German postal history

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Post riders as they were on the road over 500 years ago.

Beginning of the state post

15th century postage on a hammer

There was no public post in Germany until the late Middle Ages . Emperors, clergy and imperial princes used messengers and horsemen who were sent directly to the destinations with written messages. Merchants and guilds in the cities conveyed their letters through local messenger services .

In 1490 Maximilian I introduced a new system of message transmission in the Holy Roman Empire with the post stations where the riders exchanged their horses and / or messages. During the transport of “ Postfelleisen ” a rider with a horse was waiting in a station (mostly in a hostel) and took over the Felleisen as if in a relay . Since the exchange stations were outside the city walls, the letters could be transported day and night. Maximilian usually only used this expensive system when urgent letters came in large quantities, for example on the occasion of Reichstag .

Because of the postal contract between Philip the Fair and Franz von Taxis in 1505, the establishment of the first modern postal company was attributed to him for a long time. However, this post was initially a dynastic post that was not open to the general public. In the postal contract of 1517, for example, Charles V expressly forbade setting the relay in motion other than for royal purposes. It was not until 1530 that the post office became accessible to the general public. The main postal route in the Holy Roman Empire was initially the Dutch postal route .

In the second half of the 16th century, other German princes also set up their own message boards. These initially only served the royal mail and not the public.

In the 16th century, a network of urban messenger agencies formed along the trade routes in the German Empire. The main towns Augsburg, Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Leipzig and Hamburg were connected by messenger courses. A letter from Cologne to Hamburg was first transported by a Cologne messenger to Frankfurt, by a Frankfurt messenger to Nuremberg and then by a Nuremberg messenger to Hamburg. Another important long-distance connection existed from Brussels via Augsburg and Innsbruck to Rome.

The first provincial post offices existed from 1564 in Tyrol (Innsbruck), Inner Austria (Graz) and Lower Austria (Vienna). They were used by the archdukes to transmit messages. The Dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg , Franz-Otto and Heinrich the Younger set up their own state posts for the first time in 1569. The Braunschweigische Landespost quickly got into a dispute with taxis and the emperor about the division of tasks between the posts. In the same year, the Nuremberg magistrate took over the Nuremberg – Hamburg delivery service. The electors wrote a legal opinion at the Reichstag in Speyer. Emperor Maximilian II (1527–1576) was requested to “keep the postal system with the Empire”, ie to make Spain independent of the Crown. Until then, Spain had borne part of the cost of the taxi post.

In 1563, Elector August von Sachsen (1526–1586) decreed the abolition of the so-called “Lehnklepper” and the establishment of a Saxon court post by permanently employed “uniformed mailmen” with regular mail rides on certain routes in addition to the urban messenger system. In 1574 one of these messengers on horseback, Salomon Felgenhauer, was appointed postmaster of Dresden and thus head of the court mail.

Two years later (1576), Duke Julius of Braunschweig had a post from Wolfenbüttel to Leipzig opened. In the Netherlands, the Spanish governor was deposed in 1577. Postmaster General Leonhard I. von Taxis lost his property and had to leave the country. The postal system fell into disrepair. In 1580 the postmaster Jacob Henot in Cologne received the right to rebuild the imperial postal system upon application. He was appointed imperial post office administrator. His plan failed due to lack of money.

In 1593 the taxis resumed postal service from the Netherlands to Spain on behalf of the King of Spain. Negotiations for the restoration of the German lines were started. On June 16, 1595, Rudolf II appointed Leonhard I von Taxis as General-Ober-Postmeister for the German Empire after paying old debts. On September 15, 1596, the appointment of Leonhard von Taxis was announced to the electors and estates.

Post shelf 1597

Postal rates 1563

Rudolf II declared the postal system to be an imperial sovereign right in 1597 . The so-called post office shelf contains the sole right of the state to establish and operate post offices. The Taxis received this monopoly as an imperial fiefdom. By structuring the postal rates with changing riders and horses, shipments could be transported faster than by couriers. Little by little, a network of postal rates was created that were connected to one another by connections. The sovereigns were competitors in this market in their areas. Disputes were the order of the day, which had to be resolved through contracts between one another. The taxis were also forced to set up less lucrative courses to close the network. At the same time, the compulsory postal service forbade the population to have certain things transported other than by post. There was a long back and forth because the electors did not recognize the post office shelf.

Thirty Years' War

In the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), the mail was extremely important. Lamoral von Taxis , who was appointed imperial baron on January 16, 1608, was raised to the hereditary count in 1624, but died shortly afterwards. In the same year (1624) the first Danish postal regulations appeared, which were also valid for Schleswig and Holstein . The catenary was in the hands of four merchants with the title of postal administrator. The Danish postal system was nationalized in 1640. In 1631 the Swedes occupied Saxony and took over its postal system. 1636 demanded Emperor Ferdinand III. (1608–1657) at the Reichstag in Regensburg an expert opinion on the retention of the merchant and butcher post . The report came to the conclusion that class and city posts could not be banned everywhere. Nevertheless, on August 12, 1637 the outposts were banned for the whole empire. The haulage company Rötger Hinüber in Hildesheim set up a postal connection between Hamburg, Bremen, Hanover, Braunschweig and Kassel with the approval of the courtyards in Braunschweig, Hanover and Kassel and was appointed ducal Braunschweig-Lüneburg postmaster in Hildesheim in 1641. In 1644, a state post office Mecklenburg-Schwerin was founded with the Schwerin – Rostock line. In 1645, the taxi riding post on the postal route from Frankfurt (Main), Kassel, Braunschweig, Lüneburg to Hamburg was allowed to pass through the Braunschweig area.

After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648

With the Peace of Westphalia (1648) the sovereigns received full sovereignty for their territories. No decision was made on postal sovereignty. In 1648, Elector Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg ordered the establishment of a Brandenburg state post office and began with a main line Memel – Berlin – Kleve, then branches to Amsterdam, Hamburg, Stettin, Leipzig, Breslau and Warsaw. The Brandenburg State Council took the postal system into direct state operation. After the Swedes withdrew from Saxony, Christoph Mühlbach was electoral chief postmaster.

On July 8, 1658, with the election of Emperor Leopold I (1640–1705), the rights of the Taxis family, who called themselves Thurn and Taxis since 1650 , were confirmed to the post of General Postmaster in the Holy Roman Empire . In an additional protocol it was stipulated that the sovereign princes' post office should not be affected. Nevertheless, the emperor tried to induce the regional princes to give up the state post in favor of the imperial imperial post . On May 25, 1660 an imperial patent forbade all state posts and threatened a fine of 100 marks of soldered gold for violations. The Emperor asked the Elector of Brandenburg, with his refusal, not to encourage at least the other princes in this. Brandenburg secured the support of Sweden, Brunswick and Hesse by mutually agreeing to expand their state posts and to oppose the Reichspost. In 1665 an Episcopal Münstersche Fahrpost was set up in Münster. 1669 renewed the Württemberg Duke Eberhard III. (1614–1674) the post and butcher regulations of 1622 given by his father.

At the instigation of the Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, the Drost Stechinelli set up postal facilities based on taxis-like models in 1678 and received the general postmaster's office for the entire Brunswick region as a fief. Stechinelli sold it to Count Platen-Hallermund , who in the same year received the general postmaster's office for the bishopric of Osnabrück , and in 1683 also the general postal administration of the Swedish states, the Duchy of Bremen and the Principality of Verden. In 1693 the Brunswick Principality of Calenberg with the capital Hanover became the Electorate of Hanover.

Braunschweig postal order from 1682

In 1681, the postal system in Saxony was declared a sovereign right by the elector. On February 24, 1693, the upper post office in Leipzig was designated as the supreme postal authority of the electorate, and in May a tax and postal order for Saxony was published. A special postal department was subordinate to the electoral chamber college. Elector Friedrich August von Sachsen (1670–1733) transferred the Electoral Saxon postal system with all income and the title General-Heir-Postmaster to Major General Jacob Heinrich von Flemming as hereditary fiefdom on October 12, 1697 . In 1698, Emperor Leopold I confirmed the Imperial Postal Code, which did not prevent Saxony from setting up a traveling post from Leipzig to Lenzen with a connection to the Brandenburg Post Berlin-Hamburg.

Between 1691 and 1701 Bavaria had its own regional post office. Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria (1662–1726) ordered his own Erb-General-Postmeister in 1691, had five regional postal courses and in 1697 a carriage from Munich to Brussels (the Elector was also governor of the Netherlands) set up. His postal staff was sworn in on the Elector in Munich. Then came the War of the Spanish Succession and the country posts were closed. In 1706 the privileges of the Prince of Thurn und Taxis were renewed.

In Brandenburg, riding and driving posts between Leipzig and Breslau and a traveling post office between Danzig and Koenigsberg were set up in 1694 , which from February 1, 1697 came entirely into the possession of Brandenburg.

On October 4, 1695, Eugen Alexander von Thurn und Taxis was raised to the hereditary prince's status as the Imperial General Hereditary Postmaster in the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1699 a moving post office was set up between Eger (Cheb) and Regensburg. The postal network became more and more dense.

1700

Copper engraving frontispiece from MELISSANTES, GEOGRAPHIA NOVISSIMA, part 2, Frankfurt, Leipzig [and Erfurt] 1713 with a depiction of a post station and incoming mail around 1708

Elector Friedrich III. von Brandenburg (1657–1713, from 1701 as Frederick I King in Prussia) enfeoffed State Minister Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg with the newly created Hereditary General Postmaster's Office. At the instigation of the Crown Prince and later “Soldier King” Friedrich Wilhelm I (1688–1740) von Wartenberg was overthrown in 1711, the Hereditary General Postmaster's Office abolished and Ernst Bogislav von Kameke General Post Director. On August 10, 1712, a Prussian postal order was issued, and in 1715 an edict on mandatory postal services .

In Saxony, General von Flemming ceded the inheritance with the postmaster's office to his brother Joachim Friedrich von Flemming and sold the Saxon postal system back to the elector for 150,000 thalers. A good deal, because the elector sold it in 1705 for 200,000 thalers to the postmaster Johann Jakob Kees in Leipzig, who was succeeded by his son Johann Kees the Younger. In 1707 he set up a traveling mail from Leipzig via Kassel to Cologne. In 1712 a carriage was created from Dresden via Baruth to Berlin. The postal system came under the administration of the lordly chamber college. Kees received 150,000 thalers and the title of Hofrat. The first head of the Saxon post office was chief post commissioner Leonardi. On July 27, 1713, he issued a Saxon postal order. In 1722, stone road pillars with distance information were erected on the post roads in Saxony, the Saxon post mile pillars . At the same time, postal route maps were increasingly printed and the topic of mail played an increasing role in literature.

The geographer Johann Gottfried Gregorii left z. In his early geography textbooks, for example, he not only depicts an early modern post station with incoming mail (around 1708), but also recommended the general use of the post horn as a map symbol in a theoretical basic work of cartography in 1713 , and in 1723 briefly described the German postal system in his ATLAS PORTATILIS GERMANICUS and had two small postal route maps engraved by the Nuremberg engraver Johann Christoph Weigel after Adam Friedrich Zürner for the same work .

On the Hanoverian Postal Code of 1733

In 1705 the Brunswick Principality of Lüneburg was united with the Electorate of Hanover . In 1714, Elector George of Hanover became King of England. In 1718, the Brunswick kitchen mail was set up from Brunswick via Merseburg to Leipzig. In 1736 the Hanoverian government bought back the postal loan from Count Platen for 450,000 thalers and nationalized the postal administration, a general postal directorate was set up under the direction of the Secret Council College. In 1738, Duke Karl von Braunschweig raised a claim to the postal income and nationalized the postal system after receiving compensation from Count Platen. The Braunschweig postal system was separated from the Hanoverian, but administered according to its model. From 1744 on, postal expeditions were set up for every village in the Duchy of Braunschweig . The rural mail supply should be achieved by running errands to the surrounding post offices. In 1748 Hanover allowed the establishment of taxis posts.

In 1705, Elector Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz (1658–1716) had a mail from Mülheim (Rhine) to Heidelberg laid out. In 1724, Elector Karl Philipp (1661–1742) tried to set up his own country postal system based on the Brandenburg-Prussian model. In a convention in 1730, the Palatinate postal system was transferred to the Thurn und Taxis under special conditions. In 1743 there was another postal convention between the Electoral Palatinate and the Thurn und Taxis.

In Württemberg, Eberhard Ludwig von Württemberg (1676–1733) put on his own state posts in 1708, but these were hired again in 1710.

In 1719 an agreement was reached between Thurn und Taxis and Hessen-Kassel , in which the prince recognized the Hessian state post. In 1724 the princely Hessian postal regulations were published together with the " Taxa ". In Hesse-Kassel, the postal system was nationalized again in 1731 and placed under the post of Chief Postmaster Renner.

Postmaster General Eugen Alexander von Thurn und Taxis died in 1722 , his son Anselm Franz von Thurn und Taxis was his successor . In 1727 Bremen left its postal system to the Thurn und Taxis. In 1702, Thurn and Taxis moved the central administration from Brussels to Frankfurt am Main . After the death of Anselm Franz Friedrich von Thurn und Taxis in 1739, his son Alexander Ferdinand von Thurn und Taxis became postmaster general. In 1744, Emperor Charles VII (1697–1745) granted him the Imperial Postal Fief as a real Imperial Throne Fief. In a postal contract dated June 25, 1748, Hanover allowed the establishment of taxis in the country. In 1749, the Frankfurter Stadtpost became the property of a taxi.

In 1722, under Emperor Charles VI. the postal system in Austria nationalized. Postmaster General von Paar received an annual compensation of 66,000 guilders. A uniform letter fee was introduced, regardless of the distance, which was 8 kreuzers domestically, half of which must be borne by the sender and recipient, and 6 kreuzers abroad.

1750

Post house sign of the imperial Reichspost Thurn und Taxis 1770

Thurn und Taxis bought the Cologne city post office in 1751. In 1754 Prince Alexander von Thurn und Taxis was introduced to the Imperial College, his son Karl Anselm von Thurn und Taxis succeeded him in 1773. On November 13, 1775, he signed a contract with Württemberg for the carriage of country carriages. On April 14, 1783, a taxissche driving mail service instruction was issued. In August 1784 a contract was signed with Bavaria , which regulated the postal system in the Bavarian Palatinate based on the model of the agreement of 1743 previously concluded with the Electoral Palatinate. In June 1790, all post offices of the Imperial Post Office in the Electorate of Hanover were closed, as was the case in Braunschweig. In 1793, the Thurn and Taxic posts on the left bank of the Rhine were lost to France.

Prussia set up the first journaling ( Schnellposten ) between Berlin and Potsdam in 1754 by the postmaster general Count von Gotter (in office 1753–1762). Since the roads were in a desolate state, Frederick the Great issued a route regulation on June 24, 1764. On November 26, 1782, a new postal order for Prussia was issued. As a result of an edict of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, the first road in Prussia between Berlin and Potsdam was built.

On September 4, 1755, Hanover published postal regulations for the Electorate of Hanover. In June 1790, all post offices of the Imperial Post Office in the Electorate of Hanover and Braunschweig were closed.

In 1755, Mecklenburg-Schwerin made it compulsory to post and in 1759 issued new postal regulations, and in 1770 a Mecklenburg postal order.

A private city post office was set up in Vienna in 1759, which became a branch of the state post in 1785. In Austria, the mandatory postal service for parcels was limited to £ 10 in the same year.

In 1763, Hessen-Kassel leased its postal system to the Privy Councilor of War Uckermann (for 10,000 thalers, later increased to 12,000 thalers). In 1770 the postal system was again operated by the state.

The newspaper leaseholder in Kursachsen was given the task of selling all domestic and foreign newspapers in the Electorate and was forbidden from selling newspapers by private individuals or postal officials. This was the first newspaper distribution monopoly.

Braunschweig also contracted newspaper sales in 1768, and an ordinance of November 23, 1767 ordered the establishment of a newspaper expedition at the court post office in Braunschweig and the obligation to purchase mail. In June 1790, all post offices of the Imperial Post Office in the Duchy of Braunschweig were closed, as was the case in Hanover.

A private city post office was founded in Hamburg in 1797, as was the case in Berlin in 1800, but it was returned when the French moved into the city.

Napoleonic period 1801 to 1813

In 1801, through the Peace of Lunéville, the posts in the areas ceded to France were withdrawn from the House of Thurn and Taxis. The Prince of Thurn and Taxis received in the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss (§ 13) the assurance that his posts will be kept in the same state as at the time of the Lunéville Peace. In the parts of the area that had come to Prussia, the taxis 'posts were lifted on November 1st, and taxis' skins were allowed to pass through for a fee. In 1804 Taxis signed contracts with Nassau and Hessen Darmstadt to guarantee its post ownership, in 1805 with Baden, Württemberg, Pfalzbayern, Würzburg, Sachsen-Hildburghausen, - Meiningen, - Coburg, - Gotha, - Weimar and Reuss. Karl Alexander von Thurn und Taxis succeeded Karl Anselm von Thurn und Taxis , who died on November 13, 1805 . In November the Elector of Bavaria, in December the Elector of Württemberg, took the state-owned posts. In Baden, Thurn and Taxis retained the usufruct of the postal service for an annual recognition fee of 24,000 guilders. On February 14, 1806, the Prince of Thurn and Taxis received the dignity of hereditary land postmaster from the King of Bavaria and for the time being kept the management of the Bavarian postal service for a lease of 25,000 guilders. The Grand Duke of Berg (Prince Murat) had the taxis' post offices in his area closed in the spring and introduced state posts. With the resignation of the German imperial crown by Franz II on August 6, 1806, the Taxis post office was no longer imperial. As far as the posts remained, they were assigned to the Prince of Thurn und Taxis by the state governments of the small German states by means of individual contracts. On February 28, 1808, a contract of assignment was concluded between Bavaria and Prince Thurn und Taxis. The prince kept the title Reichs-Ober-Postmeister and as compensation in domains and Kronlehn and annually 100,000 guilders. In 1808 all taxis' posts were abolished in the newly founded Kingdom of Westphalia, and in 1810 also in the north-west German areas that became part of the French Empire . In 1811, Baden took its post into state-run operations. The Prince of Thurn and Taxis was compensated. He received a pension of 10,000 guilders annually for life and 25,000 guilders annually for his house.

In Württemberg, the senior postal directorate, which was subordinate to the foreign department, directed the postal system. Thurn und Taxis was not compensated. Official messengers were hired in Württemberg on January 27, 1807, and postal service instructions followed on April 25.

In 1801 Prussia began to geometrically measure the post roads to set up stone milestones. The portions of the fee income previously left to the postmasters were replaced by fixed payments in 1803. Friedrich König invented the high-speed press in the same year .

In Hanover it came on the basis of an order of the royal electoral General-Postdirektorium from April 6, 1802 to the introduction of registered letters.

Joachim Murat , the Grand Duke of Berg , had the taxis' post offices in his area closed in the spring of 1806 and introduced state posts. On November 29, 1806, a Bergisches Post office was set up in Bremen. The postal system in the northern German territories occupied by France was for the time being incorporated into the grand-ducal Bergisch postal system. On June 4, 1808, the Grand Duchy took the exclusive right to maintain a post office in Bremen.

On February 28, 1808, a contract of assignment was concluded between Bavaria and Prince Thurn und Taxis. By edict on September 17, 1808, a General Post Office was set up as a department of the Foreign Ministry. On June 17, 1809, Bavaria enacted the privileges of the post office.

After the founding of the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, a royal Westphalian state post office was set up on February 11, 1808, based on the French model. The taxi posts in the kingdom have been abolished.

In Austria, the previous uniform letter tax was staggered according to two distance levels (up to four items and over four items, with one post accounting for about two miles).

In 1811, Baden took its post into state-run operations.

After the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, the formation of the French state disappeared. The old states were restored.

Congress of Vienna and the period from 1815 to 1850

Post and travel card from 1843

In 1815, the Congress of Vienna decided in Article 17 of the Federal Act that Thurn und Taxis should keep the possession of his posts, as confirmed in the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, as long as other agreements were not concluded by free agreement. The Württemberg postal system was leased to the Prince of Thurn and Taxis in 1819. State sovereignty, higher property rights, higher jurisdiction, confirmation of the laws and officials were reserved for the king. The top management was incumbent on the General Post Directorate Commission, which was merged with the General Post Directorate in Frankfurt am Main on September 15, 1819. In 1822 an express mail car service was started in Württemberg. Prince Alexander Josef von Thurn und Taxis died on July 15, 1827, his son Maximilian Karl succeeded him.

The Thurn and Taxis postal area comprised since 1819: Württemberg, the two Hesse and Nassau, the Thuringian states, the Lippe principalities, the Oldenburg Principality of Birkenfeld (from 1817 to 1837), Hohenzollern and the Free City of Frankfurt am Main.

The “Black One”, the first German postage stamp from 1849

Bavaria set up an upper post office in Würzburg in 1814 and in Speyer in 1816. On December 9, 1825, the general administration of the Bavarian posts was established and a year later it was subordinated to the Ministry of Finance. In 1834 the postal system was again subordinated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since May 27, 1847, the post office and the railway have been administered together in Bavaria. On December 1, 1847, the general administration of the Royal Post and Railways was subordinated to the Ministry of Finance, and from December 1, 1848 to the Ministry of Commerce. Express cars have also been in operation in Bavaria since April 1, 1826. On December 7, 1835, the first German railway between Nuremberg and Fürth was opened. A very high rescript dated July 3, 1837 regulated the relationship between the post office and the railroad. For a lump sum, freight mail, all other mail items by letter post, newspaper parcels and Estafetten items could be transported by the railroad without compensation. Mailboxes were generally introduced in Bavaria . Arrival stamps were introduced in Bavaria in 1843 . On November 1, 1849, Bavaria was the first German state to issue postage stamps with the Black One and a blue 3-Kreuzer and a brown 6-Kreuzer stamp . There is even a known copy of the 3 Kreuzer stamp, used on October 31, on a letter from Deggendorf. (See Peter Sem, Bavaria Special Catalog Volume 1.)

Austria made it compulsory to post letters, writings, money and items of freight up to 10 pounds on the postal routes . The postage was now graded according to seven distance levels. The obligation to post for money was lifted again in 1823. At the end of 1837 a postal law for Austria was published, and in 1838 a driving mail order. Since August 1, 1842, there were only two distance levels in Austria (up to and over 10 miles as the crow flies), changed in 1843 to from and over 20 miles.

Hanover introduced posting stamps in 1816 . Braunschweig opened the first state railway in Germany between Braunschweig and Wolfenbüttel on December 1, 1838. In 1849 the introduction of a land ordering service began .

Early Prussian stamp

In 1815 Prussia issued instructions on cash management and accounting for the royal Prussian post offices and in 1816 introduced postmarks. The first express mail from Berlin to Magdeburg was created in 1819 . In 1823 the distances between all post locations were determined on the basis of an exact map made for this purpose; this work was completed in 1825. In 1824 Prussia hired the first country mail carriers in Frankfurt (Oder) to supply the surrounding area with mail. In 1827 a state post office service was set up in Berlin, it comprised 1 post office expedition and 60 letter collection points. In 1837 Prussia took over the previous taxis postal system in Birkenfeld. On October 29, 1838, a railroad ran between Berlin and Potsdam. In November, the Railway Act required the carriage of letters, money and all items that were compulsory to post free of charge. On May 1, 1849, Prussia introduced freight forwarding offices ( railway posts ). On October 21, 1848, Prussia introduced letters with cash payments .

In 1820, Baden issued instructions on the letter post service for the grand ducal posts in Baden, and in 1824 a postal service order. On April 1, 1848, the first rail mail in Germany was sent to Baden , and mail conductors sorted the mail into rail mail cars .

Saxony hung up the first mailboxes in 1824. In 1829 city posts and collections of letters were set up in Leipzig and Dresden. In 1839 the first Saxon railway between Leipzig and Dresden was opened.

In Mecklenburg-Schwerin a general post office was set up on November 1, 1849, it replaced the administration of the post by the chamber council. On January 1, 1834, the Customs and Trade Association came into effect. The states of Prussia, Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, both Hesse and Thuringia were among the founding members. The majority of the German states joined by 1854. Austria remained outside with Liechtenstein, Hanover, both Mecklenburg, Holstein, Lauenburg and the three Hanseatic cities.

On October 18, 1847, the representatives of the German postal administrations met in Dresden to negotiate a German postal association . On February 3, 1848, the conference was adjourned due to general political conditions. On May 18, the German National Assembly met in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt (Main) to adopt a German Reich constitution. In the draft constitution, the Reich was reserved the right to take over the German postal system for the account of the Reich, subject to cheap compensation for those involved.

In 1849, Prussia and Austria resumed the attempt to form a postal association. On December 30, 1849, the German postal treaties concluded an agreement on reciprocal newspaper traffic. The German-Austrian postal agreement between Prussia and Austria was signed on April 6, 1850, and Bavaria joined immediately.

1850 to 1871

Mail delivery with a Karriol 1852

The German-Austrian Post Association as an amalgamation of small-state posts with a uniform tariff system came into force on July 1, 1850 and all German states gradually joined: On August 9, 1850, Hanover enacted both a postal law and a postal tax law Entered into force October. On July 1, 1851, Bavaria introduced letters with cash payments . Württemberg nationalized the postal system by 1859. Saxony passed a postal law on June 7, 1859, and the establishment of the rural postal service in the state was completed. In 1853, Braunschweig completely carried out the rural postal service in its country. On January 1, 1854, Baden set up a directorate for the grand ducal transport authorities and in 1859 began to introduce land posts.

Even Prussia has carried out a comprehensive land ordering service. On January 1, 1866, Prussia took over the postal administration in the Duchy of Lauenburg , on December 22nd that of Schleswig-Holstein and on January 1st, 1867 the administration of the Hanover post office and then on July 1st, 1867 the taxissche postal system. On January 1, 1868, the postal administration of the North German Confederation came into being.

The technical innovations of the time included the rapidly growing rail post and the pneumatic tube post in Berlin that went into operation in 1864 .

1870, Constantinople

Reichspost 1872 to 1920

In the Franco-Prussian War , Bismarck succeeded in merging southern and northern Germany. On January 1, 1871, the common state was named German Empire, and King Wilhelm I received the title of imperial . On January 1, 1872, the law on the postal system, the postal tax system and the postal regulations of the Reichspost came into force. The post and telegraph system remained with the state as a whole, but Bavaria and Württemberg kept their own post and telegraph administration. In 1875, a general directorate of the transport authorities was set up in Württemberg as a collegial central authority. As early as April 1, 1881, Württemberg received a special general directorate for posts and telegraphs.

On September 15, 1874, a postal congress began in Bern , at which the General Postal Union (from 1878 Universal Postal Union ) was founded on October 9, 1874 at the suggestion of the German Postmaster General Heinrich von Stephan . At its postal congresses, the postal association regulated international cooperation between national postal administrations.

German Post Office Shanghai

Trade connections and military bases required post lines to Asia and Africa. A German post office was opened in Constantinople on March 1, 1871. In 1886 a German post office opened in Shanghai . Post offices in the German colonies in Africa (January 1, 1887 Cameroon) and in the South Seas (July 21, 1887 Apia) followed a year later . This was followed by a post office in Klein Popo (Togo) on March 1, 1888, one in Jaluit on the Marshall Islands on October 1, and one in Lamu ( Witu area ) on November 22, 1888 . In 1897 a German post office was set up in Kiautschou , in 1899 in Morocco, etc.

In 1890, the Reichspost concluded an agreement with the Hamburg-America Line and North German Lloyd on the establishment of sea posts (post office officials process mail while it is on the move). On April 1, 1891, the sea ​​mail service between Germany and America began.

The postal system was continuously improved. In 1896 bicycles and, from 1898, motor vehicles were used in the postal service. The Reichspost introduced motor vehicles for freight mail and parcel delivery services in Berlin from 1903. Stuttgart followed in 1904 with motor vehicles for mail and parcel delivery. Bavaria introduced motor vehicles for passenger transport in 1905: From June 1, 1905, the first post buses ran between Bad Tölz and Lenggries . From 1906 more and more cities in the Reichspostgebiet were equipped with vehicles. Zeppelin mail was carried for the first time in 1912 .

After the First World War, the Reich Ministry for Postal Services was formed. Referendums in Upper Silesia, North Schleswig, East and West Prussia as well as Eupen and Malmedy on their affiliation under international law ensured that the postal administrations of the voting areas were spun off . Allied troops occupied the Rhineland in 1918 and the Ruhr area in 1923 . The Belgians, French, British and Americans brought their field post with them. German postal traffic was controlled for a long time, and some items were given a censorship stamp .

In 1911–1913, a joint post exchange and customs office was set up in Basel in cooperation with the Swiss Post . The post office Basel 17 Transit . Although this office was operated by the Swiss Post, it performed tasks in the interests of both postal systems. This cooperation was unique at the time and shows the good relationship between the Deutsche Reichspost and the Swiss Post. Thanks to the joint office, an exchange of mail at the border could be avoided, which led to a more uncomplicated and faster postal service.

Weimar Republic 1920 to 1933

Post Office Sign 1923
Postage stamp for 10 billion marks from the end of hyperinflation in 1923

Since the state treaties between the Reich and the state governments in Bavaria and Württemberg on the cession of the postal and telegraph services to the Reich, there was only one Reich Postal Administration on April 1, 1920.

On January 1, 1922, a new postal order came into effect. It was adapted to the new situation and, with many small changes, remained valid until 1964 (Deutsche Bundespost). Like its customers, the Reichspost suffered very badly from inflation . The total of 21 fee changes since 1919 have been made at ever shorter intervals. With the introduction of the Rentenmark on December 1, 1923, the administration returned to the old postal tariffs.

A new regulation of the ordinance law took place in the Reichspostfinanzgesetz (RPFG) of March 18, 1924. The Reichspost- und Telegraphenbetrieb was now an independent company. The assets of the Reichspost were classified as special assets and were to be kept separate from the other assets of the Reich.

On the occasion of the Postal Congress in Madrid, all subsidiary agreements were renewed and came into force on January 1, 1922. The postal transfer agreement was new; the agreement on identity books was repealed. In 1927, at the Postal Congress in The Hague, the provisions on the carriage of letters and parcels by air were regulated with effect from January 1, 1928. In 1934, at the Postal Congress in Cairo, an appendix to the Postal Order Agreement was added, in which the postal travel check service was encouraged and which came into force on January 1, 1935.

At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s, numerous spectacular technical innovations were partly financed by postal transport, which made the Reichspost a topic of interest to the world. During the first catapult flight from the steamer "Bremen" in 1929, there was mail on board and this technology was intended to accelerate intercontinental mail traffic. From 1931 onwards, Zeppelin airships operated in the postal service with North and South America and were faster than the fastest mail steamers at the time.

Third Reich 1933 to 1945

From February 28, 1933, postal, telegraph and telephone secrecy was lifted. Furthermore, the Reich Post Finance Act of 1924, the Administrative Council of the Reich Post, and the state treaties with Bavaria and Württemberg of 1920 were also repealed in 1933 , as a result of which Department VI in Munich and the special powers of the Oberpostdirektion in Stuttgart.

In the Simplification Act of February 27, 1934, the Oberpostdirections Darmstadt , Halle, Konstanz, Liegnitz and Minden were repealed and the districts were divided. From April 1, 1934, the upper post offices became Reich post offices .

With the expansion policy of the Third Reich, the area of ​​responsibility of the Reichspost grew: From March 1, 1935, the Reichspost was again responsible for the Saarland, the Reichspostdirektion was relocated to Saarbrücken. The Austrian post and telecommunications system was transferred to the German Reichspost on March 19, 1938. On October 28, 1938, the German post and telecommunications system was introduced in the Sudeten German areas . On October 28, 1939, the post and telegraph system of the former Free City of Danzig was transferred to the Deutsche Reichspost. After the invasion of Poland and the beginning of the Second World War, post and telecommunications law was introduced in the eastern regions on December 19, 1939 . On April 9, 1940, direct and indirect communications with hostile countries were prohibited by the regulation on communications and communications surveillance was set up.

To simplify the parcel distribution service, the Reich was divided into 24 " routing areas " in 1941 , which are identified by "routing numbers".

Since 1943 there was a free express message service after Allied air raids. On August 14, 1944, the total war effort also became effective at the Deutsche Reichspost. From January 28, 1945, the Deutsche Reichspost restricted cross-local correspondence. With the end of the war in 1945, the post came to a standstill. The infrastructure was largely destroyed and the Allied occupying powers initially prohibited all civil postal traffic, except in parts of Saxony.

After the war in 1945

After the unconditional surrender , the mail traffic was gradually resumed according to the regulations of the occupying powers within the scope of the technical possibilities. At first, the postal regulations from 1929 applied again.

In the British zone , the BZRPO (British Zone Reichspost Oberdirektion) was set up on September 19, 1945 in Bad Salzuflen. On January 1, 1947, the British and American zones merged to form the bizone . The Saarland was connected to France economically and politically. The previous Oberpostdirektion Munich and the BZRPO were combined to form the main administration for the postal and telecommunications system of the American and British occupation zones, with their headquarters in Frankfurt am Main.

From April 1st, mail between the United Economic Area was subject to uniform postal regulations. From October 1, 1948, foreign fees and regulations were applicable in traffic between the United Economic Area and Saarland (until 1957), only letters were allowed.

Emergency victim Berlin

On June 20, 1948, the currency reform was announced for June 21 , the introduction of the Deutsche Mark (DM) in "West Germany". The currency reform intensified the already existing conflict between the USSR and the Western powers. In response, the Berlin blockade was imposed from June 24, 1948 to May 12, 1949. The supply of West Berlin could only take place through the Berlin Airlift . Since December 1, 1948, the Berlin emergency victim was introduced in West Germany . It was not until April 1, 1956 that the tax stamp was no longer used.

From June 1, 1949, the same postage and postal check fees applied to authorized services in the western sectors of Greater Berlin as in the United Economic Area .

In 1949 the three western zones merged to form the Trizone . The Federal Republic of Germany created a provisional Basic Law (rejected by Bavaria) . The German post office was established in the Western zones in 1947 as a successor to the imperial post and 1950 in German Federal Postal renamed. In the Soviet zone, the GDR's Deutsche Post was established in parallel .

German Federal Post Office

First postage stamp of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1949
Overview of the services at the Deutsche Bundespost

On April 1, 1950, in accordance with Article 130 of the Basic Law, the main administration for the postal and telecommunications system of the United Economic Area and the Oberpostdirektion in the states of Baden, Rhineland-Palatinate and Württemberg-Hohenzollern with their subordinate and subordinate offices, became part of the administration of the Federal convicted. The Deutsche Bundespost was founded.

On July 1, 1951, the express package was introduced as a new type of dispatch for parcels . Such items must bear the underlined note "Schnellpaket" or " Postschnellgut ".

On September 1st, preparations are made for the integration of the Saarland . From January 1, 1957, the Basic Law and the Postal Administration Law of the Federal Republic of Germany apply in the Saarland. Between July 8, 1957 and June 30, 1959, special tariffs apply between Saarland and France, the French Union, and Italy and Luxembourg.

A new postal order is announced in the Federal Law Gazette, effective June 1, 1964 . It replaced the postal regulations of 1929, with all its changes. Items that were previously sent from printed matter at a reduced fee can now be sent as book items or wrapper items . In future, samples will be called consignments . Direct mail in future direct mail from declared value and handling fee will value fee . The posting and urgent delivery of parcels is no longer provided, but there are express parcels or express mail. Station letters will be called course letters in the future .

On July 1, 1976, an ordinance on postal and telecommunications traffic with the Deutsche Post of the GDR came into effect. It regulates the reciprocal mail and telecommunications traffic between the GDR and the FRG. The legal basis is the statutes of the Universal Postal Union and the international telecommunications treaty.

Stamp cuts for bulk printed matter

From May 1, 1978 onwards, the hotel room keys accidentally taken by guests are accepted unwrapped as freight collect letters and delivered to the hotel etc. in Germany and in West Berlin. Special forms of dispatch, such as registered mail, express delivery, are excluded. The keys, which must have a flat tag at least 10 × 5 cm in size, can be delivered through a letterbox or at the counter. The key fob bears the full address of the hotel, inn, guesthouse etc. as well as the instruction to put the key unpacked in the nearest post box. A fee of DM 4.90 is charged to the recipient for this service; it also includes the letter and collection fee. Any postage stamps stuck to the trailer are not taken into account.

From January 11, 1979, initially on an experimental basis, users of sender stamping machines were allowed to frank and stamp mass printed matter with postage stamps.

The first machine brands of the Federal Post Office

From January 1981 onwards, 15 electronically controlled coin stamp printers will be tested at 14 selected post offices as part of an initially unlimited operational trial. The exact installation locations and the respective date of commissioning will be announced locally in good time.

Official template "Fee paid"

From July 1, 1981, letters and parcel cards on which there is insufficient space to properly affix the postage stamps are to be provided with a rubber stamp in the upper right corner of the address side according to the adjacent pattern: the day stamp is to be affixed to the left. The fee paid must be stated in the space provided; the note is not to be signed. The rubber stamps “Fee paid - Taxe percue” are procured centrally.

On October 7, 1982, a pilot test began at the post office 6200 Wiesbaden 1 with workstations specially developed for counter matters. On February 9, 1983 the post office 5300 Bonn 2 was added, and on June 3, 1983 the post office 3000 Hanover 1 was added. Trials will run until the end of July 1984. On December 2, 1987, at the post offices 3000 Hanover 1 and 3200 Hildesheim, several counters began to operate with the EPOS counter terminal system. The abbreviation stands for "electronic post office counter". Trials ended on March 31, 1988. The post offices 3300 Braunschweig 31 (Friedrich-Wilhelm-Straße 3) and 3380 Goslar 1 (Klubgartenstraße 10) will replace them. Two coin stamp printers are used at the Hanover trade fairs CeBIT and Industrie-Messe . In September 1984 Swiss Post changed its previous EPOS strategy. Instead of the planned 5,000 network terminals, preparations are now being made to equip all 20,000 workplaces with standard single-user systems.

The Postal Structure Act comes into force on July 1, 1989. The Deutsche Bundespost is divided into three sub-areas, which are run as a public company with the names Deutsche Bundespost Postdienst, -Postbank and -Telekom. A board of directors consisting of the board of directors and the supervisory board takes over the management.

On November 9, 1989, the German-German border opens towards the Federal Republic and on December 22, 1989 towards the GDR. Gradually, the postal service will be adjusted.

Last GDR postage stamps, for the first time in German marks

On Sunday, July 1, 1990, the monetary union between the Federal Republic and the GDR was implemented. The territory of the Bundesbank extends to the territory of the GDR. From July 2, 1990, Deutsche Post of the GDR will be issuing new postage stamps with the imprint "Deutsche Post". They are only given against DM. The postage stamps are recognized by the Federal Post Office as valid postage stamps. They can therefore be used to frank letters both in reciprocal mail and in the respective area of ​​both administrations. However, due to the contrary provision of the Universal Postal Agreement and its executive order, they are not permitted for international mail if the mail is posted in the area of ​​the Federal Post Office. In the above-mentioned - permissible - traffic relations, mixed postage, i.e. H. Franking with stamps from both administrations side by side, not objectionable.

As of October 3, 1990, the postage stamps of the GDR Deutsche Post, which appeared before June 30, 1990, are suspended. From this point on, they may therefore no longer be used to postage postage in both DBP traffic areas.

Before the new five-digit postcodes are introduced on July 1, 1993, the existing four-digit postcodes are preceded by the letters “W” or “O”, for example “W-5300 Bonn 1” or “Leipzig O-7010”.

In 1991, with the publication of the “General Terms and Conditions”, the long history of postal regulations ended .

Landespostdirektion Berlin

After 1945 the Reichspostdirektion Berlin, located in Charlottenburg, was responsible for 200 post offices, three railway post offices, the postal newspaper office, the postal check office, seven telephone offices, etc. in West Berlin. With the division of Berlin, a "Oberpostdirektion Berlin" was established in the Soviet sector of Berlin (East Berlin) on November 30, 1948, which was subordinated to the Ministry for Post and Telecommunications in Berlin W 66. The central authority in West Berlin was named "Senate Administration for Post and Telecommunications in Berlin" in January 1951, and in 1954 the name "Landespostdirektion Berlin". The stamp issues later bore the inscription "Deutsche Bundespost Berlin", although the State Post Office was not subject to this because of its Berlin status. After reunification, the regional post office lost its independence and was integrated into the federal post office as the upper post office; the issue of its own postage stamps was discontinued.

German Post of the GDR

Service flag of the Deutsche Post of the GDR

On June 9, 1945, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD) was established in the Soviet-occupied zone . As of July 27, 1945, the "German Central Administration" was also responsible for the intelligence of the entire Soviet-occupied zone ( SBZ ).

The " German Economic Commission " (DWK) served since June 14, 1947 to steer the economy. She regulated u. a. The permits for shipments in parcel and money traffic with the western zones ensured restrictions in the movement of goods within the Soviet Zone and in traffic with the Soviet-occupied sector of Greater Berlin.

After the currency reform on July 3, 1948, only the postage stamps with the imprint "Soviet Occupation Zone" can be bought in small quantities. From September 1, 1948, the postage stamps of the Berlin bear series with the overprint "Soviet occupation zone" are also valid until further notice. On October 11, 1948, the series of postage stamps “Personalities” appears.

After the Soviets left the Allied Control Council on March 20, 1948, the blockade of Berlin began on June 24 and lasted until May 23, 1949.

GDR official gazettes

On October 10, 1949, preferential transport of official mail in interzonal traffic and in traffic with the Soviet sector of Berlin is ordered. 1950 the term changes to "business mail".

The entry into force of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on May 23, 1949 followed on October 7, 1949, with the constitution of the German People's Council, the establishment of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The Soviet occupied zone has become a foreign country for the Federal Republic. The provisions of the Universal Postal Treaty come into force in the GDR on July 1, 1953.

ID card for purchasing special stamps for philatelists

On January 16, 1950, the international air mail service was started with the USSR and on August 1, 1950 . As of June 1, 1951, Deutsche Post is issuing lightweight folded airmail letters at a price of 2 pfennigs each.

From January 1, 1952, stamp collectors will only be considered for deliveries with special postage stamps if they have ID. From April 15, 1954 onwards, incoming exchanges from West Germany, West Berlin and other countries must have a label on the adjoining sample. The sticky note is white and has a green border. In 1955, the two-tone stickers shown below are distributed via the Philately section. The items marked with such labels must be stamped with particular care.

In an order dated May 23, 1954, postal surveillance was set up as an internal security and investigative body for Deutsche Post.

From August 1st, the economic mail (W-PG) will be approved as a type of shipment in small goods traffic.

Official stamp of the GDR

In the Central Gazette of the GDR of August 1, 1954, the issuing of official stamps is announced.

From February 1, 1955 on, mass printed matter introduced as a new type of mailing in West Germany and West Berlin will be transported and delivered if it is addressed to recipients in the GDR or East Berlin.

On April 1, 1955, the Deutsche Post opened the post rental container service as a new service . The boxes with removable lids are available in different sizes.

In 1955, local postage fees apply in any case within a political municipality .

The Central Courier Service has existed since October 10, 1955 .

From January 10, 1957 on, folded letters printed with a 20 pfennig value of the permanent series are sold for 22 pfennigs at the counter.

In 1958 the "Order on the presentation of GDR identity cards when posting mail" appears. For all payments of funds by private individuals to private individuals, the acceptance clerk at Deutsche Post is required to present the identity card of the German Democratic Republic of the delivering citizen. The same applies to the posting of parcels and parcels.

On April 3, 1959, the "Law on Post and Telecommunications" appears, and on August 1, the postal regulations . Deutsche Post is subordinate to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications.

From September 1, 1959, the sale and permanent purchase of postage stamps from the GDR were reorganized. The sale of special postage stamps is only permitted to a buyer in quantities of up to ten items per value (there are exceptions).

Since January 1, 1960, letters up to 20 g and postcards to socialist countries have to be franked after the domestic fees. This also applies to postcards with a reply section. From January 1, 1967, domestic charges are to be levied for letters up to 20 g and postcards to Yugoslavia in reciprocal traffic. Other countries will follow.

July 25, 1963: The presentation of an identity card of the German Democratic Republic when posting mail remains. “When parcels and small parcels are posted abroad, West Germany and West Berlin, the employees of Deutsche Post have to request the presentation of the identity card of the citizen who is posting the items. In the capital of the German Democratic Republic of Berlin, the presentation of the identity card is required when delivering packages and parcels. "

GDR postcodes

With effect from October 1, 1964, postcodes are introduced in the GDR .

Postage stamps were regularly suspended on March 31 of each year. All special postage stamps issued since January 1, 1964 (including the miniature sheets), the postage stamps of the permanent series and the airmail permanent series as well as the value stamps on the postcards remain valid indefinitely. This also applies to postage stamps, the validity of which should end on March 31, 1966 or March 31, 1967.

On January 1, 1967, a revised postal order came into force. The following types of mail and services are canceled: business mail, insurance fees , advertising replies (the mail items are to be posted as letters , postcards , printed matter or business printed matter ), station newspapers (the items are to be posted as station mail), printed newspapers (the items are to be sent as printed matter or business parcels to be delivered). New to be introduced are: economic packages and economic packages . Returns are now free of charge for all types of shipment - including parcels.

Registered number stamp

From September 1967 new number stamps for registered mail will be tested in selected post offices. In 1968, some other post offices set up self-service facilities for posting registered mail. The almost transparent registration slips largely corresponded to the normal R slips, but with the note "Fee paid". In the same year, a technological test “partial self-service when delivering parcels” is carried out at the two post offices. Parcel deliveries and parcel deliveries abroad are excluded from this attempt.

Souvenir letter for the 100th anniversary of the Magdeburg-Stadtfeld post office

Between September 29 and October 18, 1970, during the “Brotherhood of Arms” maneuvers of the National People's Army , the GDR field post was tested.

The German Democratic Republic has been a member of the Universal Postal Union and its subsidiary agreements since January 1st, 1971 . Between the FRG and the GDR there was a first state treaty in 1972, the "Transport Agreement".

On January 3, 1972, the order banning the trade in collector's stamps, coins, other money tokens, medals, orders, decorations and documents as well as philatelic and numismatic specialist literature of a fascist, anti-democratic or anti-humanist character appears. At the same time, the order of August 4, 1958 on the prohibition of the trade in postage stamps with anti-democratic content expires. (Note: Postage stamps from the period from 1933 to 1945 could be sold through VEB Philatelie Wermsdorf , as this company was subject to special regulations for export).

On March 20, 1976, the agreement on post and telecommunications between the GDR and the FRG is signed. From July 1, 1976, new regulations apply to international mail with the FRG and Berlin (West).

On the research base of the Academy of Science of the GDR at the Soviet Antarctic station , a day stamp with the inscription "ANTARCTIC STATION / GDR / Georg Forster" with a portrait of Georg Forster was used on May 1, 1988.

On the occasion of the National Stamp Exhibition of the GDR there is a special registered number slip - self-service - "3010 Magdeburg 1 / GDR 89".

In accordance with the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the GDR on June 13, 1990, the fees and services for national and international mail and telecommunications will be redefined with effect from July 1, 1990. These fees apply to postal traffic within the GDR (Deutsche Post area) and to some extent to the FRG and Berlin (Deutsche Bundespost area). The GDR Ministry of Post and Telecommunications is issuing a new series of postage stamps. As of September 1st, all postage stamps previously issued will be suspended. An exchange for new postage stamps in DM currency is not permitted.

With effect from July 1, 1990, Domestic Datapost is introduced. This eliminates the central courier service . The media postcard for participation in competitions, sweepstakes and surveys, which was introduced in West Germany on a trial basis for three years since April 1, 1990 , will also be displayed at all post offices in the GDR from July 1, 1990 and offered to customers free of charge. It must be vacated according to the postcard fee.

A united Germany has existed since October 3, 1990 . On the basis of Article 27 of the Unification Treaty , the GDR Post will be merged with the Deutsche Bundespost. In the former GDR postal services in lieu of regional post directorates in post different directorates, the central office at Postbank Postbank set up and the branches Postbank and telecommunications-service Directorates Telekom.

literature

Basics

  • Wolfgang Behringer: Thurn and Taxis. The history of your post office and your company. Munich 1990.
  • Wolfgang Behringer: Under the sign of Mercury, imperial post and communication revolution in the early modern period. Goettingen 2003.
  • Martin Dallmeier: Sources on the history of the European postal system 1501–1806. 2 volumes. Kallmünz 1977.
  • Walter Maschke (ed.): Unity in change. Deutsche Post DHL - from authority to global player. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2015, ISBN 978-3-7319-0166-2 .
  • Wilhelm Heinrich Matthias: Representation of the postal system in the Royal Prussian States. Berlin 1817.
  • Konrad Schwarz: Timeline of German postal history. Volume 22 from Post and Telegraphy in Science and Practice. Deckers, Berlin 1935.
  • Heinrich von Stephan: History of the Prussian Post from its origins to the present. Berlin 1859.
  • Heinrich von Stephan: History of the Prussian Post, edited according to official sources until 1858. Karl Sautter: revised and continued until 1868. Berlin.
  • Karl Sautter: History of the Deutsche Post. Part 2: History of the North German Federal Post. Reprinted by the Federal Printing Office 1952.
  • Karl Sautter: History of the Deutsche Post. Volume 3: History of the Deutsche Reichspost, 1871 to 1945. Frankfurt am Main 1951.
  • History of the Deutsche Post. Volume 4: 1945 to 1978. Steinmetz / Elias, Bonn 1979.
  • Handheld dictionary of postal services . Berlin 1927.
  • Handheld dictionary of postal services. Frankfurt am Main 1953. With addendum to 2nd edition 1956.
  • Society for the Research of Postal History in Bavaria: Review of the first century of the K.Bayer. State Post (March 1, 1808 to December 31, 1908). Reprint, Munich 1982.
  • Gerhard Rehbein (Ed.): Lexicon of the Post. Post and telecommunications. Berlin (East) 1983.
  • Wolfgang Lotz (ed.): German postal history. Essays and pictures. Berlin 1989.
  • Hermann Glaser, Thomas Werner: The Post in its time. A cultural history of human communication. Heidelberg 1990.
  • Anton von Kumpf-Mikuli: Introduction to old letters. (Compilation of articles from the SAVO circulars, Vienna 1933–1948), reprinted in: Peter Feuser, Werner Münzberg: Deutsche Vorphilatelie. Station catalog. Catalog of posting stamps. Volume 1. Stuttgart 1988, pp. 22–79 (basic literature for beginning collectors of postal documents of any type and time as well as any territory, which should facilitate the systematization of postal history collecting areas.)

Postal history Old Germany

  • Werner Steven: The domestic postage fees in the Kingdom of Westphalia from 1810 to 1814. ArGe Braunschweig, 1984.
  • Werner Steven: The development of domestic postage in the Duchy of Braunschweig from 1813 to 1868 (domestic). Postal history sheets Braunschweig, Hanover 1985.
  • Werner Steven: Hannoversche Inlands-Taxen from 1814 to 1866. Post and telecommunication history, regional area middle, 1998.
  • Werner Steven: Compilation of postage rates for correspondence with foreign countries, Taler currency, 1846–1875. Braunschweig 1985.
  • Michael Geistbeck: World traffic. The development of shipping, railways, post and telegraphy by the end of the 19th century. Freiburg i. Br. 1st ed., 1887, 2nd revised. 1895 edition (reprint: Hildesheim 1986).
  • Karl Zangerle: Handbook of the foreign taxes of the southern German postal areas, guilder currency, 1850-1975. Kaiserslautern 1990.

North German Federal Post - Reichspost

  • Figures of the Deutsche Reichspost (1871 to 1945). 2nd Edition. Published by the Federal Ministry for the Post and Telecommunications, Bonn 1957.
  • Werner Steven: Postal charges NDP until 1945. Series of articles in the DBZ, 1982.
  • Werner Steven: Foreign tariffs for letter and parcel post, 1875-1900. Braunschweig 1986.
  • Rainer E. Lütgens: Postage rate catalog 1923 to 1945. Langenhagen and Hamburg 1986.
  • Werner Steven: Law on the postal tax system of November 4th, 1867, regulations on the law on the postal system of the North German Confederation, overview of fees. In: archiv Philatelic series of publications. Issue 4. Braunschweig 1993.
  • Werner Steven: Constitution of the German Empire of October 28, 1871, law on the postal system and the postal tax system in the territory of the German Empire, postal regulations on the law. In: archiv Philatelic series of publications. Issue 5. Braunschweig 1994.
  • Werner Steven: Law regarding the amendment of the law on the postal tax system of November 3rd, 1874, highest ordinance regarding the introduction of the Reich currency, law regarding the amendment of § 4 of the law on the postal system of the German Empire (Eisenbahn-Post-Gesetz ), Postal regulations, pneumatic tube in Berlin. In: archiv Philatelic series of publications. Issue 6. Braunschweig 1997.
  • Klaus Beyrer (Ed.): Communication in the Empire. Postmaster General Heinrich von Stephan. Heidelberg 1997.
  • Werner Steven: Postal regulations to the law on the postal system of March 8, 1879, amendment of the postal regulations from April 1, 1879 - June 30, 1892, list of charges for letters 1879–1892. In: archiv Philatelic series of publications. Issue 7. Braunschweig 1998.
  • Werner Steven: Postal regulations of June 11, 1892 to the law on the postal system, changes to the postal regulations from July 1, 1892 to March 31, 1900, overview of fees 1892–1900. In: archiv Philatelic series of publications. Issue 8. Braunschweig 1998.
  • Werner Steven: Postal regulations for the German Reich from March 20, 1900, pneumatic tube regulations for Berlin from August 6, 1903 and January 3, 1909, the changes to the postal regulations from March 1, 1900 to October 31, 1917, overview of fees, field post fees. In: archiv Philatelic series of publications. Issue 9. Braunschweig 1998.
  • Werner Steven: Constitution of the German Reich of Aug. 11, 1919 (excerpt regarding postal and telecommunications systems) Postal Act (amendments etc.), Law on postal charges (Oct. 1, 1920, Jan. 1, 1921, April 1, 1021) , Postal regulations for the German Reich (valid for the period from October 01, 1917 to December 31, 1921). In: archiv Philatelic series of publications. Issue 10. Phila PhD, Forchheim 2000.
  • Heinz Wewer : "Left without giving the address". Postal evidence of persecution and terror under National Socialism. Hentrich & Hentrich, Berlin 2017. ISBN 978-3-95565-241-8
  • Wolfgang Lotz , Gerd R. Ueberschär : The German Reichspost 1933-1945. A political administrative story. 2 volumes. Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-87584-915-9 .
  • Michel: Postage Fee Manual Germany. Schwanenberger, Munich 2001.
  • Regulation H.Dv. 62, postal regulations for the Wehrmacht (PVW), 1930

Germany from 1945

  • Heinz Büchner: Contributions to the postal history of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Schwandorf undated (1971).
  • Werner Götz: Requirement letters Germany after 1945. Subdivided according to postal services with indication of all postage levels. Augsburg 1980.
  • Gerhard Rehbein: Facts and Events. Contributions to the operational history of the Deutsche Post in the GDR. Berlin (East) 1983 ff.
  • Wolf J. Pelikan: From the relay post to the inter-zone postal traffic. Postal developments in Berlin: May 1945 to October 24, 1945. Kassel 1991.
  • Wolfgang Strobel: The start of postal traffic in Germany after the occupation from 1945 to 1950. Self-published, 1994.
  • Werner Steven: Post book for the years 1945–1992, edited from official sources. Braunschweig 1994.
  • Hans-Henning Mücke: The RPD / OPD Hanover in the years 1945 to 1948. Hanover 1996.
  • Werner Steven: GDR, the end of a post order (1989–1991) and the transitional regulations for the Federal Post Office. Postmark Guild, Issue 138, Soest 2000.
  • Werner Steven: GDR post book 1947–1989, edited from official sources. Braunschweig 2001.
  • Werner Steven: Postage Book 1991 to 2001 - until the end of the DM, edited according to official sources. Braunschweig 2001.
  • Manfred Anderson et al. a .: The Saxon blackening in 1945. Postal services and temporary stamps in Saxony after the end of the Second World War. 2 volumes. Ubstadt-Weiher 2001/2003.

See also

Portal: Postal History  - Overview of Wikipedia content on the topic of postal history

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Dates of the German Postal History from 1490", Hans-Jürgen Salier , Collector Express, 1990, Issue 7, p. 234, and "Lexikon Kursächsische Postmeilensäulen", p. 51, transpress Verlag, 1989, ISBN 3-344-00264- 3
  2. ↑ “Lexikon Kursächsische Postmeilensäulen”, p. 52, transpress Verlag, 1989, ISBN 3-344-00264-3
  3. ↑ MELISSANTES, Curieuse Gedancken from the most elegant and most accurate old and new country charts , Frankfurt and Leipzig [Erfurt] 1713, p. 258 - [260]
  4. ^ Carsten Berndt, MELISSANTES - A Thuringian polyhistor and his job descriptions in the 18th century; Life and work of Johann Gottfried Gregorii (1685 - 1770) as a contribution to the history of geography, cartography, genealogy, psychology, education and professional studies in Germany; [A Thuringian geographer and universal scholar (1685 - 1770)] , 2nd edition, Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2014, ISBN 978-3-86777-166-5 . Pp. 359-362
  5. ↑ In order to be able to govern Hanover and England properly, the so-called Old Post Route was set up from Hanover to Cuxhaven in order to be able to transport official mail on land and then on by ship.
  6. ^ Postal orders-Postpaketverkehr, Meyers Konversationslexikon, Volume 18: Jahres-Supplement 1890-1891, S. 733, In: Retrobibliothek
  7. ^ Alfred Dietiker: From the post office Basel 17 Transit and its exchange of parcels with other countries . In: Postal Magazine . No. 2 , 1932, p. 56-68 .
  8. ↑ Calendar 1945 of the German Broadcasting Archives (PDF; 9.3 MB)

Web links

Commons : Deutsche Postgeschichte  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Post  sources and full texts