World Postal Monument

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World Postal Monument 2005
The flag of the Universal Postal Union picks up on the monument

The Universal Postal Monument is located on the Kleine Schanze in Bern and reminds us that Bern was the founding city and seat of the Universal Postal Union , which has existed since 1874 .

The bronze sculpture called Autour du monde (“Around the World”) was made by the French René de Saint-Marceaux (1845–1915), who won an international competition with it in 1903. The inauguration of the monument, which then cost around 200,000 Swiss francs, took place nine years later, on October 4, 1909.

The sculpture stands behind a wide well basin on an artificial rock formation, at the foot of which a spring rises. On top of the highest point of the rock there is a pillar of cloud, which is supposed to symbolize the majestic majesty of the Bernese Alps and which apparently wants to escape into space. This pillar of cloud carries a globe around which five female figures embodying the continents hover and hand each other letters .

Next to it, on a granite substructure, sits Berna , a personification of the city of Bern in the form of a woman, who supports her outstretched right on the city ​​of Bern's coat of arms .

The motif of the globe with the five messengers who passed letters on to each other found its way into the flag of the Universal Postal Union in 1967 and thus became its symbol. The motif can also be found on over 800 postage stamps (as of 2009) all over the world.

history

occasion

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union, an (extraordinary) anniversary mail congress was held in Bern in June 1900 . At this congress, the German State Secretary Victor von Podbielski from the Reich Post Office suggested erecting a monument. This proposal was accepted unanimously. The Swiss Federal Council thereupon announced an international competition on October 31, 1902 to commemorate the founding of the Universal Postal Union.

competition

Studies of the heads of the five continents for the monument of the Universal Postal Union, ...
... Europe, America, Asia, Oceania, Africa.
René de Saint-Marceaux in his studio in 1907

The jury , formed for this purpose and made up of eleven members , had a total of 120 drafts, on a scale of 1 to 10, available for assessment by September 15, 1903. The jury consisted of sculptors and architects from several European countries. From September 23 to 25, 1903, the jury examined the plaster models in the Federal Parliament building. From among them those who were evidently inadequate or who were unrelated to the idea in question were first singled out; 39 drafts were therefore eliminated unanimously and 66 by a majority. The remaining 15 drafts were the subject of in-depth discussion with a subsequent renewed vote, after which six drafts remained. The jury awarded them four equal prizes of 3,000 francs each and two more equal prizes of 1,500 francs each. The first four were given to Emil Hundrieser from Charlottenburg, Georges Morin from Berlin, Ernest Dubois and architect René Patouillard from Paris, as well as the later winner René de Saint-Marceaux , who also came from Paris. The two second prizes went to Ignaz Taschner from Breslau and Jakob August Heer in Munich, as well as Giuseppe Chiattone from Lugano. The designs were then publicly exhibited in the riding hall for a month .

According to the unanimous decision of the jury, none of the award-winning designs fully met the requirements set out in the program. The verdict said that although some of these designs were characterized by sweeping lines and a certain harmony in their entirety, the idea to be embodied was not sufficiently expressed in them, while the others, which were quite satisfied from the allegorical point of view, left In terms of the ornamental arrangement, much to be desired, in addition, the proposed material generally does not offer the necessary guarantee for its resistance.

The jury had therefore proposed that a closer competition should be organized between the six artists mentioned. The conditions for this, with a reference to the observance of the provisions of the program, have been set as follows:

  • the artists were free to change their model;
  • the new models had to be manufactured in a tenth of the size in which the execution was to take place later;
  • competitors had to enclose casts or photographs of some of their earlier work with their model;
  • the proposed material should provide a sufficient guarantee of its resistance ( soapstone , electroforming bronze and sandstone have already been excluded as insufficiently resistant );
  • each competitor received compensation of 1500 francs for his new work;
  • the drafts had to be delivered to the Federal Palace in Bern on August 1, 1904 .

Just a week later, on August 8, 1904, the revised design by René de Saint-Marceaux, now entitled "Autour du monde", was chosen as the winner. The artist added the figure of the seated Berna to his original conception. The jury rated it as "a work carried out with great talent, which captivates with its originality and elegant proportions and which symbolizes the institution in whose honor it was created in the most fitting way". The Federal Assembly decided to erect the work of art on Steinhauerplatz in the Kleine Schanze park.

The memorial was originally supposed to be completed by the end of 1907. But for various reasons, including because the artist was in poor health, the work was delayed. The work of art made of bronze and granite , weighing several tons , was brought to Bern in 1909 from the studio in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris, with 60 rail car loads.

Some of the plaster and bronze models by René de Saint-Marceaux, Emil Hundrieser and Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi are now in the Museum for Communication in Bern . Parts of the model by Georges Morin as well as designs by Rodo with the name "Peoples of the Earth" are in the Kunstmuseum Bern .

inauguration

On October 4, 1909, the 63 delegates from 52 countries met with the members of the diplomatic corps , the Swiss Federal Council, the members of the Federal Assembly, the officials of the international office and numerous guests in the hall of the National Council. Federal Councilor Ludwig Forrer welcomed the Federal Council and recalled the resolution of the Congress of 1900 to create a memorial to commemorate the founding of the Universal Postal Union. On behalf of the foreign delegates, General Director Mathias Mongenast from Luxembourg responded as old-age president by thanking the Swiss Confederation for their efforts in the construction of the monument and the invitation to the celebration. In front of the Bundeshaus, the procession of participants then arranged itself to go to the memorial square in front of the small jump. The State Secretary of the Reich Post Office Reinhold Kraetke stepped in front of the monument and handed it over to the care of the Swiss Confederation. After a speech, Federal Councilor Forrer took the monument into the care of the federal government and declared it a public good.

"I promise that the Swiss Confederation will faithfully guard and preserve the work, a sacred property under international law."

- Ludwig Forrer

Represented were among others: Argentina, Ethiopia, Belgium and the Belgian Congo State , Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina , Brazil, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Denmark and the Danish Antilles, Germany, the Dominican Republic, France and the French colonies, Greece, Great Britain, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Canada, Colombia, Crete, Cuba, Luxembourg, Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the Dutch colonies, Norway, Austria-Hungary, Paraguay, Russia, Sweden, Serbia, Siam , Spain, Tunis , Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela and the United States of America.

The festivities, about which the Swiss press reported in detail, lasted three days with banquets, private dinners and excursions to some of the most beautiful places in Switzerland.

Postage stamps

The Universal Postal Monument, mainly the allegory of the five continents and the globe, was depicted on postage stamps in numerous countries . An illustration can also be found on the International Reply Coupons (IAS) .

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the memorial in 2009, the Swiss Post and the French Post issued a joint special stamp. The Swiss stamp is only valid for official mail from the Universal Postal Union, while the French stamp went on sale to the public. In Bern Town Hall an exhibition of historical documents and stamps were shown in connection with the story of the Oct. 9 to 11 in 2009. The exhibition was then moved to the International Office of the Universal Postal Union , where it was shown during the Board of Directors session from October 26th to November 13th, 2009.

  • International reply coupons (selection)

  • IAS model "Rome" from 1906 , issued by Belgium

  • Stamps from "all over the world" with the motif of the monument (selection)

  • Russia on Stamp Day 1998

  • Postage stamp pad from Kazakhstan, 1998

  • Ukraine, 1999

  • Azerbaijan, 2003: “Artistic Freedom” another figure with a robe made from the flag of Azerbaijan hands over a letter to the group of five.

  • Moldova, 2004

literature

  • Handheld dictionary of postal services . 1st edition. P. 686.
  • Archives for mail and telegraphy. Supplement to the Official Gazette of the Reich Post Office. Published on behalf of the Reich Post Office. 32nd year, Berlin 1904, Reichsdruckerei.
    • Memorial in honor of the Universal Postal Union, No. 1. Berlin, January 1904; Pp. 31-32
  • German traffic newspaper
    • 1909: The inauguration of the Universal Postal Union monument in Bern. Book 41, p. 513.
  • Union Postale
    • 1909: Unveiling of the Universal Postal Monument. Booklet 8, p. 113, and Booklet 11, p. 161.
    • 2009: Sarra Daldoul: Erected 100 years ago: The Universal Postal Monument . Issue 3, pp. 17-19
  • German Post Archive: Monument to the Universal Postal Union.
  • A memorial in memory of the founding of the Universal Postal Union In: Schweizer Illustrierte , Vol. 7, 1903, pp. 526–527. ( e-periodica )

See also

Web links

Commons : Weltpostdenkmal  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ DVZ, 33rd year; No. 20; May 14, 1909; P. 305
  2. ↑ a b Concise dictionary of the postal system. 1st edition, p. 686
  3. ↑ Jérôme Deutschmann, UPU: The symbolic universal postal monument is 100 years old. In: Die Lupe - Das Briefmarkenmagazin. Ed .: The Post. Issue 4/2009, p. 22.
  4. ↑ Archive 1900, p. 642.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Sarra Daldoul; P. 18
  6. ↑ Jakob August Heer's draft for the Universal Postal Monument
  7. ↑ a b Monument in honor of the Universal Postal Union, p. 31
  8. ↑ Monument in honor of the Universal Postal Union, p. 32.
  9. ↑ The Bund of October 4, 1909.
  10. ↑ Sarra Daldoul; P. 19.
  11. ↑ Concise dictionary of the postal system, 1st supplement to the 2nd edition; P. 190.
  12. ↑ a b DVZ, 33rd year, No. 41; Friday, October 8, 1909, p. 513
  13. ↑ Union Postale; Issue 3/2009; P. 19.

Coordinates: 46 ° 56 '45.3 "  N , 7 ° 26' 24.9"  E ; CH1903:  600123  /  one hundred and ninety-nine thousand four hundred and twenty-five