Limburger Radfahrer-Post
Limburg = district town in Hesse/Germany
The cutout above comes from a postal stationery/postcard, described in the auction lot as "city mail stationery" (Stadtpost-Ganzsache):
By 1900, there were numerous local private posts in Germany, such as Stadtbrief-Beförderung-Courier Kiel
RE13189 RE29672 (unissued)
but no officially authorized "Limburg cyclist post" (Limburger Radfahrer-Post) is known. It is therefore reasonable to assume that it was a private print, issued on the occasion of a particular event. Who could have done this? The effortful designed card, printed in the typical Reichspost green, and the postmark suggest that a whole group was behind it. What could be more obvious than a cycling club?
Which clubs existed in the period in question? The “Yearbook of the Cycling Clubs 1897/98" (Jahrbuch der Radfahrer-Vereine 1897/98) shows us at least one:
Its foundation in 1889 is reported in the Limburg newspaper "Limburger Anzeiger" of August 2:
Miscellaneous news.
Limburg, August 1. (Cyclists' Club Limburg.) On Wednesday evening, the local cyclists came together in the “Alte Post” to found a cyclists' club. The following were elected to the board: ..... May the club, whose main purpose is to promote sociability and organize group tours, have a bright future in this endeavour.
The cyclists' club soon made a name for themselves with its express delivery of messages on certain occasions:
On June 27, 1893, the “Nassauer Bote” reported the following in context with the election of the members of the provincial parliament:
.... The fact that we were able to report the results so promptly is due to the Cyclists' Club, whose members rapidly brought the election results from the individual localities here. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to these gentlemen and to all the friends of our paper who supported us with information about the election results.
Another documented express delivery of messages by the Cyclists' Club is the following: The club has voluntarily agreed to deliver a very special kind of mail - namely the delivery of military orders to conscripts in the event of mobilization. In order to practice this case, the club carried out a test run on July 17, 1894. See the report in the Limburg newspaper (Limburger Anzeiger) of July 19, 1894:
The local cyclists' club has concluded a contract with the royal district headquarters and district council office here, by which the cyclists' club voluntarily agrees to deliver the mobilization orders for military conscripts to the local authorities of those towns that are not located at a railroad station in the event of mobilization. Yesterday, a test ride took place in this matter, in which even older gentlemen such as Mr. Wilh. Wagner, current chairman of the club, Mr. mechanic Schäfer and others took part. These test rides showed surprisingly positive results, which will probably be exceeded in the event of mobilization. The royal district office had informed the local authorities concerned of the cyclists' arrival and the purpose of their ride and instructed them to certify the cyclists' arrival and departure times under seal and signature. In just a few hours, the cyclists had completed their task with regard to a large number of towns and villages and were back here at the station surprisingly quickly. Anyone who thinks that nowadays, in the event of war, everything depends on being ready for war as quickly as possible must pay tribute to the idea of allowing the cyclists to play a beneficial role in this process. Even though this idea was first suggested by Lieutenant Kuhlo, the local administrative authorities and the district commander, Lieutenant Colonel Mehlburger, deserve the same recognition for their cooperation in realizing the idea, and the cyclists who so unselfishly, in a patriotic spirit, were willing to go to such strains deserve even more recognition. To celebrate the day and to discuss the results of the ride, the cyclists had opened a small barrel in the “Deutsches Haus”. It was noted that, including the stops in the village, an average of no more than 4 minutes had been needed for each kilometer: certainly a good result considering the difficult terrain! Lieutenant Colonel Mehlburger and Lieutenant Kuhlo were also present at the little party. The former expressed his delight and appreciation for the club's achievements. His toast to the cycling club was gratefully returned by a member. An informal and cozy conversation kept the cyclists' club together until the police hour. ...
There are other newspaper reports on the club's festivities and delivery services. It is not known how long it was active in serving the public with these rides. In 1910, the Nassovia cycling club was founded in Limburg. This club could also be the creator of the postcard.
The club culture of the late 19th century particularly included socializing and festivities, as described above. The reverse side of the postal stationery with the Munich Hofbräuhaus mug also bears evidence of this:
“Friendly greetings from the underworld ...” (Freundlicher Gruß aus der Unterwelt …) - perhaps this refers to a vaulted cellar of a pub?
The postcard is addressed to Miss Elis(abeth?) Kalo at table no. 1 (Tisch No. 1):
Yup - not a philatelic stationery, but an ordinary table card? This is what can happen to a collector if he relies on the description of an auction house.
When I enquired ...
... I received the following reply:
We felt the same way about the classification as a “private postal stationery item”, especially the “Tisch No” imprint, which is more reminiscent of “Clärchens Ballhaus” (telephone).
Why cyclists is not clear. A comparison with the well-known Ruhlebener Camp Post, where the Kgf (prisoners of war) initiated a barrack mail service as a leisure activity and also designed postal stationeries themselves, is obvious.
It probably remains a curiosity.
What raises some doubts is the copy or image-like use of the word “Postkarte” (postcard), which is somewhat unusual in this period of official restrictions.
In any case, we wish you further success with your research!
Two little notes from me on the auction house's explanation-attempt:
Ruhleben was not a prisoner-of-war camp, but an internment camp for British civilians. There were also ladies attending their festive events:
Gala performance in Ruhleben Camp: The Mikado - Nico Jungmann (from the collections of the Imperial War Museums)
Here is an example of the Ruhleben postal stationery mentioned. It is created under camp conditions and philatelically classified as cinderella:
But was there an internment camp in Limburg too?
Clärchens Ballhaus: The same: where is the relationship between a dance hall in Berlin (opened in 1913) to the bicycle post in Limburg? I don't see it.
The question also arises as to why the auction house did not place the unique Limburg postcard clearly visible on the insert card. Maybe you think the same as me? Well, it's my own fault: WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get.
Conclusion: I have probably bought a philatelically worthless table card. The only consolation for me is that I still like the card in a way, even if it was a bit expensive. And maybe one day it will turn out that it was actually the above cyclists' club from 1889 that delivered the postcard to Elis by bicycle on a huge festival site or beer garden.
Arnoldt Rehm, December 2025
Addendum, December 22nd, 2025
While mailing Dr. Waldecker yesterday to thank him for his support, I had one more idea ....
Email sent to Dr. Waldecker (translated):
… The newspaper articles about the cycling clubs were very interesting for me. I was not aware that socializing was so important to the clubs and their members. The express delivery of election-result documents and conscription notices by the ambitious cyclists is a bit like postal delivery. The only thing missing is the key link between the “Cyclists' Club” and the Limburg “Cyclists' Post ”. This link could be hidden in the pale purple postmark, which is unfortunately only faintly visible on its right half. But fortunately there are high-resolution scanners
and the only clearly recognizable letter is the “V” - as in "Verein" (= club)!
To ensure that the card would not be used a second time, a pen cancel was additionally added. This indicates that transportation was in fact provided for the 5 Pfennig - even if it was only from one table to the next in a large beer garden. Of course by a cyclist.
…….
Addendum - January 9th 2026
In the meantime, more “Tisch-No.” cards have been spotted:
They are known as Saalpost / Saal-Post (= hall mail) - also called Juxpost in Austria (= funmail). The term “Saal” already indicates where these cards were distributed: in dance halls or ballrooms:
Hall post office of the local group Naumburg a./S. -
(by express messenger - to be delivered personally)
The cards were handed to the ball master, who passed them on to the various tables. Elsewhere, the cards could be dropped into a letterbox and were then delivered by a messenger:
Mailbox and postwoman in gala dress
At club festivities and philatelic meetings, there was often a fun mail service to amuse the participants.
On 26.6.1894, the Berlin Philatelists Club (BERL. PH. CLUB = Berliner Philatelisten Club) even set up a festival post office on the occasion of its summer festival in the “Neue Scheune”. This commemorative postcard was available there at a price of 5 Pf. (quanti costa crempelino - how much does this rubbish cost?):
Printed by C. Bierbach.
Presumably the word “crempelino” was to make a joke of the collecting of German Empire postcards according to control dates. Incidentally, the above card is currently on sale for € 30. The printed stamp shows the co-founder of the “Berliner Philatelisten-Klub” (1888) Carl Lindenberg - former owner of a huge collection of postal stationeries and a large philatelic library.
The card was only valid until midnight - by then you should have found your luck.
There are not only postcards from the Saalpost, but also stamps/vignettes:
Fürstenwalde – Fürstl. Serenissimus-Post – Erinnerung an das Serenissimus Fest - 18.1.1908
(Commemoration of the Serenissimus Festival)
and ordinary postmarks
B.F.V. / B. F. V. 1901 postmark - Boeckenheim Frankfurt
K. L. S. Dresden-FR.
Kötzschenbroda 5.1.1906 / Dresden Neustadt 21.1.1906
S. P. S. – O. B. St. Pauli Säle – Ober-Bayern
(St. Pauli Halls - Upper Bavaria - Grand Ballroom - Hamburg Reeperbahn)
ca. 1921
And sometimes a Saalpost card was transported a longer distance by the Reichspost:
from Mügeln-Dresden 28.3.1900 to Altenburg 29.3.1900 (approx. 60 km)
The ballrooms and clubs that opened after the First World War initially used the Saal-Post to arrange contacts
Ladies' Club Violetta - Ladies' Ball - Laubenkolonie Krumme Lanke - Sunday 30.4.1930
Later, people started to make an appointment by telephone:
The end of the Saal-Post.
References/External links:
My special thanks go to Dr. Christoph Waldecker, Director of the Limburg City Archives, whose support in the search for archive material made this article possible in the first place.
Another special thanks goes to Steve Schmidt from the working group “Privatpost-Merkur e.V. im BDPh e.V.”, who put me on the right track with his reference to the "Saalpost" and also provided me with a number of pictures.
Suffkarte - Expertise by Richard Ebert, owner of philaseiten.de (DeepL can't find a translation for the word “Suffkarte”, but I suspect that “Suff…” has something to do with drinking/boozing. Cheers!)
AI artificial intelligence answer - (translated from German):
Yes, this is a very interesting item! I'd be happy to explain what you have here:
1. What is the "Limburger Radfahrerpost"?
The “Limburg cyclists' post” was not an official postal service, but a privately organized cyclists' post - usually a club or event post. Such "cyclists' posts" existed in many German cities at the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th century, often in connection with cyclists' clubs or cycling festivals. They sometimes operated special postal services during events to deliver mail within the festival grounds or between participants - often purely symbolic or fun, similar to a special philatelic issue.
2. Postal transportation
Your card bears:
- A club postmark “Limburg Cyclists' Post”
- A “Radfahrer-Post” stamp at 5 Pfennig
- No official Reichspost franking, no Reichspost postmark.
This means that it was not sent by post (in the sense of the Reichspost).
It was therefore not sent via the state postal service, but was delivered locally by members of the cycling club - or simply served as a souvenir or place card at a cycling festival.
3. Note "Table No.1"
This strongly suggests that the card was actually a table place card - probably for a cyclists' meeting or festival.
It was popular at the time to print postcards with your own club stamp and fancy stamps, which also served as a souvenir or festival card.
4. Known references to the "Limburg cyclists' post"
Numerous cyclists' posts are listed in philatelic literature (e.g. in the "Michel Private Postage Stamps Catalog") - Limburg appears occasionally, mostly in the context of cyclists' festivals dated around 1897-1902."
The "Limburg cyclists' post" was therefore a local private post of the Limburg cyclists' club, presumably only active for the duration of a festival.
Conclusion:
- Yes, it is a private mail item.
- No, it was not officially mailed.
- Yes, it was very probably used as a table card (“Table No. 1”) at a cyclists' party - presumably with a humorous reference to “postal delivery by bike”.
- “Limburg cyclists' post” was a temporary private club mail service, not a permanent institution.