(Home) - About SPAL - Publications - (1914-1918) - Membership

Le contrôle postal allemand en Alsace-Lorraine (1914-1918)

1914-1918 / TOME VIII

”The German postal control in Alsace-Lorraine (1914-1918)” ● 1914-1918 series - Volume 8
Price: 60 euros (Members : 42 euros) plus shipment costs
Add to cart...

This 566-page reference work is the results of over ten years of research on postal marks and archive documents. It provides the reader with a wealth of information on German military postal control (in other words, **mail censorship**) in Alsace-Lorraine during the First World War.

Mail control centers were established in eleven towns: Colmar, Haguenau, Metz, Mulhouse, Saint-Louis, Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, Sarrebourg, Sarreguemines, Strasbourg, Thionville and Wissembourg. Each center had its own postmarks. Initially manufactured locally, these marks were modified over time due to wear and tear or changes in wording, before being standardized. This led to a multitude of postmarks, which are listed and reproduced in the book. Particularly noteworthy is a chapter, unpublished so far, on the postal control of military mail, featuring a catalog of over 600 unit postmarks.

In addition, the operation of these centers, control procedures, instructions and circulars, censor's manuals and personnel records are presented on the basis of documents from the municipal and departmental archives as well as the archives of Bavaria in Munich and those of Baden-Württemberg in Karlsruhe and Stuttgart.

This book will be of interest not only to specialist collectors, but also to local history enthusiasts.