Postal history and postage stamps of Germany under Allied occupation

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history

German states in the zones of occupation (as of June 1947 to April 1949)

In occupied post-war Germany , the entire intelligence system was subject to the surveillance and authority of the military governments of the four victorious powers , who handled them differently. Correspondingly different in time and form, the lower postal authorities were able to arrange and start urgently necessary postal services with their superiors in accordance with local possibilities. Initially, only local shipments could be accepted, transported and delivered.

First, the official mail traffic was set up by couriers in the immediate vicinity and gradually expanded. This was soon followed by the approval of private local letters. From July 1945, the correspondence was gradually extended to the federal states, to the entire zone by October, and shortly afterwards to the other occupation zones. As a rule, only ordinary postcards and open official, bank and business letters were allowed at the post office .

The mail connections for foreigners who were deported to Germany as foreign workers during the war and for the work of the Red Cross were particularly strongly promoted . Courier services with or without the involvement of the post office were set up for the mail traffic of banks, hospitals, fire brigades and the police.

If the local post office was able to find a vehicle, connections to neighboring areas or to the nearest distribution point were established.

The backbone of mail transport, rail mail , was slow to get going again. The railway lines were largely destroyed by the effects of the war. If they were passable again, there would be a lack of coal . Only when this was procured could trains run more or less regularly. Then, if reasonably usable rail mail wagons were to be found, the rail mail agents could resume their heavy duty. After all, larger postal districts could be connected with one another. In autumn 1945 there were already connections in interzonal traffic. The first German rail mail that went beyond the state border ran on September 1, 1948 between Frankfurt am Main and Venlo . On August 29, 1946, airmail was started from the USA to Germany. The situation improved almost daily. The improvisational ability of the Post people at the grassroots level can hardly be measured today.

With restrictions due to the war, the postal regulations of 1929 still applied, in the annex of which the postal charges were regulated. However, after the surrender on May 8, 1945, the postal order could no longer be used for some time, the postal service had been suspended by the Allies. With effect from March 1, 1946, by order of the Allied Control Council, all postage was doubled in all four zones of occupation including Greater Berlin - with the exception of postal orders , postage check fees and value declaration fees .

From March 6, 1947, the postal and telecommunications system in the American and British zones (so-called bizones ) was under uniform management. On May 1, 1948, the airmail service from the United Economic Area to other countries was permitted under special conditions. The first domestic German airmail was flown between Frankfurt am Main and Berlin on July 15, 1948, and between Hamburg and Stuttgart since January 5, 1949 .

On June 20, 1948, the currency reform was announced for June 21 , the introduction of the Deutsche Mark (DM) in "West Germany" (ie in the British, American and French occupation zones ). In the days from June 21 to 23, 1948, the old postage stamps could be used up in the west, 10 times the amount then had to be stuck together, so the so-called 10-fold franking was created.

In the Soviet occupation zone , a reform also took place on June 23, 1948, whereby old Reichsmark notes were simply provided with coupons and stickers.

The “Second Order on Post and Telecommunication Fees” of August 8th issued by the “Director of Administration for Post and Telecommunications” on the basis of Article II of the Act on Principles for Management and Price Policy after the Currency Reform of June 24, 1948 With effect from September 1, 1948, 1948 brought about a fundamental revision of postal charges . In this order, all postal charges (including newspaper charges, postal travel charges, postal check charges and international charges) have been revised. The fee rates were on average 50 per cent above the level in 1933 (the last new fee regulation before the Second World War). The postal order fees and the postal check fees remained unchanged at the 1933 level. The new fees also applied in the French zone of occupation from October 4, 1948. In 1948 post buses ran again .

The individual zones

Soviet zone

The postal administration in the Soviet zone initially retained the postage rates set by the Allied Control Council on April 1, 1946, and subsequently went its own way in setting the rates. Since then, the following principle has been in force: In traffic to the German Democratic Republic and East Berlin , the domestic fee regulations of the Deutsche Bundespost apply . For the items posted in the German Democratic Republic and East Berlin, the fee provisions of the German Democratic Republic were decisive.

" Postal code area and zone map " from July 1, 1946. The British occupation zone is highlighted in red. ( Postcode (Germany) )

British zone

In the British zone , the "Reichspost-Oberdirektion für die Britishzone" (BZRPO) in Bad Salzuflen began its work on September 19, 1945 . Until then , a limited postal service of letters and postcards had been resumed in the Oberpostdirektion from the beginning of June 1945, independently of one another.

The occupation zone was divided into the districts of Braunschweig, Bremen, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Kiel, Cologne and Munster. The task of this authority was to ensure that the mail traffic within the British zone - under military supervision - could be carried out according to uniform principles.

American zone

In the American zone , the Oberpostdirektion in Munich began its service on March 1, 1946, with similar tasks. Subordinate to her were the post office directorates in Frankfurt am Main, Karlsruhe, Nuremberg, Regensburg and Stuttgart.

French zone

In the French zone , the establishment of the administration was more difficult. After the borders were established, the area included the Reichspostdirektions-districts Koblenz and Saarbrücken, as well as parts whose administrative headquarters were in the US zone. The Saarbrücken directorate was relocated when the Saarland was cleared and therefore not yet able to work again. In June 1945, work began on setting up new post offices in Trier and Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. The French occupation zone made a complete postal reorganization of the area on the right bank of the Rhine necessary. In the summer of 1945 Oberpostdirections in Freiburg im Breisgau and Tübingen were added. The French "Direction des PTT du Gouvernement Militaire de la Zone Francaise d'occupation" based in Baden-Baden took over the management. The French were initially not interested in the formation of a German central office, but had to bow to the necessity and open a "German Post Central Office in the French Zone" (DPZ) on September 1, 1945 in Rastatt.

United Economic Area (Bizone)

At the beginning of August 1946, at a meeting of post office specialists in Stuttgart, the establishment of a central postal administration for the four occupation zones was to be discussed and, if possible, prepared for a resolution. The representatives of the French and Soviet zones did not appear. Now the British and American military governments decided to have such a central postal administration for their zones. The “Headquarters for the Post and Telecommunications System of the American and British Occupation Territories” (HVPF), based in Frankfurt am Main, began operations on October 16, 1946. The central offices in Munich and Bad Salzuflen then ceased their activities.

Postage stamps

  • Edition: Deutsche Post, currency: Eine R eichs m ark

  • Issue: German post office, currency: A D eutsche M ark

  • Edition: Deutsche Post, currency: one mark

  • Joint expenditure for the American, British and Soviet zones of occupation 1946

  • Edition: Soviet occupation zone 1945