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German to English translations [PRO] Social Sciences - History / 1870 letter
German term or phrase:Postwechsel
...haben wir beschlossen dir ein kleines Geschenk zukommen zu laßen bestehend in einem Postwechsel an die Adresse-- von der gemeinschaftlichen Summe von so 49-50
I am rather confused what Postwechsel means in this case, used like this with "bestehend". Any thoughts?
"Frank: Eine Problematik für einen !!Postwechsel in das Büro!! für den Verein entsteht: Die Vergabe der Plätze richtet sich !!nach der gemeldeten Postadresse!!. Der Sitz des Vereins bleibt: Im Zirkus, so das die Vergabe in Mitte vorgesehen werden kann."
In "Briefe 1819 - 1821) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, "Postwechsel" is another name for "exchange of post": "Staatsrath Schulz hat sich bey mit angemeldet, mit Rauch, und sie wären schon hier, wenn der POSTWECHSEL zwischen Jena und Berlin nicht durch einen Umweg geschähe" (City! councillor Schult contacted me! with smoke (urgently), and they would be here already, if the post (letter) exchange between Jena and Berlin didn't have to take a detour to get here).
Old books that describe towns in Austria have "Postwechsel" as their term for post office. so I wouldn't put this in the books as a money order just yet.
Weiß nicht so recht; abgezogen darf von dem Betrag glaube ich nichts, sondern du musst die "Gebühr" wie in deinem letzten Link extra entrichten. Kann sein, dass der Briefeschreiber die genaue Summe einfach nicht weiß; deine Links hätten mich vermuten lassen, es ginge um einen internationalen Geldverkehr in der Art, wie wenn ich dir 50 EUR schicken würde und sage, da kommen ca. 72 bis 73 kanadische Dollar bei dir an (heutiger Stichtag).
Mir wäre es schlicht lieber gewesen, der Satz wäre zwei, drei Worte später abgeschnitten worden; das hätte u.U. schneller zu den Links geführt, die du rausgesucht hast (da die alten Wörterbücher nichts hergaben) und wir hätten die Diskussion verkürzen können.
ungenaue Angabe, weil die Gebühr vorher noch abgezogen wird (wie in meinem letzten Link)und der genaue Betrag, den die Empfänger dann tatsächlich erhalten, noch nicht klar ist.
„Zahlungen können durch Postwechsel, Coupons, Frankomarken, Kassenbillets .. beliebig geschehen.“ Neues Fremdenblatt, Wien, Montag, den 1. Mai 1871 http://tinyurl.com/y74a2t7k
“Seven-days and other Bills (Siebentagewechsel usw.) sind sieben-, mitunter auch zehntägige Akzepte der Bank, die früher, als die Verbindungen noch schlecht waren und ein Brief von London nach einer Provinzstadt oft eine Woche und mehr brauchte, statt Banknoten bei Sendungen, daher der Name „Postwechsel", gern verwendet wurden und auch noch heute von Geschäftsleuten zur Begleichung von Zahlungen gekauft werden.“ BANKEN UND BANKPOLITIK VON Dr GEORG OBST, Leipzig 1909
„Die Postanweisungen (Postwechsel) ereichen die Ziffer von ½ Million und bewerthen sich auf mehr als 12 Millionen Gulden” http://tinyurl.com/ya8dz4n3
„Die Gebühr für Remittirung von Geld mittels Postwechsel beträgt 5 Cent für je 12-50 fl oder Theile von 12-50 fl. holländ.“ Archiv für Consularwesen, volkswirthschaftliche Gesetzgebung und Statistik Wien 1871 http://tinyurl.com/ybjao5hp
Not saying you couldn't be right, but there are two other things that caught my eye.
First, it's a gift. A "Wechsel(brief)" has been primarily used in business transactions; it's not impossible here, but it makes you wonder.
Second, the last bit says "von so 49-50": Have you ever signed off on a money order and left it to the mail guy to determine how much change the other person gets? This would either mean they're sending actual money and hadn't counted it up to the last coin or there's some currency exchange involved.
This is where the "vital piece of information" comes in: Kaportnoy cut off the sentence right before the currency info and we don't know who sent this letter to what location. Argh =)
I was quite sure because (even after a fair bit of googling) this seemed to be the only interpretation to make sense. Now, however, I am not 100% sure anymore. Not sure what your interpretation is, Björn - how would you solve this?
I know what he's referring to, but that doesn't mean this is "exactly what it is" in this context. Additionally, I'm not sure how much sense a "Wechselbrief" makes. And the barrel they showed was from the 19th century, so the time period's right. You cannot tell from that half sentence what exactly is meant here. I'm also wondering why it says "an die Adresse" (and not "Empfänger").
He might have found it easier to agree with Ramey if he had known who the author of that line was (see discussion). I was merely too late to the party...
There is no such thing as a "Postwechselschein"--yes, I've googled it. Entries on "Postwechselbrief" are few and they all don't seem very enlightening. I find it a bit odd that you seem to be so sure about what it means in this context.
Other sources from the 19th century will, in essence, only show either "by mail" or "mail station."
In Germany, they used to send coins in barrels by mail, a service that was in wide use. Incidentally, yesterday, we visited a fortress where they exhibited such a barrel.
That's exactly what it is, Ted. Or a promissory note (not quite sure about the difference). Try searching "Postwechselschein" and "Postwechselbrief" for more details (as Ramey already said, "Postwechsel" mostly brings up hits about changing the horses).
And the "bestehend" refers to the "kleine Geschenk" (a present consisting of or in the form of)
Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
Hi Ted
16:34 Sep 13, 2017
That's more or less what I think. Postal order, but I couldn't find any worthwhile references.
if Wechsel here refers to a "bill of exchange", so in this case some kind of "postal money order". Not knowing the time period or more details, this is just a guess but the concept fits the context. :-)
Ted Wozniak United States Local time: 18:30 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thank you!
19 hrs confidence:
communication or letter exchange
Explanation: There is really not enough information to go on, but if this is a real German partial sentence (the use of laßen instead of lassen leads me to doubt), the gift could be the letter exchange itself. (bestehend IN). Postwechsel is a frequent way of saying "I've mailed you, you've mailed me... It's a loong conversation over a period of time. Usually you would find a collection of letters between lovers. There are book compiling these things. Is this a sample of one???
..."We have decided to send you a small gift consisting of an exchange of letters to the Address of X. The total sum will be around 49-50...."
.haben wir beschlossen dir ein kleines Geschenk zukommen zu laßen bestehend in einem Postwechsel an die Adresse-- von der gemeinschaftlichen Summe von so 49-50
Example sentence(s):
..."We have decided to send you a small gift consisting of an exchange of letters to the Address of X. The total sum will be around 49-50...."
Noelle Crist-See Germany Local time: 00:30 Native speaker of: English
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