Lot 4137
Omitara: 1906 watermarked 5pf green (Michel 25), horizontal pair on piece, cancelled by complete strike of "Omitara/(Deutsch-/Südwestafrika)" c.d.s. of "18.7.14", couple of blunt perfs at upper right, from a booklet pane, Very Fine and one of the great rarities of German South West Africa.
Estimate 50,000 - 60,000
Expertization: 1975 Bothe Certificate.
Provenance: Grobe
Established on 20 June 1914, shortly before the outbreak of the War, as a station between Windhoek and Gobabis, Omitara was the last post office opened in German South West Africa.
According to Hans Bothe, the measurements of the Omitara c.d.s. correspond exactly to the archival items from the postal cancellation devices manufactured by the Gleichmann firm in Berlin.
In the Arbeits Gemeinschaft Berichte (1977), three examples of this elusive cancellation were recorded: a part strike on a loose stamp (ex Hoffman, presently in the Beck collection in Windhoek), a nice strike on a loose stamp (Pauls collection), and an incomplete strike on piece from the same day (ex Obitz, Fischer). Wilhelm Lempke wrote in "Der Deutsche Kolonialsammler" (1 February 1963) that "this legendary postmark has existed".
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