• Below is an array of postal material used during the Anschluss. While not every item was made specifically to celebrate the Anschluss, they still bear postal stamps or cancels related to it.

    [Below: Very early Austrian NSDAP postcard advertising a 1931 meeting in Vienna. Note that it still refers to the NSDAP as the 'Hitlerbewegung' or Hitler Movement, which it was popularly known as for a time.]

    [Below: Austrian NSDAP postcard with a defiant 'Trotzt Verbot!' (Despite [the] Ban!). This was printed in 1937, while the NSDAP was banned in Austria. This postcard was illegal!]

    [Below: A very rare early postcard from the Austrian National Socialist Party (Gau Kaertnen). Note that the NSDAP is still called the 'Hitlerbewegung' (Hitler Movement).]

    [Below: Another very rare early postcard from the Austrian National Socialist Party. 'Der nationale Sozialismus - Die Zukunft d. deutschen Volkes' (National Socialism - The Future of the German People). This very early 1923 postcard was published by Joseph Remner in Linz, Austria.]

    [Below: An early postcard that says: 'Fight with Us for the German Family!'.]

    [Below: Reverse. This tells us it is from Vienna and note that it says 'Hitlerbewegung', or Hitler Movement, which is the name that the NSDAP was popularly known as in the early days.]

    [Below: Austrian National Socialist Youth donation vignette from 1920]

    [Below: Very early Christmas postcard released from the Austrian NSDAP from 1921.]

    [Below: Reverse of postcard.]

    [Below: Very early postcard from the Austrian National Socialist party, canceled in 1921! Issued by the Nationalsozialistischer Verein für Deutsch-Österreich.]

    [Below: Reverse of postcard.]

    [Below: Another early Austrian related postcard: 'Unsre Fahne Flattert uns Voran!' (Our Flag Flies Ahead).]

    [Below: Another early Austria NSDAP postcard: 'From the youngest to the oldest man, the entire people advance as one team.' Published in Zittau in 1934 (canceled in 1938).]

    [Below: Back]

    [Below: Postcard: 'Hands Off the German Homeland'. This is an early Austrian postcard from 1928 from the Deutscher Nationalsozialistischer Verein (German National Socialist Union) in Vienna.]

    [Below: Oddly this artwork was used ten years later for a 1938 May Day postcard, but this time in black and white.]

    [Below: Very rare memorial postcard for local NS group leader Karl Weigerstorfer, who was martyred in Hintersoder (a small mountain village in upper Austria) during the failed July 1934 National Socialist putsch in Austria. You'll note that there are two spellings of his name below, one on the postcard art and a different one on the reverse of the the postcard. I think the 'Weigerstorfer' spelling is the correct one.]

    [Below: Back - 'Zum Gedächtnis an den SA.-Mann Karl Weigerstorfer Ortsgruppenleiter in Hinterstoder. Beim hissen einer hakenkreuzfahne zu Ostern 1934 tödlich abgestürzt.'
    (In memory of the local group leader SA. man Karl Weigerstorfer in Hinterstoder. Fatally injured while hoisting a swastika flag on Easter 1934.)]

    [Below: A rare and beautiful postcard showing Germany and Austria shaking hands. In the bottom right hand corner it says 'Deutschland Ehre' (German Honor). The back says 'Verlag für Nationale Bild Kunst' ((Publishing House for National Picture Art)).]

  • These postcards, although not exclusively Austrian, were used in 1930 in both Austria and Germany. They were done by the famous artist Albert Reich, and were published by Kunst-Verlag Peter Triem, Munich.

    [Below: 'Schaffendes Deutschland schmeide die Freiheit!'
    (Productive Germany Forges Freedom)]

    [Below: 'Lasset es Flingen von Turm zu Turm "Deutschland erwache!'
    (Let it Ring from Tower to Tower "Germany Awake!")]

    [Below: 'Unser Ziel: Ein freier Mann auf freier Scholle!'
    (Our Goal- A Free Man on Free Soil!)]

    [Below: 'Der Geist der Front ist mit uns!'
    (The Spirit of the Front is With Us!)]

    [Below: 'Zum Kampf für Freiheit und Brot!'
    (To the Fight for Freedom and Bread!)]

    [Below: This postcard opens up like a folder.]

    [Below: Postcard inside. It says:

    'Heimkehr ins Reich -
    Dank dem Führer,
    dem Schöpfer
    des großdeutschen Reiches!'

    (Returning home to the Reich -
    Thanks to the Führer,
    the Creator
    of the Greater German Reich!)]

    [Below: Postcard reverse.]

    [Below: This early and rare beauty says 'Freedom is Not Lost Yet'. This was a donation postcard from the Berlin Sturmabteilung (SA Brownshirts).]

    [Below: Words on postcard reverse, it says 'Opferkarten der S.A. Berlin' (Donation card of the Berlin S.A.).]

    [Below: Another rare early postcard showing an SA man saluting the new dawn on the Rhine. The artist of this card was Paul Wernert.]

    [Below: Postcard reverse reveals that this card is from Verlag fuer nationale Bildkunst, R. Bischoff. It also has a very interesting vignette/advertising/propaganda label. See below.]

    [Below: Here's another look at the label. It says:

    'Zum Jahrestag der Kriegserklärung
    Italiens an Oesterreich -- Ungarn am
    23. Mai 1915
    "Ein Treubruch wie ihn die Geschichte
    nicht kennt"
    Franz Josef I.M.P.
    Schuschnigg und Starhemberg
    haben es vergessen -- wir nicht!
    Heil Hitler!'

    (On the anniversary of Italy's declaration of war
    on Austria -- Hungary on
    May 23, 1915
    "A breach of faith the likes of which history
    has never known"
    Franz Josef I.M.P.
    Schuschnigg and Starhemberg
    have forgotten -- we have not!
    Heil Hitler!)]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Two postcards used during the Anschluss celebrating Adolf Hitler's birthday. Different cancel/printing differences.]

    [Below: More postcards in the set celebrating Adolf Hitler's birthplace. This postcard is celebrating Vienna with a special Anschluss cancel.]

    [Below: Postcard celebrating Steiermark with a special Anschluss cancel.]

    [Below: Postcard celebrating Braunau am Inn with a special Anschluss cancel.]

    [Below: Postcard celebrating Oberösterreich with a special Anschluss cancel. Note the Linz cancel. Adolf Hitler moved to Linz in his childhood from the town of Braunau am Inn. In Linz he spent most of his youth, from 1898 until 1907, when he left for Vienna.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Here's the original color version.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Anschluss voting postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard reverse.]

    [Below: Very interesting postcard showing a Catholic priest/monk with his foot on the back of a chained man representing Austria, beside him is a swastika shield with the motto 'Don't Forget it!']

    [Below: This postcard shows a man inserting a brick which says 'Anschluss'.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: Here is a similiar postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: This 1939 postcard advertises the 1st regional meeting (Kreistag) of the NSDAP in Korneuburg.]

    [Below: Postcard back showing special event cancel.]

    [Below: Rare Anschluss postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: This is an overprinted Austrian postcard. ]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: Postcard resembling a voting card with 'Ja' (yes) checked.]

    [Below: 1938 postcard 'True German Greetings from Tyrol! We wish to be a united people of brothers...' This postcard called for the annexation of the Tirol region to Germany as part of the Anschluss (artist Fricker, print and publisher Ed. Lippot, Kufstein).]

    [Below: Text on back of postcard - 'True German Greetings from Tyrol!'.]

    [Below: Regional Party Day in association with the annexation of Austria into greater Germany.]

    [Below: Regional Party Day in association with the annexation of Austria into greater Germany.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard commemorating the 1938 vote to join Austria with Germany.]

    [Below: Alpenland refers to an area in the Alps. This postcard was sent from Austria during the 1938 Anschluss. It says:

    'Alpenland
    Deutsche u. frei
    Untergruppe Alpenland West'

    (Alpine Country
    German & Free
    Subgroup Alpine Country West).]

    [Below: Postcard 'I gave my vote to the Führer'.]

    [Below: Postcard celebrating the reunification of Austria and the return of Sudetenland to greater Germany in 1938.]

    [Below: Reverse of postcard, used in Berlin on January 1, 1939.]

    [Below: Postcard from the German National League in Graz, urging Austria to join with Germany in the 1938 Anschluss. 'Tor auf nach deutschland!' = 'Return to Germany!']

    [Below: Postcard for the Anschluss. This is a spectacular image!]

    [Below: Postcard for the Anschluss. Another spectacular image! 'Ein Volk Ein Reich Ein Führer' written in the snow.]

    [Below: Not a postcard, but semi-related material. This is a torchlit night rally. Location unknown.]

    [Below: An Anschluss cancelled envelope of the common variety except this has an Austrian postage due stamp applied, something not encountered very often it seems.]

    [Below: An Anschluss canceled envelope that is a bit peculiar, since it contains a sixteen year old German stamp (on the corner of the envelope). This stamp was no longer valid, most country's stamps aren't valid forever, unlike the USA, whose stamps are always valid and useable (you can use stamps from the 1800s today if you wanted to!). Anyway, a stamp collector probably just stuck this on here as a novelty.]

    [Below: An Anschluss postcard with a rare DAF ink stamp, it says:

    'Deine stimme dein Führer'

    (Your voice, your Führer).]

    [Below: Close-up.]

    [Below: Here's an envelope with Anschluss stamps and two airmail stamps (center), canceled May 20, 1938, a months and ten days after the voting referendum noted on the stamps.]

    [Below: Reverse of envelope. This Sieger fellow had some fancy sealing tape, eh?]

    [Below: If you take a close look at the stamps you'll note they are different sizes and colors. One of the pairs is a tiny bit larger, as it was issued for whatever reason, and there is also a variation in color.]

    [Below: Postcard commemorating the Anschluss.]

    [Below: Same postcard of above, but with different font for the bottom.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: Postcard from Salzburg, Austria commemorating the Anschluss (publisher- Kiesel).]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Stamp/cancel on postcard back.]

    [Below: Anschluss postcard (publisher Carl Friedrich Fangmeier, Magdeburg).]

    [Below: This postcard was used during the Anschluss, but doesn't have any connection other than that. It says: 'Willst Du Solchen Erntesegen, mußt Du Stets auch Kali geben!' (If you want such harvest blessings, you must also always give potash! {'potash' is an alkaline potassium compound used as fertilizer}).]

    [Below: Anschluss postcard showing a bull knocking down border markers between Germany and Austria (publisher: Kiesel).]

    [Below: Anschluss postcard celebrating forty years of a postage stamp club. At the bottom it says:

    'Im Jahre der Eingliederung Oesterreichs ins Deutsche Reich. Am 10. April 1938 dem Führer Dein 'Ja"!'

    (In the year of Austria's incorporation into the German Reich. On April 10, 1938, give your "Yes" to the Führer!)]

    [Below: Anschluss postcard (publisher: Verlag für Kultur und Wirtschaftswerbung, Daenell & Co., Berlin, printed by Cyliax Druck, Vienna).]

    [Below: This postcard has German, Austrian and Czechoslovakian stamps on it!]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: This postcard is titled 'The Swastika' by someone named 'Priest-Poet', circa 1928. From the Hilfsbundes der Deutsch-Österreicher (Aid Society of German-Austrians).]

    [Below: 1938 postcard: 'Home to the Reich'.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard 'And yet you have won.']

    [Below: Postcard reverse showing stamps and cancels. ]

  • Below are a very rare series of postcards.

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard - watercolor by Franz Köck (publisher Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz, card no. 7).]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Example of cancel found on some of the postcards above.]

    [Below: Example of cancel found on some of the postcards above.]

    [Below: Example of cancel found on some of the postcards above.]

    [Below: Anschluss art. 'Das ganze Volk sagt ja!'(All the people say yes!)]

    [Below: Commemorate envelope.]

    [Below: Commemorate envelope as above except sent to Spain where the military censored it.]

    [Below: Commemorate envelope.]

    [Below: Envelope.]

    [Below: Envelope.]

    [Below: Envelope.]

    [Below: Envelope.]

    [Below: Envelope with machine cancel.]

    [Below: Envelope from Znaim, lower Austria (Now Znojmo, Czechoslovakia) to Berlin.]

    [Below: An airmail envelope to Berlin from Vienna.]

    [Below: Envelope to Paris from Vienna - 'Every Austrian vote yes!']

    [Below: Here's a German souvenir sheet used with Austrian Anschluss cancels from Graz.]

    [Below: Postcard showing the destruction of the border gate.]

    [Below: Postcard showing a National Socialist shaking the hand of a man in traditional Austrian clothes.]

    [Below: Postcard.]

    [Below: Postcard back.]

    [Below: Postcard urging Austrians to vote 'Yes!' in the April 10, 1938 vote to rejoin Germany.]

    [Below: Postcard used during the Anschluss and before (it was also used in the Saar in 1935, for example), it says: 'We died for you! And you want to betray us?' The odd circle on the soldier's helmet isn't on other versions of the postcard. Although it looks like something was cut out here, strangely there is nothing there on the other examples.]

    [Below: Postcard used during the 1935 Saar status referendum (plebescite), it says: 'We died for you! And you?' Note the circle is a light reflection on this one.]

    [Below: Postcard showing Jews running out of Austria.]

    [Below: Souvenir sheetlet.]

    [Below: Austria/Sudetenland vignette stamp, 1938.]

    [Below: Sometimes Austrian stamps were unofficially used by stamp collectors in Sudetenland during the German re-taking of the Sudetenland.]

    [Below: A variety of flyers from 1933. At this point the National Socialist party was banned in Austria by its leader Engelbert Dollfuss.]

    The top row:

    Trotz Verbot für Freiheit und Brot = Despite the Ban Vote for Freedom and Bread

    Second row (left):

    Trotz Verbot Nicht Tot = Despite the Ban Not Dead

    Second row (right):

    Kämpft mit Hitler für Österreichs Auferstehen = Fight with Hitler for Austria's Revival

    Third row:

    Hitler Macht Uns Frei = Hitler Makes Us Free

    [Below: A multi-part flyer called 'Kinderreiches Volk glückliches Volk' (Child Rich People Happy People). Cover.]

    [Below: Inside panel - one.]

    [Below: Inside panel - one. Close-up.]

    [Below: Inside panel - two.]

    [Below: Inside panel - two. Close-up.]

    [Below: Inside panel - three.]

    [Below: Inside panel - three. Close-up.]

    [Below: Inside panel - four.]

    [Below: Inside panel - four. Close-up.]

    [Below: Inside panel - five.]

    [Below: Inside panel - five. Close-up.]

    [Below: Back (I couldn't get a good translation with this, if you speak German can you tell me what this says in English?) -
    'Sage
    Adolf Hitler
    Deinen Dank und bekenne Dich
    auf's Neue zur Mitarbeit
    an Seinem grossen Werk.
    Stimme am 10. April 1938
    mit Ja!'    ]

    [Below: 1938 postal souvenir sheet from the first Volksweihnacht Ostmark (People's Christmas in Austria). This was released by the Winterhilfswerk [WHW] (Winter Charity) and bears cancels and also postage stamps of the WHW. On the bottom it states that this item is limited to 2,000 copies.]

    [Below: 1939 postal souvenir sheet from the second Volksweihnacht Ostmark (People's Christmas in Austria). This was released by the Winterhilfswerk [WHW] (Winter Charity) and bears cancels and also postage stamps of the WHW. On the bottom it states that this item is limited to 2,000 copies.]

  • While not all of them from Austria, below are other examples of sheets like that above. Click to enlarge!

    [Below: 1938 Tag der Nationalen Solidarität (Day of National Solidarity) souvenir sheet with Winterhilfswerk [WHW] (Winter Charities) postage stamps with Berlin postmarks.]

    [Below: 1938 Winterhilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes (Winter Charity of the German People) souvenir sheet with Winterhilfswerk [WHW] - (Winter Charity) postage stamps with Berlin postmarks.]

    [Below: 1939 Winterhilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes (Winter Charity of the German People) Tag der Briefmarke (Day of the Postage Stamp) souvenir sheets with Winterhilfswerk [WHW] (Winter Charity) postage stamps with Berlin, Munich and Leipzig postmarks.]

    [Below: 1940 and 1941 Winterhilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes (Winter Charity of the German People) Tag der Briefmarke (Day of the Postage Stamp) souvenir sheets with Winterhilfswerk [WHW] (Winter Charity) postage stamps with Vienna postmarks.]

    [Below: January 1, 1938 Winterhilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes (Winter Charity of the German People) Tag der Briefmarke (Day of the Postage Stamp) souvenir sheets with Winterhilfswerk [WHW] (Winter Charity) postage stamps, one with Berlin postmarks, the other Mannheim. Price: 2.20 Reichsmarks.]

    [Below: Close-up of cancel.]

    [Below: 1939 Winterhilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes (Winter Charity of the German People) Hauptstadt der Bewegung (Home of the Movement) souvenir sheet with Winterhilfswerk [WHW] (Winter Charity) postage stamps with Munich postmarks.]

    [Below: 1939 Winterhilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes (Winter Charity of the German People) and Strength through Joy (KdF) souvenir sheet with Winterhilfswerk [WHW] (Winter Charity) postage stamps with Aschaffenburg, Wuerzburg, and Schweinfurt postmarks.]

    [Below: 1939 Tag der Briefmarke souvenir sheet with Winterhilfswerk [WHW] (Winter Charity) postage stamps with Breslau postmarks.]

    [Below: 1941 Tag der Briefmarke souvenir sheet with Winterhilfswerk [WHW] (Winter Charity) postage stamps with Vienna postmarks. Note that this is not a sheet like usual, but a giant envelope. Also, these are not postage stamps, but vignettes with no postal value.]

    [Below: 1938 Grensgau Baden Tag der Nationalen Solidarität (Day of National Solidarity) souvenir sheet with Winterhilfswerk [WHW] (Winter Charity) postage stamps with Karlsruhe (Baden) postmarks.]

    [Below: This isn't a real coin, more a token, but it sure is cool.]

    [Below: 'HITLERBEWEGUNG' = 'Hitler Movement'. In the early days of the NSDAP party it was largely known as the Hitler Movement. Okay, it's not Austrian but it's friends with the coin above and didn't want to be left behind...]

    [Below: Three ceramic pins showing a map of Germany/Austria. The multi-colored version seems to be the rarest.]

    [Below: Here is an interesting document. It is a bank deposit slip from Austria, but right after the Anschluss, hence the very rare example of the eagle and swastika overprinting the Austrian coat of arms! This is the first time I've seen a usage like this. It was commonly done in occupations, especially in Ukraine/Russia, but until now I've never seen it done in Austria. This says:

    'Einzahlungsbestätigung
    Name des Kontoinhabers
    Alle Nachteile, die aus unrichtiger, unvollständiger oder undeutlicher
    Ausfertigung der Scheine entstehen können, krägt der Einzahler.
    Siehe Rückseite!'

    (Deposit confirmation
    Name of the account holder
    All disadvantages that may arise due to incorrect, incomplete or
    unclear execution of the banknotes shall be borne by the payer.
    See reverse side!)]

    [Below: Reverse. 'Bestimmungen über Einlagen mit Einzahlungsschein.' (Provisions on deposits with a payment slip.)]

    [Below: Anchluss poster for the April 10, 1938 ballot vote. The end result was that a whopping 99.7% of Austrians supported the country being made a part of Germany again. It says:

    'Das deutsche Volk soll
    in diesen Tagen noch einmal
    überprüfen, was ich
    mit meinen Mitarbeitern
    in den fünf Jahren seit der ersten Wahl des Reichstages
    im März 1933 geleistet
    habe. Es wird ein
    geschichtlich einmaliges
    Ergebnis feststellen müssen.
    Adolf Hitler
    am 18.März 1938

    (The German people shall
    in these days once again
    review, what I
    with my staff
    in the five years since the
    first election to the Reichstag
    in March 1933.
    It will have to
    establish a historically
    unique result.
    Adolf Hitler
    on March 18, 1938)'    ]

    [Below: This postal cancel celebrates the one year anniversary of the Anschluss - March 13, 1939.]

    [Below: Close-up.]

    [Below: From May 1937, okay not Anschluss or National Socialist Austria, but this postcard is so cool I had to share it with you.]

    [Below: Postcard reverse.]