Following the Franco-Prussian war, the mail between Alsace-Lorraine and France had to support a "double postage" ("Doppel-Porto") which reflects a double taxation of the mail by the French posts for the routing on the French territory, and by the German posts for the routing on the German territory. This double postage is sometimes materialized by a "double franking". By the convention of February 12, 1872 the two countries decided to put an end to it and to return to a simpler practice for the user, namely the full payment of the postage by the sender.

But administrations are never simple and this convention came into force on May 15, 1872 on the German side and on May 25, 1872 on the French side because of the time required for the ratification of the treaty by the French National Assembly and its publication in the Official Journal. Thus, from May 15 to 24, two different regulations were applied simultaneously depending on whether the mail came from France or Alsace-Lorraine, resulting in errors, curiosities and taxes!

This superb publication of the SPAL explains the practices during this short period, illustrates the cases encountered on the basis of about sixty letters and presents the official texts in French and German.

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