Description: This olive-green definitive postage stamp is a duplicate 2 Deutsche Mark (DM) issue from the "Significant Germans" (Bedeutende Deutsche) series released by the West German Deutsche Bundespost. The design features an identical etched portrait of the famed dramatist Gerhart Hauptmann, framed in a solid olive-green border with white lettering spelling out "DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST" around the top and sides, and "2 DM" at the base. This copy exhibits a distinct mechanical roller line cutting diagonally across the face from the lower-left corner to the right margin.
Circa: 1960s
Condition: Used
Notes:
The choice of Gerhart Hauptmann for this high-value tier was highly deliberate by the West German government. After the end of WWII, the newly formed democratic state used its stamps to completely rebrand Germany's global image. By filling its daily mail stream with poets, thinkers, and Nobel laureates instead of political figures, the postal service actively used daily mail to highlight the nation's peaceful, intellectual contributions to human history.