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Feldpost
- The Vital Link with Home
By
Cyrus A. Lee, Transcribed by Jonathan Bocek
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Below you will find a
brief description of the German postage system.
Thanks to Cyrus Lee for giving us permission to use
excerpts of his Soldat book series here
on this site. If you would like to purchase one
of these books, please visit his website at: http://www.soldat.com/
Mail from home was of
paramount importance in maintaining good moral among
German foot soldiers. The Army Field Postmaster
provided special stamps for sending airmail and
packages to the soldier at the front. These
stamps were issued to the soldier at company level by
his First Sergeant or Platoon Sergeant.
For the foot soldier
fighting at the front in continental Europe there were
four basic kinds of field postage stamps issued during
the course of the war, two of these initiated in 1944.
| The
Feldpost Airmail Stamp was first issued on 20
April 1940. This stamp shows a flying
Junkers Ju-52 transport aircraft bordered on
the top by LUFTFELDPOST and on the bottom by
DEUTSCHES REICH printed in cornflower blue on
white. The airmail stamp was used by
soldiers in distant areas such as Russia, the
Balkans, or Scandinavia. The soldier at
the front was issued four of these stamps per
month. The soldier would send two
letters home with airmail post and by
including a stamp inside these letters, he
could receive two replies from home via
airmail. Each letter required one stamp
until May 1943, when two per letter
required. At this point the issue to the
soldier was increased to eight stamps per
month. |
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The
Feldpost Package Stamp was first issued on 10
July 1942. The package stamp was
red-brown with a typical national eagle
circled with ZULASSUNGMARKE and DEUTSCHE
FELDPOST. The corners were marked with
German style postal horns. The soldier
was issued one stamp per month until 1
September 1942, when the issue increased to
two stamps. This issue remained the same
until the fall of 1944. With this stamp,
a package of up to 250 grams could be sent
free to the soldier. Packages weighing
250-1000 grams required the addition of a
twenty Pfennig stamp. On 1 September
1942, the weight allowance was increased to
2000 grams, and the package required two
Feldpost Package Stamps and a forty Pfennig
stamp. In the fall of 1944 the package
weight limit was reduced to 100 grams because
of transport problems. |
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| The
Christmas Feldpost Package Stamp was first
issued on 20 October 1944. This stamp
was for Christmas packages of up to 1000 grams
sent from home to the front. This
Christmas stamp was identical to the First
Feldpost Package Stamp except for its light
green color and smaller size. Soldiers
in the Kurland Pocket cut this stamp in half
and used it for a Feldpost Airmail Stamp. |
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The
final stamp issued was the Two Kilogram Package
stamp. Issued on 24 November 1944, this
stamp was a purple-red forty Pfennig stamp with
the profile of Adolf Hitler. The word
FELDPOST was printed across the top and 2 Kg
printed across the bottom of the stamp in black
ink. This stamp was to be used for sending
two kilograms of winter clothing to the soldier at
the front.
Regular letter size
mail to and from the front was sent without
postage but marked "Feldpost." Any
mail weighing more than 35 grams required extra
paid postage. Special Feldpost stationary
was available to ensure that the weight limit was
not exceeded. |
The German
foot soldier of 1944 and 1945 did not receive mail on
any regular basis. The extremely fluid situation
of the combat frontlines required that letters be
repeatedly rerouted. Mail often arrived in bunches
spanning weeks or months of time. Typical of all
mail to soldiers in time of war, there were often
letters that broke the heart and spirit with news of
broken relationships and tragic death or injury.
Mail from
home and a loved one was savored not only by the
receiver, but also by all of his closest comrades.
The smallest detail of "home" in each letter
was cherished by all, each one imagining what might be
taking place in his own home. The written joys and
the sadness were shared by all in the squad.
The Feldpost
Airmail Stamps allowed a soldier to get some of his mail
in short order. The Feldpost Package Stamps
provided the foot soldier with a way to get special
things from home such as photos, small edibles, and
homemade knitted items. The German civil and
military postal systems strove to meet this vital need
of the German Army foot soldier.
Sources:
- Lee, Cyrus A.
Soldat, Vol. 3. 1991; rpt.
Missoula
,
Montana
, 1998.
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