1912 (24 Apr) NÜRNBERG to Mission-House in MeiChou and Changlok via
Swatow. German postcard to Hong Kong, redirected to Meichou and
then
1912 (24 Apr) NÜRNBERG to Mission-House in MeiChou and Changlok via
Swatow. German postcard to Hong Kong, redirected to Meichou and
then changlok via Swatow (汕頭), with multiple Chinese datestamps.
Picture postcard franked with a 10 Pfennig red "Bayern" issue, tied
by clear NÜRNBERG/24.4.12 circular datestamp, correctly paying the
UPU international postcard rate. Originally addressed to Hong Kong,
to a German missionary at "Mission-House", the card was redirected
to Changlok (likely present-day Changlou/長洛), a rural station near
Meizhou (梅州), Guangdong. The address was amended in red ink with
the instruction "via Swatow", and the card received several Chinese
transit and arrival postmarks, including: 汕頭 (Swatow) transit
marking: 梅州 (Meichou) regional postmarks; 長樂(Changlok) local
delivery mark. This postcard is an excellent example of early
German missionary correspondence redirected through the Hong
Kong-Swatow-Changlok inland route. It highlights the complexity of
missionary mail forwarding in pre-republican China, with complete
routing and delivery markings.
1912.4.24 德國寄香港明信片,轉寄廣東梅州「德教堂」,經汕頭轉遞並蓋多枚中文戳記。貼有德國巴伐利亞紅色10便士郵票,銷紐倫堡
NÜRNBERG/1912年4月
24日清晰日戳,正確支付萬國郵聯(UPU)明信片國際郵資。原址為香港,寄往德國傳教士駐「德教堂(Mission-House)」,惟收件人已遷離,地址被紅筆劃去並改為廣東梅州長樂(Changlok)。信件另加紅筆註明「via
Swatow(經汕頭)」,並蓋有多枚中文戳記,包括:汕頭(Swatow)日戰、廣東興寧元年五月廿八日(Hingling)、長樂元年五月廿九日(Chonglok)日戳。此為德國傳教郵件經香港轉送中國內陸之完整實寄實例,展示早期傳教士郵件改遞處理流程與條約港與內陸郵路之連繫,具研究價值。