East German Diplomatic Passport 1956

This beautiful document was recently offered at an auction platform as a direct buy, and of course, it sold instantly as such an early GDR diplomatic passport is most rare. A sad moment for me. The good thing was, I knew who bought it. So, I contacted the buyer, and we agreed on a price. With a solid premium, of course.

But fine with me, as I wanted this treasure for my collection of East German passport history. Hence, once again, I am grateful to my German fellow collector who made it possible!

I do not exaggerate when I say I hold probably the most comprehensive collection of East German travel documents, from one of the first passports issued in 1955 to one of the very last ones issued by the GDR, just two days before the exodus of a communist state and reunification on 3 October 1990.

This document is the earliest diplomatic type I ever saw. However, the GDR regime issued in January 1950 a regulation on diplomatic and service passports for official use.

I never saw any of those travel documents, but I found out that such documents are in a German federal archive during research. Five years later, in 1955, travel documents were issued to ordinary GDR citizens.

Of course, only to selected ones who were loyal to the party and country. Traveling then was still the exception. Here is such an early GDR passport from July 1955 with a low passport number of 4214.

The following diplomatic passport was issued on 21 June 1956 to Anneliese Bambor, the spouse of the Attache of the German Democratic Republic to Vietnam. Passport number 065/56.

The number indicates that until June 1956, only 65 diplomatic passports were issued. The document number is A495, valid until 20 June 1958.

The printed text of the travel document is German, French, and Russian. Back then English was not in use in GDR passports. The condition is excellent. The first visa in her passport is an exit visa to leave GDR, issued on the same day as her passport, including a border stamp from airport Schoenefeld on 23 June.

The next visa is a diplomatic visa from Vietnam, issued on 21 July 1956. Page nine shows a Soviet transit stamp. The next is a Chinese diplomatic visa from 21 June 1956 as well. Page thirteen has a Soviet diplomatic visa, which is pretty rare to find in those days.

Anneliese came back to GDR in 1957, with a GDR diplomatic visa issued at the GDR consulate in Vietnam. The travel document is full of diplomatic visas, mostly from China, USSR, and Vietnam, besides Poland and CSSR. Fantastic evidence of early East German consular establishments. Here, a detailed look into the document.

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