9th April 1938
Anschluss Hand-stamp Slogans

Reply envelope envelope addressed to 'Firma Kurt Heilmann' from Curt Degenfeld-Ley (a merchant) having the address 'Katharinenstr.4 (Griechenhaus) Hof'. See below for notes on the 'Greek House'. The postage stamp is tied with the special cancellation for 'Tag Des grossdeutschen Reichs' and to the upper left there is a violet hand-stamp which reads, 'Am 10. April dem Führer Dein Ja!' Ref: 09.04.1938 - 16/90

Notes on the senders address: The building at Katharinenstraße 4 near the market was a trading courtyard built in 1640 with a closed baroque façade facing the street, it resembled the adjacent house no. 2. At that time, Katharinenstraße was 'the most magnificent street in the city'. In the standard work Leipziger Barock, the art historian Nikolaus Pevsner describes the building as having high quality and lively ornamentation.

The house and its predecessor buildings had been owned by major merchants since the 15th century, and from 1623 to 1804 by the Steger family, which also included the Electorate of Saxony lawyer and Leipzig mayor Adrian Steger.

From the end of the 16th century, silk, cotton and fur traders from southeastern Europe came to the German markets, twice a year to the Leipzig Trade Fair (Greeks followed from the end of the 17th century). The building stood opposite the Old Weigh House and served as accommodation and a meeting place for these trade fair visitors. The rear courtyards were rented to merchants (note that the address for the merchant above, Curt Degenfeld-Ley includes the word 'Hof' - courtyard), and there were also inns in the complex . As early as 1700, Greek Orthodox services were held in the building known as the Greek Prayer House, and regularly from 1751 to 1909. A chapel room was set up for this purpose in the 18th century. In 1858, the Greek House was recognised as the first Orthodox church in Germany. In addition to Greek, it also served Russian and Romanian believers. The congregation was mainly made up of merchants and students. The theologian Eugenios Voulgaris lived there during his stay in Leipzig from 1763 to 1771. In 1808 and 1813, the Russian Tsar Alexander I visited the house and also attended church services. Since 1887, the building was officially called the Greek House (Griechenhaus).

On 4th December 1943, the Greek House was destroyed by bombing. A new building now stands in its place, which houses, among other things, the famous Pinguin milk bar. Since 1999, there has been a memorial plaque on the building that refers to the former Greek House. The term Greek House is still used by the German-Greek Society Greek House Leipzig eV. Source: Wikipedia