Development of Swiss Airmail up to 1939

A Philatelic Exhibit by George Struble

Introduction

This exhibit tries to tell a comprehensive story of the development of the Swiss airmail system.  It’s a fascinating story, with elements not duplicated in other countries.  I think most of the interesting developments took place in this period, which is why I have concentrated on it, and 1939 makes a natural stopping point because all of the airmail service built over two decades was halted when World War II broke out. 

We start with the Flugspende mail-carrying flights of 1913, a chapter unique to Switzerland. We show all of the stamps printed for these flights, and flown cards from all except of course the aborted events of Olten. The objective of those flights and the Flugspende campaign was to raise money to initiate a Swiss air force. The campaign was successful, and the Flieger Abteilung (Air Detachment) was formed in 1914. We see philatelic evience of that unit.

Regular domestic airmail service began in 1919. Switzerland is a small country, with excellent train service that carried mail quite efficiently. So the 1919 service did not fill a need, and was abandoned after one season. The period 1920 to 1922 saw formal recognition of international routes run by other countries and companies. Regular airmail service began in earnest in 1923, concentrating on international routes. This exhibit traces the development of airmail service over these routes.

The sections of this exhibit are

Along the way, we will show the postage rates and their changes over time, some significant acquisitions of new planes, and some of the important aviators, especially Oskar Bider, Theodor Borrer, and Walter Mittelholzer.