8/12/2019 Passports - Yes, The World is Flat (German Magazine Autographensammler)

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Passports Yes, the World is Flat...by Tom Topol - Deutsche Zusammenfassung von Heinz-Ulrich Kammeier

at least if you lookat all the differentcountry stamps inyour own passport

but there is muchmore to explorewhen it comes toPASSPORT COL-LECTING.

Nowadays you cancollect everythinge.g. stamps, maps,newspapers, invoic-es. In the ephemeraworld there is a cor-ner for everything

even for old obsoletepassports. This arti-cle may give you afirst impression onWHY, WHAT to col-lect and WHERE tofind your passports.There are of coursemany different an-swers to the big 3Ws but I will tell youmine

PASSPORTCOLLECTING isnothing new and Iknow collectors start-ing 30 years ago. ButI would say this topicis getting more popu-lar today even yourarely find articles inthe established web-sites or magazines.Some famous mansaid once If you

dont find what youlooking for create it

be it. Well, thatwas exactly why Istarted to establishthe website www.passport-collector.com. Its a share point for collectors of passports and other related traveldocuments. There is a weekly newsletter and you will be updated by regular postings of news, reports, picturesand collectors experience. Any collector contribution is very welcome and will keep the site vivid.

WHY do I collect passports?For me an old passport is a piece of art beside it shows the (travel) history of its bearer. Imagine, who was trav-elling 70-80 years ago to countries like China, Japan and India? Only business man or wealthy people did, astravelling was much more complex as it is today. For private people it was pure luxury to travel. Now go even

more back in time 100, 150 or 200 years. Who was travelling then? Look at the passport above who once be-longs to a member of the first German National Assembly 1848 in Frankfurt (example I). Do you see all thehandwriting and stamps? At this time you did not find pictures on passports. Isnt that art compared to our RFID-Passport (Biometric passport) from today? At those days each passport was unique. Today passports are

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standardized and you cant even smile anymore onyour passport picture as this is against the standard. Ido have documents in my collection I only bought be-cause of the unusual or artful passport picture. Seeexample II. Impossible today!

WHAT to collect?

Well, the topic is broad but I would recommend to limit

your desire (and money) and focus your passion e.g.on a country, a period or smaller (but more difficult) ona grand duchy, specific stamps or visaothers collect-ing diplomatic passports only (very difficult). I do collectGerman documents. My oldest passport was hand-written by a duchess in 1646.

WHERE to find old passports?Maybe the most difficult one of the three questions asthe public still thinks there is something illegal behindto collect passports. Please open your own passportright now and you will find a statement similar like thisin almost all documents This passport is property of

the issuing countryand you are only its bearer.To say it clear THERE IS NOTHING ILLEGAL (Aslong its an old, obsolete one and for collecting purposeonly) and remember here we talk about current modernpassports.

The real old ones dont have normally such a state-ment.

As source to start or increase your collection I have tomention eBay even they have strict rules on offering

government documents. Please check your local eBay site for more information. But I made some great findingsthere. Secondly visit your local flea or antique markets. Also there you might be lucky. Finally you can visit oc-

casionally auction houses. Sign up for their newsletters to get the latest information. To buy at an auction houseisnt necessarily expensive. Try it and you will be surprised sometimes.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my article here and the short introduction in PASSPORT COLLECTING. Dont hesitateto contact me for any further questions at www.passport-collector.com. The ONLY website for passport-collectors.

Deutsche ZusammenfassungIn diesem Artikel beleuchtet Tom Topol ein Randgebiet des Autographensammelns, nmlich das Sammelnhistorischer Psse.

Wie beim Sammeln von Handschriften kann man sich auch hier spezialisieren: bestimmte Lnder oder Epo-

chen, Diplomatenpsse usw. Eine Streitfrage der heutigen Zeit ist die nach den Eigentumsverhltnissen. Ei-gentlich ist es der ausgebende Staat; der Inhaber ist lediglich der Besitzer. Wer nun ltere Psse sammelt, hatmit dieser Rechtslage jedoch keinerlei Probleme.

Abgebildet ist unter anderem ein Reisepass fr einen Abgeordneten der Nationalversammlung der Paulskirchein Frankfurt (1848/49), die ja mehrere Lndergrenzen berqueren mussten, wenn sie etwa von Oldenburg(Oldb.), Bautzen, Greifswald oder Wiener Neustadt in die Freie Reichsstadt Frankfurt am Main reisten.

Eine gute Mglichkeit recht preiswert an historische handgeschriebene Psse zu gelangen, ist ebay.

Kurzmeldung

Gefragter Bundesprsident (BILD AM SONNTAG, 26.02.2012)Bei einer Lesung kurz vor seiner Wahl zum Bundesprsidenten wollten 300 der 400 Anwesenden einen Na-menszug Gaucks haben noch war er original zu haben.