Description: This 15 Pfennig stamp is printed in a deep violet (plum) color and features a coal miner in profile, wearing a helmet and heavy work apron while holding a pneumatic drill. The background depicts a stylized industrial scene with a prominent smoking chimney. The lower right corner displays the "Five-Year Plan" emblem: a large numeral "5" overlaid with a hammer and compass (symbols of the worker and the state). The country name "DEUTSCHE DEMOKRATISCHE REPUBLIK" appears in bold, white block letters at the bottom.
Circa: 1953 – 1959
Condition: Used
Notes:
The "Five-Year Plan" series is iconic in DDR philately. The miner was chosen as a "Hero of Labor," symbolizing the heavy industry that was the primary focus of East Germany's centralized command economy during the 1950s.
This stamp was issued just months after the violent suppressed East German uprising of June 17, 1953, where industrial workers rebelled against increased work quotas. The regime utilized this stamp series to aggressively rebuild the narrative of the content, heroic socialist laborer enthusiastically building the state.
The emblem in the corner features the hammer and compass. While the hammer represented the industrial proletariat, the compass represented the intelligentsia (engineers and scientists). This combination was meant to show the harmony between physical labor and technical planning required to achieve the economic goals.