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 16th 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”.
Ross Nochimson
Nice item and article Neil!