- Description
- Specifications
| ID Number: | PA02-0504 |
| Description: | Heinrich von Stephan (1831-1897) |
| Country or State: | German Realm |
| Year: | 1928 |
| Face Value: | 60 Deutscher Reichspfennig |
| Series: | U.P.U. 50th anniversary - Heinrich von Stephan |
| Subject/Theme: | Heinrich von Stephan (1831-1897), 1st German Postmaster General |
| Perforation: | comb14 x 14¼ |
| Printing: | Typography |
| Dimensions (B x H): | 21.5 x 26 mm |
| Catalog Number: | Michel DR 362y Stamp Number DE 342a Yvert et Tellier DR 361 V1 |
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Ernst Heinrich Wilhelm von Stephan (born Heinrich Stephan, January 7, 1831 – April 8, 1897) was a general post director for the German Empire who reorganized the German postal service. He was integral in the founding of the Universal Postal Union in 1874, and in 1877 introduced the telephone to Germany. Stephan was born in Stolp (Słupsk), Pomerania, in the Kingdom of Prussia. He began his career as a local postal clerk in the service of the Prussian post in 1849. In 1866 he was put in charge by the Prussian government of federalizing the postal service that had long been privately run by the noble Thurn und Taxis family. In 1870 he was named director of postal services for the North German Confederation. Stephan's career then moved quickly up the ranks, as he was named Postmaster General of the German Empire in 1876, the Undersecretary of State in charge of the post office in 1880, and the Minister of Postal Services for Germany in 1895. |
