Deutsche Post of the GDR

With the end of the Second World War in Europe in May 1945, the Allied Control Council succeeded the former Nazi regime in Germany; as part of this action, the Deutsche Reichspost (the postal service of the German Reich) was absorbed by the occupation authorities. Germany was divided into four occupation zones, and Berlin into four sectors; the territories east of the Oder-Neisse rivers were placed under Polish and Soviet authority. One of the first tasks of restoring civil government in Germany involved the restoration of postal and telecommunications services.

The German Central Administration for Communication Services (Deutsche Zentralverwaltung für das Nachrichtenwesen) began its work in the Soviet occupation zone under the jurisdiction of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany on 27 July 1945. The post office in the Soviet zone fell under its authority. Initially, the individual states (Länder) in the Soviet zone issued their own stamps, but by 1946, stamps bearing the inscription Deutsche Post, valid in all four occupation zones, were being issued.

When negotiations related to general German currency reforms broke down, the Western Allies proceeded with the currency reform in West Germany, and on 21 June 1948 the Deutsche Mark was introduced. In response, the Soviet Union announced its reform of the East German currency on 24 June 1948; the East German Mark became the currency for the Soviet zone, and its stamps were marked with overprints. This established the economic separation of the two German states. In July 1948, the stamps of the previously common issue were overprinted with the words "Soviet Occupation Zone" and subsequently the Soviet zone issued different stamps from the western zones, all, however, under the "Deutsche Post" label.

The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was founded on 23 May 1949; the formal proclamation of the German Democratic Republic followed on 7 October 1949. In the FRG the "Deutsche Post" was renamed Deutsche Bundespost (German Federal Post) in 1950, while the GDR retained the term "Deutsche Post". Due to Berlin's occupation status, the West Berlin postal service was technically independent of the West German Bundespost; it was known as the Deutsche Bundespost Berlin. However, no such requirements were applied to the DP operating in East Berlin.