Europe - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1957 - 40

The postal administrations of the countries of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Italy, the Netherlands and the Federal Republic of Germany continue the issue of Europamarken, which began in 1956. While in the previous year a unified brand was used after the design of a French artist, in the 1957 edition each country is to give its own form to the stamps issued by it according to a common basic idea. The Frankfurt Postal Conference of the European Postal Union has formulated the basic idea: »Europe: factor of peace and source of wealth«. Prof. Kurt Kranz had drafted a draft from the competition organized by the Länder in 1956, which, in the opinion of the Art Advisory Board, well expressed the chosen theme, which is why it was important to include this solution in the selection process should result from a call for tenders. Prof. Hans Orlowski and graphic designer Hann Trier each came up with a draft. Wolf Dieter Zimmermann and Hans Baumann each have two proposals, Prof. Richard Blank and Heinz Schwabe have each four suggestions. Prof. Walter Bergmann had three designs. After careful consideration of the merits and disadvantages of various solutions, the Art Council decided to propose the design of Prof. Kurt Kranz for execution, because it seemed to him that he expressed the necessary representation for the political significance of this brand. However, the Federal Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications missed in this proposal the desired clear interpretation of the terms "peace" and "prosperity" and did not agree with the opinion of the Art Advisory Council. However, she agreed to realize the graphically well-balanced and impressive design by Prof. Richard Blank. The Europamarken 1957 are also issued in Saarland with value in francs and the additional designation »Saarland«. They were executed by Bundesdruckerei Berlin in two-color offset printing and blind embossing.