Deutsche Ortswappen

Today we look at the Library's 9 volumes of Deutsche Ortswappen.
The albums were published in the early 20th century by the Kaffee Handelsgesellschaft AG (known as Kaffee HAG or Coffee Hag) in Bremen, Germany, starting with heraldic stamps and collectors' albums. This, the second series, was published as Deutsche Ortswappen between 1927 and 1938, and superseded the earlier series of 1913-1918. The arms were issued as loose sheets which were exchanged for coupons acquired with purchases of coffee, and could be stuck into either 4 large albums or 10 small albums (or Hefts). The Library's copies have been assembled in 9 of the smaller Hefts. Each page contains spaces for 9 labels with the arms formally arranged by German province or state. In reality the albums were often filled randomly by collectors, as with the Library's copies.
The Library's Special Collections include a number of rare or valuable titles, some dating back to the sixteenth century. These titles are mostly held in the Mackintosh Library. Because of the value of these itmes, special access arrangement are in place, with viewing strictly by appointment only with our Academic Liasion Librarians.