What Can Be Done: If you want to collect a country that was among the first issuers of stamps, that is easy to complete, and which can be completed for less than $50, then Bergedorf is for you. Bergedorf is a city in northern Germany that for a short period between 1861-1867 issued its own postage stamps. Bergedorf has five postal issues and all of them are quite common. The postal issues of Bergedorf seemed more like a political statement than a postal one (throughout the period that Bergedorf had its own stamps, the vast majority of the mail that was carried by the Bergedorf post office was not stamped mail but rather stampless covers that were posted directly at the post office). Bergedorf was a tiny enclave near Hamburg. It has been a frequent occurrence throughout stamp issuing history that how countries and entities issue postage stamps is a way of proclaiming sovereignty and independence. If you have your own flag and your own stamps and your own currency, then you are a country. Bergedorf had a short run at independence from Hamburg before it was folded into the North German Confederation in 1867 before joining Germany proper when all the German states confederated in 1871.
Bergedorf stamps were issued more for show and for collectors than for postal use. Even today, 150 years after they were issued, the stamps are relatively common in mint condition. Because the postal requirements of Bergedorf were small an larger mail, users brought their mail to the post office to be handstamped, not postally franked, and therefore used stamps of Bergdorg and especially covers are very rare. Don’t buy used Bergedorf stamps without certification by experts as genuine. Bergedorf cancels are a series of black lines that are easy to forge.
Reprints and counterfeits of the stamps of Bergedorf are pervasive and make collecting the country less fun than it could be.
Specialized Catalogs: The Scott catalog and the Scott Classic catalog are very good for Bergedorf, and both include a lengthy section on how to distinguish the genuine stamps from the reprints (but not the counterfeits, of which there are many). Collectors will note how much more used stamps catalog than mint which makes expertization of used stamps crucial. The Michel German Specialized catalog for all of the German area is the gold standard, but for Bergedorf, Michel is not much better than Scott.
Specialized Albums: Bergedorf has only five stamps and takes up just one page in all the various German states albums that are published. Most collectors who collect only Bergedorf make their own album page or print one from an online source rather than purchase an entire album.
Availability of Material: Bergedorf is harder to find than one would suppose considering how common the stamps are. When a country has the plethora of forgeries and reprints that haunts Bergedorf, collectors and dealers are wary and tend to stay away. Still, with a bit of perseverance a collector can complete this country, genuine, for a small sum of money. Overall, there is not much interest in the philately of Bergedorf, which, when combined with the forgery and reprint problem, makes collecting this country not too interesting.
Overall Grade: C-