General Gouvernement Warschau

Fischer 6-16 | Michel 6-16 | Scott 15-26 | Year of issue 1918 | Pre-war Poland

For this Polish stamp issue, Generalgouvernement Warschau stamps were overprinted "Poczta Polska". The text "Gen.-Gouv. Warschau" is overprinted with two bars and the text "Deutsches Reich" is overprinted with another two bars.

Fischer 6
Fischer 7
Fischer 8
Fischer 9

6

7

8

9

Fischer 10
Fischer 11
Fischer 12
Fischer 13

10

11

12

13

Fischer 14
Fischer 15
Fischer 16

14

15

16

"Poczta Polska" overprints on German "Gen.-Gouv. Warschau" overprints

Varieties

Beside colour variations of the stamps and gloss and colour variations in the "Gen.-Gouv. Warschau" overprint, there are two main types of "Poczta Polska" overprints. To determine the difference between type I and type II, you have to take a closer look at the bars (or lines) cancelling the German text. You need a magnifying glass to determine the exact distance between the bottom of the second bar and the top of the third bar. If the distance between these bars is 3.25 mm, you have a type I overprint. If the distance is 3.5 or 4.0 mm, the overprint is a type II.

Type I
3¼ mm between bars 2 and 3

Type II
3½ or 4 mm between bars 2 and 3


"Poczta Polska" overprints on stamps from Generalgouvernement Warschau should not be confused with local stamps issued in 1918-1919 on former German occupied Polish territory.

Glossary

General Gouvernement Warschau (General Government Warsaw) is the name applied to German occupied Poland in World War I. In World War II however, the area of Poland under German rule but not incorporated into the Reich was also called the General Gouvernement Warschau, which included Warsaw but its capital was Kraków. The name is derived from the French form of the Russian "gubernia" (province).
Germania issues are a series of German stamps, released between 1900-1921, with the portrait of the Wagnerian opera star Anna von Stratz-Fuhring, representing the German empire.

Translations

Gen.-Gouv. Warschau is a German abbreviation for General Gouvernement Warschau (General government Warsaw).
Poczta Polska = Polish postage.
Deutches Reich is German for "German empire".

Relevant pages

Gen.-Gouv. Warschau overprints on Germania issues
Local issues 1918-1919
Images of colour variations and overprint types
Overprint errors

Resources

Germania issues (muenster.de)
Germania issues (datanet.hu)
General Government
Warsaw
German Empire