Rumburk
/ Rumburg
Rumburk
/ Rumburg
The town of Rumburk had about 10 000 inhabitants in 1938. The town lies in the Šluknov Upland and the Mandava River flows through it. Rumburk is surrounded on three sides by Germany. The main post office was responsible for the three administrative districts of Rumburk (Rumburg), Šluknov (Schluckenau) and Varnsdorf (Warnsdorf). The area included 50 towns and villages with 42 post offices.
In September, the situation in the whole Šluknov Hook was tense. Terror against the anti-fascists was rampant. Illegal border crossings began to proliferate as many Germans fled to avoid having to enlist in the Czechoslovak army. However, refugeeism from Czechoslovakia was not a new phenomenon; as early as January 1938, armed units were organized and trained in Germany from refugees.
On 11 September, a lecture on “Democracy and the State” was organized in Rumburk by Czech and German anti-fascists. It was convened by the Czech businessman Hynek Vágner. However, the gathering was interrupted by a group of about 500 Henleinists who tried to enter the venue – the hall in the “Střelnice” building. The meeting then continued at another location, where further skirmishes with the Henlein protesters took place, who then marched demonstratively through the whole town of Rumburk shouting Nazi slogans.
The impetus for the September uprising was Hitler’s speech on 12 September. After Hitler’s seditious speech, factory sirens rang out in the city and Germans took to the streets chanting Nazi slogans such as “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer” or “Sieg Heil” and such. These manifestations continued until 22 September and Czechoslovak citizens could no longer appear on the streets of Šluknov without an armed escort. The German inhabitants forced the financial guards patrolling the border to let them leave freely for Germany. There were riots and the first attacks against Czechs and Jews were carried out. Henleinists also began to carry out the first sabotage, for example, cutting telephone lines. On the night of September 12-13, 1938, riots broke out in Rumburk, fanatical Germans destroyed shops and set fire to a wood store at the sawmill near the Rumburk railway station.
On 14 September, the Confederation of Industry declared a general strike in the whole of the Šluknov region. Czech workers and anti-fascists were dismissed from the factories where Henleinists had the say. On that day, riots broke out in Rumburk, which had to be suppressed by Czechoslovak army soldiers. Henleinists tried unsuccessfully to set fire to a sawmill near the railway station and also tried to assassinate the orderly commander with a bomb.
On 15 September, the Sudetendeutsche Freikorps was officially founded in Germany. Franz May, originally an SdP deputy, was put in charge of the unit, which was to operate in the Šluknov region. The task of the Freikorps was to disturb the peace on the borders and to carry out terrorist actions in cooperation with the so-called Ordners who stayed at home. These were organized in the Freiwilliger Schutzdienst squads. There were attacks on the authorities, shootouts with the Czechoslovak armed forces and communication links were cut. In Rumburk, approximately 2 000 Henleinists were causing disturbances. They attempted to occupy a workers’ bakery, which was defended by German anti-fascists. Peace was restored in the town only after reinforcements of gendarmes from Česká Lípa and Liberec were called in. In order to prevent further deterioration of the already critical situation, the Czechoslovak government declared martial law in all three districts of the Šluknov region.
Due to the constantly escalating situation, the evacuation of families of Czech civil servants began on 20 September. German anti-fascists also began to send their family members to the Czech inland.
On 22 September, large-scale riots broke out in the city. Many Social Democrats and Communists were arrested and taken to Germany. The local ordners occupied the Rumburk state police station, the district office and the railway station, disarmed the local financial guards and occupied the customs office. The SS even intervened in the border towns where the crossings into Germany were located, helping Henleinists to occupy strategic points. On the same day, a group of Reich Germans from the SA crossed the border at Seifhennersdorf and headed towards Rumburk. However, the Czechoslovak military garrison based in Rumburk meant a problem. But the Czechoslovak soldiers were cut off from the headquarters because the Ordners cut the telephone connection. So the garrison commander released carrier pigeons with the message that the garrison would leave the town and retreat to the fortress line. When this happened, the Reich Germans present ceremoniously handed the Nazi flag to the mayor and the post office began to be stamped with the slogan “Wir sind frei!”.
Provisional issue of Rumburk
The Rumburk provisional issue contains 52 stamps and was valid from 26 September 1938 to 20 October 1938. The overprinting ran from 22 September 1938 to 5 October 1938. Although the Reich Post took over running on 3 October 1938, the overprints were sold simultaneously with the Reich stamps.
Postal rates were linked to the Czechoslovak crown. Postal rate converted at 1 CZK => 10Pf. It was possible to use Czechoslovak stamps, Rumburk overprints, and German stamps. It was not possible to send registered mail during this period (only after the Reich took over the post office).
The issue is relatively large compared to other Sudeten overprints. There are many unused sheets of stamps. According to the book ‘Die Postwerzeichnen des Sudetenlandes’, the unsold stocks were sent to Berlin, but their later fate is unknown. It is assumed that they ended up in the hands of dealers, as a large number of them still exist. Reportedly, Hitler himself received an album of the entire sheets of the Rumburk overprints from the SdP as a liberation gift.
The Rumburk overprints have 5 basic types and were made by the Heinrich Pfeiffer printing house (Buchdruckerei Heinrich Pfeiffer) in Rumburk.
The stamps with the overprint 50 Heller were delivered for sale only in Rumburk on 5 October 1938 at around 11:00. The sale lasted only until 6 October 1938 (at some small offices until 8 October 1938), so the stamps with this overprint were available for only one and a half days. These stamps are highly valued on used postal stationeries.
The book “Die Postwerzeichnen des Sudetenlandes” presents the response of the chief postal inspector Jahn to the questions of German philatelists and researchers about the Rumburk overprints (translated into English below):
Chief Postal Inspector Jahn Ústí nad Labem, 22 November1938
- Who officially ordered or approved the overprint (overprint: We are free!)? Who carried out the inspection?
- Were these stamps used as postage? Was it possible to use both Czech and overprinted stamps? Were the overprints considered commemorative, or did the overprint only have the function of depreciation? (Proofread)
- When were these overprints used and could they possibly have been used?
- When did German troops enter Rumburk? When did these overprints stop being used?
- Were the stamps, or types of overprints, withdrawn or destroyed, and were they always subject to inspection?
on 1. When the postal administration took over the Rumburk post office on 3 October, the overprints were handed over. The Czechs withdrew from the northern Sudetenland between 22 September and 3 October. During this period the SdP exercised legislative power and also supervised the running of the post office. Overprints were sold until 6 October.
on 2. Overprints could be used freely as postage and Czech stamps could be used at the same time. The overprints were franked with a filing stamp just like other postal items.
on 3. point 1.
on 4. German troops entered Rumburk on 2 October. The rest in point 1.
on 5. Unused leftover stocks of overprints have been handed over to the responsible authorities.
The book “Die Postwerzeichnen des Sudetenlandes” includes several letters to Dr. Horr about the overprint peculiarities he purchased. Two of them are translated into English below.
——-
Research report
I hereby confirm that I purchased a stamp of the value of 2 CZK with a mirror-inverted swastika and a plate number at the Rumburk post office on 5 October 1938. It is still in my possession.
Rumburk, 6 March 1939 Rudolf Grünwald
Rumburk
Töpfergasse 42
Sudetengau
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Explanation
For philatelic research purposes on the Rumburk “WIR-SIND-FREI-issue” I confirm the following:
One collector in Rumburk owns an overprinted four-block stamp worth CZK 3.50 with a plate number and an inverted swastika. He bought this stamp at the local post office counter on 5 October 1938.
Heinrich Kühn
Rumburg
Chairman of the Rumburk Stamp Collectors Association
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The book “Die Postwerzeichnen des Sudetenlandes” gives the response from Fa. Strache-Warnsdorf of the Philatelic Association to a question about the use of the Rumburk overprints (translated into English below):
to the Philatelic Association Sudeten County 4 February 1939
Sales management, Varnsdorf
In response to your friendly enquiry, we are pleased to confirm that we purchased the Rumburk provisional overprints at the counter of the Main Post Office Varnsdorf and its branches from 30 September to 6 October 1938. And we used these overprints in our business activities.
We bid farewell with the German salute Heil Hitler!
Ed. Strache
Overview of printing defects
1. Mirrored inverted swastika at “Landscape” and “Košice” (sheet 91). Dr. Hörr believes that there are at most 40 sheets and therefore a maximum of 40 specimens. This peculiarity is known for stamps 10, 13, 14, 15 and 16.
2. Drop–shaped exclamation mark by “Sokol Winter Games”, “For Children”, “20th Anniversary of Czechoslovak Legions Fighting” “X. All-Sokol Gathering in Prague” and “Olomouc 5 CZK” (4 and 12 vertical rows)
3. Tilted swastika on ‘newspaper stamps’ and ‘additional postage stamps’. For the additional postage stamps’, this curiosity is located in the last vertical row (row 10) and must therefore have a margin on the right-hand side. For the newspaper stamps, this peculiarity exists for the Falcons, for the Doves only for the 100-hellers overprint (27I – 35I) and again in the last vertical row.
4. Below a flattened swastika (PF II peculiarity) on the Landscapes (sheets 21, 22, 26). This peculiarity is known for stamps 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 51.
5. From the right broken w in the word wir on Landscapes (sheet 97). This peculiarity is known for stamps 10, 11 and 13.
6. Broken s in the word sind (PF II peculiarity) on Landscapes (sheet 93). This peculiarity is known for stamps 10, 11, 14, 15 and 16.
7. Circle instead of a dot in the word wir (PF IV peculiarity) on Landscapes (sheet 82). This peculiarity is known for stamps 10, 11, 14, 15 and 17.
8. The upper arm of the swastika is missing (sheet 61).
9. Incomplete overprint.
10. Top left flattened swastika (PF I peculiarity) on Portraits (sheets 123 and 145).
11. Reversed overprint (5s peculiarity). This unique item was allegedly lost in the mail on its way from Salzburg to Vienna.
12. Greatly shifted overprint
Rumburk postmark
According to the book “Sudeten-Deutsche Befreiungs-Stempel 1939“, Rumburk used the Czech postmark and then the so-called “nationalized Czech postmark” type “4 a” in black (the nationalized postmark is a Czech bilingual postmark from which the Czech name of the place has been removed).
Nationalized Czech postmarks:
Rumburg 1 – with letters – g, j
Rumburg 2 – with letters – b, c
Celebratory postmark
Celebratory postmark
According to the book “Sudeten-Deutsche Befreiungs-Stempel 1939”, two celebratory postmarks are possible. In most places, a surcharge of the face value of the stamp was required for this postmark. The surcharge was necessary because the Czech state no longer paid postal clerks and the Reich Post paid them only from 3 October 1938.
1. Rumburg / Tag der Befreiung / 22 September 38 / Heil Hitler = form 4 a in black, red or purple
2. Der Führer / in / Rumburg / 6 October 1938 in red
National emblem
Portraits
Landscapes, castles, cities
Newspaper stamps – Falcon in Flight
Newspaper stamps - Dove
Additional postage stamps – final issue
Sokol Winter Games stamps
For Children
Legion stamps
X. All-Sokol Gathering in Prague (Fügner)
Exhibitions in Pilsen and Košice
Blocks
Postal stationery
Sources:
1. Handbuch der Sudetenphilatelie, Gerhard A. Späth (2021)
2. Die Postwerzeichnen des Sudetenlandes, J. Hugo Hörr (1941/1963)
3. modernidejiny.cz 4. Michel – Deutschland-Spezial 2021
4. POFIS Československo 1918 -1939 (2015)