Lettres de Voiture - The WW2 German Occupation C.d.Z. Overprint - Used only from Late 1940 to Early 1941

 C. d. Z. Overprint
[Chef der Zivilverwaltung]
on Lettre de voiture Revenues

 

Background

Following the invasion of Luxembourg on May 10, 1940, the country was initially placed under military administration.  However, on August 2, 1940, Hitler appointed Gauleiter Gustav Simon as the Chef de Zivilverwaltung to initiate a rapid, aggressive process of "Germanization."

 

In late August/September 1940, the C.d.Z. ordered that all French language elements on official and commercial documents be systematically erased or covered up.  Due to the time required to print new German revenue stamps, local printers overprinted remaining stocks of pre-war Lettre de Voiture stamps as seen above.  The overprint served two purposes:  it forced use of Germanic spelling ("Luxemburg" instead of the French Luxembourg), and updated the legal classification from the French Lettre de voiture to the German Frachtbriefstempel.

The overprinted Lettre de voiture stamps enjoyed a very brief official window of utility, and consequently many denominations are scarce.  They were introduced in late 1940 and were phased out through early 1941.  By spring and summer of 1941, Luxembourg's fiscal system was fully integrated into the German Reich, meaning that standard Deutsches Reich customs and revenue stamps entirely replaced local overprints.

 

The known overprinted face-value denominations include: 10c, 25c, 50c, 1Fr, 1.50Fr, 2Fr, 3Fr, 4Fr, and 5Fr. 

 

Because these stamps were used for accounting and tax validation purposes on internal corporate and railroad freight paperwork, most were discarded when mandatory retention periods expired.  Intact multiples on documents, as shown below, are uncommon.

 

1 Fr. Lettre de voiture (x4)

overprinted C. d. Z.

used on a Railway Freight Waybill

dated 10 April 1941

Shipment of timber for mine pit props (Grubenholz) by Nik. Reisen, Holzhandlung of Munshausen, to Aiseau, Belgium, dated (and the stamps cancelled) at Wiltz, 
10 April 1941.