File:Vorphila 1846 Stendal pm B002.jpg

Handwritten letter from prephilatelistic times with the postmark: "Stendal, 28.12.1846" (the paper for this cover had a multiple usage as letter); This letter was real used from Stendal to Langensalza in 1846. The receiver of this letter was the Mr. "Land- und Gerichts-Rath Francke, Wohlgeboren zu Langensalza"; („Wohlgeboren“ („well-born“) = article for a member of the German noblesse in general ("wohlgeboren" = "wohlgesonnen"). The difference between a "Wohlgeboren" and "Hochwohlgeboren" or "Hochgeboren" was that "Hochwohlgeboren" was standing in the hierarchy over a "Wohlgeboren". A such title was reserved for a member of the Noblesse with the rank of a "Freiherr", "Ritter", "Junker", "Baron", "Graf", "Vizegraf", "Marquis", "Herzog", "Fürst", "Kurfürst", "König", "Kaiser" or similarly insofar the rank was a higher. The correct salutation was "Durchlaucht" and for a "Fürst" or higher: "Erlaucht" or "Hoheit" or similarly. The nobility ranks were abolished for the German noblesse in the German-speaking Europe in 1918 (also in Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and other countries), but the noblesse article might changed in parts of a name.
Postmark: stampless from Stendal (then: Kingdom of Prussia, contemporary Saxony-Anhalt), 28 December 1846, two-circle, daily cancellation with 32.0 mm diameter
Receiver: "An Herrn Land- und Stadt- Gerichts-Rath Francke, Wohlgeboren zu Langensalza" in Langensalza (then Kingdom of Prussia, contemporary "Bad Langensalza" in Thuringia)
Notation: "Landes-Cult.-S." (= „Landes-Kultur-Sache“ = „A matter of the culture of the country“)