German States - Bavaria

The Project

This is part of a much larger project where I am attempting to learn about the internal letter rates for the European countries.  While I tend to focus on the 1860's, I realize that it makes sense to explore a bit around the 'edges' so I can get a better understanding of not just 'how' things were done, but also 'why' things came out the way they did.  It seems to me that a single posting for this project would be unwieldy, so I am breaking it up into smaller parts.

 Project Status: Fact Gathering

Internal Letter Rates for Bavaria Jul 1, 1850 to Jul 31, 1865

Distance	Rate	Unit
less than 10 meilen	3 kreuzer	1 loth
10 to 20 meilen	6 kreuzer	1 loth
greater than 20 meilen	9 kreuzer	1 loth

3 kr Rate Example:

verso

Docket 2 April 1864 Frankfurt
C Marzell Frankfurt A M
apparently mailed by
Franz Marzell Aschaffenburg A M

franked by 1862 issue

Aschaffenburg XII ? 4
Weiler 23 / 10
Uettingen by Wurzburg

content page 1

   actual distance 56 km = 7.5 meilen

 The Rise and Fall of Ceylon Coffee: This order for Ceylon coffee (‘caffee’) reflects the popularity of coffee from that region in the mid-1860's.  In 1866, Ceylon exported over 897 million pounds according to Ceylon: A General Description of the Island, etc by H.J. Suckling.  In fact, the development of coffee plantations in Ceylon occurred in a way that could be likened to a gold rush, with primarily English speculators clear cutting the natural forests in favor of a monocrop system.  The soil in much of Ceylon was such that farmers would need to supplement the soil to maintain production, but few speculators were aware of this and lost a great deal of money in the 1840's.  After a peak of 1.6 billion pounds of export in 1868, production declined rapidly with the appearance of Coffee Leaf Rust over the next several years.  The spread of this fungus can be largely attributed to poor agricultural practices and the ridiculous dedication to a single crop with no regard for environmental balance.

6 kr Rate Example:

verso

Nurnberg 6 Apr 1864

franked by 1862 issue

Uettingen (by Wurzburg)
approx distance via train to Wurzburg 150 km = 20 meilen

---

Borders of Bavaria circa 1860

Resources:
Kunz, Andreas (ed.), IEG Maps
        maintained by Leibniz Institute of European History
  In particular, this series shows railways of the German area.  Thanks to Bavaria collector extraordinaire Ralph for his suggestion that I find these maps.

1864 railway lines according to IEG maps

For later integration into the text.  Thank you Ralph!
=================================
Internal rates:

1.7.1849 - 30.6.1850

up to 12 miles 3x paid or unpaid up to 1 loth. over 1 - 4 loth 6x paid or unpaid.
over 12 miles 6x paid or unpaid up to 1 loth. over 1 - 4 loth 12x paid or unpaid.
chargé = 4x for the postmaster, not for Bavaria.

1.7.1850 - 30.6.1858

up to 12 miles 3x paid, 6x unpaid up to 1 loth. over 1 - 4 loth 6x paid, 12x unpaid.
over 12 miles 6x paid, 9x unpaid up to 1 loth. over 1 - 4 loth paid 12x, unpaid 18x.
chargé rising to 6x.

1.7.1858 - 31.7.1865

up to 12 miles 3x paid, 6x unpaid. Each loth more 3x paid, 6x unpaid more up to 15 loth.
over 12 miles 6x paid, 9x unpaid. each loth more 6x paid, 9x unpaid more up to 15 loth.
only official letters were allowed to weight up to 32 (from 1.4.1862 30) loth.

1.8.1865 - 31.12.1867

no mileage border - 3x paid, 6x unpaid all over the Bavarian kingdom up to 1 loth.
over 1 - 15 loth 6x paid, 12x unpaid.

1.1.1868 - 31.12.1875

nor mileage border - 3x paid, 7x unpaid for 1 loth.
over 1 - 15 loth paid 7x, unpaid 11x.
chargé rising to 7x.