German Society for Postal and Telecommunications History
| German Society for Postal and Telecommunications History (DGPT) |
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| purpose | Researching and conveying the history of the post office and telecommunications |
| Chair: | Walter Scheurle (since 2013) |
| Establishment date: | June 23, 1949 |
| Number of members: | 10,000 (as of May 2017) |
| Seat : | Frankfurt am Main |
| Website: | www.dgpt.org |
The German Society for Post and Telecommunication History eV (DGPT) is one of the largest historical societies in Europe with a good 15,000 members (status: end of 2009) .
As the Society for German Postal History eV, the original name of the association, the society had a close relationship with the Deutsche Bundespost in the first decades of its existence . With the restructuring of the postal administration in Germany since the late 1980s, these institutional roots have loosened. The non-profit association is financed today solely from membership fees and donations.
The association has been publishing its own membership magazine since 1953. The magazine was published as the “Archive for German Postal History” until 1994 and 1995–2001 as “Post and Telecommunications History”. Today the magazine is called “ DAS ARCHIV . Magazine for Communication History ”published four times a year.
history
Origins in Bavaria
The "Society for Research into Postal History in Bavaria"
The origins of the "German Society for Post and Telecommunications History" go back to a Bavarian initiative. As early as December 1921, an address for researching Bavarian postal history was established in Munich. The following year the formal establishment of the “Society for Research into the History of Postal Services in Bavaria” (later also called “Society for Research into Postal History in Bavaria”) followed. This association is the oldest and first of its kind. In contrast to the numerous philatelic associations that arose throughout Germany as early as the second half of the 19th century, this posthistorically oriented history association is not a representation of the interests of (stamp) collectors. From the very first day, his club activities were decisively shaped by the close ties to the postal administration and its employees.
Karl Stingl and Department VI in Munich
It is certainly no coincidence that the birth of this association was preceded by revolutionary changes and restructuring of the Bavarian postal administration. With the State Postal Treaty of April 1, 1920, a uniform postal administration was created for the first time for the entire German Empire. This meant that the previously independent Bavarian post and telegraph administration had to finally give up its independence in the so-called "Verreichisierung". With the loss of autonomy in administrative reality, the desire to research Bavarian postal history grew at the same time. Personnel overlaps and close links with the new postal administration formed the basis for the company's activities. In the beginning, all threads came together in the newly established special department of the Reich Ministry of Post in Munich. Karl Stingl , head of the department in 1921 and later Reichspostminister , takes over the management of the company and transfers all of its business operations to his special department.
The "Archive for Postal History in Bavaria"
As early as 1922, the company published post-historical articles in collaboration with the magazine “ Das Bayerland ”. Three years later, the society publishes its own post-historical journal for the first time with the “ Archive for Postal History in Bavaria ” together with the Reich Ministry of Post . The Bavarian archive is a direct model for the later “Archive for German Postal History”, today “DAS ARCHIV Magazine for Communication History”, not only in terms of its title, but also in terms of its presentation and content. With a brief interruption due to the war, the Bavarian magazine appears again from 1949, from 1950 in cooperation with the Deutsche Bundespost and until 1995 parallel to the “Archive for German Postal History”.
The end of Bavarian society
The restructuring of the German postal administration is completed by the mid-1990s and the successor companies of the Bundespost withdraw from the promotion of the Bavarian association. The continued existence of Bavarian society seems to be endangered. The last salvation is finally in 1995 the merger of the company with the "Society for German Postal History". The more than 4,000 members from Bavaria will then be integrated into the DGPT and will find a home in the newly created SÜD region. The “Archive for Postal History in Bavaria” is being discontinued as an independent magazine for cost reasons. The tradition of the Bavarian magazine is continued until 2001 with an edition of the “Archive for German Postal History” in the SÜD region.
founding
prehistory
Even the founders of the “Society for Research into Bavarian Postal History” thought of an association activity that would go beyond Bavaria's borders. In March 1922, Karl Stingl, as managing director of the Bavarian society, wrote to all the upper post offices asking for a consultant to research the regional postal history in each administrative district. To what extent this call led to reactions can no longer be determined today. However, his ideas were only fully realized after the end of the Second World War in 1949 with the establishment of the “Society for German Postal History”.
The immediate impetus for the establishment of this company, which is active throughout Germany, was provided by the deputy director of the then head office for the postal and telecommunications system of the unified economic area (HVPF), Zaubitzer. In a letter to all of the Oberpostdirektion in February 1949, he suggested the establishment of an association to bring together all friends of postal history and postal history researchers and writers and to revitalize research into postal history. In this first call, Zaubitzer laid the foundation for the institutional connection that linked the association with the Deutsche Bundespost from the start. He located research on postal history within the Post Institution and wrote that successful research was the result of the initiative of the official circles and that postal history found its best supporters in the members of Deutsche Post.
Foundation in Miltenberg
These ideas were concretized at a post-historical conference from June 21 to 23, 1949 in Miltenberg . Among the 27 participants were 25 representatives from the HVPF and the Oberpostdirektiven (OPD) as well as two representatives from the Society for Research into Postal History in Bavaria. Quite a few of you were “biased” posthistorically and already excelled with research on postal history before the war. In addition to Konrad Schwarz, for example, who wrote The Development of Deutsche Post (1931), Karl Sautter also took part in the conference. His history of the Deutsche Post , the first volume of which appeared in 1928, is a basic work on postal history. On the last day of the event, it was decided to set up the “Society for German Postal History”. As an umbrella organization, it should serve to combine regional district groups, which are based on the administrative areas of the Oberpostdirektion. Even back then, a magazine was formulated as the second mainstay of the association's activities. This publication activity became the focus of the association's activities from 1953 with the “Archive for German Postal History”.
Although the association was founded in Miltenberg with effect from August 1, 1949 , the official founding was postponed in the knowledge of the imminent formation of the Deutsche Bundespost . Almost two months after the start of the German Federal Post Office, a new founding meeting on May 30 , 1950 sealed the association's birth with effect from July 1, 1950 , and a new founding protocol was submitted to the Frankfurt district court . The entry in the register of associations was finally made on February 22, 1951 .
Institutional ties to the Bundespost
The formation of the district groups
The first few years of the association's existence were dominated by member acquisition. In doing so, the company made use of the Post Institution, whose employees were the association's primary target group. On July 30, 1951, the upper post offices were called for the first time to found regional district groups. In June 1952 there were already 15. By January 1953 the society already had 18 district groups in Germany and one in West Berlin. When a senior post office was set up in Saarbrücken in 1957, the company's 20th district group was founded there. The company was thus represented in all of the Bundespost's main post offices. Exceptions were Munich and Regensburg, where the "Society for Research into Postal History in Bavaria" is active.
With on-site advertising, membership grew quickly. After seven years of existence, the society already has more than 30,000 members. The steadily growing number of members shaped the club life well into the 1980s. In 1984 they finally reached their zenith with over 59,000 people. At this point in time, a good 10% of all Bundespost employees were also members of the company.
Society and Postal Reform
The company benefited from its close ties to the Deutsche Bundespost for 40 years. However, the privatization of the German postal administration plunged the association into a structural crisis. The 1990s were all about trying to adapt to the new situation. A fundamental reorganization was decided by 1995, which also affected the regional structure of the company, for example. The 21 district groups were reduced to six regional areas, which for the first time also include Eastern Germany in the organization. Since then, the office has concentrated all administrative processes in Frankfurt. In addition, the company was renamed "German Society for Post and Telecommunications History eV" . The purpose of the association was also formulated more openly and instead of “maintaining and researching German postal and telecommunications history”, it calls more generally “popular and vocational education through the care and research of the history of communication”.
Society today
Goals and purpose
The DGPT " researches and mediates the history and development of the post office and telecommunications ". She achieved these goals through
- the support and advice of institutions and companies
- advising and providing scientific information to anyone interested in the history of postal services and telecommunications
- the cooperation with organizations and associations with the same goal
- the publication of a journal on the history of postal and telecommunications
Structure and organs
The members and the regional areas
The association has been divided into six regional areas since 1995. Since then, the new federal states have also been organizationally involved.
| NORTH: | Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, northern part of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania |
| WEST: | North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern part of Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland |
| CENTER: | Hessen, Thuringia, southern part of Lower Saxony |
| EAST: | Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt |
| SOUTHWEST: | Baden-Württemberg, southeastern part of Rhineland-Palatinate |
| SOUTH: | Bavaria |
As a rule, the place of residence decides whether the members belong to a regional area. Every three years, the members of a region elect a regional board consisting of a chairman, a deputy chairman and the managing director. A regional editor also supports the ARCHIV editorial team in their work.
The number of members has been declining for a number of years, in December 2009 it was around 15,000, in May 2017 it was around 10,000.
Board
The board consists of the chairman, a deputy and the managing director (currently Helmut Gold ). In addition, there is a seat for the Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunications and the Foundation for the Promotion of Philately and Postal History on the extended board. In addition, two “representatives of the representative assembly” can be elected.
Walter Scheurle has held the office of chairman since 2013 , replacing Lieselotte Kugler. Jürgen Hagenkötter was also elected deputy chairman in 2013.
The office
The DGPT office is located in Frankfurt.
Partners and Cooperations
The museum foundation
The DGPT has found a strong partner in the Museums for Communication , the former German postal museums . The three museums for communication in Berlin , Frankfurt and Nuremberg as well as the archive for philately in Bonn have been combined in the Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunications since 1995 . As a public foundation it is in a public-private partnership by the German Post AG and Deutsche Telekom AG German born. DAS ARCHIV has been published in close cooperation with the Museum Foundation since 2002 and has thus become - in addition to being a specialist magazine - a museum magazine .
Individual evidence
- ^ Department VI was set up as a concession and compensation to Bavaria under the State Treaty. It secured the Bavarian Post a special position within the unified administration of the Deutsche Reichspost (DRP) and enabled (at least in the first years after integration) an independent executive activity. See Karl Sautter: History of the German Post , Vol. 3: History of the German Reich Post 1871-1945 , Frankfurt M. 1951, p. 16
- ^ Letter from Stingl, 1922
- ^ Letter from Stingl, 1922
- ^ Letter from Zaubitzer, 1949
- ↑ so the signed statute, 1949 (association archive of the DGPT)
- ↑ so the second version of the statutes, 1950 (association archive of the DGPT)
- ^ Report on the “Development of the Society for German Postal History” , p. 2
- ↑ The 10% hurdle was reached for the first time in 1963 ( 1963 annual report ). With the number of employees at the Deutsche Bundespost, the number of members rose continuously. In 1990 around 560,000 employees worked for the Bundespost ( connections. 500 years of the post. The magazine for the post anniversary. Ed. By the Federal Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. O. O., o. J. [Bonn 1990], p. 46)
- ^ 1995 Articles of Association, p. 117
- ^ Statutes of the DGPT (2008), § 1 and 2 [1]
swell
Archival material
- Bavarian postal history , letter from Karl Stingl to all the upper post offices, March 22, 1922, DGPT association archive
- Letter from Zaubitzer to the head office, February 1949, DGPT association archive ( PDF file )
- Report on the development of the “Society for German Postal History” , undated [1952/53], association archive of the DGPT
statute
- Signed statutes of the Gesellschaft für Deutsche Postgeschichte EV , valid from August 1, 1949, Association Archives of the DGPT
- Signed statutes of the "Gesellschaft für Deutsche Postgeschichte EV" , valid from July 1, 1950, association archive of the DGPT
- Statutes of the Society for German Postal History eV in Bonn , valid from January 1, 1964, in: Archive for German Postal History , ed. by the Society for German Postal History, 12th vol., H. 1, 1964, ISSN 0003-8989 , pp. 66-67
- Statutes of the German Society for Post and Telecommunication History , valid from March 13, 1995, in: Post and Telecommunication History , ed. from the German Society for Post and Telecommunications History eV, Volume 43, Issue 1, 1995, ISSN 0003-8989 , pp. 117-120
- Statutes of the German Society for Post and Telecommunications History , valid from September 25, 2008, online
Business reports
- Annual report of the Society for German Postal History for 1963 , in: Archive for German Postal History , ed. by the Society for German Postal History, 12th vol., H. 2, 1964, ISSN 0003-8989 , p. 67
literature
- Postal history conference in Miltenberg (Main) , in: Zeitschrift für das Post- und Fernmeldewesen , H. 14, 1949, pp. 330–331.
- Postal history. In: The post office in Hessen. A look at what is happening in the company. Edited by the Society for German Postal History eV, District Group Frankfurt am Main and Oberpostdirektion Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main 1971, pp. 216–219.
- Gottfried North : Merger of the Society for Research into Postal History in Bavaria with the German Society for Postal and Telecommunications History. In: Post and Telecommunications History. H. 2, 1995, ISSN 0003-8989 , pp. 98-106.
- Werner Baumbach: Greetings from the chairman of the Bavaria region of the German Society for Post and Telecommunication History eV In: Post and Telecommunication History . Regional area south. Vol. 1, H. 1, 1996, ISSN 1430-4600 , pp. 3-4.
- Erwin Maderholz: End and new beginning. In: Post and Telecommunications History. Regional area south. Vol. 1, H. 1, 1996, ISSN 1430-4600 , pp. 5-9.