After finishing secondary school and completing his military service, Gigerenzer had to choose between a career in music and studying. He played with the renowned Dixieland and jazz band Munich Beefeaters, who even provided the musical backdrop for a TV advert for the VW Golf. Despite a promising career in music, he opted for science and thus took a ‘risk’. He succeeded in overcoming one challenge after another in Germany and abroad, including in the USA, Great Britain and Austria, achieving highly acclaimed successes in problem solving.
He was, and remains, virtually unknown in the world of philately. He was not an exhibitor and never displayed his collection publicly. Moreover, he came to philately quite by chance. In 1982/83, he discovered a small collection of Bavarian stamps at a flea market in Bielefeld, which gave him a better understanding of earlier times. Since then, he has been interested in letters and stamps, particularly their background and their place in cultural and contemporary history. Like a detective, he researched not only the postage on documents, but also everything he could find out about them if the content was still available or the senders/addresses could be identified.
In his introduction to this highly readable book, he cites appealing examples. The 248 pages are divided into four chapters:
I: The 1849 issue. The first three stamps featuring letters from within the German-Austrian Postal Union;
II: Issues from 1850 to 1875 featuring letters from within Bavaria;
III: Foreign letters from the Postal Union, other European countries and overseas from the 1850 to 1875 period;
IV: Telegraphy within Bavaria, to the German states and other European countries.
“Lions and swans?” These are the official and unofficial heraldic animals of Bavaria. They represent the title of the collection, which could certainly be described as ‘social philately’. This is because the large number of unusual items, particularly the letters, are described accurately in philatelic terms and presented alongside statements from previous examiners and, wherever possible, their cultural and social context. This is almost unprecedented and simply fascinating. It is just like the book itself, which is worth recommending not only for its professional design.
Key details: Format 25.5 x 34 cm, 248 pages, colour, art paper, hardcover with dust jacket and gold embossed title and spine, retail price: €79. Available from: Auktionshaus Heinrich Köhler GmbH & Co. KG, Hasengartenstr. 25, 65189 Wiesbaden, tel. 06 11/34 149-0, email: info@heinrich-koehler.de, www.heinrich-koehler.de
Translated with DeepL (www.deepl.com)
