1907 exceptionally rare colonial passport

 

German New Guinea signed passport.

 

Not often does one come across a rare and exquisite travel document that one clearly can claim that it belongs to a museum. A document that once in 15 years appears is an exceptional treasure and should an opportunity arise, then one should try and not let such a gem slip through one’s fingers. Several months ago, such a passport surfaced, and I decided to go for it and add it to my collection of German related travel documents and rare ID’s. I must say that this is most likely the last time I would be able to see such an item yet alone acquire one.

 

Unique Imperial German colonial passport numbered 11/07 was issued at the German New Guinea colony (Deutsch-Neuguinea) on May 16^th 1907 in the capital Herbertshöhe and hand signed by the colonial governor Albert Hahl (1868-1945).

 

The passport is issued to 28-year-old Adele Störmer who could have been related to a Kapitän Störmer from the Motorschuner “Otti” der Neu-Guinea-Kompagnie based in the colony. The document is valid for 1 year and beautifully stamped.

 

The colony existed from 1884 up to WWI, 1914, so any document from this rare and exotic location is truly a catch and possibly less than a dozen exist today in archives and private collections. Needless to say, it is the only specimen I have ever seen in over 15 years.

 

Smaller image source: Wikipedia.

 

Have added images of this treasure.

 

 

Thank you for reading “Our Passports”.