Z)
III-04WIEN FLEISCHMARKTK7788b2
III-06WIEN TABORSTRASSEK7793b23
III-08WIEN LANDSTR. HAUPTSTR.K7799b40
III-10WIEN KÄRNTNERRINGK7792b15
III-12WIEN NEUMANNGASSEK7803b50
III-14WIEN MAGDALENENSTRASSEK7807b57
III-16WIEN SIEBENSTERNGASSEK7810b62
III-18WIEN MARIATREUGASSEK7812b64
III-20WIEN EFFECTENBÖRSEK7789b7
III-22WIEN FRUCHTBÖRSE [PRODUCKTENBÖRSE after 1890]K7798a36
III-24WIEN ZIEGLERGASSEK7809b60
III-26FÜNFHAUS SCHÖNBRUNNER STRASSEK7822b100
III-28WIEN RATHAUS (See note 1)[K7790a]10
III-30WIEN REICHSRATHGEBÄUDE (See note 2)[K7832a](R)
III-32WIEN STEFANIESTRASSE (See note 3)[K7797a]34
III-34K. K. PNEUMATISCHE STATION XVI (in Lazarethgasse)K7816a71
III-36WÄHRING (See note 4)[K7827a]110
III-38HERNALS (See note 5)[K7826a]105
III-40WIEN ROTUNDE (See note 6)-----

Notes:

  1. K7790a actually says that the regular Wien Rathaus postmark was used: K5744a. Later K7790b = WIEN 1/1/10r - see below
  2. The regular Wien Reichsrathgebäude postmark was used: K5848b. Later K7832b = WIEN 1/1/R.r - see below
  3. Although STEFANIESTRASSE appears in all the pneumatic cancellation listings for this 1883 cancel type, the operational lists state that service began in 1889 and Klein gives 29.4.1889 as the opening date.
  4. The regular Währing postmark was used: K5820f
  5. The regular Hernals postmark was used: K5816c
  6. Wien Rotunde was an exhibition site on the Prater. This cancel isn't listed in any of the 'standard' works on cancels but on postage stamps is item 4116b in Müller's 1930 work "Die Poststempel ... Ausgabe 1867" (Mü 4116a is it without a despatch time; both 1883 only.) It is the only entry for 1883 in Wurth's "Sonderpostämter in Österreich"; he shows it as used from 15 June 1883 until "the autumn" only.

There is no evidence that the pneumatic tube reached the exhibition site. However, at least 59 pneumatic items are known to have been posted here (see illustration; the above was the 57th) so presumably a telegraph office was opened for exhibitions and a special messenger service connected it to the nearest station. A second specimen of this WIEN ROTUNDE cancellation has been found: there is a web site called "Virtual International Philatelic Exhibition" on which is "Pneumatic Mails of Vienna, Prague & Karlsbad" by Henry Hahn. See http://www.japhila.cz/hof/0077/index0077_54.htm for an illustration of a correspondence card, dated 3pm, 24 September 1883, sequence numbered 59, routed to Telegrafen-Centrale. They are both addressed to the same person at the same address.

Further, a card is known from the Kaiser-Jubiläums und V. Österr. Bundes-Schiessen (held between 26 June & 6 July 1898). This is a beautiful card for the shooting competition, with 2, 3 and 5 kreuzer stamps on the address side. The sending Rohrpost cancel on the stamps is Wien 27, and the receiving Rohrpost cancel is Wien 82. The Wien Schützenplatz special cancel is on the side. So it is another example of an exposition from which Rohrpost is known, although there is no evidence that there was an actual pipe connection to the site. Apparently Rohrpost mail was collected at the site’s special post office, and carried to Wien 27 (which was at Praterstrasse 54, near the Prater). This card took 2 hours from start to finish, and has a genuine Rohrpost message: "Today I expect to stay at the Schützenplatz till evening, but come to see me at (unreadable) after 9 pm"

It looks as if this was a routine practice; and Wurth’s book on Special Cancels lists over 26 events between 1864 and 1918 which could have operated a similar service. This is no proof that they did, but does suggest that such items may be "out there awaiting finding".

Back to main narrative Back to main 'cancels' page On to Type IV - Date-time cancel with ornaments