Portuguese Consul Passport - Embassy in Warsaw • by Tom Topol

Portuguese Consul Passport
Usually, I would not collect such a document, as it is “too young” for my collection focus. But then I took a closer look into the pages of this well-traveled document and found most exciting visas, especially from the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and those are well within my focus. The Service Passport was issued 5 June 1975 and several times extended until December 1979.

By Car from Portugal to Poland

The first visa is a Polish visa issued at their embassy in Lisboa on 16 June 1975. Bello Sucena de Matos, so the name of the vice consul, seems to have traveled by train from Lisboa to Paris on 17 June 1975. The next three stamps are from the GDR railway stations Marienborn, Frankfurt/Oder and Berlin/East (Friedrichstrasse), all from 21 June 1975.

Then a Polish visa entering Poland from 26 June 1975. Did he travel to his post by train? The whole trip took him obviously seven days. Maybe he had a stop in Spain or France? But I can’t see any visas.

Map Portugal to Poland — A long journey by car

Most interesting for me are of course the GDR visas, as you don’t find often old passports with GDR visas issued outside from the German Democratic Republic. Usually, only officials were able to obtain such a visa outside of East Germany. The first Service visa can be seen on page fifteen of his passport, issued on December 15, 1975.

There are a total of four GDR Service visas and plenty of GDR checkpoint stamps traveling on train and car. Other visas are Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Denmark.

The Vice-Consul traveled with his wife and two sons, I have her service passport as well. His wife Yolanda also traveled to South Africa and Bulgaria according to the visas in her document. Finally, her passport has some extension pages with GDR stamps and Polish visas.

A fantastic travel document of Cold War times.

Passport-collector.com is an extensive online platform dedicated to the study, preservation, and appreciation of passport history. Founded in 2010 by passport history expert & author - Tom Topol, the site offers a wealth of educational articles and resources that explore the origins and evolution of passports, their historical significance, and the impact of global events on travel documentation. With over 950 meticulously researched articles, Passport-collector.com not only serves as an essential repository for collectors and historians but also provides insights into the role of passports in shaping national identity and cultural heritage. Passport history, vintage passport collector, collectible documents, travel history, i94 travel history, passport collection, passport, diplomatic passport, passport office, famous people passports, celebrity passports, vintage passport, travel document, vintage passports for sale, old passports for sale, value of old passports, Reisepass, passport fees, most expensive passport in the world, passport color meaning, passport prices around the world,