I am interested in learning more about the design of this stamp series. I understand the design was not popular in Germany, but I first saw these stamps as a beginning collector in the mid 1970s and found the designs very impressive as they were self explanatory. You didn't need to know German to know that they were about accident prevention and to figure out what they warned about. Does anyone know anything about the designers of the stamp and whether this style was common at the time? I can read a little German and know that there is a stamp guide on the series in German by Thomas Weimann but I don't know where I can find it. Thanks for any help you can offer.
The designers were Hans Förtsch & his wife Sigrid von Baumgarten. They also designed the 1988 Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen stamp, West Germany Scott 1550
Thanks for the great information. I have looked for the handbook on the web and haven't found it yet, but will keep looking. I'll also keep digging to learn more about the designers--appreciate the information them as well.
I found more information on the internet about the designers. In addition to designing the accident prevention stamps, they were well regarded for their work for Radio Free Berlin, the public radio station of West Berlin.
I also found this series as a young collector in the 70s.
The one stamp that stood out to me then (and still does) is the one with the boot stepping on a nail. The design of the boot struck me as so "German" and I've always associated that image with Germany and German stuff.
The stylized bottle on the 25pf is really nice. I also collect bottles, and green is my favorite color, so this one has always been attractive to me.
And the fact that this series was definitive and it had practical information on it (wordless messages which are clear, as KMB noted) makes it a great example of what stamps could be. Imagine learning something from definitive postage! In the US, there's always the current "flag" definitive. It tends to be the one the Post Office sells to everyone. So, we learn, over and over, that this is the flag! Yeah, I already know that!! How about showing poisonous snakes indigenous to the area? Or ways to save money? Or simple car fixes?
They did a 16-stamp sheet about energy conservation, but it was a commemorative issue in a style and shape the average postal patron wouldn't use. Make that a definitive series, put it in booklets. Make it interesting.
Those accident prevention stamps from Germany were a stroke of genius!
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