A nice collection of stamps from West Berlin, the former capital of Germany, which issued its own stamps from 1948 up till reunification of the two German states in 1990.

This collection of 58 includes some earlies, & quite a few commemoratives. Includes one of the elusive "Freedom Bell" with the clapper in centre. Some mint including cycle racing, fencing, Govt Press centenary, etc. A good selection.

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West Berlin was an enclave which comprised the western part of the city of Berlin during the Cold War. It was formally controlled by the Western Allies and formed a de facto part of West Germany, and was entirely surrounded by the Soviet-controlled East Berlin and East Germany. West Berlin had great symbolic significance during the Cold War, as it was widely considered by westerners as an "island of freedom" and it was highly subsidised as a "showcase of the West." With about two million inhabitants, West Berlin had the biggest population of any city in Cold War Germany.

It was 161 kilometres east of the Inner German border and only accessible by land from West Germany by narrow rail and highway corridors. It consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors established in 1945 and was de facto part of West Germany. It had a special and unique legal status because its administration was formally conducted by the Western Allies. East Berlin, de jure occupied and administered by the Soviet Union, was the de facto capital of East Germany. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, physically divided West Berlin from its East German surroundings until it fell in 1989.

West Berlin had its own postal administration first called Deutsche Post Berlin (1947–1955) and then Deutsche Bundespost Berlin, separate from West Germany's Deutsche Bundespost, and issuing its own postage stamps until 1990. However, the separation was merely symbolic; in reality West Berlin's postal service was completely integrated with West Germany's, using the same postal code system.

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