Accession Number: 2022.02.10.2.7
Stamp: DE 419, Yvert et Tellier DR 487, Stanley Gibbons DR 497B, AFA number DR 511, Unificato DR 487
Postmark: Promotional postmark for the NSDAP regional celebration in Leipzig, Germany
Historical background: The Nazi Gau System and the Monument to the Battle of the Nations
The Nazi Gau system was established early on in the party’s history at a party conference in 1926. The system improved administration of the party’s structure and ideologies. As the Nazi’s took control of the states, each states administration would be replaced with the Gau. At the Head of the Gau was the Gauleiter. The Gauleiter often held both government positions and party ones. One of their main tasks was propaganda. The annual Nazi Gautag rally in Leipzig was similar to the rallies in Nuremburg
The Leipzig Denkmal monument or the Monument to the Battle of the Nations is a monument constructed in 1913 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle of Leipzig in 1813. The monument commemorates the defeat of Napoleon’s French army at Leipzig, a crucial step towards the end of hostilities in the War of the Sixth Coalition. Following the rise of the Nazi Party to power and Adolf Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor of Germany, the monument was quickly turned into a meeting ground meant to symbolize the ethnic unity of the nation and the subservience of the individual to the collective. The annual celebrations of the Battle of Leipzig continued under Nazi rule, now accompanied by representation of the army, police, and the SA. This included a large event for the 125th anniversary in 1938
