German Feldpost letter written on 5th December 1941 and cancelled on 12th December 1941, sent under Feldpostnummer 17469 to Frau Erna [surname presently unidentified] in Dresden. FPN 17469 was associated with a Wehrmacht Propaganda-Kompanie: surviving bibliographical records identify the Armee-Nachrichtenblatt: Frontzeitung unserer Armee, published between 1939 and 1944, as being issued by “Prop. Komp. Feldpost Nr. 17469.” The Feldpost number is also recorded in connection with the army newspaper Der Sieg. These publications formed part of the Wehrmacht's organised dissemination of military news, political material and propaganda to German servicemen.

The most unusual feature is the paper itself. It bears the Cyrillic heading “КАБИНЕТ МИНИСТРА ДВОРА” — “Kabinet Ministra Dvora”, or “Cabinet/Office of the Minister of the Court” — together with the royal heraldry of the Karađorđević dynasty of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, rather than Imperial Russian arms as initially believed. The Serbian Royal Family's heraldic history confirms the distinctive royal and dynastic arms employed by the Karađorđević monarchy. The German serviceman was therefore reusing official Yugoslav Royal Court stationery only months after the Axis invasion and defeat of Yugoslavia in April 1941. This raises the intriguing possibility that the paper was acquired as a consequence of the German occupation, although neither the stationery nor the Feldpost number alone proves that the writer was personally stationed in Yugoslavia when the letter was written. The letter also refers to receiving a parcel and cigarettes and to the hope that the unit would eventually reach a “better area”. Taken together, the Wehrmacht propaganda connection and the reuse of former Yugoslav Royal Court stationery make this a particularly interesting piece of wartime Feldpost. Ref: 12.12.1941 - 37/10