Emanuel Herrmann
Encyclopedia
Emanuel Alexander Herrmann (24 June 1839 in Klagenfurt
, Austria13 July 1902 in Vienna
) was an Austrian national economist. He is considered the decisive last in an international line of inventors of the postcard
.
from the University of Vienna
, Emanuel Herrmann, the son of the Bezirkshauptmann (district administrator) of Klagenfurt
, entered the civil service in the Austrian ministry of commerce and qualified for a university career as a "Privatdozent
" in the field of national economics. He was also a professor at the renowned Theresian Military Academy
in Wiener Neustadt
and from 1882 for twenty years professor of national economics at Vienna's Institute of Technology.
"Über eine neue Art des Korrespondenzmittels der Post", ( i.e. "About a novel means of postal correspondence"), proposing that all envelope-size cards, whether written, produced by copying machine or printed, ought to be admitted as mail if they contained not more than 20 words including address and sender's signature and showed a 2-Kreuzer
postage stamp. Regular letter postage was 5 Kreuzers.
Austria-Hungary
's Postmaster General Vincenz Baron Maly von Vevanovič took up the idea, and in September 1869 the "Correspondence Card" was officially introduced in Austria by ministerial order. From 1 Oktober 1869 Austria's General Post Office was to issue postal cards for very brief messages, which, at a prize of two "Neukreuzers" (new Kreuzers), were to be delivered to any place within the dual monarchy, irrespective of the distance involved. The 20-word maximum was dropped. The front of the "correspondence card" showed the address, the rear was reserved for the message; apart from the two-headed eagle of Austria on the address side, or the Hungarian coat of arms in the Hungarian half of the dual monarchy, there were no pictures of any kind.
Britain in fact very soon followed the Austrian example and introduced the postcard just a year later, and so did the North German Federation, together with the states of Württemberg
and Baden
; in
1871 Switzerland, Luxemburg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Canada followed;
1871-74 Rumania, Russia, the Scandinavian countries, Spain, Japan, Itay, Chile and France followed where as early as 1777 "L’Almanach de la Petite Poste" had reported about an early and short-lived forerunner(in translation):
of Philadelphia, who had his postcards copyrighted on 17 December 1861, yet none of his printed-message cards is known to have been used. Charlton allowed Hymen L. Lipman
to print a second series of cards, which carried the name "Lipman's Postal Card". The earliest known postmark on these cards is of 25 October 1870; the patent that Lipman applied for was never granted.
At first, only domestic use of the "correspondence cards" was possible, but with the formation of the Universal Postal Union
in 1874, international delivery became soon possible.
From 1872 privately produced postcards were permitted in European countries, which the sender had to equip with postage stamps of differing values according to differing address regions. This offered the opportunity to print pictures on the card, at first some monochromes, from the late 1890s on in colour, and in huge quantities.
parliament a government speaker declared that the Prussia
n post director Heinrich Stephan
(later raised to "von Stephan") had voiced this idea already in 1865. At the 5th German postal conference in Karlsruhe
in November 1865 Stephan had indeed distributed a private memorandum with a similar suggestion. "The present letter form does not provide the sufficient simplicity and shortness for a considerable number of messages". Stephan, however, had not actually proposed the postcard, but a postal sheet the size of a money transfer form, stiffer than letter paper and slightly larger than the usual envelope, with an imprinted duty stamp and available at all post offices. The prepaid postage was to be one silver groschen
, which was the regular German postage fee. As this would have meant no reduction in postage, it would have been no actual innovation but would only have simplified postal handling. In fact, Germany later introduced not Stephan's postal sheet due to its lack of privacy but a post card on precisely the Austrian model. It is, however, quite possible that Herrmann developed his model upon Stephan's suggestion.
Heinrich von Stephan himself never claimed the authorship of the postcard idea.
, the Austrian state where he had come from.
The City of Vienna dedicated a grave of honour to Herrmann at the Meidling
cemetery. The tombstone says: "Der Erfinder der Postkarte", that is: "The Inventor of the Post Card."
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
, Austria13 July 1902 in Vienna
Wien
Wien is the German language name for Vienna, the city and federal state in Austria.* Wien , in Vienna, Austria* Theater an der Wien, a theater in Vienna located at the former river WienWien may also refer to:...
) was an Austrian national economist. He is considered the decisive last in an international line of inventors of the postcard
Postcard
A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....
.
Life and work
After graduating with a law doctorateJuris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
, Emanuel Herrmann, the son of the Bezirkshauptmann (district administrator) of Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt
-Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters...
, entered the civil service in the Austrian ministry of commerce and qualified for a university career as a "Privatdozent
Privatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
" in the field of national economics. He was also a professor at the renowned Theresian Military Academy
Theresian Military Academy
The Theresian Military Academy is an academy, where the Austrian Armed Forces train their officers. The Academy is located in the castle of Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria.- History :...
in Wiener Neustadt
Wiener Neustadt
-Main sights:* The Late-Romanesque Dom, consecrated in 1279 and cathedral from 1469 to 1785. The choir and transept, in Gothic style, are from the 14th century. In the late 15th century 12 statues of the Apostles were added in the apse, while the bust of Cardinal Melchior Klesl is attributed to...
and from 1882 for twenty years professor of national economics at Vienna's Institute of Technology.
Birth of the postcard
On 26 January 1869 he published an article in Austria's leading paper Neue Freie PresseDie Presse
Die Presse is an Austrian daily newspaper based in Vienna. It was founded in 1946 by World War II resistance fighter Ernst Molden and stands in tradition of the Viennese newspapers "Die Presse" and "Neue Freie Presse" . The paper covers general news topics...
"Über eine neue Art des Korrespondenzmittels der Post", ( i.e. "About a novel means of postal correspondence"), proposing that all envelope-size cards, whether written, produced by copying machine or printed, ought to be admitted as mail if they contained not more than 20 words including address and sender's signature and showed a 2-Kreuzer
Kreuzer
The Kreuzer, in English usually kreutzer, was a silver coin and unit of currency existing in the southern German states prior to the unification of Germany, and in Austria.-Early history:...
postage stamp. Regular letter postage was 5 Kreuzers.
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
's Postmaster General Vincenz Baron Maly von Vevanovič took up the idea, and in September 1869 the "Correspondence Card" was officially introduced in Austria by ministerial order. From 1 Oktober 1869 Austria's General Post Office was to issue postal cards for very brief messages, which, at a prize of two "Neukreuzers" (new Kreuzers), were to be delivered to any place within the dual monarchy, irrespective of the distance involved. The 20-word maximum was dropped. The front of the "correspondence card" showed the address, the rear was reserved for the message; apart from the two-headed eagle of Austria on the address side, or the Hungarian coat of arms in the Hungarian half of the dual monarchy, there were no pictures of any kind.
An international success with forerunners
Herrmann's novelty caused quite a stir abroad: Two British magazines wrote in the same year:The Austrian government has introduced a novelty in postage, which might be introduced with great benefit in all countries. The object is to enable persons to send off; with the least possible trouble, messages of small importance, without the trouble of obtaining paper, pens, and envelopes. Cards of a fixed size are sold at all the post-offices for two kreutzers, one side being for the address and the other for this note, which may be written either with ink or with any kind of pencil. It is thrown into the box, and delivered without envelopes. A halfpenny post of this kind would certainly be very convenient, especially in large towns, and a man of business carrying a few such cards in his pocket-book would find them very useful. There is an additional advantage attaching to the card, namely, that of having the address and postmark inseparably fixed to the note.
Britain in fact very soon followed the Austrian example and introduced the postcard just a year later, and so did the North German Federation, together with the states of Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
and Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
; in
1871 Switzerland, Luxemburg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Canada followed;
1871-74 Rumania, Russia, the Scandinavian countries, Spain, Japan, Itay, Chile and France followed where as early as 1777 "L’Almanach de la Petite Poste" had reported about an early and short-lived forerunner(in translation):
"Nowadays, cards which are decorated with engravings are sent by post as compliments or best wishes upon the most diverse occasions, with messages that anyone can read. This new invention is by copperplate engraver Demaison and is much discussed."and so did the USA, where on 12 Mai 1873 the first official postcards appeared with a postage of 1 cent regardless of distance. However, as early as on 27 February 1861 US Congress had permitted the mailing of privately printed cards with a weight of one ounce or less, with a postage of one cent for delivery distances of up to 1500 miles, and of two cents for addresses further away, which was world-wide the very first official authorization of the use of postcards. This was taken advantage of by John P. Charlton
John P. Charlton
John P. Charlton was an American printer and stationer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who is often credited as the inventor of the private postal card, which he copyrighted in 1861 together with Hymen Lipman.-History of Charlton's postal card:...
of Philadelphia, who had his postcards copyrighted on 17 December 1861, yet none of his printed-message cards is known to have been used. Charlton allowed Hymen L. Lipman
Hymen Lipman
Hymen L. Lipman is credited with registering the first patent for a pencil with an attached eraser on March 30, 1858 .Hymen L. Lipman was born March 20, 1817, in Kingston, Jamaica, to English parents...
to print a second series of cards, which carried the name "Lipman's Postal Card". The earliest known postmark on these cards is of 25 October 1870; the patent that Lipman applied for was never granted.
At first, only domestic use of the "correspondence cards" was possible, but with the formation of the Universal Postal Union
Universal Postal Union
The Universal Postal Union is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system. The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration , the Postal Operations Council and the...
in 1874, international delivery became soon possible.
Development
Post cards with imprinted postage stamp were sold without any pictures, but soon private individuals began adding pictures of their own.From 1872 privately produced postcards were permitted in European countries, which the sender had to equip with postage stamps of differing values according to differing address regions. This offered the opportunity to print pictures on the card, at first some monochromes, from the late 1890s on in colour, and in huge quantities.
Controversy
The realization of his proposal through the Austro-Hungarian post office made Herrmann a well-known personality in Europe, but later his authorship of the postcard was contested. In the German ReichstagReichstag (German Empire)
The Reichstag was the parliament of the North German Confederation , and of the German Reich ....
parliament a government speaker declared that the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n post director Heinrich Stephan
Heinrich von Stephan
Heinrich von Stephan was a general post director for the German Empire who reorganized the German postal service. He was integral in the founding of the Universal Postal Union in 1874, and in 1877 introduced the telephone to Germany.Stephan was born in Stolp , Pomerania, in the Kingdom of Prussia...
(later raised to "von Stephan") had voiced this idea already in 1865. At the 5th German postal conference in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
in November 1865 Stephan had indeed distributed a private memorandum with a similar suggestion. "The present letter form does not provide the sufficient simplicity and shortness for a considerable number of messages". Stephan, however, had not actually proposed the postcard, but a postal sheet the size of a money transfer form, stiffer than letter paper and slightly larger than the usual envelope, with an imprinted duty stamp and available at all post offices. The prepaid postage was to be one silver groschen
Groschen
Groschen was the name for a coin used in various German-speaking states as well as some non-German-speaking countries of Central Europe , the Danubian principalities...
, which was the regular German postage fee. As this would have meant no reduction in postage, it would have been no actual innovation but would only have simplified postal handling. In fact, Germany later introduced not Stephan's postal sheet due to its lack of privacy but a post card on precisely the Austrian model. It is, however, quite possible that Herrmann developed his model upon Stephan's suggestion.
Heinrich von Stephan himself never claimed the authorship of the postcard idea.
Folksong collector
Hermann‘s quite different area of interest lay in the field of ethnology: He was an important collector of the folksongs of CarinthiaCarinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
, the Austrian state where he had come from.
The City of Vienna dedicated a grave of honour to Herrmann at the Meidling
Meidling
Meidling is the 12th district of Vienna . It is located just southwest of the central districts, south of the Wienfluss, west of the Gürtel belt, and east and southeast of Schönbrunn palace...
cemetery. The tombstone says: "Der Erfinder der Postkarte", that is: "The Inventor of the Post Card."
Publications
- Die Theorie der Versicherung vom wirthschaftlichen Standpunkte, Graz 1868
- Leitfaden der Wirthschaftslehre, Graz 1870
- Miniaturbilder aus dem Gebiete der Wirthschaft, Halle a. S.( Nebert) 1872
- Naturgeschichte der Kleidung, Vienna (Waldheim) 1878
- Cultur und Natur. Studien auf dem Gebiete der Wirthschaft, Berlin 1887
- Technische Fragen und Probleme der modernen Volkswirtschaft, 1891
- Das Geheimnis der Macht. , 2nd edition, Berlin 1896
Literature
- Franz Kalckhoff: Die Erfindung der Postkarte und die Korrespondenz-Karten der Norddeutschen Bundespost.(i.e. "The Invention of the Post Card and the Correspondence Card of the North German Federal Postal Service"), Leipzig 1911.
- Paul Noēl Armand and Paul Yvon Armand, Dictionnaire de la Cartophilie Francophone, Herblay 1990.
- Wolfgang Till, Alte Postkarten, Collector's Catalogue, Augsburg 1994.
External links
- Austrian Chamber of Trade and Commerce: History of the Postcard (German)
- AVG: History (German)
- Jens Stöcker, Geschichte der Ansichtskarten, lecture in Bruchmühlbach-Miesau (Switzerland), on 11 November 2001