First Day Cover, First German Settlers in America, with #2040, Joint Issue US and Germany

This ArtCraft first day cover marks the 300th anniversary of the first German settlement in America and bears both the U.S. 20-cent stamp (Scott #2040) canceled April 29, 1983, in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and the West German 80-pfennig stamp canceled May 5, 1983, in Bonn — making this a dual-canceled joint issue cover. Both stamps depict the ship Concord, which has since come to be known as the "German Mayflower." The artwork on both stamps was created by Richard Schlecht, an American illustrator of German ancestry who had done extensive work for National Geographic and the National Park Service. Since no historical depiction of the Concord existed, Schlecht drew on his knowledge of period vessels to create the image. The two stamps are nearly identical in design but differ in color, ink, and engraving emphasis — the U.S. stamp printed entirely in brown, the German stamp in bluish gray and light brown.

On July 6, 1683, a group of 13 Mennonite families — 33 people in total — boarded a ship bound for America. They arrived on October 6, 1683, after a three-month voyage, and their new settlement was initially known as Armentown, meaning town of the poor. Arriving close to winter, they dug cellars into the ground for shelter that first year. The following year they built homes, grew flax, set up looms, and established vineyards from wild grapes they found growing nearby. The settlement eventually became Germantown, now part of Philadelphia, and the first day ceremony for the U.S. stamp was held there. In Germany, the first day ceremony was held in Krefeld, where many of the original Germantown settlers had originated.

The German immigration that began with those 33 settlers grew into one of the largest ethnic migrations in American history. More than seven million Germans have immigrated to the United States since 1683, shaping American culture, industry, agriculture, and civic life in ways that are still visible today.