These four envelopes from Germany were addressed to Philipp Neff in New Orleans. They were given to Leonard H. Hellmers, Sr. by Dorothy Acker Schoeny, Philipp Neff's granddaughter, on 23 January 1982. The envelopes were all empty. They are small compared to modern envelopes, measuring about 5¾" x 2½".
The letters were all mailed from Höchst im Odenwald, the nearest post office to the little village of Dusenbach, where Philipp Neff's relatives lived. The letters were mailed between 1868-1871, based on the years that he lived at No. 671 Royal Street (today's 3131-3133 Royal). The stamps also indicate this timeframe, as they were issued by the North German Confederation during the years 1868 and 1869 and were no longer in use by 1 January 1872, when the first stamps of the German Empire were issued.
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