German Socialism on Stamps

Here are some interesting covers from the German Democratic Republic, commonly referred to in English as "East Germany," and in Germany as the "DDR" (Deutsche Demokratische Republik). I like them very much because they are a combination of two themes I find very interesting: national symbols (flags and coats of arms) and idealistic socialism.

This first cover celebrates the 30th anniversary of the DDR, which began operating as a state with Russian support on 7 October 1949. The 10 Mark stamps seems to have the theme of "youth and the future," and the teens in the depiction seem to be very happy. The 5 Mark stamp seems to celebrate construction, engineering, and the proletariat workforce. The man is also smiling in the drawing. The 20 Mark stamp also seems to celebrate the working class, but it might also be the government since the man up front has the DDR coat of arms on his hat while the man behind him has what look like the Soviet red star. It's interesting how you cannot really tell if these are just ordinary class workers or government officials. I suppose the government did this on purpose. The two guys on that stamp have the most positive expressions out of all. The 15 Mark stamp probably pays tribute to the role of the armed forces. The soldiers look more serious, but are still smiling a teeny bit.

One thing I like most about this cover is that it was sent on 2 October, 1990, which is the day that the German Democratic Republic (DDR) and the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) were reunited 5 days short of 43 years since the DDR oficially became a state!

Note also that this cover was sent to West Germany, to a place called Waldbronn-Etzenrot, a place near Karlsruhe in Baden-Wuerttenmberg, in the South.

This next cover was sent to the same address in West Germany almost exactly a year before the one above. The cancellation commemorates the 100th anniversary of the post office building at Bad Langensalza, a small town of about 20,000 people which is located near the what was border with the West.

Although it was sent one year earlier, the stamps were actually issued 10 years later than the ones in the other cover, and the set celebrates 40 years of the DDR. The themes of the designs are the same, but the characters drawn are not as noticeably happy as the ones in the other set. Also, note the computer in the background of the 25 Mark stamp. The DDR was the most developed of all the socialist states in Eastern Europe, and the use of computer technology certainly attests to that.

 

This third cover was not sent to the West and was not sent on an important date, but I like it because of its theme, postal history, which is also a favorite. Here we have two sets of a 4v set on postal boxes throughout history. 

The funny thing is that the cover was sent Express ("Eilsendung"), but it was sent within the same town, Werdau. Did mail within the same city take more than a day, and is that why it was sent express? Or was this express service used to make sure that it arrived on the same day? Curious.