Germany: Titanic organ

Titanic-Untergang mythos “Titanic-Orgel” Deutsches Musikautomaten-Museum Bruchsal

The epic sinking of the Titanic (represented by) the Titanic Organ at the Automatic Instrument Museum, Bruchsal.

Most are familiar with the tragedy of the sinking of the luxury liner, Titanic. It hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage and sank, killing many, many people. One cannot over-emphasize the “luxury” descriptor. One symbol of this opulence was the plan to include a pipe organ in one of the ship’s salons. A sister ship the Britanic likewise was to have a “Welte Philharmonic Organ” installed. Using the most cut-edge technology of the day these instruments made the utmost of a limited number of pipes and included an automatic playing mechanism. The instrument for the Titanic was not installed before the first voyage. Ultimately the instrument made its way to the DMM in Bruchsal, Germany. Apporximately 100 years after the Titanic sank, the museum held festivities that featured the instrument that was spared. These several covers include various stamps and cachets, but the same pictorial cancel. The cancel includes information about the event and an image of the organ along with the postal code for Bruchsal.

Above is a stamp featuring a honey bee on a flower, meant to promote the need to protect pollinators. This stamp was issued in 2010, so I do not have a catalog number, as my catalog goes up to 2009 only.

At the bottom is a computer-generated postage label. The image on the label shows the Post Tower in Bonn, Germany.

Below a stamp in the “Famous Women” series that ran 1987-2004. This one shows Hildegard Knef, an actress (Scott 2186). All three are denominated 55c, the rate for the period, Germany having completed the transition to the Euro currency.

Finally at the bottom is a picture of the organ in its museum setting.