Blue 75 Pfennig postage stamp, dated 1947, showing officials collecting stall charges, Leipzig Trade Fair, Leipzig, East Germany
The Leipzig Trade Fair (Leipziger Messe) was a major fair for trade across medieval Central Europe. After World War 2 it lay within East Germany, but continued as an important trade fair for Comecon countries and an important meeting place for businessmen and politicians from both sides of the Iron Curtain. A Leipzig Fair is first mentioned in 1165. In 1190 Otto the Rich, Margrave of Saxony, instigated two trade fairs - a Jubilate fair at Easter and a second at Michaelmas. Frederick 2nd of Saxony founded a third fair on the first of January. In 1507 Emperor Maximilian 1 gave an imperial charter to the Leipzig Fairs, banning any fairs within a 15 mile radius of the city. The first post-war 'Peace Fair' was held in May 1946. The Allied Armies of Occupation produced a series of stamps (graphics by Gruner) to commemorate the fair. This 75 Pfennig stamp, showing traders paying for the use of a trading stall in 1365, was issued 2 September 1947. The Allied controlled Deutsche Post ran from 1945 to 1949. A stamp in a collection of German stamps bought in the UK in the early 1950s.
Size: 2683px × 2167px
Location: Leipzig Trade Fair, Leipzig, East Germany (GDR), 1947
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 20th, 75, 1947, blue, century, commemorative, deutsche, east, fair, german, germany, historical, history, illustration, leipiziger, leipzig, medieval, messe, pfennig, post, post-war, postage, scene, stamp, trade
