Mavi Boncuk |
On March 1, 1870, the Norddeutscher Postbezirk (i.e. the postal service of the North German Confederation) opened its first office in Constantinople (Istanbul) using definitive stamps without overprint. After January 1872, the Reichspost took over the management of the office and expanded it further as "Deutsche Post in der Türkei". Prior to 1884, this office used ordinary definitive German stamps without any distinctive overprint.
Starting in 1884, stamps began to be issued with overprints restating the stamp's face value in the Turkish denominations, i.e. piasters and paras. The overprint did not include an additional country name. As was the case with all German Offices Abroad issues, stamps issued prior to 1905 had overprints in a “Latin” font in several varieties. Starting in 1905, the overprint was changed to a “Gothic” font which continued in use until the beginning of the First World War.
Beginning in 1908, the German Post Offices in Turkey issued an additional set of stamps which it sold at the same time as the series overprinted with values in Turkish piasters. This 1908 series had diagonal overprints with new denominations in French centimes instead of horizontal overprints in Turkish piaster denominations. The Reichspost decided to issue this French currency series as exchange rates made the parcel post rates charged by the German Post Office more expensive than those of other countries also operating in Turkey. For whatever reason, accepting French francs in exchange for stamps apparently made the German Parcel Post rates more competitive once more.
With the entry of Turkey into WWI the offices were closed on 30 September 1914.
Post offices existed in these towns:
Constantinopel(three post offices eventually opened in the Galata, Pera, and Stamboul districts) | Jaffa | Jerusalem | Smyrna.
Double weight folded letter originating in Brousse, carried by forwarding agent to Constantinople, with perfectly struck blue double circle "D. Lebet & Fils Victor/Constantinopel/20 Nov 74" hand stamp on verso (a bit over flap), entered the German mails with three perfect strikes of "Kaiserl. Deutsch P.A. Constantinopel/21/11/74" date stamps, paying the correct 7½gr rate (two times 3gr rate plus 1½gr transit fee) "Via Trieste" to Lyon, France, with red boxed "P.D." (paid to destination) and French arrival postmark, plus Lyon backstamp."Constantinopel/Deutsche Post/31/5/84" Ty. 6 postmarks to registered cover paying the six times rate to Hannover, Germany, with manuscript "80 gr", the UPU rates were figured in 15 gram increments.
"Constantinopel/Deutsche Post/3/12/00" date stamps to a letter insured for 7,500 Franks and paying the correct rate to Berlin, Germany (insurance at 1Pi, 16pa per 300 Franks or 25Pi for insurance and 12Pi postage), with various accounting markings and credits on face, Constanta 2 Jan., 01 and Bucaresci 2 Jan. transits and two Berlin backstamps
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