Kurt Gscheidle (16 December 1924 – 22 February 2003) was a German politician affiliated to the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD). Gscheidle trained as a mechanic with the Deutsche Reichspost until 1942, when he was called up by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

. In 1948 he returned from war captivity, began studies at the

Dortmund University of Technology TU Dortmund University (german: Technische Universität Dortmund) is a technical university in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with over 35,000 students, and over 6,000 staff including 300 professors, offering around 80 Bachelor's and ...

and graduated as an engineer. In 1953 Gscheidle became an official of the

Deutsche Bundespost The Deutsche Bundespost (German federal post office) was a German state-run postal service and telecommunications business founded in 1947. It was initially the second largest federal employer during its time. After staff reductions in the 198 ...

labor union and was elected Vice-Chairman in 1957. He had joined the SPD in 1956, from 1961 until 1969 and again from 1976 to 1980 he was a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

. In 1969 Gscheidle was a nominee for Chairman of the

German Confederation of Trade Unions The German Trade Union Confederation (german: Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund; DGB) is an umbrella organisation (sometimes known as a national trade union center) for eight German trade unions, in total representing more than 6 million people ...

(DGB) but had to step down in favour of

Heinz Oskar Vetter Heinz Oskar Vetter (21 October 1917 – 18 October 1990) was a German trade union leader and politician. Born in Bochum, Vetter completed an apprenticeship as a locksmith, before becoming a machinist at a coal mine. He served in the Luftwaff ...

. He then served as a secretary of state at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and from 1974 as Minister of Transport (until 1980) and Post and Telecommunications (until 1982) under

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming Cha ...

in the latter's three terms as Federal Chancellor.

Gscheidle stamp

Gscheidle is known among

philatelists Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...

for a stamp designed on the occasion of the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. As

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

participated in the Olympics boycott the stamp was never issued, however Gscheidle, then Minister of Post had received some proofs which he kept after his incumbency. From 1982 to 1983 his wife erroneously used about 24 of these stamps for her private correspondence, which today realize peak prices at auctions. In October 2010, one of the Gscheidle stamps was sold for 26,000 euros in Düsseldorf, Germany.Auctioneers Felzmann
Top

hammer price In auctions, the buyer's premium is a charge in addition to the hammer price (i.e. the winning bid announced) of an auction item, or lot. The winning bidder is required to pay both the hammer price and the percentage of that price called for by the ...

for the Gscheidle stamp

References

External links

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Gscheidle stamp photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gscheidle, Kurt 1924 births 2003 deaths Politicians from Stuttgart Transport ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag for Hesse Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 1976–1980 Members of the Bundestag 1969–1972 Members of the Bundestag 1965–1969 Members of the Bundestag 1961–1965 Technical University of Dortmund alumni Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany