Rare passport states that no longer exist

POPLAR collector Tom owns many rare passports - including documents of those countries, which is long gone. In his collection has a passport with a photo of a woman playing guitar, a certificate of the country, which lasted only four years, and rare passports from the Soviet bloc. Among other things, Poplar managed to acquire a passport of a citizen of the DPRK - although this country and there is still, to find such artifacts is incredibly difficult.

Except nerve nights before international flights, few people really think about their passports and their significance. Passport - it's not just a way to cross the border and reach the duty-free - it is also a mark of time and place, as well as the memory of a man who had once gone forever.

Collector Tom Topol from Germany, said: "I believe that this issue is particularly intriguing because it is very standardized in our time the passport." When you see one of the passports of his collection of photos with a guitar, it is easy to understand what he meant.

Free and Hanseatic City of Bremen (1921)

Free and Hanseatic City of Bremen was founded after the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. As a free city, he lasted until 1933, and then became part of the Third Reich. As can be seen in the picture, passport Bremen unusual by today's standards.

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the imperial city of Bremen became a city-state - Free and Hanseatic City. From 1811 to 1813 he stayed a part of the French Empire, Napoleon, and in 1871 became part of the German Empire as an autonomous state - that is, the passport system it was still private.

This passport was issued Sophie Schaper in 1921 and only acted year. Modern security would be surprised photo: the background is not white, her eyes lowered, she was smiling, not looking at the camera, and even plays the guitar. This document - one of a series of passports in Bremen collection Topola, who lives in Germany and specializes in German passports, but collects and others. His owner, Sophia Schaper, was born in 1901 and worked as a telephone operator. Unfortunately for Sophie, her country waiting for complicated times. In 1933 Bremen as part of the German Empire was under the control of the Nazis and later became part of Hitler's Third Reich.

In 1947, Bremen regained its status as the state, and then became part of the Federal Republic of Germany and present-day Germany. Well passport with landscape photographs, like passport Sophie Schaper, gone.

Free State of Fiume (1923)

Free State of Fiume was founded in 1923: while the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio led invasion of 2500 people in this city, for which Italy fought with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Free State of Fiume existed as a separate state in all four years - it is now part of Croatia.

Cursive writing in Italian (the dominant language of the state) and an unusual portrait of the passport holder - beautiful features of individual passports as they were before the era of mass travel, fast print and face recognition software. Purple print means that the man entered the country again.

In 1719 Emperor Charles VI proclaimed Rijeka a free port of the Holy Roman Empire. However, the city was not independent until the First World War, when Italy agreed to give most of their land in this region - besides Fiume. For control of the territory fought Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which has led to lawlessness and bureaucratic chaos. In 1919, the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio to nationalist detachment entered the city and began to insist that it annexed Italy, - to the delight of predominantly Italian population. For Italy the following year with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes overthrew D'Annunzio, agreeing to accept "complete freedom and independence of the Free State of Fiume" and pledged to "respect her forever." Forever, as it turned out, it lasted four years.

After the constant clashes predominantly Italian-speaking inhabitants of the city with the Serbs and Croats in 1924 the city moved Italy. After the Second World War, it became part of Yugoslavia, and in 1992, when Yugoslavia ceased to exist, became a part of Croatia.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1958)

In the USSR, each person should have a passport, but to go abroad can not all. A trip to the Eastern bloc countries were allowed, but even they were not something simple and mundane. The Soviet authorities were worried about the fact that the citizens went to the West do not want to return to the country. Judging by the stamps in the passport, the owner often traveled outside the Soviet Union.

In the USSR, every citizen had to indicate in the passport of their nationality.

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and special diplomatic passports ceased to produce.

Danzig (1935) Free City of

Free City of Danzig included in their passports, some biometric data - in particular, the shape of the face of the owner (in this case, oval). City for many centuries been a semi-autonomous part of Prussia.

January 10, 1920, after the First World War, Danzig was established - the city-state under the protection of the League of Nations. In 1939, Nazi Germany occupied the city and turned it into the district of Danzig - West Prussia.

Most of his stories Danzig in different states was part of Prussia, but at the same time, he has always enjoyed considerable autonomy.

In 1807, Napoleon Bonaparte declared republic of Danzig "semi-autonomous state," vassal of the French Republic. Seven years later, Danzig was returned to Prussia, and after World War I, in 1920, again gained its independence. The second world war destroyed this independence: in 1939 the "free city" occupied Germany. After the war, by the decision of the Potsdam Conference to Danzig became part of Poland. In this passport given eye color and hair color of its owner, as well as the shape of the face - in this case oval.

Mandatory Palestine (1939)

This is a passport in 1939, issued by the British Palestine. Its owner, a Jew, a native of the city of Leova in Moldova. Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Nazis attacked in 1941, despite the non-aggression pact in 1939.

The inscriptions in this document are made in three languages: English, Arabic and Hebrew. It is noted that the owner of the passport has become a Palestinian under British law, which was supposed to encourage the Jews to acquire Palestinian citizenship.

After the Second World War, it was decided to divide the territory into two states - Palestine and Israel.

The German Democratic Republic (1964)

This is a rare example of the GDR passport - diplomatic passport Gerhard Mueller, who worked in the German Democratic Republic consulate in the Soviet Union. These documents are highly valued by collectors.

The information in the passport duplicate in the German and Russian languages. Gold hammer and sickle with the state emblem of the USSR there were replaced by the hammer and compass, symbolizing the German intelligentsia.

Mueller as the embassy employee, often flying: on the page can be seen on the right stamps airport Berlin-Tempelhof. East Germany ceased its independent existence in 1990, with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Manchukuo, or Manchuria (1940)

It Manchuria passport - the puppet government formed by the Japanese military administration in northeast China in 1934. From this area of ​​China took place last Chinese imperial dynasty - Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 years).

This passport belonged to Russian emigrant, and he was granted indefinite leave to enter the "Nippon", ie Japan.

Japan managed to dislodge from mainland China through the joint efforts of the then government, the Republic of China and the Communists led by Mao Zedong. After the Civil War, Mao Zedong led the Chinese People's Republic.

British Hong Kong (1988)

In 1842, after the First Opium War, Britain seized control of Hong Kong and a small part of the Chinese mainland. Although much of the continent was not available for foreigners, Hong Kong became a busy port, which affected both cultures.

Since 1988, the British government has issued passports to residents of Hong Kong - including Mr. Jose Chan Kee Manu.

His passport was valid until June 30, 1997, and July 1, the Chinese government once again took control over Hong Kong. This is the same dark blue passport, which once operated in the UK itself.

Siam (1937)

Siam - the only country in Southeast Asia that has never been colonized West. The thing is that its power wisely used the rivalry between Britain and France.

However, in this data sheet, we can see an inscription in French. In 1939, two years after the issuance of this document, Siam was renamed Thailand.

If the owner of the passport, Yad Nakorntap, wanted to go on a visit to Asian neighbors, he had to apply to their consulate. On the left page - print French Consulate.

Nakorntap also called on the US government to visit the Philippines and the British - to go to Hong Kong.

Although Thailand until 1939 was called Siam, Asians have always known how to Muang-Tai. The origin of the place name "Siam" is still unknown, the word could have been borrowed from Chinese or Sanskrit.

North Korea (1957)

Although North Korea exists today, a passport of that country to see easy, because the North Koreans live very closed. Judging by the map to the right, the DPRK owns all of Korea as a whole.

Even now, the DPRK residents rarely leave their country, although it is possible. The country has consulates and embassies, there are also North Korean restaurants, which employs people of the country, but they are under strict supervision.

Kim Tae San DPRK Topola said that when she went abroad, the inspectors took her passport for a fake: so cheap it was printed. The fate of the owner of the passport is unknown.

Kim also said that she received instructions on how to behave in front of the country's departure: "Although China is richer than North Korea, the money should not blind us to sanity. China is different from us. "