Germany 1933 'Chicagofahrt' Graf Zeppelin Overprints

A Zeppelin for the World's Fair

Chicago's Century of Progress exposition opened on May 27, 1933, under the motto 'Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms.' Its organizers wanted the most famous aircraft in the world, the German airship LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, to come to the fair. The ship had last visited the United States in 1929.

The Zeppelin company was asked to add Chicago to the end of its last South American run of the 1933 season. Commander Hugo Eckener agreed on one condition: that the United States issue a special commemorative stamp and share the postal revenue. The U.S. Post Office at first opposed the idea, and President Franklin Roosevelt rejected it, before the government agreed. The result was the 50-cent green Century of Progress airmail stamp, issued on October 2, 1933.

Germany prepared its own stamps for the mail the airship would carry. Rather than design new ones, the Reichspost took three existing Zeppelin airmail stamps and overprinted them 'Chicagofahrt Weltausstellung 1933.' They were issued on September 25, 1933.

Three values, one overprint

The 1 RM and 2 RM come from the 1928 Graf Zeppelin issue (German catalog 423-424), and the 4 RM from the 1931 Zeppelin issue (German catalog 455). Each was overprinted with the three-line inscription, in black on the red 1 RM and in brownish black on the ultramarine 2 RM and the black-brown 4 RM.

The stamps were printed in sheets of 100 on paper with the waffle watermark used for German stamps of the time. They stayed valid for postage until the end of 1937. Collectors now list them as 496-498 in the main German catalog and, in the main American catalog, as C43-C45.

The 4 RM, the highest value, is the key stamp of the set. One U.S. dealer listing quotes a 2018 catalog value of $245 for a fine to very fine never-hinged copy, and a German dealer prices a certified never-hinged set at €1,500 against a catalog value of €3,600.

The swastika over Lake Michigan

The flight took place in Germany's first year under Nazi rule. Adolf Hitler had been appointed chancellor on January 30, 1933, and the Enabling Act of March 23 made him effectively a dictator. By the time the Graf Zeppelin crossed to the Americas, it carried swastika markings on the left side of its tail fins.

Eckener opposed the regime. When the airship reached Chicago, he circled the fair clockwise so that the swastikas, on the ship's left side, would not face the spectators. On October 14, 1933, while the airship was on its way, Germany announced its withdrawal from the League of Nations.

After South America, the ship called at the naval air station at Opa-locka in Miami and at the Goodyear Zeppelin airdock in Akron, Ohio. On October 26, 1933, it reached Chicago, circled Lake Michigan near the fairgrounds for about two hours, and landed at the Curtiss-Wright airport in Glenview for roughly 25 minutes before leaving. It was the fifth and last time the Graf Zeppelin visited the United States.

Covers, sets and singles

Mail carried on the flight bears a special postmark marking the 50th ocean crossing, reading in part 'Südamerika-Chicago fahrt.' Covers franked with the overprints, especially registered covers carrying all three values, are a specialty of their own among Zeppelin collectors.

The overprints sit alongside two other famous German Zeppelin flight overprints, the 'Südamerikafahrt' (South America flight) and the 'Polarfahrt' (Polar flight). Of the three Chicago values, the 4 RM is the one collectors watch most closely, and certified never-hinged copies, signed by a recognized German expert, command the strongest prices.

Prices vary widely with condition: whether a stamp is mint or used, hinged or never hinged, and whether it carries an expert's certificate. One registered cover with all three values, sent from Netzschkau in Saxony, sold through a German dealer for €421.

Telling a real one from a reprint

The overprinted stamps were widely reproduced. Reprint sets are openly sold marked 'Nachdruck,' the German word for reprint, and one dealer reference warns that forgeries of these stamps are common. Cheap never-hinged sets are a warning sign.

A genuine stamp must be on the correct base stamp with the waffle watermark, and the overprint must match the right color for the value: black on the 1 RM, brownish black on the 2 and 4 RM. For a valuable copy, especially the 4 RM, collectors look for a certificate from a recognized expert.

The best-known Zeppelin flight issue

The Graf Zeppelin made 590 flights before it was retired in June 1937, each able to carry up to 12 tons of mail. After the Hindenburg disaster in May 1937 it was withdrawn, and it was scrapped in April 1940 for military aircraft production.

The Chicago overprints, together with the U.S. 50-cent stamp printed for the same visit, are among the most recognizable pieces of Zeppelin philately. They capture a single moment when a German airship carrying the new regime's symbol was greeted at an American fair celebrating science and progress.

The numbers

Issue date

September 25, 1933

Values

1 RM, 2 RM, 4 RM

Catalog numbers

496-498 (German catalog); C43-C45

Watermark

Waffle (vertical)

Perforation

14

Sheet size

100

Overprint

'Chicagofahrt Weltausstellung 1933', black (1 RM) or brownish black (2 and 4 RM)

Valid until

End of 1937

Quantity printed

Not stated in the sources consulted

Timeline

1. Sep 18, 1928

   The LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin makes its first flight; Germany issues the 1928 Zeppelin airmail stamps.

2. 1929

   The Graf Zeppelin flies around the world and visits the United States.

3. 1931

   Germany issues the 1931 Zeppelin stamps, including the 4 RM later overprinted for Chicago.

4. May 27, 1933

   The Century of Progress World's Fair opens in Chicago.

5. Sep 25, 1933

   Germany issues the 'Chicagofahrt Weltausstellung 1933' overprints.

6. Oct 2, 1933

   The United States issues its 50-cent Century of Progress Zeppelin airmail stamp.

7. Oct 1933

   The airship flies from South America to Miami and Akron, its 50th ocean crossing.

8. Oct 26, 1933

   The Graf Zeppelin circles the fair and lands briefly at Glenview, near Chicago.

9. 1937

   The overprints lose postal validity at the end of the year; the Graf Zeppelin is retired in June.

10. Apr 1940

    The Graf Zeppelin is scrapped.

The world in 1933

• Jan 30, 1933

  Adolf Hitler is appointed chancellor of Germany.

• Feb 27, 1933

  The Reichstag building in Berlin is set on fire.

• Mar 4, 1933

  Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in as president of the United States.

• Mar 23, 1933

  The Enabling Act makes Hitler effectively dictator of Germany.

• Oct 14, 1933

  Germany announces it is leaving the League of Nations.

• Oct 17, 1933

  Albert Einstein arrives in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.

• Dec 5, 1933

  The 21st Amendment is ratified, ending Prohibition in the United States.

Price record

A price-guide value is an editorial estimate, not a transaction and not an asking price. Guides lag the market and smooth over grade and condition. It is neither a floor nor a ceiling: a sale can land above or below it, and it should be checked against a realized sale before anything rests on it.

By reference price, Germany 1933 'Chicagofahrt' Graf Zeppelin Overprints is number 94 of 100 in the stamps entries of the FLOAT 100. 82 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (88 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Hugo Eckener flew clockwise around the Chicago fair so the crowd would not see the swastikas painted on the left side of the airship's fins.
• Eckener agreed to visit Chicago only if the United States issued its own stamp and shared the postal revenue.
• The Graf Zeppelin spent only about 25 minutes on the ground near Chicago.
• The Chicago visit was the airship's 50th ocean crossing and its fifth and final trip to the United States.
• Reprint sets of the overprints are sold openly with the German word 'Nachdruck,' meaning reprint.