400th anniversary of the death of Philipp Schwarzerd, known as Melanchthon - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1960 - 20

On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the death of Philipp Melanchthon, Martin Luther was the most important representative of German Reformation history, the German Federal Post Office issues a commemorative stamp. In doing so she recalls the figure of this great humanist, the eminent teacher of the universities of Tübingen and Wittenberg, and the polluter of German education and the history of German thought. The graphic designers involved in the development of the designs were contemporary portraits of Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach the Elder. and d. J. because the task just appeared solvable only by a portrait mark. The graphic artists Hans Michel and Günther Kieser deliberately concentrated on the precise processing of a portrait, referring to a work by Lucas Cranach the Elder. A. created image, which is kept in the historical museum of Frankfurt am Main. This once found form converted them by changing the high or wide format of the brand three times. Eugen O. Sporer and Ernst Göhlert each received a proposal. Herbert Kern provided four different solutions. The Art Council did not succumb to the obvious temptation to subscribe to a solution which, as the absolutely classical formulation of Melanchthon's physiognomy, defined the general idea in a certain direction. The careful study of the manifold attempts gradually showed that only a single solution could be considered an eloquent expression of the spiritual world, for which the memorial stamp should ultimately bear witness. This expression was not to be found in the form of the bearded scholar, who had been familiar for centuries. Rather, the thought and firepower of the Reformer speaks from the features of the more youthful man clarified by strong contrasts of black and white. The choice fell almost unanimously on the work of the graphic artists Hans Michel and Günther Kieser. It is noteworthy that from an altogether different, namely theological point of view, the authorized representative of the Protestant Church came to the same conclusion, before he was aware of the choice made by the Art Council and of the considerations that led to it. The Federal Minister of Posts and Telecommunications has decided to have this mark executed, which was produced by Bundesdruckerei Berlin in two-color offset printing in red and black with a white-backed numeral.