Rear area postal service
Bank mail
Bank Activity Supervision during the Occupation.
The supervision of banking activities was overseen by the bank supervision offices (Bankaufsichtsstellen).
In VALENCIENNES, the Bankaufsichtsstelle VALENCIENNES was established on 10 April 1916 by decree II c 10480, issued by Quartermaster General FREYTAG. It was headquartered at 12 rue St Géry. Under this decree, all financial institutions were required to register with the German authorities by 10 May 1916, while town halls were instructed to provide, upon request, a list of all such entities operating within their jurisdiction.
Under point 3 of the decree, this supervision office was granted the authority to:
a) examine the books and records of the monitored companies, inspect cash holdings and valuable deposits, scrutinise bills of exchange, and demand clarifications on all relevant matters;
b) prohibit business activities either entirely or in specific transactions, particularly those involving securities, the fulfilment of financial commitments, and business communications;
c) order the deposit of securities;
d) remove authorised representatives from their positions should they be deemed untrustworthy.
This administration not only supervised banking operations but also regulated financial flows within the occupied territories. It had the power to sequester companies and appoint a German administrator to manage them. Furthermore, it exercised administrative control over banks' correspondence, primarily for financial oversight.
At first, it was planned to establish a Bankaufsichtsstelle (Bank Supervision Office) in LILLE, MAUBEUGE, SEDAN, VALENCIENNES, and MONS, but DOUAI was soon added to the list.
The activity of the bank control offices did not start immediately, as it was necessary to find suitable personnel (with banking experience, but also unfit for combat).
The office was set up at 2bis Place Saint-Jean (in the premises of Crédit du Nord).
It supervised the district of VALENCIENNES as well as the part of the district of AVESNES occupied by the 6th Army. At the time of its creation, 18 banks were operating in the Arrondissement of Valenciennes.
The planned staff for the Bankaufsichtsstellen consisted of 6 people:
a chief (Captain or Lieutenant),
5 clerks (non-commissioned officers or corporals),
and a soldier (in charge of horses and acting as office orderly).
In VALENCIENNES, Lieutenant Nothnagel, NCO Boeckh (clerk), and Landsturmmann Minte (orderly, also acting as a clerk) took up their posts on 18 May 1916.
Landsturmmann Worms (also a clerk) only arrived on 6 October 1916.
No further staff were recruited.
On 4 January 1917, in the context of the opening of the bank control office in MONS, the DOUAI office was to be closed and its personnel transferred to MONS.
Its operations were to fall under the responsibility of the VALENCIENNES office.
However, on 19 January, it was announced that the DOUAI office would remain open, but as a branch of the VALENCIENNES office.
This branch was to be led by NCO Boeckh (clerk in Valenciennes).
Vizefeldwebel Mannheim from the LILLE office was to replace Boeckh in VALENCIENNES on 21 January.
On 7 June 1917, Lieutenant Schoeller replaced Nothnagel as head of the office. The latter became judicial administrator of the banks L. Dupont & Cie and Pierrard-Mabille & Cie.
In the course of 1917, the office moved to 12 rue Saint-Géry, the former headquarters of the Banque du Nord et des Flandres in VALENCIENNES, which had been closed at the beginning of the occupation.
The Bankaufsichtsstelle left VALENCIENNES during the second week of October 1918.
In the staging area of the Western Front, from 1917 onwards, there were a total of 9 bank control offices :
Three in Belgium: Bankaufsichtsstelle 5 in MONS, Bankaufsichtsstelle 7 in GHENT (GAND), and Bankaufsichtsstelle 8 in TOURNAI.
Six in France: Bankaufsichtsstelle 1 in VALENCIENNES, Bankaufsichtsstelle 2 in LILLE, Bankaufsichtsstelle 3 in LONGWY, and Bankaufsichtsstelle 4 in ST-QUENTIN (later moved to MAUBEUGE).
Additionally, Bankaufsichtsstelle 1 in VALENCIENNES established a branch (Zweigstelle) in DOUAI.
Letter weighing 20g franked at 10 Pf (rate of 15/12/1914) from the bank control office to the Société Générale.
There does not appear to have been any military postal control.
The mail was registered by the Bankaufsichtsstelle under number 218.
Considering that the postage rate changed on 15 August 1916 and that no. 435 was found on a letter dated 1 August 1916, we can assume that this letter dates from May/June 1916.
The circular postmark "Bankaufsichtstelle Valenciennes" is rare on letters. It is not a control stamp, but rather a service stamp.
VALENCIENNES (2nd Army) to LA LOUVIERE (Belgium). Letter checked by the Bankaufsichtsstelle on 3 May 1917. The letter was then examined militarily (stamped "Geprüft P.Ü.St") and handed over to the military post office on 5 May.
The presence of both the inspection stamp and the circular service stamp of the Bankaufsichtsstelle is unusual.
LILLE (6th Army) to VALENCIENNES (1st Army), 8th March 1917.
First checked by the LILLE Bankaufsichtsstelle on 8 March, it was examined by the 6th Army's postal control centre on 9 March. Arriving at VALENCIENNES, the letter was checked again by the Bankaufsichtsstelle on 13th March 1917.
LILLE (6th Army) to VALENCIENNES (2nd Army). Letter checked a first time by the Bankaufsichtsstelle of LILLE, stamped "Inhalt sachlich geprüft" (contents examined administratively), then by the postal control of the 6th Army on 14th June 1917.
In VALENCIENNES, a new examination took place on 20 June by the VALENCIENNES bank control office.
Since 24 May 1917 (decree II c 17690/8), all bank supervision offices had to be identified by a number only. The VALENCIENNES Bankaufsichtsstelle thus became Bankaufsichtsstelle n°1.
VALENCIENNES (1st Army) to LILLE (6th Army).
Checked by the Bankaufsichtsstelle in VALENCIENNES on 21 March 1917 and then by the military postal control of the 1st Army. No control visible on arrival at LILLE.
This letter circulated in the last days of the August 1916 postal rate. From 20 March 1917, postage for a single letter cost 20 Pf or 25 c.
MAUBEUGE (18th Army) to VALENCIENNES (2nd Army).
Letter controlled militarily by the 18th Army, then administratively by Bankaufsichtsstelle 4 of MAUBEUGE and finally by Bankaufsichsstelle 1 of VALENCIENNES. No. 20649 makes it possible to date this letter after the end of May 1918 and probably in June.
The stamp "Geprüft P.Ü.St" with broken frame belonged to the Postüberwachungsstelle n° 44 of the 18th Army.
LILLE (6th Army) to VALENCIENNES (2nd Army). Control by the Bankaufsichtsstelle n° 2 of LILLE (stamp "Inhalt sachlich geprüft" ). The Postüberwachungsstelle n° 40 (6th Army) applied its unit stamp "Postüberwachungsstelle 40 Deutsche Feldpost 402" instead of its postal control stamp, which is unusual.
In VALENCIENNES, new control by the Bankaufsichtsstelle n° 1 which recorded it under no 12181 (August/September 1917), stamped "Sachlich geprüft Bankaufsichtsstelle 1 Briefbuch Nr....".
DOUAI (2nd Army) to VALENCIENNES (2nd Army).
The VALENCIENNES bank supervision office had a branch in DOUAI. This letter was checked on 31 January 1918 by this branch (stamp "Bank Aufsicht-Stelle". On arrival, a military check took place ("Geprüft P.Ü.St") in addition to a second administrative check by Bankaufsichtsstelle 1.
