Today in Postal History

     
Liechtenstein to Germany
April 4, 1912

Liechtenstein is an independent Principality nestled between Austria and Switzerland.
  Austria operated the postal system until 1918 when Liechtenstein
took charge of its postal system after the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire.
Austria issued its first stamps in 1850 which were used in Liechtenstein as well.
It was not until 1912 that stamps were issued specifically for Liechtenstein.

This registered cover was sent from Schaan about 3 km
north northwest of Vaduz on the border of Switzerland.
Schaan had been a stop on the mail route
between Milan and Lindau as early as the 15th century,
A post office operated by Austria opened in Schaan in 1872.

This cover is franked with the first stamps issued for Liechtenstein on February 1, 1912.*
This is an early use of the stamps.
The stamps portray Prince Johann II with a 5h
yellow green, a 10h rose, and a 25h dark blue (Scott 1-3).
The stamps were intended to satisfy the U.P.U. color requirements of green, red, and blue.
The stamps reflect the influence of Austrian stamp designs of the period.

The cover was postmarked with three Schaan CDS.
The sender requested registration and a preprinted Schaan label was added.
Somewhere en route a script 322 was added
probably to identify the letter in the German postal system.
I'm not sure of the significance of the marking at the lower left of the cover.
Help, anyone?
I believe the 5305 in the upper right corner was added by a dealer or collector.

The destination was Nordhausen about 110 km west of Leipzig.

*Thanks to Knud-Erik Andersen for providing the date of issue of this set of stamps.