Delivery instruction
Delivery instructions are used in postal correspondence to specify the mail recipient (addressee).
℅ or c / o , abbreviation for English care of (German literally in the care of , correspondingly residing with ), its German counterpart p. Adr. ( P he A ddress , also p. A. ) as well as the in the opposite sense to c / o used for. Hd. ( To hand , also z. H. , Austrian and Swiss. To hand ) and o. V. i. A. ( o der V ertreter i m A mt ) are abbreviations of delivery instructions for postal delivery services .
℅ - care of
The abbreviation is used under the name of the addressee on the address side of a letter and enables delivery to recipients who do not have their own mailbox. Examples are sub-tenants or residents of hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and similar facilities.
use
Depending on the font and size used, a single ℅ character may be more difficult to read than the c / o description and can easily be confused with the % character (U + 0025) . Using a larger font size usually helps.
The description c / o is the more common form (regardless of the legibility of the individual character) because the ℅ character is not available individually on any standard keyboard layout, but has to be entered using aids such as macros or key combinations .
Often ℅ and the related delivery instructions are used incorrectly. The following examples are intended to illustrate correct use:
In business dealings
Erika Mustermann c/o Großhandel GmbH Bahnhofstraße 1a 12345 Beispielhausen
The letter is addressed to Erika Mustermann, who can be reached at wholesale GmbH; "Wholesale GmbH" is written on the mailbox. The letter should only be opened and read by Ms. Mustermann, perhaps because the sender only knew her company address, but wants to tell her something private. The vacation replacement should put the letter aside and wait until Ms. Mustermann is back (unless Ms. Mustermann has previously stated something otherwise and instructed her deputy to process all mail).
Due to frequent problems with this notation, the recommendation of the delivering parcel carriers to use the notation company z. Hd. Receiver to use.
With sub-tenants or other tenants
Uwe Untermieter c/o Veronica Hauptmieterin Beispielgasse 98 12345 Beispielhausen
The letter is sent to the address of Mr. Uwe subtenant, who lives in the apartment of Mrs. Veronica main tenant for sublet or rent. "Veronica main tenant" is written on the mailbox.
At agencies and the like
Artists are often looked after by an agency that also takes care of autograph requests and other fan mail. The address then usually has the following form:
Sammy Superstar c/o Internationale Agentur für Stars und Sternchen Medienpark 1 23456 Musikantenstadl
It remains to be seen whether the agency will forward the mail to the artist or open and answer it on their behalf.
Coding
℅ is a separate character in the Unicode standard; it is not included in the ASCII character set, but can be paraphrased with the characters "c / o" present there.
| character | Unicode position |
Unicode designation |
Alternative spelling | HTML hexadecimal |
HTML decimal |
HTML named |
UTF-8 hexadecimal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ℅ | U + 2105 | care of | c (U + 0063) / (U + 002F) o (U + 006F) | & # x2105; | & # 8453; | unnamed character | E2 84 85 |
p. Adr. - by address
On the other hand, the "Association for the Protection of the Ears without Ear Owls e. V. “certain mail is delivered via Ms. Mustermann's address (eg because it is better that way, the association does not have its own address or the sender does not know this, but only the address of a club member, for example) is in the German not ℅ but p he Adr eat used.
Verein zum Schutz der ohrlosen Ohreulen e. V. p. Adr. Erika Mustermann Beispielstraße 12 98765 Irgendwo
The association itself can then have its headquarters and regular postal address elsewhere , which is unknown to the sender. However, since he knows that Ms. Mustermann regularly takes part in the association meetings, he can be sure that the mail sent with the above address will reach the association.
z. Hand - for your attention
More common than ℅ in German-speaking countries is the use of z. Hd. Or z. H. (short for to hand , Austrian and Swiss. Also to hand ), which is used exactly the opposite of ℅:
Großhandel GmbH z. Hd. Herrn Erik Mustermann Bahnhofstraße 1a 12345 Geschäftshausen
This form indicates that this is a business letter to the company Wholesale GmbH, which should be forwarded to Erik Mustermann by the company's internal mail if possible.
Unless otherwise regulated internally, this letter may also be opened in the addressed company by other people, for example by Mr. Mustermann's vacation replacement.
New shape according to DIN 5008
Großhandel GmbH Herrn Erik Mustermann Bahnhofstraße 1 a 12345 Geschäftshausen
personally
If it is to be ensured that the letter can only be read by Ms. Erika Mustermann, because it contains sensitive data that not any employee may receive, it is also advisable to use the comment "personal".
Großhandel GmbH z. Hd. Frau Erika Mustermann – Persönlich – Bahnhofstr. 1a 12345 Geschäftshausen
If DIN 5008: 2005, DIN 676 and the current language usage is applied exactly, then an addition or note is to be placed “personally” and accordingly.
persönlich Herrn Erik Mustermann Großhandel GmbH Bahnhofstraße 1 a 12345 Geschäftshausen
Just reading from top to bottom makes it clear: This letter is only for Mr. Erik Mustermann.
o. V. i. A. - or representative in office
In the case of letters to an authority, however, we recommend adding o. V. i. A. ( o the V ertreter i m A mt) to ensure that prolonged absence of the recipient of the letter does not remain in the mail inbox of the specified person, but is processed by the objectively representative responsible.
Amt für Post- und Paketwesen Abteilung B Frau Erika Mustermann o. V. i. A. Amtsstraße 1 12345 Geschäftshausen
If a letter to an authority is to be opened only by the recipient, the name of the employee must be stated at the top:
Frau Erika Mustermann Amt für Post- und Paketwesen Abteilung B Amtsstraße 1 12345 Geschäftshausen
