Austria - Postablagen and Posthilfsstellen cancellations - Part 2

• The 19th Century
• The 20th Century
• The 1914 P-type
• Post-WWII
• Postcodes
• Modern circular cancels
• Appendix: code conversions

1914: Changed wording

In 1914, private Postal Agencies began to introduce a changed wording of the rectangular handstamps: the name of the postal town was prefixed P. or Post [Kü-4]. By 1916 this type was in use in official Postal Agencies.

One line of text with stars in a box. [Kü-4b-247c]. Used on a postcard around 1930. The letters are serif and there is no date so our code is aKo**.

One line of text with stars in a box. [Kü-4b-1309b]. Used on a postcard in 1939. The letters are serif and there is no date so our code is aKo**. Unternberg's Post Town is Tamsweg in Salzburg.

1925: 2-line version

Around 1925, a 2-line version appeared, [Kü-6], with a horizontal line flanked by stars separating the Postal Agency above from the postal town below.

[Kü-6b-1158b]. Used 20.4.1933. The letters are partly serif and there is no date so our code is aKo**. Seekarhaus's Post Town is Obertauern bei Radstadt in Pinzgau.

Two lines of text with stars in a box. [Kü-6a-415f]. Used in 1938. The letters are partly serif and there is no date so our code is aKo**. There is an unreadable cancel on the stamp - presumably Schleinbach, which is in Niederösterreich in the Weinviertel, and has the postcode 2123.

[Kü-6b-40a]. Used 2/12/1939. Our code aKo**. Altweitra is now called Unserfrau-Altweitra, and Weitra is postcoded 3970 and is in Niederösterreich near Gmund.

[Kü-6b-573c]. Used in 1938/45 period. The cancel is "KLEIN SCHWEINBARTH / P. Drasenhofen". The letters are sanserif and there is no date so our code is gKo**. Drasenhofen is north of Wien and has postcode 2165.

[Kü-6b-1445f]. Used 23/5/1941. The cancel is "WÖSENDORF / P. Weissenkirchen i. d. Wachau". The letters are partly serif and there is no date so our code is aKo**. Weissenkirchen is postcoded 3610 and is on the Danube upstream of Krems.

Anschluß changes

All the types described above remained in use until the annexation in 1938 of Austria by Germany. This brought two changes to these Postal Agencies. They now received the name 'Posthilfsstelle' or 'Poststelle II'. Some cachets had Post replaced by über [Kü-7]. Others had the German zonal postcode 12a & 12b for Austria, introduced in spring 1944 although examples are rarely seen [Kü-8].

[Kü-7b-216e]. Used 22.1.1942. The faint cancel is "Elixhausen / über Salzburg 2" in a 2-section box, the letters are 'Gothic', and there is no date so our code is aK2o.

[Kü-7b-1445f]. Used 28/5/1942. The cancel is "WÖSENDORF / über Weissenkirchen i. d. Wachau". The letters are partly serif and there is no date so our code is gaKo. The illustration is in false colours so that the cancel is visible!.

Typical Post Zone 12 cancels look like this!

©Andy Taylor. Last updated 29 Aug 2000