Sammlerstück 1876-1920

... a little Beauty - congrats to this lovely piece!

... ui, ui, ui - das ist ja mal eine unschlagbare Länge - und die Pfälzer Burgen sind es "best of the best". Ein Hammerteil - wo findet man denn so etwas?

Hallo bk,
.

Zitat von bayern klassisch

wo findet man denn so etwas?

... ui, als nicht gerade vor der Haustür!

Hallo Sylvain,

on a first view somebody might think because of the company-mark from Edenkoben that the greeting-card adressed to Edenkoben was posted in Edenkoben too, but A) it wasn`t and B) it wasn`t franked for a local card with 3 Pf but for a long-distance card with 5 Pf.

The card which shows a funny scene from the Hofbräuhaus München was home-adressed abandoned from a member of the Börsch-familiy on a (buisness?)travel at the railway-station in München. The railway-mark ist type 5.5.3.0 - M(ünchen) - - U(lm) - train no. 6

Viele Grüße

Tim

...ah, and the KGL. BAY. STEB on the little steam-engine is the abbrevation of KÖNIGLICH BAYERISCHE STAATSEISENBAHNEN

Viele Grüße !

Tim

Hi Sylvain,

this cartoon card calls for some in-depth interpretation ...

Everything we see has to do with the separate postal and railway authorities kept by Bavaria and Württemberg and laid down in the German imperial constitution after 1871. Both states continued to issue their individual stamps, build their own trains and retained their armies while operating inside the general framework and regulations provided by the Empire, as far as nationwide and international relations were concerned. Within their own territories, however, they were entitled to apply individual regulations. Not that both states strayed too far, but sometimes these privileges came in handy to be used to their advantage.

Württemberg had chosen to use Reichspost stamps for general postal services (excluding official mail!) after the date shown on the grave cross in the lower right corner. In front of it, an emaciated postillion from Württemberg seems to be lying down dead. Beside him smoke raises ominously from a torn and smouldering Württemberg stamp, opening up to show a Reichspost stamp before turning into the grim depiction of a crowned eagle head.

This ghostly symbol of imperial power is about to attack a small garden fenced with barbed wire and striped pickets (white and blue, we may assume). Inside, a slightly chubby idealized Bavarian sporting a Bavarian Dragoon helmet and armed with an umbrella sits atop a Hofbräuhaus barrel (standing in for a horse), ready to defend the Reservatrechte, symbolized by a stamp in his right arm and the miniature-sized railway engine defending the garden like a Dachshund.

Last man standing is the message. Our stubby Bavarian—not exactly the image of the proverbial German militarist—is obviously enraged about the continuous imperial attempts to take away the separate constitutional rights. The wording in capital letters above his head makes clear that there is no way the Bavarians will ever give them up. Mi’ stimmst! may translate as ”Pulling my leg, YOU?".

So that about wraps it up. The Hofbräuhaus imagery is just an added bit of folklore, ensuring that even the most retarded Prussian gets the joke.

Hallo Sylvain,

really nice card.

Dieter