Reichsdruckerei

Berlin postage stamp from 1979

The Reichsdruckerei was a direct German Reichsanstalt in Berlin under the highest direction of the State Secretary of the Reich Post Office . It was created on April 1, 1879 through the merger of the Royal Prussian State Printing House, founded in 1852, with Decker's Royal Secret Upper Court Book Printing House . The official founding day of the Reichsdruckerei was July 6, 1879. The premises of the former Prussian state printing house in Oranienstrasse were used as the location, which were expanded between 1879 and 1881 according to plans by the architect Carl Busse , who was also the first director of the Reichsdruckerei .

It was generally only intended for direct purposes of the German Reich and the federal states, but also worked for local authorities, corporations and in certain cases also for private individuals. Their main activity consisted in the production of Reich cash bills , Reichsbanknotes , debentures , postage stamps , exchange stamps and other brands and monetary papers. It also printed ordinance sheets and official works (including the Reich course book and patent specifications ).

Blind stamp on the front of a facsimile print ("Reichsdruck") of the Staatsdruckerei Berlin, 1949–1951

Labeling on the reverse of a "Reichsdruck" from the Staatsdruckerei Berlin on an engraving , approx. 1950

Seal of the Reichsdruckerei

For private publishers, she printed bibliophile works and the reproductions of graphics and paintings by old masters known as "Reichsdrucke" , mostly as copperplate engravings . Due to the deceptive resemblance of these prints to the corresponding originals, they were each marked with a blind stamp on the lower right edge and a facsimile in the center of the back to prevent confusion.

At the head of the Reichsdruckerei was a director. Technical operations were managed by two plant inspectors.

As the successor institution after 1949, the tasks of the Reichsdruckerei were essentially taken over by the State Printing House of the Federal Republic of Germany , from which the Federal Printing House emerged in 1951 .

literature

• Literature by and about Reichsdruckerei in the catalog of the German National Library
• Federal Ministry for the postal and telecommunications system (Hrsg.): Manual dictionary of the postal system . 2nd, completely revised edition, Frankfurt am Main 1953; Pp. 612-614
• Archive for Post and Telegraphy: Published on behalf of the Reich Ministry of Post. Verlag Postzeitungsamt, Berlin W, year:
  • 1873: p. 215 ff.
  • 1881: p. 193 ff.
  • 1896: p. 263 ff.
  • 1897: p. 461 ff.
  • 1906: p. 517 ff.
• Memorandum: The Reichsdruckerei Berlin 1885
• Memorandum: The Reichsdruckerei Berlin 1895

Web links

Wikisource: Law regarding the acquisition of the Royal Prussian State Printing House for the Reich from May 15, 1879  - sources and full texts

Wikisource: The Reichsdruckerei in Berlin  - sources and full texts

• Reichsdruckerei, Berlin. In: Architekturmuseum TU Berlin. Retrieved August 4, 2020 . 

Individual evidence

1. ^ C. Busse: The Reichsdruckerei in Berlin . In: Journal of Construction . Year 39 (1889), col. 313-316, plates 38-40. Digitized in the holdings of the Central and State Library Berlin .